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2014 WC U.S. NATIONAL TEAM
How I see it .. ..
Player v. GHA v. POR v. GER v. BEL
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GK) Howard Above-Average Above-Average Good
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D) Beasley Average Good Average
D) Besler Good OUTSTANDING Good
D) Cameron Average Average n/a
D) Johnson Above-Average Above-Average Above-Average
DM) Beckerman Average Above-Average Good
D) Brooks Above-Average n/a n/a
D) Yedlin n/a OUTSTANDING Good
D) Gonzalez n/a Average Good
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M) Jones OUTSTANDING OUTSTANDING Good
M) Bradley Poor Below-Average Average
M) Bedoya Above-Average Average Below-Average
M) Zusi Above-Average Above-Average Above-Average
M) Davis n/a n/a Below-Average
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F) Altidore n/a n/a n/a
F) Dempsey OUTSTANDING OUTSTANDING Above-Average
F) Johannsson Below-Average n/a n/a
F) Wondoowski n/a OUTSTANDING n/a
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PANDO! or GORDO? Q&A (Before and after the WC)
TIM HOWARD (better than '10?)
Yes - But,
the same little lapses keep recurring .. .. The sometimes iffy kicking and the missed punch v. POR that almost resulted in a goal if not for a great reflex save .. .. TIMMY is a very good GK, just not great .. ..
In the Pipeline: GUZAN; CODY CROPPER (Southampton), WILLIAM YARBROUGH (Leon)
DEFENSE
Has proven to be much better than the pre-WC fears .. .. MATT BESLER has proven that MLS can produce a top-notch defensive talent .. .. GEOFF CAMERON is a pretty good CB but the search continues for a world-class mate for Matt .. .. And, it certainly is not OMAR .. .. yet .. ..
In the Pipeline: BROOKS, CASTILLO, OROZCO, YEDLIN; SEBASTIEN IBEAGHA (Horsens), WILL PACKWOOD (Birmingham City), TIM REAM (Bolton)
MIDFIELD
With JERMAINE JONES & KYLE BECKERMAN probably playing in their one and only WC, USA will need to find a INT-quality replacement, I found the perfect guy .. .. MICHAEL BRADLEY .. .. The Captain has proved with a doubt, he can not hold the ball and distribute at the highest level .. .. Always the fittest guy on the team, please keep him as far back as possible .. .. Then who will be the #10 in Russia? Perhaps MIX DISKERUD, BENJI JOYA, or another attacking talent somewhere we have not seen yet .. ..
In the Pipeline: CORONA, DISKERUD; RUSS CANOUSE (Hoffenheim), LYNDEN GOOCH (Sunderland), JOSH GATT (Molde), JOSEPH-CLUADE GYAU (Hoffenheim), EMERSON HYNDMAN (Fulham), BENJI JOYA (Santos/Chicago) SEBASTIAN LLETGET (West Ham United), CALEB STANKO (Freiburg), GEDION ZELALEM (Arsenal)
FORWARDS
This one is going to be interesting > Who is it going to be if it isn't JOZY ALTIDORE or CLINT DEMPSEY .. .. There is some pretty good talent in the pipeline like TERRENCE BOYD and a lot of kids that will get long looks with the U-23s, but my main worry is a #10 .. ..
In the Pipeline: BOYD, GREEN, JOHANNSSON; JUAN AGUDELO (unattached), ROMAIN GALL (Lorient), JOE GALLARDO (Monterrey), MARIO RODRIGUEZ (Borussia Monchengladbach), YEVGENI STARIKOV (Tomsk Tomsk), ANDREW WOOTEN (Kaiserslautern)
HERR JURGEN
Regardless of the final results in BRA, he has proven his long-range outlook is 100% accurate .. .. He fantasized of being able to play a 4-3-3 all the time, but is pragmatic enough to know that a 4-1-3-1-1 is best for this side and is able to adapt .. .. And, how about the 'moves'?
+ Moving JERMAINE JONES out to LM for Ghana and moving him back to DM to keep an eye on RONALDO
+ Badgering JOHN-ANTHONY BROOKS to play for the USA U-20 Side in 2011; Guess it worked out well, huh?
+ Badgering FABIAN JOHNSON to play for the USA and use his skills as a RWB
+ Introducing a fresh DE ANDRE YEDLIN who started the counter that led to USAs second goal v. POR
+ Realizing OMAR GONZALEZ is still recovering from his knee knock
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