Bradley Names 33-Man Roster For Friendlies

U.S. national team head coach Bob Bradley has named a 33-player pool for the U.S. team’s upcoming matches against England, Spain and Argentina.

Most of the usual suspects and the typical few surprises are out there. The surprises may outweigh the usual suspects though this time around. We have some guys that Bradley has called up who are playing very well these days and are being rewarded for it; and some guys who haven’t seem much action at all lately.

Either way, I think we have a solid mix of players here for these friendlies. Some MLS clubs will be affected by these games but in the long run of things I’m sure the clubs won’t mind too much seeing their players up against some of the world’s best like England, Spain and Argentina.

I think it is safe to say that after looking at the roster (posted below) that Tim Howard will more than likely be the keeper for all three matches here in the coming weeks. Brad Guzan may have a shot at one of them but more than likely it will have to be Howard.

In defense we really see no shockers. Either its the usual suspects or guys that have been playing well as of late and are being rewarded for it. Any combination of these players are likely to be seen in all three games. I would say that at least two of the three we will get a good sense of who Bradley is thinking about for the starting backline in the World Cup in a couple years.

The midfield is where there are lots of things to talk about. Seeing names like Eddie Lewis and Pablo Mastronei are a bit of a shock to me. Neither one has played much recently or played well in the minutes that they have seen. Aside from those two, I’m pretty pleased with who Bradley is taking a look at here.

And up top, we finally see Kenny Cooper get a callup here. His play this season has been good, so the callup was certainly due. The same can easily be said for Robbie Rogers, who’s five goals are tied with Cooper for second in the league behind Landon Donovan right now. Two other interesting names are Eddie Johnson and Nate Jaqua. EJ didn’t really live up to the expectations at Fulham, even with his club not getting relegated. Jaqua is out of contract at the moment after seeing some time in the Austrian league. I would say he is probably playing for a contract here.

Here is the 33-player pool:

GOALKEEPERS- Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS- Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)

FORWARDS- Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich)

Any surprises that you see here? I’m sure Ching’s name will get a few people going.