Commentary
In the End, Arena's Selections Relatively Easy
By Christopher Barton
May 6, 2006
Jimmy Conrad was one of Bruce Arena's few surprise selections
Four years of training, competition and being under the heat of Bruce Arena's physical and psychological microscope paid off in a big way for twenty-three players selected by the U.S. National team coach to represent the country at the 2006 World Cup Finals.
Bereft of many surprises, the roster mixes players from both MLS and Europe who span fourteen years in age difference. It is a roster that shows a major influence of the effect of the 1994 World Cup on the development of the game in this country. Most importantly, it is a roster built with an eye toward the three first round foes and poised for the opportunity for success.
Many of the choices facing Arena were not choices at all but instead simple verifications. One would be hard pressed to imagine a team without players like Landon Donovan or Kasey Keller. On the other end of the spectrum are players like Jimmy Conrad and Brian Ching, who undoubtedly were the last two decisions made and who could just as easily have been replaced with names like Greg Berhalter, Chris Albright (hmmm, as I write this, he has replaced Frankie Hedjuk), Pat Noonan or Steve Ralston. For whatever reason, Arena chose these twenty-three, and given his constant exercise in psychology, one must assume that this is the mix he felt would most likely mesh together as a team.
Maybe the easiest decisions facing Arena lay in the area of goalkeeping. Keller has been the undisputed number one throughout most of World Cup qualifying, and Hahnemann has proven a capable back-up. Howard is not seeing much action at Manchester United, but Arena sees him as the future goalkeeper for this squad, making this the one position where he is actually thinking about preparation for 2010. After all, the likelihood of Howard seeing the pitch in Germany is remote at best, and if he is in a match that is a sign that things will have gone terribly wrong for the Americans.
The one surprise at defender was Jimmy Conrad of the Kansas City Wizards, most notably because he is just weeks removed from sports hernia surgery in Germany. Conrad probably cemented his spot on the roster last summer during the Gold Cup when he proved to be a good combination with Oguchi Onyewu, the team's middle linebacker-looking central midfielder. A physical force in the middle, Onyewu will be counted on to control the area in front of Keller and make opposing strikers think twice about venturing into his area.
The feel-good story is the re-emergence of Eddie Pope, who twelve months ago was seeing his skills quickly eroding but who used an intensive training regimen to rediscover the form that has made him one of the top defenders in MLS for several years. Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Cory Gibbs and Eddie Lewis are all quick players who have honed their skills in Europe.
And wouldn't you know it, Frankie Hejduk, due to a knee injury, will not have the opportunity to suffer one of his periodic (and sometimes predictable) mental lapses that made him the player most likely to repeat the 2002 dubious defensive lapses of Jeff Agoos. Chris Albright is an able replacement who provides the just in case protection needed in the tournament, and his greatest value may be keeping Hejduk off the field.
The choices at midfield are nothing more than expected and a reason for hope. Perhaps the most striking fact is their relatively young age, and that provides hope for the not only this year but the future. The leader in the midfield is Landon Donovan, and although it may seem like he has been around forever, he is just 24. Team captain Claudio Reyna is solid at 32 and will provide important leadership on and off the pitch. DeMarcus Beasley (age 23), Bobby Convey (22), and Clint Dempsey (23) are all young, creative and speedy, while John O'Brien may be the best playmaker on the squad. Pablo Mastroeni and Ben Olsen are more experienced players who provide depth and give Arena many combinations from which choose.
The four players selected to play up front are all scorers who have proven they can find the net on the international stage. Brian McBride will be in his third World Cup and may be the most consistent of the four. Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff and Brian Ching have proven themselves to be strong scorers in MLS and will now take on the world, hoping to be on the receiving end of well-aimed crosses from the speed players in the midfield.
In the end, the roster makes sense. There is a solid combination of youth and experience and there is no question that it is built with the three first-round opponents in mind. For the first time, it is easy to look at a World Cup roster for the United States and see solid players at every position. Arena has done a yeoman's work developing this squad and the individual abilities of its players, and he has benefited from the explosion of interest in the game across the nation in the past two decades. Here's hoping that the end result is whatever this country can accept as a successful result.
And one more thing. The happiest people with this roster may be the five teams in the Eastern Conference of MLS who are looking up at the Kansas City Wizards in the standings. Bob Gansler's team looks like they are for real, but whether they can survive two months without Jimmy Conrad, Eddie Johnson and Josh Wolff is yet to be seen, and a scary thought.