Clint Dempsey headlines the early roster for the US. (Getty Images)

U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has named an initial squad of 16 players that will begin reporting today to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

The group is mostly built up with players that are foreign-based players who have completed their seasons.

As many as 13 additions will be announced May 20 and will be a mixture of domestic and foreign-based players to round out the training camp. The team will train in Orlando until May 25, when Klinsmann will select a final 23-man roster for the upcoming five matches.

INITIAL U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION 
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (4): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Jose Torres (Pachuca), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim)
FORWARDS (1): Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

Whether it's from Freddy Adu or Clint Dempsey, all I want is a trophy. (Getty Images)

Let’s be real honest, the last month or so for the US Men’s National Team hasn’t been real pretty now has it? Wins over Canada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica and Panama are what the US can hang their hats on at the moment. Sure, that’s four wins that put the US in the final of the Gold Cup but are we really impressed with any of it so far? I don’t see too many of you jumping for joy at the moment at the way things have played out.

Yet here we are. Another CONCACAF Gold Cup and another finals clash with our rivals to the south, Mexico.

I may take heat over this but it really doesn’t matter how the USMNT does it this Saturday, as long as they win it, I’ll be happy. I’ll take another ugly performance or even a half-assed effort in the sake of downing Mexico.

It hasn’t been all that fun during the Gold Cup now has it? Ugly results while Mexico is putting a pounding on little teams left and right. Sure we had a little laugh at their poisoned chicken situation that saw a few guys get removed from the team. But that didn’t make a difference really for them.

We’ve questioned Bob Bradley and his tactics. Asked why he wouldn’t sub some players sooner. Pondered the why’s and the what if’s to no end really. No matter the many ways we’ve looked at things it always comes to the same result with this bunch, it just isn’t going to be sexy. Style points have never been Bradley’s thing either so at this point, expecting them is out of the question.

And for that I say, just win.

Winning usually forgives all transgressions in sports. For Bradley a Gold Cup win isn’t needed on his resume but it certainly won’t hurt it.

And for that I say, just win.

For Bradley it is go all in or just go home. Pull out no stops in this one and just get the result. I don’t care if Landon Donovan comes off the bench again in this one (hey it seems to work nicely). I don’t mind if even Freddy Adu makes another appearance. Just as long as the win comes with it and we see the US beat Mexico for another important trophy.

(Sure they beat the US in 2009 but as we all know that tournament was meaningless. Why CONCACAF continues to do this tournament every-other-year continues to baffle me and that will be another topic for another day. )

We know beating Mexico is never an easy thing no matter where the game is played (except for Columbus). In LA I’d be willing to be the stadium will be 60-40 or even 70-30, Mexican-American fans. Just a hunch. So rule out the home field advantage nonsense. So why not make it even sweeter for those Americans there to see the win.

At the end of the day, just win. That’s it. That’s all I care about.

I won’t go into tactics for the match or break down who I think should start or not. I’m not going to throw out some crazy stats on certain players (I’ll do that over at SBNation.com though later on, so watch out!). Just like the comments have said throughout, all I care about is the win. I can put aside how ugly this Cup run has been with a win Saturday at the Rose Bowl. I can throw away a few #fireBradley tweets saves on my laptop with a win.

Yup, for me, just win.

Jozy Alitdore found a timely goal for the US against Canada. (Getty Images)

Sometimes it doesn’t have to be much to get your mind off a bad loss. That’s exactly what happened in Detroit last night for the US Men’s National team as they opened up Gold Cup play with a solid 2-0 win over their rivals from the north, Canada.

Clint Dempsey was brilliant at times, Jozy Alitdore found the back of the net in what felt like the first time in forever, Tim Howard made some great saves to keep the shutout and the central part of the field for the US looked whole again.

I said the US didn’t need to win 5-0 like Costa Rica or Mexico but getting a strong result was key. They did just that. We saw the US be more composed, confident and well everything that they were not against Spain last weekend. It sure helped having guys like Dempsey and Landon Donovan back in the lineup too. The ball movement was far better and the aggressive play on offense showed that the US means business in this Gold Cup.

Yes it was just against Canada and no disrespect to the boys from the North, they are no Spain. But we knew that going into this match.

In the end, the US got off to the right start for this tournament. There are some spots for improvement but they’ll get there. With Panama and Guadaloupe coming up, they have plenty of time to make those adjustments before the real fun begins.

Below are some quick points that I felt from watching this game last night.

Taking the foot off the pedal. Late in the first half and to start the second half the US took their foot off the gas just a bit. Had it been against a strong side it would have cost them dearly. Canada came out to start the second half with a little more fire under them and it nearly paid off. The US cannot relax for a minute in a tournament like this or else someone will creep up on them and make them pay for it.

