US National Team Roster for Cuba and T&T Qualifiers

September 6 at Cuba
September 10 vs. Trinidad and Tobago in Chicago
October 11 vs. Cuba in Washington DC
October 15 at Trinidad and Tobago

GK: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

D: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Danny Califf (FC Midjtylland), Steven Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Marvell Wynne (FC Toronto)

M: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles)

F: Brian Ching (Houston), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City)

Bob Bradley is mostly sticking with the squad that gritted out a victory over Guatemala two weeks ago.  Jay DeMerit and Pablo Mastroeni are gone with Ricardo Clark and uncapped Olympian Michael Orozco taking their places.  Clark has looked shaky at times, but mostly solid for Houston, while Orozco was exposed by Robbie Rogers’ lack of zeal for defense in Beijing, mostly up to the challenge.

Howard looked great against Guatemala, and Guzan is a quality second option.  The Aston Villa ‘keeper looked good in the Olympics.

Bocanegra and Onyewu are good enough for the backline, but I’m not sold on any of the other defensive options.  Wynne combines great pace with poor crossing and a tendency to gamble too much.  Orozco and Pearce can be solid or spotty, Hejduk and Cherundolo are on the decline.  Hejduk has not been tested as much as you would expect in Columbus with teams attacking the revolving door of players on the left side instead.  When he has been tested, he has a tendency to gamble on going to the ground instead of staying on his feet and staying in front of his man.  Cherundolo has been up and down in National Team duty recently and Califf has impressed at Midjtylland.

The midfield remains the team’s greatest outfield strength.  Beasley sparked the victory over Guatemala, Kljestan is at times an outstanding link player in the middle, at times invisible.  Lewis and Bradley are solid, with Lewis providing valuable experience and a long-range scoring threat, and Edu is one of the nation’s top rising all-around talents (when he isn’t too fatigued from traveling around the world).  It does, however, seem strange that Bradley would dislodge Edu from Rangers so soon after his arrival in Glasgow.

The front line is where things get worrisome.  Donovan is good enough in one forward spot, but who is going to pair with him?  Ching is a poor man’s Brian McBride and probably not good enough as a target man for serious international competition.  Neither Johnson nor Dempsey are in form right now, as Johnson was so far down the list at Fulham that he got loaned to Cardiff City and Dempsey has been dropped from the Cottagers’ starting lineup and hasn’t seen time as a sub.  Edson Buddle and Kenny Cooper are both in good form right now, and would benefit from International experience at an early stage in the qualifying game, but neither seems to be on Bradley’s radar.

Edu to Rangers for $5 million?

Toronto FC and US International midfielder/Olympic central defender Maurice Edu appears set to join Scottish Premier League side Glasgow Rangers for £2.7 million (a little over $5 million). Apparently Rangers was interested in the former University of Maryland standout at the end of last year, but MLS was not ready to sell. Once Rangers approached a second time, MLS was ready to relinquish his rights. Oddly coincidental that Edu was at the top of his game at the end of last season, but he has been a bit inconsistent this year for Toronto, at times trying to do too much. Once his form became spotty, MLS listened to transfer offers. One has to wonder if the same will happen with FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper.

To me, Edu always seemed like more of a pure central midfielder than a defensive midfielder. He is comfortable on the ball, has good pace, and passes well. He isn’t quite sure enough defensively for his role to be mainly defensive (he looked decent at center back in the Olympics, but his tackling wasn’t strong enough and he’s only 6′0, which hinders his aerial ability). It will be interesting to see how Rangers end up employing him.

As far as another top American going abroad (Canada doesn’t qualify as “abroad”), I’m conflicted. American players certainly come back from Europe with a better understanding of the training required to be top professionals, as they get much better training across the Atlantic than they ever would in the United States, and their eventual returns to MLS strengthen the quality of play in the league. However, MLS needs to be an atmosphere where top American players can reach their full potential in a domestic league, rather than one that cultivates prospects whose talents are refined abroad. As the previous generation of top Yanks returns to the U.S. (Eddie Lewis, Pat Noonan, Cory Gibbs, Josh Wolff, Kasey Keller), the newest generation continues to garner attention from abroad (Edu, Cooper, and the growing number of players who reject MLS contracts after being drafted, like Dominic Cervi and Michael Vedeira).

Kudos to Dallas for standing up and refusing to sell Cooper, it’s too bad Toronto wouldn’t do the same, but understandable that Edu, the first player chosen in the 2007 MLS Superdraft, would want to improve his game in the SPL. He’ll be a real asset to the US National Team if he can become a little more mature and consistent.