US National Team: By Jacquizz

Graphic Design by: Tomperto

Two days before the conception of this beautiful child that is The Lazy Striker, the United States Men’s National Team announced their 30 man preliminary roster for the 2014 World Cup. Everyone got a little taste of who they will be seeing in Brazil, and even though 7 people will get cut from the team, we saw which direction Jürgen “Jürgalcious” Klinsmann was going with his team.

Here is the list shrunken into positions by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.

UPDATE: LANDON DONOVAN HAS BEEN LEFT OFF OF THE BRAZIL BACHELOR TRIP, FULL UPDATE TOMORROW

Who Was Left Off…

And Deserved It?

The most prominent bro left off the Brazil Bachelor Party Trip was Eddie Johnson. Considering he was so vital in helping the US get TO the World Cup, it’s easy to think him not even getting a spot on the actual team is unfair.

Yet, if this is a matter of fairness, Johnson hasn’t been holding up his end of the bargain. He has yet to score a goal since starting in 8 pretty horrible games for DC United (MLS) and even then he didn’t finish out his international tenure very well. His last game as a sub for United States against Mexico on April 2nd was pretty subpar with his best chance coming from an offside call.

Basically, he is like Mario Mandzukic divided by 100,000; he is a tall guy who can will head in the ball and he provides some great pace, except you can’t replace Mandzukic as easy as you can Johnson. Mandzukic is much faster and he can also be very deadly outside of heading in terms of scoring. From what I see from Johnson, what he can do isn’t particularly vital, especially when you factor in what other people can bring to the team in his place.

Oh and have you watched the new cartoon “Where in the World is Brek Shea?” lately? It seemed like his plane landed on a deserted island and stranded him there when he supposedly left FC Dallas (MLS) for Stoke City (EPL). He left the MLS entirely too fast, and that stop of development cost him for the national stage… a stage he was pretty set for before he left.

And Didn’t Deserve It?

I really think that Juan Agudelo or Luis Gil could have benefited from a trip to the World Cup. Yes they are both very young, but so is Julien Green. I feel like having them in the upcoming friendlies would build their confidence for two very talented players. Agudelo has scored 3 goals in 14 appearances with FC Utrecht in the Dutch League Eredivise, which is a breeding ground of talent for the English Premier League. The closest example I can give to what the Dutch League is, is what minor league baseball is to the MLB if the minor league system had the MLB’s talent and the major level was some kind of god level that people from Olympus play in.

Luis Gil was compared to FC Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas in an ESPNFC scouting report, which form of defense, he’ll be unstoppable. Who can he learn that from? Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones in World Cup practice. The wealth of experience a young player can get from practicing with a team full of different leagues and levels of experience can be very important, even if they do end up sitting the bench. I think they should have made it over Green, but that’s probably why I am sitting in a chair doing nada while Klinsmann is polishing his World Cup trophy.

Who is the Most Important Player?

Michael “Goalmaster General” Bradley. Slayer of worlds, son of exiled tyrant Bob Bradley.

Yes Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore are important, but in terms of who can have the biggest contribution to the team and push them over the edge of making it instead of breaking it I think Michael Bradley is the most important. He’s the kind of player whose very presence bolsters the team, and if he’s at all having a bad game, the team will most likely have a bad game as well. If Dempsey or Altidore are having a bad game, Bradley is one of those players who can shift the game to help them be better. He has to be on point and play up to his potential as being the midfielder of our generation because any positive momentum is really built on how much quality he can contribute.

Who is Dead Weight?

Julian Green (he didn’t get cut)

He is attracting a whole lot of unwanted expectations to the team that already has enough just being in the group of death. We will see more about him in these upcoming friendlies because I am positive that he’ll start or get decent minutes, but I think the potential of him being on the squad isn’t advantageous.