Jozy’s goal. The goal itself was nice but I think having Alitdore score was more important for the US and for himself. His goal and assist helped carry the offense and for a change I felt like we saw the Jozy we grew to love. I really hope a strong performance in this tournament helps get him somewhere in Europe that actually lets him play full-time. He’s too young and valuable to the US to be riding a bench somewhere in Europe as much as he does.

Deuce was well…Deuce. He looked a bit out of it early on but as the game moved forward so did Dempsey. His goal to put the US up two was not only impressive but far more difficult than some will realize.

Tim Ream. I like this kid, I really do but boy he can put the US in some difficult spots at times when the game passes him up (same can be said for his play with the Red Bulls). He’s strong in the air and confident on the ball, which is exactly what you want out of a central defender. But there were a couple moments that he got badly beaten. It’s only his forth cap so we should expect these sorts of things early on but we have to see improvement here too.

Goodson/Ream. Speaking of Ream, I really liked his partnership with Clarence Goodson. I think we’re starting to see a bit of the future of the defense here with those two.

A sick Donovan but a good one. Hey, even when Landon Donovan is sick he’s still effective. While this wasn’t his best game in years, he still presented loads of challenges for Canada. Of course as the game went on he lost a bit of that edge but I won’t hold this performance against him. He was recovering from an illness that kept him out of the Spain game.

Will Oguchi Onyewu be apart of the Gold Cup roster? (Photo by ISIphotos.com)

We’ll know on Monday who Bob Bradley picks for the US National team for this summer’s Gold Cup and for the upcoming friendly against Spain. I figured today would be as good of a day as ever to throw out my 23-man roster that I think Bradley could select come Monday.

As we know this is a big Gold Cup for the US as they’ll want to get the crown back from Mexico in hopes to qualify for the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil.

Keepers (3)

Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, and Nick Rimando

The first two are locks in my mind while Rimando would easily be beaten out by a younger keeper that Bradley wants to give some experience to for the training camps and what not. We know Howard is the starter no matter what here so this area is really the easiest to pick I would think. David Yelldell could see his name called as he saw time with the US against Paraguay earlier this year.

Defenders (9)

Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Timothy Chandler, Heath Pearce, Jonathan Spector, Tim Ream , Eric Lichaj, Jonathan Bornstein

Another group that seems fairly easy to figure out. I know Bornstein hasn’t played a lot in Mexico but you know there is a familiarity factor between him and Bradley. Believe me I hate even the thought of him in the mix here but it will likely happen since he is still one of Bradley’s guys. Lichaj was a toss up for me as I think Zak Whitebread could be a good idea for a call-up too. Chandler can also slide into the midfield if needed here too which makes me a lock for me.

I would like to see someone like FC Dallas defender George John get a look for this roster but I’m sure Ream will have beaten him out even though Ream has looked shaky at times this season for New York.

The big question for me comes down to Onyewu. He hasn’t played well since his injury in 2009 in a US kit and really he hasn’t played a lot of minutes since joining AC Milan. But like Bornstein, Bradley sees him as one of his guys and that’s why he falls into this camp.

Midfielders (8)

Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Jermaine Jones , Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Mixx Diskerud, Alejandro Bedoya

A tough group to predict outside the obvious (Dempsey, Donovan, Bradley, Edu and Jones). I think Feilhaber is an easy pick, but Diskerud and Bedoya are toss-ups for me. I could easily see Bradley take a chance on Sacha Kljestan here over Diskerud and someone like Brek Shea over Bedoya.

I’d love to see Shea here but his lack of big international experience hurts him here I think for such an important tournament. I know his explosiveness off the bench would be great to have but given how well Diskerud does with the forwards that will be taken, its hard to pass up on chemistry for a risky move like Shea.

Forwards (3)

Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury

I don’t think this one needs any explanation. Altidore is a lock while Agudelo and Bunbury have formed quite a bond together with the US. Charlie Davies saw his chances go away last weekend when Bradley was in D.C. to watch him and United play Colorado. His chance fluttered away quickly when he went out of the game early with an injury.

I see no reason to even consider Eddie Johnson, Edson Buddle or even Herculez Gomez here. I’d say Gomez is really the only other player that could have a chance here to make the roster but it would be an outside one at best.

There's a lot to build off of this World Cup for the USMNT. (US Presswire)

The 2010 FIFA World Cup may still be going on but as far as I am concerned its now time to already begin looking towards the 2014 Cup in Brazil. Getting out of the tournament early is never fun but at least it does give you a couple weeks up on the competition to get your stuff in order for the next cycle.

Yeah, I’m still trying to remain at least a little bit positive here.

