The Nov. 14 Slovak Friendly: What Do the Call-ups Mean in the Long Run?

The 22-man roster for the U.S. Men's friendly versus Slovakia on Saturday, Nov. 14, has been announced.

Goalkeepers: (3)  Brad Guzan, Troy Perkins, Marcus Hahnemann.

Defenders: (9) Carlos Bocanegra, Johnathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Chad Marshall, Jimmy Conrad, Clarence Goodson, Johnathan Spector, Heath Pearce, Frankie Hejduk.

Midfielders: (6) Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty, Robbie Rogers.

Forwards: (4) Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Jeff Cunningham, Eddie Johnson.

A number of regulars are not available due to the MLS Conference Championships, notably, Landon Donovan, Brian Ching, Ricardo Clark, and Stuart Holden. 

The two significant Mexican League-based players, Jose Torres and the eagerly-awaited Edgar Castillo face each other that Saturday with playoff implications on the line, and have not been called out of league.

Overall, despite some freak outs on the soccer blogosphere, this is a pretty solid call-up. 

Here's my projected starting lineup:

Goalkeeper: Guzan.

Defense: Spector/Cherundolo, Marshall, Bocanegra, Bornstein.

Midfield: Dempsey, Klejstan, Bradley, Feilhaber.

Forwards: Altidore, Casey.

I know, you're thinking, "what are you smoking, Chil? And why wasn't Freddie Adu called up?"

Note that with the unavailability of players who had significant starts in the World Cup Qualifying Round due to playoffs (listed above) or injuries (Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit), we're filling six slots with likely 2010 starters (Bornstein, Bocanegra, Spector/Cherundolo, Dempsey, Bradley, Altidore).

Brad Guzan is an excellent goalie (and only 25 years of age I'd like to add) who may take Brad Friedel's job away at Aston Villa. Guzan's clean sheet against Egypt in the Confederations Cup enabled the 3-0 miracle that allowed us to advance out of group play and eventually reach the final.  

Tim Howard has played a ton of games for club and country this year, and deserves his rest. This is an opportunity to give our No. 2 goalie time to work with the back line.

The back line is solid. Bocanegra and Bornstein can both play left back. We have a good, serious competition at right back between Spector and Cherundolo. Since both Gooch and DeMerit are out, I expect Bornstein at left, allowing Bocanegra to play center back. 

The only question is who pairs with Bocanegra in the middle? I give the edge to  Columbus' Chad Marshall, the two-time MLS Defender of the Year, who just finished his season.

How much does this roster versus Slovakia mean? With the World Cup only seven months away, you'll see it means plenty.

It's interesting that Bob Bradley called up nine defenders and only six midfielders.

In an ideal world, the likely back line for the World Cup would have been Bornstein/Bocanegra/Castillo at left back, DeMerit and Onyewu in center, and Spector/Cherundolo at right back, and two backups for center.  

Oguchi Onyewu's patellar tendon tear in the last minutes of the Costa Rica qualifier threw a wrench in this equation.  

Now, we have to find a pair with chemistry in the middle. That's what's going on with the nine defensive back callup. Right now, we're naked at left back, with Bornstein holding the role, Bocanegra starting at center back, but backing up Bornstein, and Castillo unproven. We have an unfilled center back partner for Bocanegra, and a good competition at right back (Spector/Cherundolo).

The makeup of the USMNT back line for the World Cup currently depends on this: Who will have good chemistry with Carlos Bocanegra?  Marshall, Goodson, and Conrad have all been called in for this purpose. They're all big, solid center backs. 

Jay DeMerit, the starter in the Onyewu-DeMerit pair, is expected back soon from his eye injury. Still, his return to play at Watford will be between games for the 'Nats and no one will get to play with him until March. 

The U.S. central back pair is wide open at this point. Carlos Bocanegra is a dependable option, but any duo that can replicate the DeMerit-Onyewu aerial dominance can win the job.   

Will Onyewu be back and in form?  His injury is supposedly a six-month recovery. That puts him returning in mid-March, 10 weeks to get in form before the World Cup.

Playing time will be crucial, and that will only happen if AC Milan loans him out somewhere. Tough sell for a short time. Provided that he recovers, I do expect him to make the WC roster, but not to start.  

Edgar Castillo has been touted as a standout left back. He was left out of the Slovakia friendly due to Mexican League considerations, but may be called up for the Denmark friendly. Regardless, until he proves himself on the national stage, our left back situation is Johnathan Bornstein starting with Carlos Bocanegra starting center while backing up left back. 

The midfield situation for the Slovakia game is somewhat boring.

Bradley called up six midfielders: his son, Michael, Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty, and Robbie Rogers. The much-heralded Jermaine Jones continues to be sidelined with stress fracture issues.

Of these six, there are only three who've received significant playing time during the qualifiers—Bradley, Dempsey, and Feilhaber. 

These three will start. Who will be the fourth? 

Feilhaber plays left wide at Danish Aarhus. He will start there as a potential backup to Donovan. Michael Bradley of course plays defensive midfielder, and Clint Dempsey is our and Fulham's right wide. 

So, who to pair with Michael in the middle? The only answer on the list is Chivas' Sacha Klejstan. He's in form, having just finished his MLS season, and has history with Bob Bradley and some early qualifying caps, though he has been left off the roster for the hexagonal. Does he have a chance to impress? Sure. 

Dax McCarty has no national caps and Robbie Rogers is a wide midfielder with great pace and crossing ability, including the corner kick that led to Bornstein's tying goal versus Costa Rica. He'll get some serious time and a chance to solidify his case for a spot on the 2010 roster in the absence of Stuart Holden, held back due to MLS playoffs.

This, of course, means we will continue to play the 4-4-2, despite the injury to Charlie Davies and some calls on the blogosphere for a change to various other formations.

It's seven months to the World Cup, and believe me, the Bradley Administration is going to stay with the formation that the players have played with.

(ASIDE: I've been thinking about the benefits of a 4-2-3-1 lineup for the 'Nats (not the "Christmas Tree" 4-3-2-1), but I don't think the coaching staff makes changes this late in the game, though I may yet write about it later in the year. You're welcome.)

MLS leading scorer Jeff Cunningham has been called up, as well as Eddie Johnson, Conor Casey, and Jozy Altidore for the forward spots. 

Eddie is the odd man out, getting low playing time at Fulham. For continuity's sake, Casey and Altidore, the only two with qualifier time, start, though this is no sure measure of Casey's grip on making the final squad.

There are no speedy, aggressive Charlie Davies replacements, though Jeff Cunningham gets the first shot off the bench. 

Since it's a friendly, there are six substitutions instead of the usual three. 

Bob Bradley's going to start the game with six likely World Cup starters. Who's he going to finish with?

Let's look through the current USMNT battles.

Goalie:  (1) Tim Howard (2) Brad Guzan (3) Perkins/Hahnemann.

Defenders: Spector/Cherundolo, Marshall/Goodson/Conrad, Bocanegra/DeMerit, Bornstein/Bocanegra/Castillo.

Midfield: Donovan, Bradley, Clark, Dempsey, (?)(Feilheiber), + (??)(Holden, Rogers, Torres) + (???)(Edu, Jones)+(????)(Adu).

Forwards: Altidore, (?)(Ching, Casey), (??)(Cooper),(???)(Cunningham, Johnson),(????)(Findley, any future call ups).

For the Danish game, after the L.A. Galaxy-Houston Dynamo playoff, an influx of players will be available.  Either Landon Donovan will be back at his traditional left wide, or Ricardo Clark in the middle, with Stuart Holden available for wide, and Brian Ching up front. 

So, the Slovakia game call-up means plenty.