What I had in mind, of course, was making sure Drew Moor was battle tested.
OK, so maybe the Copa America roster isn't loaded with household names (Charlie Davies, por examplo), but if Bob Bradley played the Gold Cup to win it, he's playing Copa America to throw some young American talent into the crucible and see who has true quality. I don't disagree with his approach. It is a major competition, but we're not going to win it, so why burn up Landon Donovan when he could be slotting away David Beckham crosses on Sportscenter? Get the youngsters in there and let them mix it up.
So what's the skinny?
- A significant concern with this roster is the lack of pace in defense. Conrad, DeMerit and company are solid defenders who are strong in the air and good positionally, but they really risk getting skinned by pacy South American attackers.
- Ricardo Clark will also be tested. He looked very sharp in the Gold Cup final, but he and Olsen are the only midfielders with a bit of an edge to them. They'll need a disruptive bulldog to keep from being overrun, so hopefully he'll step up.
- One hope is that the painfully underrated Kyle Beckerman can step up in this tournament. He does so much for his team in MLS, and I feel like he's capable of a lot more.
- In attack, it's pretty soft. Twellman should lead all strikers in the tournament in shots off goal. Eddie Johnson should excel, but will meander hopelessly and then give up on runs. I happen to be a Hercules Gomez fan, but there's no Donovan, Beasley or Dempsey to make things happen in the scoring third for players like Gomez. This could be the time for Justin Mapp to become that creative force. At this point, however, our best hope for goalscoring is 5 or 6 25 yard volleys from Benny Feilhaber during the tournament.
Now the main challenge is finding these games on TV.
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