In this monthly segment, we attempt to answer the question, "Who should we take to South Africa?" Rather than taking the standard approach (doing our best to guess who Bob will take to South Africa), we focus on who we think Bradley should take.This month's edition of Bradley's Babes is different than all others in that we will be narrowing down our player field to 30 or fewer (as this is required by FIFA). Rather than forcing ourselves to get to 30, we will instead focus our view on all players we believe should have a legitimate chance of making the roster--this may leave us with fewer than 30. With the Cup fast approaching, having a narrower focus may be better.
The news has been pretty good over the last month. Despite the president of Sochaux declaring Charlie Davies wouldn't play for the rest of the season, his return to full training with the club gives us some hope that he'll be ready to go by the World Cup--or, at the very least, deserves a chance to prove himself at the camp. Oguchi Onyewu and Stuart Holden returned to full training recently, too. Herculez Gomez finished the season tied for the goalscoring lead in Mexico. Edson Buddle is also enjoying the form of his life, scoring 9 goals, 5 of which were game winners, in just 6 games. After being relegated to bench roles, both Eddie Johnson and Freddy Adu are finishing the Greek season strong. In a recent match against Olympiacos, Freddy set up one goal and drew a penalty, while Johnson scored two goals. We won't go as far as to say Bob Bradley is now spoiled for choice, but things aren't looking quite as grim as they were a month ago.
Here is our preferred World Cup Camp roster:
GOALKEEPERS
Tim Howard - (To the tune of "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister) "We've got Timmy Howard! Yeah, we've got Timmy Howard! We've got Timmy Howard, you can't score!" ~Guy at Nevada Smith's during USA-Honduras game. Let's run with this one, people.
Marcus Hahnemann - Considering his form and Guzan's lack of playing time, I think it's safe to say Hahnemann is our #2.
Brad Guzan - He's got the talent, but his lack of playing time has set him back to third string.
COMMENTS: This group is set, so there's no need to bring along someone like Troy Perkins whose club needs him much, much more than we do.
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DEFENDERS
Oguchi Onyewu - He's back to full training. Let's hope he sees the field in the next couple games.
Carlos Bocanegra - Still not sure if we should start him at left back or center back.
Jonathan Spector - Still not sure if we should start him at left back or right back.
Jay DeMerit - His starting prospects hinge on the outcome of the two dilemmas above. Just a hunch, but I think he'll start at least one game at the World Cup.
Steve Cherundolo- Same story as DeMerit. I like his chances of starting at least one game.
Clarence Goodson - I'm not totally sold on Goodson, but after Onyewu, Bocanegra, and DeMerit, there is a huge drop-off at center back. This one might just be the next in line.
Heath Pearce - When you look at our lack of depth at left back, you realize that we have no choice but to consider bringing Mr. Inconsistent to South Africa.
Jimmy Conrad - The one consistently good MLS center back in the pool who has proven himself on the international level. He'll have to prove something in camp, but he's still in the hunt for the World Cup.
Jonathan Bornstein- I'm certainly not a believer, but with the lack of depth at left back, and the need for one more besides Bocanegra and Spector, we're forced to give a look to this supposedly improving left back.
COMMENTS: Unfortunately we can't wait any longer on Chad Marshall's recovery. Even a healthy Marshall would be a long-shot at this point. The saddest story of all is that of Geoff Cameron. We were ready to bring him into camp as a potential contributor at outside back and defensive midfield, but he has suffered a season-ending injury and won't be able to make it.
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MIDFIELDERS
Landon Donovan - Edson Buddle's goal binge is due, at least in part, to Landon Donovan's play. He has 5 assists in 6 games.
Clint Dempsey - Injury scare: over. Dempsey started (at forward) and scored against West Ham.
Michael Bradley - With ball-winner Maurice Edu playing with him, we'd like to see Bradley take a slightly more advanced role.
Maurice Edu - Holding down a starting role at Rangers. Can be used as a center back if needed.
