Bob Bradley has a lot of thinkin' to do right now. (Getty Images)

I realized I’ve slacked on my World Cup hype duties these last couple months and now that the big event is a month and a half away I need to pick it up here. Today just seems like a good day to talk about the USMNT and who Bob Bradley will call into camp next month.

We know Bradley will be calling in more than what will ultimately become the final 23-man roster for the World Cup. He’s gotta do this to evaluate the final few roster spots that aren’t finalized just yet. Most would agree that a good chunk of the roster is probably already set in Bradley’s mind. He knows his keepers and likely most of his defense and midfield. But up top things get dicy with the slew of injuries and lack of quality form out of some guys in the pool.

Bradley has a lot to consider in the form of guys coming off of injuries too at this point, which in a way is a good thing. Sure their form could be off but having a few main guys back will go a long way in getting out of the group stages in June.

You’ve probably seen plenty of these rosters guesses but this is my take at it. Feel free to agree or disagree below in the comments section. I’ll give you my 26-28 guys I think that could be called in next month (obviously not all will be called here).

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan

There’s really no dancing around this one unless one of these guys goes down in the final weeks of the English season. Howard is the easy pick for starter and really if we had to go with the other two in any game I’d feel okay with that as well.

Defense: Jonathan Spector, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay Demerit, Carlos Bocanegra, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Heath Pearce

This area is fairly set in my mind. Having Onyewu back in training at AC Milan is huge for him and the US. I’ve gone back and forth in my mind over Bornstein’s inclusion with the team but he’s a Bradley guy so he’s in no matter what really. I won’t go into who should start on the right or left back but with this group we should be ok. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Spector at left back at this point but Bocanegra could end up there as well based on his play in France this year.

Midfield: Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden, Maurice Edu, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, Ricardo Clark, Alejandro Bedoya, Jose Francisco Torres, DaMarcus Beasley

Things get a little tougher here. In a way I consider both Deuce and Donovan more as strikers than as midfielders but I know they’ll be listed here when the roster comes out so I won’t even try arguing it. There is a thought too that Edu could slide into a centerback role as well which could free up another spot for another midfielder or take away from one defender.

Holden is getting healthy and that’s a real positive thing to see for this group of players. I think Bedoya has made some major strides in getting close to winning a roster spot, he’s one of my darkhorse picks here. Beasley is another guy that is on the fringe for me but I just got a gut feeling that he’ll make it.

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Edson Buddle, Herculez Gomez, Charlie Davies, Eddie Johnson, Brian Ching

This group is the hardest to figure out. Part of me thinks Brian Ching will make it if he returns from injury in time, the other part of me figures at this point its a long shot. With the way that Buddle and Gomez have played recently we know at least one of them should probably make it to South Africa.

I put Casey up there because I see him as another one of those Bradley guys. His form hasn’t been great this season but its been good enough. I don’t love the idea of Johnson here but he’s really finding his own way in Greece right now which should boost his confidence. He’s one of those guys that rides good confidence to the bank and if he is sailing high right now in Greece it will only make things tougher on Bradley, which isn’t a bad thing either.

Here is the list:

Jozy Altidore
Jonathan Bornstein
Conor Casey
Ricardo Clark
Benny Feilhaber
Brad Guzan
Sacha Kljestan

These seven players will not be traveling with the 23-man U.S. Gold Cup squad, but will join the team for specific games during the tournament. I honeestly don’t know how that will work but I am guessing some of the west coast guys will join the team when they play in Seattle and others will join when they are in the east coast playing in DC or in Boston.

Are you happy with these additions or wish some other guys got a shot at this tournament?

Well, today he was granted that very permit.

That stumbling block prevented his move from MLS to the EPL back in January, a move that probably cost the league and Guzan millions of dollars. But after he played in a few U.S. matches this year, including both World Cup qualifiers, there seemed to be no way he would be denied. And he wasn’t.

So congrats to Brad for finally getting what he wants. Any wonder if he has sent Taylor Twellman a message to tell him how he did it.

UPDATE:Here is a little video tribute the club sent along…

But before an influx of new talent comes into Major League Soccer I wanted to spend a little time looking back at the homegrown stuff here in the States. More importantly the homegrown talent that comes out of the college ranks and what not through the league’s SuperDraft.

I am mainly looking at old drafts and thought it was worth a mention to take a look back at the last few drafts to see not only how clubs did but the players that have moved on to bigger and better things through the league. Also to talk about the players who were picked high and ended up as duds (there are more than you’d think).

For the most part the MLS SuperDraft finds us about 10 good players and about 30 or so not-so-good players. Some last in the league, others don’t make it, and some head for Europe before the first kick of their rookie season. I think the draft will continue to go on in the future but with fewer rounds before long. Once the homegrown talent from youth academies kick in we will mainly see college players go through this process. And most of those won’t come with a high profile either in my best estimate.

