Tomorrow Bob Bradley is slated to select his roster of players to be invited to the world cup pre-camp. This is a camp where Bradley can select up to 30 players, bring them in for a few weeks and work them out. The team will play three warm-up matches prior to world cup during this camp (May 25th vs the Czech Republic, May 29th vs Turkey, and June 5th vs Australia) and we could see some experiments taking place. The rumors are that Bradley will bring no more than 27 into camp but for the sake of argument I will list the thirty I think will be selected.
Locks (22): These are guys who have proven themselves with their club and have track records with the national team.
Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Carlos Bocanegra, Jozy Altidore, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector, Maurice Edu, Stuart Holden, Jonathan Bornstein, Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann, Jose Torres, Bennie Feilhaber, Steve Cherundolo, Jay Demerit, Ricardo Clark, Clarence Goodson, Charlie Davies, Demarcus Beasley, Alejandro Bedoya
The remaining eight:
23. Edson Buddle, Forward – Buddle is the hottest goal scorer in the MLS right now and Bradley has been in touch with him about coming. Seems like a no brainer since the team needs the most help at Forward.
24. Herculez Gomez, Forward – Rounding out the forwards is Gomez who only became the first American to lead a foreign league (Mexico) in goals scored. He had a failed run with the national team in early 2007 but that was as a wing player. He looks much different playing in a center forward role. Bradley will take a look.
25. Brian Ching, Forward – Ching plays the target forward position better than anyone in the player pool and would be a lock if it was not for injury. He is back to full training and should play this Thursday before the camp for the Houston Dynamo.
26. Freddie Adu, Midfield – Adu can play both central and wing, so his versatility helps. His move to Aris has yielded consistent playing time which has helped his game tremendously. I may be foolish but I think Bradley takes a look.
27. Heath Pearce, Fullback – Pearce has shown his ability as an effective fullback on the right and left side for FC Dallas. He is great going forward and an adequate defender. Maybe his playing time will bring him back to form when he was the starting left back for the USMNT in 2008.
28. Nick Rimando, Keeper – Rimando is solid for Real Salt Lake and it always helps to have an extra keeper in camp.
29. Eddie Johnson, Forward – Johnson has really improved since moving to Greece. He is scoring goals and most importantly he is scoring them against good competition and in the pressure situations.
30. Connor Casey, Forward – A pure target striker who offers little else. He is brought in to battle Ching for a possible target striker spot. If Ching is healthy it will be an uphill climb.
If Bradley takes 27 I think he brings in Ching, Gomez, Buddle, Adu, and Pearce to join the 22 locks. What do you think?
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