Stuart Holden - He has recovered from his fracture and started full training. We like him to start, but that depends largely on the next month of training.
Jose Francisco Torres - No longer seems like a real threat to start, but should definitely come along to South Africa.
Benny Feilhaber - Same goes for him.
Alejandro Bedoya- Given our dearth of true wingers and Bedoya's versatility, I don't see how he doesn't go to the World Cup.
Ricardo Clark - He's finally started to get some good playing time. His inclusion the roster seems pretty likely at this point.
DaMarcus Beasley - Came on as an early sub in Rangers' Sunday fixture. This gives Mr. Beasley a much needed lifeline.
Freddy Adu - While most have been counting him out for months, we've always felt there was some hope for Freddy. He is ending the season strongly, winning a starting role, and deserves to get a look at the World Cup Camp.
COMMENTS: The other players we considered inviting to camp were Robbie Rogers, Sacha Kljestan, and Kyle Beckerman. But in the end, we determined we wouldn't feel comfortable playing any of them in a World Cup. They've all had plenty of opportunities to impress, but they've never really delivered. (Note: Beckerman probably would have been included if we weren't so stacked at center mid.)
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FORWARDS
Jozy Altidore - He's grown a lot in the last year. Can't wait to see him at the Cup.
Charlie Davies - Seems like he should make the roster. The real question is: Will he be healthy enough to start?
Brian Ching - Plays a forward role that no one else in the pool can pull off. We don't see target forward as necessary for success, but it's good to have one as an option.
Edson Buddle - Form doesn't get much more ridiculous than 9 goals in 6 games. Especially when you look at how they're dispersed--it's not as if he scored 8 against a PDL team in the Open Cup. Not a lock to come along, but he needs a closer look.
Herculez Gomez - We're not as sold on this one, but we also can't deny his form. Our concern is that he scored most of his goals after coming on as a substitute. No question he's on fire and capable of scoring, but is he really one of the three or four most talented strikers in our pool? I suppose we'll find out in the camp and upcoming friendlies.
Eddie Johnson- He's quietly had a solid year in the Greek League. You get the sense that he has humbled himself and improved as a player since moving to Europe. Might not yet be worthy of a World Cup spot, but with the sharp drop-off after Altidore and Davies, he definitely deserves a look at the camp.
Conor Casey- We believe we'd rather take no target forward than Conor Casey, if Brian Ching is ruled out. That said, we don't want to completely close ourselves off to the option.
COMMENTS: Seven strikers. There's got to be three good ones in there. Right?
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So in the end, we were able to find 30 players who we feel still have legitimate arguments for making the World Cup--3 keepers, 9 defenders, 11 midfielders, and 7 strikers. Hopefully the events of the next month will provide some clarity before we're forced to narrow it down to the final 23! Here's a look at our preferred starting eleven of the month:
--------------------Jozy Altidore------------Clint Dempsey---------------------
Landon Donovan--------------------------------------------------Stuart Holden
------------------------------------Michael Bradley-------------------------------
--------------------------------------Maurice Edu---------------------------------
Carlos Bocanegra------------------------------------------Jonathan Spector
------------------------Jay DeMerit--------Oguchi Onyewu------------------
--------------------------------------Tim Howard---------------------------------
Players currently challenging for starting spots: Steve Cherundolo, Charlie Davies. We can't lie. Sochaux's president's remarks about Charlie Davies have scared us a little, and we were forced to reconsider his starting role for us. Right now, it seems most likely that he will be healthy enough to come along to South Africa, but perhaps not healthy enough to start. We also don't discount the possibility of him starting one game, but not all three. That said, if Davies is 100% we'd move Deuce back to his right wing position and put Holden back on the bench. (Let's not forget, Holden is still recovering from an injury himself.) On the defensive side of the ball, the question still remains: Do we play Spector or Bocanegra at left back? We still feel Bocanegra is the answer (in large part because we like DeMerit and would love to keep Spector on the right), but this still changes from week-to-week.