So say in this dystopian future, Julian Green doesn’t get cut and he’s in the World Cup, is he ready to play in such a national stage should the need arise? He didn’t seem very ready in a similar situation against Mexico in April. Now keep in mind that I am in the camp of “it was his first game in a very high pressure fixture and the kid is only 18”. However, that’s the exact reason to not keep him on the World Cup squad. He’s only 18 and he doesn’t have the experience or pedigree other young players like Son Heung-Min for South Korea and Julian Draxler for Germany has who play on the first team for their respective clubs.

So if Klinsmann says “dun care” and plays him anyway, what kind of narrative do you think people will take out of that particularly if he has a bad game? That Klinsmann wasted a spot on someone who wasn’t ready and that he played favorites? Will people say that the US is putting too much pressure on young recruits? Will people question how he even got on the team if he was nowhere near ready?

These are all questions that a team in the group of death doesn’t need so I think it would really help the US to not keep in on the squad regardless of how good he does in the upcoming friendlies.

UPDATE: FINE KEEP HIM ON THE TEAM THEN.

Young Potential Hero?

John Brooks, future of the US back line. If he gets cut, expect him to never be cut in the future. If you don’t know who he is, he’s like Julian Green except he’s a defender and he didn’t make a big deal about his decision of playing for the US over Germany.

What can this team do come World Cup?

Looking broadly, I think they can get to at least the first round again. Realistically, making it out of group will be a task.

What will the team do?

The US is in an interesting predicament because their situation relies a lot on what other teams do and if they can beat their arch nemesis Ghana. Their safest situation is to beat Ghana, draw Portugal and try to win against Germany (which would be quite difficult) and hope that the other teams have ill fortunes. Keep in mind friends that you get 3 points for winning and one for drawing in the World Cup, so 9 points is the maximum points you can have. Keep in mind that only one team (Ghana) in the 2010 World Cup made it out of group with less than 5 points and they got by on goal difference.

They can beat Ghana, they can beat Ronaldo and friends aka Portugal, and they only need to win two games to get some safety in second place since aiming for first is what can be called lunacy. That said, I’m glad the US plays Ghana first in the group stage because that could be the momentum builder. If they beat Ghana, they’ll have exorcised their demons and in terms of the mental aspect of the game, there would be nothing stopping them from thinking they could beat Portugal or even Germany. If they lose to Ghana though, it’s not to say that they couldn’t still make it out. The road gets a lot tougher though because they would then HAVE to win and tie for a chance.

“Are you telling me that you seriously think Ghana is the key to the US making group or not?” you say.

Just speaking about attitudes, you know exactly how the USA would feel. You know that feeling of frustration you can’t beat a level in a video game or when your brother took your video game and held it up over his head because you were too small to reach it? That’s how the US would feel if they lost to Ghana for a third time. They want a win so bad, but they just can’t get it. That frustration would be awfully hard to play Germany and Christiano Ronaldo and friends with.

On the other side, imagine if you beat that level and then beat up your massive brother in front of a camera broadcasting the beat down to the entire world. That would feel pretty sweet wouldn’t it?

It’s hard to say for certain what will happen, but all I can tell you is that if they win that game, the song that will be describe their attitude would be “Aint No Stoppin Us Now” at least until they theoretically play the winner of Group H which will probably be Belgium. If they don’t, the song would be “Living on a Prayer”.

Players In This Article (click on them for more info!):

Clint Dempsey- Seattle Sounders (MLS)

Mario Manzukic- Bayern Muenchen (Bundesliga)

Jozy Altidore- Sunderland (English Premier League)

Brek Shea- Stoke City (English Premier League)

Jermaine Jones- Beşiktaş J.K.(Turkish League)

Julian Draxler- Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)

Julian Green- Bayern Muenchen II (3. Bundesliga)

Michael Bradley- Toronto FC (MLS)

Eddie Johnson- DC United (MLS)

Luis Gil- Real Salt Lake (MLS)

Juan Agudelo- FC Utrecht (loan)

Son Hueng Min- Bayer Leverkusen (Bundesliga)