I’m only taking us as far back as the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. I feel like in this now-expansion era of MLS soccer, that’s a solid starting point for discussions like these. Not to mention most of those players by now are either hits or misses.

As always feel free to pipe in your own thoughts about these past drafts below.

2005 MLS SuperDraft:

• I think it is fair to say that the top pick in this draft is still a kid. Nikolas Besagno probably didn’t go to the best club (RSL) to develop his talents but the jury may actually still be out on this kid. But by other people’s standards a top pick that has only seen eight league matches since being draft isn’t a good thing. If he was worth the top pick he would be a steady starter by now, at least.
• Brad Guzan went second to Chivas, I think right now we all know how well that pick turned out to be for both sides.
• I forgot Chad Barrett went at number three to Chicago in this one. Worthy of a top three pick? Maybe not with his inconsistent finishing. Still fairly young though, but I’m sure looking back on this the Fire would have loved to get a better defender out of this draft (Michael Parkhurst or Drew Moor). Though they did end up with a LATE steal in the third round with Gonzalo Segares.
• Speaking of Parkhurst, he was easily the best player in the draft now that we look back on it four years later.
• Rounding out the rest of the first round, lots of role players right now for the most part. Not a lot of big names to speak of. That’s what you get when seven of the first 12 picks are defenders.
• Chicago easily had the best draft…along with Barrett they got two third round gems in Segares and Chris Rolfe. Not many clubs in any sport in America can say they got two steals in a late round like the Fire did. Pretty impressive.

2006 MLS SuperDraft:

• Marvelle Wynne was the top pick with New York, though his time didn’t last long in New York I still believe he is one of the better wingbacks in the league right now. His pace and ability to get down the wings shows us reasons why he was the top pick in 2006.
• Mehdi Ballouchy carried on the tradition of terrible draft picks for RSL in their first couple of seasons. How this guy is not in the USL or somewhere below that is beyond me.
• Then again the jury is almost out of time on guys right after Ballouchy like Jason Garey and Yuri Movsisyan.
• Best draft may have gone to Chivas who nabbed Sasha Kljestan with the 5th pick and then in the forth round with a steal of a pick in Jonanthan Bornstein.
• We all know Jozy Altidore was drafted in the second round and how big that was. Easily a steal by anyone’s account, especially now looking at some of the crap drafted above him.
• Some decent picks here and there in the first round now that we know more about some of these kids. Kai Kamera shows flashes here and there, Dax McCarty is as solid as they come when he is healthy, same could be said about guys like Jed Zayner, Nathan Sturgis, and Patrick Ianni.
• Biggest dud of the draft may have been New England’s pick with Leandro de Oliveria. Yeah I don’t recall the name and couldn’t find a bit on him. Wow, for all the praise we give Steve Nicol and the Revs for finding gems in each draft he came up short on that one. Anyone have a story on that kid?

2007 MLS SuperDraft:

• Its almost like a gulf in class between some of these drafts and this one. I think it may be a product of younger and better talent either not going into college or in the top pick’s case not staying in college very long. Either way this was a pretty solid draft.
• A lot of trades in this draft…and I mean a lot. The Joe Cannon trade, the Ronnie O’Brien trade, the popular Amado Guvara deal. Plus many others that really shaped this draft.
• Of course it is still early to tell with some players still in this draft but we are starting to see some key role players out of this bunch with guys like Wells Thompson, Brad Evans, Anthony Wallace, and Amaechi Igwe.
• Maurice Edu was by far the best player in the draft, may be one of the best number one picks the league has ever seen really.
• I was low on the second pick for a little while but I’ve come around to Chicago’s Bakery Soumare.
• Chris Seitz continues to be talked about as the best keeper in this draft (which he was by and far) but we haven’t seen much of that in league play out of him. Tough to be a young budding keeper when you have a veteran standing in the way. Don’t be shocked if this kid is in Europe in a year or two.
• Steal of the draft by some accounts was New England’s forth round pick in Adam Cristman.
  
• Second round steal goes to New York (again) with Dane Richards.
  
• Some could say Robbie Findley was a steal in the second round as well. Considering some of the players picked above those two (hello, Chicago picking Jerson Monterio or Colorado taking Nico Colaluca).

2008 MLS SuperDraft:

• Yeah okay, I won’t go into this one too much since we are STILL figuring this draft out. Come back next year I suppose. Its anyone’s guess who got the best draft, much less the best player!

It appears that his former owner Jorge Vergara is looking to transfer in a player from one of his other clubs, Deportivo Saprissa to replace Guzan. According to this article, Vergara wants to bring in 21-year old Keylor Navas from the Costa Rican club.

Jorge Vergara, the Mexican businessman who is a part-owner of Chivas USA, confirmed Friday to the L.A. Times that Guzan was headed to England, although he failed to state the club.

