World Cup Roster Released

Bob Bradley announced his world cup roster on ESPN about an hour ago and this is it:

Goalkeepers- Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan
Defenders- Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein
Midfielders- Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Maurice Edu, Ricardo Clark, DaMarcus Beasley, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres
Forwards- Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Herculez Gomez, Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley

Biggest Surprises:
1. Brian Ching was left off the roster completely. Many “experts” thought he was a lock. His play last night against the Czech Republic was very good and most thought, especially myself, that he erased any doubt with that performance. Boy was I wrong. Not only did Ching not make the roster, he was left off while in favor of three players with less than 10 national team appearances combined (Ching has 45)! Ching played regularly in qualifying and was not omitted until injuries started to slow him down.

2. Taking five forwards total is the next surprise. Dempsey is listed as a forward on the roster. That most people predicted but to bring three extras besides him and Altidore was a surprise, especially when you consider one of Gomez, Buddle, or Findley could have been left off in favor of a defender where there is significant injury concerns.

3. Only seven defenders were taken. With the injuries this group has faced and the poor performance from Edu as a centerback last night, I am more than surprised at the decision. If one of Demerit, Onyewu, Bocanegra, or Cherundolo relapse the U.S. will be in trouble.

I think it is clear that while the match last night seemed like an audition for some players, Bradley had already made up his mind. The choices at forward and defender were obviously made in camp. While I do not agree with them right now, I am sure Bradley and his staff saw something to provoke these decisions. For their sake and the U.S. fans sake I hope they are the correct choices.

Overall, the roster is solid. The surprise picks of Buddle and Findley probably will not impact the squad. Those guys are not likely to see significant playing time. The situation at defense is troublesome at best. I think it is pretty clear who 9 of the starting 11 will be: Howard, Spector, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Bornstein, Donovan, Bradley, Dempsey, and Altidore.

In my view there is an open spot at center midfield next to Bradley that will likely come down to Clark or Edu and a decision who will replace Dempsey on the right wing, Holden or Beasley.

What are your thoughts?