The somewhat decent thing about this next go around for the U.S. Men’s National team is that for the most part there shouldn’t be a whole lot of change in some key areas. The keeper situation will likely remain with Tim Howard or Brad Guzan. You can probably throw a young guy like Bill Hamid of D.C. United in the mix for the third keeper spot in the depth charts if you want. Howard will just be entering the true prime years for a keeper by the next World Cup so there is no reason to think he won’t be good to go then.

In the midfield we’ll still have the likes of Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. Neither of them are going anywhere anytime soon as far as I can see. We’ll also still see Stuart Holden, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Jose Torres and Benny Falihaber in the mix as well. Most of them are in the mid-20s right now and won’t be 30 by the next World Cup. Only Donovan will be in his 30s by the next Cup and I honestly don’t see him dipping in performance all that much by then.

The changes will take place more so in the back and up top. But if you followed this side for the last couple years you shouldn’t be shocked to read that as those have always been some troubled areas for the U.S. team.

Out of the defensive bunch from this World Cup I wouldn’t be shocked to only see Clarence Goodson or Jonathan Spector at the next World Cup. I know Jonathan Bornstein will be just 29 by then but none of us expect Bob Bradley to still be the coach in four years either. With no Bradley I highly doubt we’ll see any Bornstein unless his play dramatically improves on the international stage by then.

Up top we should still have Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies. Let’s just hope by then there will be another star in the mix to push these two for playing time.

So who’s out there right now that could be in the mix? Loads of players come to mind and some that are probably completely off the radar (that’s probably a separate post for another day). One thing we know is that the next four years should be interesting for US Soccer. Its a continual growth that we need here and will continue to get.

Between the youth systems getting better for MLS and the college game actually producing some decent talent in recent years the growth is there for the next head coach to seriously tap into. This should be a boom time for US Soccer to get some serious talent in the game and with the national team. I think the big thing for whoever the next coach is to get as much talent in early before the next round of qualifying begins. Also having some quality friendlies will go a long way too.

Four years is a long time but maybe it’s time to start a Project 2014 of some sort now before its too late.

Clint Dempsey got the US level thanks to a gift from the England keeper. (Getty Images)

So I’ll take it.

One-one against England to open the tournament is not a bad way to start at all. Sure a win would have been nice and we certainly could have gotten that but seriously a good result.

Now the start wasn’t great. Allowing England to go up so early with Steve Gerrard’s sneaky little goal in the forth minute. It set the tone for the start of the match that England wasn’t messing around. The U.S. looked a bit lost in the back and it allowed the goal to happen.

But once the U.S. settled into things they handled the pressure and really took it to England. Having Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey on the wings switching things up really threw the English defense off their game. Also the runs out of the back from Steve Cherundolo really added to it for the U.S. attack.

Then there was Dempsey. The nifty little play on Gerrard to get the goal was something special. Sure the shot wasn’t the greatest and the keeper Robert Green should have had it but it was a goal that the U.S. would take any day of the week. Getting a goal so late in the first half (40th minute) really helped the U.S. going into the locker room at the half.

Second half was better from the U.S. with Jozy Alitdore finally getting into the attack and nearly coming away with a goal. But the defense impressed me more with Oguchi Onyewu putting all the concerns about him to rest. It seemed that with each passing minute he was getting stronger and better out there for us. No doubt that is something good to have going forward.

The man of the match in the end had to be Tim Howard. Stop after big stop Howard continued to show why he is one of the world’s best.

England keeper Robert Green will be drinking alone after this bobble that drew the US level at 1-1. (Getty Images)

A few notes that I took during the game:

- England has the talent to win it all no doubt but collectively I just don’t see it happening. Something about the way they play together tells me it won’t be an easy road for them though I do think they can go fairly far on talent alone.

- I would have liked to have seen some subs earlier in the match from Bob Bradley. Robbie Findley didn’t appear to give all that much in this match and towards the middle of the second half he was fairly empty in terms of gas in the tank. Having Edson Buddle or even Herculez Gomez come on about ten minutes sooner would have been nicer to see.

- Midfield wise for the U.S. they played a lot better than I expected. I’m still not a huge fan of the Ricardo Clark-Michael Bradley pairing but it worked fine today.

- This group won’t be as easy for England as they thought it would be. Next game for each side will tell us more for sure but no doubt the English will feel they lost two points today.

With the start of the US Men’s National team World Cup camp this week there have been loads of talk about injuries and position battles as well as the all important discussion of who will be cut from camp.

After the first couple days of camp I came up with some questions of my own, some more or less go into the World Cup itself while others deal with the back and forth nature of who Bob Bradley will take.

1. Is Landon Donovan ready to become the real leader here?

One thing is certain, the past 12 months or so for Donovan have been pretty damn good. He earned a MLS MVP, nearly won another MLS Cup, earned a massive new contract with the LA Galaxy and Major League Soccer, then scored probably one of the best loan deals in US soccer history to Everton. Oh and let’s not forget his LA side is currently in first place thanks in large part to his league-leading nine assists.

