The future of the US isn't looking too bad, guys.
Yet another tweak. I combined the "Old Guys" and young guns into one sheet. The column on the far left is the expected remaining cap tally for the players. If those numbers seem high then just know Donovan has a pretty decent shot at 200 caps. I've got him projected at 191 but I could imagine the push for 200...
I orange'd players who hold dual nationality. Since there were more than I originally thought, I put the country they hold duality with and the likelihood of them going south (solely my guess). Several youngsters have gone through our youth programs and switching this late is rare, but not unheard of. I still think Chandler will go US but he will largely be reminded for his hesitancy despite he continual plea that he wants to play for the US.
The only player I expect to not play for the US is Raul Mendiola. He's been leaning Mexico despite being called into US camps a couple times. Ryan Meara is a bit of a shot in the dark for me. I don't think New York's denial for him to go play with Ireland's youth team means anything. But I do think if he has a legitimate shot at being the number one goalie for the US it'd be hard for him to not come our way.
Just to be clear, a player isn't tied to a specific country until they play in a meaningful tournament. So for the US that would be World Cup Qualifying, Gold Cup, or Confederations Cup. They can apply for a switch after they are cap-tied but FIFA rarely grants a switch. And if a player is playing in a meaningful tournament they likely have thought out the repercussions of their actions.
Some notes
- Josh Gatt always busy doing things...
- Several players are currently with the senior US team. I put their names in dark blue. Altidore is getting some competition from Gomez, which is a good thing.
- Some U20 players traveled to play Chile and Uruguay. The only standout name I've seen was Victor Pineda's. (They lost to a strong Uruguay side twice and to Chile once.)
- Some U18 players traveled to Portugal for the Lisbon tournament. I say that name as if the tournament has some prestige but it's incredibly hard to find out anything on the tournament. In three games the US went 0-2-1 allowing just two goals but only scoring one. The young men has gotten favorable reviews but from their own website, no less. (Marc Pelosi was out with an injury.)
- Luis Gil is injured but not for long. A stretched ligament should keep him out for the rest of the month.
- Joe Corona and Terrence Boyd were recently cap tied. Congratulations are in order.
- Hamid, Johnson, and Meara are continually on MLS's Save of the Week.
- Williams' picked up an injury that kept him from WC Qualifying. He'll be back for Mexico, I imagine.
- A couple of moves. Boyd found a new club in Austria. Playing time wasn't coming his way from Dortmund's senior squad so he found one that would give it to him. Here's Rapid's FIFA 12 squad. Don't expect Boyd to stay here for too long.
- Juan Agudelo is really enjoying California.
- Bobby Wood was released by the 1860 Munich. (If you can't read German just believe me.) It seems his injury was too much of a risk for Munich to gamble on.
- Guzan was released from Aston Villa (imagine a mutual break up) and is currently a free agent. Guzan is also seeking first team minutes and believes he can play in a top league's team. Interesting write up here.
- While a couple of players moved around, don't expect others to. Alitdore is in a good position at AZ for another season and any move would only be lateral as he still has some room to grow. Holden will likely stay with Bolton as I'm fairly sure he isn't a large cap hit on the recently relegated team. And Lichaj is expected to stay at Aston Villa with his strong finish on the season.
- Bijev tore up the Houston Dynamo Academy. See if you can find him. (hint: he scores all the goals):
- Dilly Duka has yet to play 90 minutes this MLS season...
- Rowe and Benny Feilhaber (33 remaining caps, total of 72) both picked up a goal and assist against Chicago
- College soccer starts up this fall. A lot of youngsters playing across the great American coasts.
- Else, it's been quite in this lull between seasons.
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