“Yes, it’s true,” Vergara told the Times. “He’s leaving for Europe, to England specifically, and we’re very happy and very glad that another Chivas player is going to Europe. We’re going to replace him with a very talented goalkeeper from Saprissa in Costa Rica. A very young one but very talented.”

Keilor Navas Gamboa, 21, is believed to be the goalkeeper Vergara was referring to.

Replace one young keeper with one that is said to be a very up and coming star in Costa Rica sounds like a solid move. No word what it will cost Chivas USA but I like the sound of this move on the part that Vergara and company are looking to quickly get a piece in place to try and improve the state of the club.

Chivas fans does this sound like a nice move?

Update: More confirmation, Ives is reporting that the transfer fee is $1.5 million and that Villa and Major League Soccer agreed to the fee and completed the transfer today.

We all pretty much saw this coming. Guzan was extremely close to going to Aston Villa in January but the deal fell apart at the last minute when he couldn’t secure a work permit.

The league and Guzan really had only a couple options as his contract (which is owned by the league) was set to expire at the end of the year; re-sign with the league, go to Europe during the summer transfer window or leave on a free transfer in the winter. Obviously the league isn’t dump enough to just let him walk out on a free transfer so the second option was really all they could do with his desire to head abroad.

For Chivas USA, the move is a big blow. With Guzan they had a chance to return to the playoffs for the third straight season. Even with the inconsistent play this season due to injuries, Chivas was starting to make their way back up the western standings. Now, without Guzan the Goats have now number-o-uno keeper Dan Kennedy. While Kennedy isn’t terrible he is no Guzan.

There may be a reinforcement coming but Kennedy has been around long enough (since the start of the preseason) to have learned both from Guzan and the coaching staff. Also, its not shocker to Chivas who may be in the market for another keeper and will have the cash to pay for one if they decide to go for a decent name out there.

Tough blow for the league and Chivas but again I wish Guzan the best.

There may be a reinforcement coming but Kennedy has been around long enough (since the start of the preseason) to have learned both from Guzan and the coaching staff.

“I know there’s some talks going on and obviously we’re kind of seeing what happens in the next couple of days here,” Guzan said of rumors of a potential move to Aston Villa. “I hope for the best result for everybody involved.”

But the most glaring talk came next, when Guzan opened up about this time with Chivas a bit more and of the league as well.

“It’s been absolutely unbelievable,” Guzan said of his time in MLS. “Obviously being able to stay at a club for three and a half years, learning and growing as a player, as a person, I’ve been very thankful for Chivas USA and everything they’ve done for me.

“And obviously the league has made tremendous strides and hopefully it’ll keep going in the right direction.”

To me that sounds like a guy that is on the move. Typically you say stuff like that at either the end of your career or when you are about to move on from a club. Now thing could still happen and the transfer to Villa could still end up not going down like it did back in January.

Most speculate that Guzan won’t be denied any sort of work permit this time around to go aboard to play in the EPL. That was his major hurdle last time around and he has played more for the National team since then, which should help his case out a bit. Even if he is close to the percentage that he needs for the permit, he can always go to a special permit court to get it taken care of a bit easier.

What Chivas is looking at next is a glaring hole in between the pipes if Guzan does leave this summer. With the lack of depth already in question in other areas, along with the on-going injury problems that this club has seen this season, if Guzan leaves it will be mighty hard for this club to bounce back from it.

Yes, Guzan is that important to this club.

Time will tell what actually happens here but from the looks of things we are seeing another thing remain constant, another American keeper going to Europe. I wish him the best of luck either way really.

Should Guzan leave next week, Chivas will be without him for a Thursday night game in New York. Interesting point though because this will give us the first chance to see exactly what Chivas has in reserve behind Guzan. Dan Kennedy is the current back-up in place and will more than likely get the nod and could soon become the full time starter for the Red-and-White.

Last night on MLS Primetime Thursday, it was stated that Guzan still wants to go to Aston Villa and play in the EPL. We all remember his work permit problems in January and one has to wonder if that would have improved by now. The summer transfer window opens up in the coming months and you have to believe Guzan will be making the push to abroad once again.

“Hopefully there will be more interest from Aston Villa in the summer. Right now I couldn’t tell you the specifics because my focus is with the national team.

“My agent has been handling all the discussions and nothing can really happen until the window opens anyway. I am letting him deal with that and, if something comes about, then great.

“I would love to sign for Villa. When I was there a few months back, it was an absolutely brilliant time – great people, great facilities and I couldn’t say one bad thing about the place.

“When the window opens, we will see what happens. Hopefully there is some interest and we will go from there. It looks like exciting times at Villa.” – Brad Guzan

Think Chivas is ready for a Guzan departure here? I’m sure they could easily use the transfer fee cash from him this summer if he does end up leaving.