Tuesday, November 11, 2008

US qualifying CAMP roster set

Okay, so this is the training camp roster. I inadvertently thought it was the game roster because i was in a hurry and wanted to get something up:

Goalkeepers: Brian Edwards (Toronto), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Matt Pickens (out of contract).

Defenders): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Sean Franklin (LA Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Colorado), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New England).

Midfielders: Colin Clark (Colorado), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Nick LaBrocca (Colorado), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado).

Forwards: Davy Arnaud (Kansas City), Chad Barrett (Toronto), Conor Casey (Colorado), Brian Ching (Houston), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas).

Thoughts (all contingent upon these players actually getting on the gameday roster of course):

- In a roster full of youngsters, Sean Franklin is a notable inclusion. The Rookie of the Year finalist had a solid rookie campaign, though he did have a rough go at it at times. Franklin has been tabbed by some as having a bright national team future and now his opportunity to proceed in that direction begins. The defense has some more experienced players, namely Parkhurst and Gibbs, but for Franklin it's a huge step in the right direction to be included in this list.

- Kenny Cooper! Okay, so it is no surprise that he got the call. If he could not make it on the team this time around, then you would have to have suspected that Cooper did something personally to Bradley to draw his ire. Still, Cooper will probably have to battle with Conor Casey for a starting spot. Brian Ching looks like the incumbent to start but Bradley will have to sort out the other spot.

- This game is in Colorado so it's Colorado-heavy - Gibbs and Casey are joined on the squad by Colin Clark, Nick LaBrocca and Pablo Mastroeni. Of the quintet, LaBrocca is probably the biggest surprise. LaBrocca however quietly pieced together a strong campaign and was a regular starter for the Rapids.

- If Tim Howard and Brad Guzan get hurt, the pickings are slim. Troy Perkins needs to impress in this game to help quell such fears. Matt Pickens and Brian Edwards are seemingly projects at best right now.

- Sacha Kljestan, Mastroeni and Ching need to show they can handle things when the other experienced players are away. Those are the three on this team who would have been here with a chance to start had this game really mattered. As the more experienced members of the squad, the stage is theirs. Jonathan Bornstein, Ricardo Clark and Gibbs have more caps than Kljestan but the three players' time with the US this year has been sporadic or non-existent for various reasons.

3 comments:

Bonji said...

Isn't this just a mini-camp roster and the actual qualifier roster will come out over the weekend, after the mini-camp?

L.B. said...

Well I guess I should read the release more closely next time.

Anonymous said...

amazing that perkins was a developmental player just 3-4 years ago and now he's battling for the #3 gk job.