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Your Predicitons - Who From This Gold Cup Roster Will Make the 2018 World Cup Roster?
Posted on 7/14/17 at 6:48 pm
Posted on 7/14/17 at 6:48 pm
Not putting the cart before the horse, but barring a massive collapse in these last four Hex games, we should safely qualify for Russia 2018. Who from this Gold Cup team do you see making the cut in Russia?
There are always some guys who come out of nowhere in the year before the tournament to make the final roster, and there's no reason to think it won't happen again this time. I don't think anyone in July 2013 seriously thought Julian Green and John Brooks would even make the 30-man roster, much less go to Brazil and score goals. Maybe someone off the radar right now like Weston McKennie or Haji Wright has a breakout season and refuses to be left off the roster, we'll see. Don't forget that guys like Sebastian Lletget and Kenny Saief will be back to challenge for spots once they recover from injury.
Here's how I see it, assuming everyone is healthy, of course:
Guys I Expect to Make the Team
Brad Guzan, Jorge Villafana, Omar Gonzalez, Eric Lichaj, Kellyn Acosta
Guys That Might Make the Team
Matt Miazga, Matt Besler, Jordan Morris, Gyasi Zardes, Joe Corona, Alejandro Bedoya, Dom Dwyer, Cristian Roldan, Juan Agudelo, Paul Arriola
Some of these guys are veterans trying to hold onto spots, and some are inexperienced guys trying to prove they deserve spots.
Guys That Would Surprise Me If They Made It
Kelyn Rowe, Chris Pontius, Bill Hamid, Dax McCarty, Justin Morrow, Graham Zusi, Matt Hedges, Sean Johnson
Zusi does fine for Sporting KC, but he can't keep up with the pace of the international game anymore. I don't see either of these two GKs winning the No. 3 spot in Russia over someone like Horvath.
What are your thoughts?
There are always some guys who come out of nowhere in the year before the tournament to make the final roster, and there's no reason to think it won't happen again this time. I don't think anyone in July 2013 seriously thought Julian Green and John Brooks would even make the 30-man roster, much less go to Brazil and score goals. Maybe someone off the radar right now like Weston McKennie or Haji Wright has a breakout season and refuses to be left off the roster, we'll see. Don't forget that guys like Sebastian Lletget and Kenny Saief will be back to challenge for spots once they recover from injury.
Here's how I see it, assuming everyone is healthy, of course:
Guys I Expect to Make the Team
Brad Guzan, Jorge Villafana, Omar Gonzalez, Eric Lichaj, Kellyn Acosta
Guys That Might Make the Team
Matt Miazga, Matt Besler, Jordan Morris, Gyasi Zardes, Joe Corona, Alejandro Bedoya, Dom Dwyer, Cristian Roldan, Juan Agudelo, Paul Arriola
Some of these guys are veterans trying to hold onto spots, and some are inexperienced guys trying to prove they deserve spots.
Guys That Would Surprise Me If They Made It
Kelyn Rowe, Chris Pontius, Bill Hamid, Dax McCarty, Justin Morrow, Graham Zusi, Matt Hedges, Sean Johnson
Zusi does fine for Sporting KC, but he can't keep up with the pace of the international game anymore. I don't see either of these two GKs winning the No. 3 spot in Russia over someone like Horvath.
What are your thoughts?
3
Posted on 7/14/17 at 7:05 pm to Michael Stein
Guzan, Villafana, Omar, Acosta, Lichaj, Acosta, Dwyer.
Posted on 7/15/17 at 2:11 pm to Michael Stein
I'm undecided on if I Want Bedoya on the team
Posted on 7/15/17 at 2:14 pm to pvilleguru
quote:
Guzan, Villafana, Omar, Acosta, Lichaj, Acosta, Dwyer.
Good list. I think Bedoya and Arriola both make it too. I think Morris vs Dwyer is 50/50 at this point.
Posted on 7/15/17 at 2:17 pm to Michael Stein
I'd take Matt Besler over Tim Ream for backup LCB. In terms of playing the position, they are pretty much equal (not great, not terrible), but Besler is a much better "leader" of the backline than Ream.
Posted on 7/15/17 at 8:05 pm to Broski
Rowe's stock went up a bit today. He'll have to play at a consistent high level in New England to keep earning call-ups. We'll see if he can manage it.
Posted on 7/15/17 at 8:13 pm to Michael Stein
I think that you have to lay out your locks for the roster if you want to figure out who could make it from this crop.
My locks barring injury/major change in form:
Pulisic, FabJo, JAB, Cameron, Bradley, Wood, Dempsey, Yedlin, Jozy, Nagbe, and Howard. That's 11 spots, leaving 12 up for grabs.
My locks barring injury/major change in form:
Pulisic, FabJo, JAB, Cameron, Bradley, Wood, Dempsey, Yedlin, Jozy, Nagbe, and Howard. That's 11 spots, leaving 12 up for grabs.
Posted on 7/15/17 at 8:24 pm to americanoutlaw
I think we have a few more than 11 locks right now.
Posted on 7/15/17 at 8:31 pm to pvilleguru
My bad, I should have said of the people not on the goldcup. Who would you add?
Posted on 7/15/17 at 8:40 pm to americanoutlaw
I think Guzan, Omar, Chandler, Acosta, Villafana, Lletget (I know he hasn't played much for us, but I think he's a lock provided he comes back from his injury). I'd have to look at some of our recent rosters to name another 2-3 players that are probably locks at this point.
Posted on 7/15/17 at 8:42 pm to pvilleguru
That gets us pretty close to what I heard on the radio the other day. They seemed to think there's only 5-6 open spots right now.
Posted on 7/15/17 at 8:54 pm to americanoutlaw
quote:
Pulisic, FabJo, JAB, Cameron, Bradley, Wood, Dempsey, Yedlin, Jozy, Nagbe, and Howard. That's 11 spots, leaving 12 up for grabs.
I agree. But add guzan, who is clearly #2 in Bruce's mind. 12 locks. From there, it's al about what positions Bruce wants to take. Bedoya has shown to be versatile. CB is interesting, how many does he take? Does miazga make a leap this year? What is the LB plan? I could see Beasley there again with someone like Besler who can play there in a pinch. Who does Bruce see as #4 on forward depth? I think the knockout stage might actually give us a few clues.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 7:45 am to pvilleguru
I agree with most of those, but I find chandler interesting. I suppose it's likely he makes it, but Bruce has a hard on for zusi and lichaj is probably better than both of them.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 7:57 am to americanoutlaw
He doesn't have Zusi over Chandler.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 9:24 am to pvilleguru
Am I the only one that thinks Rowe might take Lleget's spot if he still isn't in good post-injury form come next summer?
Rowe played pretty freaking solid, and showed true technical ability and creativity. That chest pass from a switch ball was exactly the kind of creativity we need going forward, but our attackers haven't been used to playing with someone who thinks like that.
Rowe played pretty freaking solid, and showed true technical ability and creativity. That chest pass from a switch ball was exactly the kind of creativity we need going forward, but our attackers haven't been used to playing with someone who thinks like that.
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