So is Donovan ready to lead on the big stage for real? He’s had chances twice before but he was more of a kid the first time around in 2002 and in 2006 he was faced with probably more mental issues from being in Germany than anything else.

This year should be different though for Donovan. He’s older, wiser and playing probably the best soccer in his career. At the Confederation’s Cup last year in South Africa we got a glimpse of how good Donovan can be as a leader when he helped lead the US to a second place finish in that tournament.

2. Just how much will injuries play a part of this?

Injuries to say the least are a bitch in any sport, especially soccer and especially the World Cup. One injury can make a world of difference. With nearly half of the US defense mending some sort of injury the worry will be a constant thing going into the first game with England. Thankfully for the US side their Group C opener opponent has just as many question marks with injuries as we do.

I’d say as long as Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu and Tim Howard work out their injuries like I believe they can the defense will be fine, for the most part at least.

3. Can the US get past the mental issues?

Soccer is as mental of a sport as any out there. You have to deal with the other team, the refs, the fans, the environment that you’re playing in and more. Keeping a cool head isn’t easy. Bradley has to get that through to his bunch right now and especially to guys like Ricardo Clark, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley.

Its good to be amped up in big games but Bradley will need to find a way to keep these guys amped but within reason. Frustrations are just a part of the game and cooler heads usually prevail. The biggest is worry for me going into games right now isn’t injuries but keeping those cooler heads. Yellow cards add up and can be tough to overcome and a good discipline team usually does well in these tournaments.

Aside from the discipline the US also needs to get over their complex in these tournaments. Last year’s Confederation’s Cup probably did a good job of getting over some of those issues as the US team finally stopped playing the country on the other side of the field and just focused on beating who they were playing. For too long the US has had a mental issue when facing top teams in the world, now it should be a thing of the past.

4. Is Altidore ready to shine?

With the issues at striker one thing is clear, Altidore needs to be the guy to step up and lead the scoring for the US in this tournament. But is he ready for that spotlight? His final game with Hull showed he still has a lot of maturing to do. But as tough as the English Premiere League is the World Cup is that much tougher.

I see Altidore doing well in this tournament as long as his head is on straight. Another factor comes down to who he is paired with up top. That will go a long way in how well he does or doesn’t in this tournament.

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Note: I’m hoping to ramp up my World Cup discussions here. If you’re interested in writing some items about the World Cup for WVHooligan just shoot me an email.

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.

Simply amazing.

There is still a lot of qualifying left to do. Let’s make that clear, four games may not seem like much but it can certainly change the landscape of how things will finish out here.

First of all the US has gotten it’s hard games out of the way on the road in Costa Rica and Mexico, not to mention getting their home game to Mexico out of the way. They still have Costa Rica at home left to finish out qualifying but as we all know in the Hexagonal, Costa Rica and Mexico (up until the Gold Cup for them at least) don’t win in the US and the US doesn’t win in Mexico and Costa Rica. If that holds to be true we will indeed be fine.

But saying we will be fine isn’t enough for some. The way the standings are right now we pretty much have a sense of who the top four teams will be and who the bottom two are. Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador aren’t out of the running but they sure have a longer way to go with four games remaining.

At this point the best case for the US would be a first place finish in the group with say 19 points (the two home wins and a win in either T&T or Honduras). Speaking of Honduras they are sort of the wild card team in this for CONCACAF. I still think they could qualify over Mexico here if things go right.

Again, a lot of soccer left to be played. I still feel good about the US here but I know some naysayers out there may disagree.

Time for some extra links though to get you through the rest of the day.

Tough Road for Houston, Columbus and DC

Link

Excellent discussion over at SBI about the rough stretch of weeks that are coming up for three MLS sides in league play and in the CONCACAF Champions League. The Columbus Crew, the Houston Dynamo and DC United all have full slates ahead of them and DC even has a little more with the USOC final early next month.

Houston has the most favorable schedule out of the group here having already played 22 games this season. I pointed that out a little while back when I looked at the schedules for everyone. DC definitely will feel the lack of depth after a couple weeks here, if not sooner. Columbus has an interesting draw that I am eager to see.

Dallas Heading Back To Cotton Bowl

Link

Well for one night at least FC Dallas will return to the Cotton Bowl. Reason being is because it will be a double-header as Mexico will play some un-named South American side (probably Columbia or Chile). Steve Davis noted that this is due to SUM’s marketing of Mexico here in the States and not FCD work. The MLS side just has to play host that’s all.

Dempsey Signs 4-Year Deal With Fulham

Link

Clint Dempsey’s so-so performance against Mexico yesterday didn’t affect getting a contract extension with Fulham. The London-based club announced the four-year deal for the US midfielder.

Good to see Deuce do well in England.