If I were choosing the 23-man roster for WC 2006 today, assuming no injuries, it would look something like this (in no particular order):

GK
Keller
Howard
Hahnemann

D
Gooch
Boca
Hejduk
Gibbs
Cherundolo
Pope
(Zavagnin, Berhalter, Vanney)

D/M
Mastroeni
Lewis
(Convey)

M
Reyna
Beasley
Donovan
JOB
Dempsey
(Ralston, Armas)

M/F
Donovan
(Noonan)

F
McBride
EJ
(Twellman, Wolff, Casey)

I have 19 definites. The players in parentheses are possibles, so pick four of those to complete the squad.

You HAVE to have another forward, so one of the four spots goes to Twellman, Wolff, or Casey. You also probably need another mid, so Armas or Ralston goes.

If I decide to try and play a 3-5-2 (my favorite formation), I would take Convey and Noonan as the other two players. Convey can play outside mid or outside back, and Noonan can play mid or forward.

On the other hand, if I'm sure I will use a 4-man backline the whole time, I probably take both Zavagnin and Berhalter instead.

Of course, in reality, there will be a few injuries that will make these choices easier.

Also, I would beg Brad Friedel to take the backup keeper spot.

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Also, I would beg Brad Friedel to take the backup keeper spot.

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Does he not want it?

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Does he not want it?

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He retired from international soccer last year, but he still plays for Blackburn.

Tool,

Is there a rule somewhere that says they need to take 3 goal keepers to the world cup? Seems like a waste to me...

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Is there a rule somewhere that says they need to take 3 goal keepers to the world cup? Seems like a waste to me...

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I don't know. I was thinking I could really use one more roster spot, though.

Here's mine, as of right now, assuming everyone is healthy:

GK
Keller
Howard
Hahnemann

D
Gooch
Boca
Hejduk
Gibbs
Cherundolo
Berhalter
Conrad
Albright
(I really want to put Pope here, but I think some guys have past him up and if I included him instead of Albright we'd be pretty heavy on center backs)

D/M
Mastroeni
Lewis


M
Reyna
Beasley
Donovan
JOB
Dempsey
Convey

F
McBride
EJ
Twellman
Wolff

I personally don't see either Noonan or Armas getting selected.

According to FIFA rules, the roster is 23 players, three of which MUST be keepers. I don't have a link, but it's on the FIFA site somewhere.

- Armas has a torn ACL and as I understand it, won't make it back in time for the World Cup.
- Connor Casey is also recovering from an ACL although I think he just started back training w/ Mainz. I think at this point, Ching will be selected before Casey.
- Despite Pope's recent issues, I still think he makes it as the veteran central defenseman.

The biggest questions remaining are Left Back, Right Mid, and the forwards. The most important IMHO is that we desperately need EJ to regain form as a consistent finisher. He can cause havok if he regains form.

I think that you would take Pope just for the leadership. You have to think that in a 23 man roster, maybe 20 will see the field. Pope could be one of the three that doesn't but his lockerroom leadership at this point wou;d be invaluble.

You guys have basically captured my reasoning on Pope. I don't think he's really good enough, but his great volume of experience is worth something.

The more I think about it, the more I think I should have made Convey a definite.

I just can't bring myself to put both Twellman and Wolff on the squad, though I think Arena will probably do that.

At this point, I would personally take Twellman over WOlf. They are both hustle players, so no problem there. However, Wolff hasn't seemed to score any big goals for us lately. He misses on a huge number of chances. Twellman on the other hand, has the benefit of pointing to yesterday's hat trick, but prior to that he only scored 1 goal in 14 games. NOt good.

I guess I would go with Twellman because Wolff has been given the nod in the past and really hasn't impressed me too much. Maybe Twellman would step up.

I agree with tool's lineup(assuming everyone is healthy). Id take convey, noonan, twellman, and kerry z. I think we got a pretty solid backline, and id take playmakers that have a work ethic over 4 bluecollar bruisers...thats american soccer's past.

Do any of you guys think Spector has a shot to make the 23?

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Do any of you guys think Spector has a shot to make the 23?

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Not this time. Not enough club PT, and we already have enough talented backs with more national team caps.

Convey is definitely a definite with the way he is playing in the 1st division in England. I think he could contend to start with his current form.

I don't know where Convey would start with a completely healthy US roster. I'd like to see what he can do playing the attacking midfielder role like Landon Donovan. Right now we don't have anybody that can play that position well behind Donovan and if we were to move Landon to forward at some point in the tournament I'm thinking Convey could do a good job there. Maybe Bruce will test that out while the nats are playing their warmup matches in March.

yeah, I haven't figured out where he would go either. I think moving Donovan to forward could a mistake. He seems most effective getting the ball at his feet and running at the defense which is what he is able to do from his attacking midfield position. There are too many times, when at forward, he receives the ball with his back to the goal and is renderred ineffective.