US Olympic roster - Guzan, McBride and Parkhurst overage Olympians

Peter Nowak has released his 18 man roster for Beijing and there are not a lot of surprises. As expected, Nowak went with Bad Guzan in goal and McBride up top. Both will give the team much needed depth in their positions with McBride providing a little bit more then Guzan.

The overage selection that could benefit the most from this experience is New England's Michael Parkhurst. Since the US's backline is probably going to have a lot put up against it, especially if they advance to the knockout stage (hello Argentina), a solid showing by Parkhurst could get some European suitors.

Overall this roster represents the best the US has to offer in the under 23 group at this moment.

As far as MLS teams go, they account for 10 of the 18 with the Houston Dynamo, Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC each losing two players for the games.

Here is the full roster:

GK (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

D (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

M (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio)

F (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

Does Toronto really want McBride? How about the Chicago players?

Brian McBride is coming back to MLS, that much we know. The question now seems to be where will he land.

Early indications seem to be that he wants to play for Chicago, his hometown team, but first he would need to get Toronto to let go of his rights. So does Toronto really want McBride?

TFC general manager Mo Johnston is being coy about it saying the team 'needs another striker' but also pointing out that they are, 'sitting on a little pot of gold here.' So is Mo just trying to get the offers up or might TFC be serious?

Meanwhile in Chicago, at least one player is a little concerned about the addition of McBride to their roster.

"If [McBride] is asking for designated player money ($400,000 or more), players might get moved or traded or dropped," Fire forward Chad Barrett said. "There's a good chance he would take my spot, but I think I've gotten off to a good start and am contributing. The coaching staff knows that."

With the way the Fire have played this season, a change might not be the best idea. Then again, I think most people would pick a McBride over a Barrett any day (no offense).

But there is another factor in this move that needs to be resolved. If McBride is going for designated player money, Chicago will need to pickup another DP slot* as they are using their slot for Blanco. So not only would the Fire need to give something to Toronto for McBride's rights, they would also need to give up something else to get the second DP spot. That's a lot to surrender, but maybe we now know why coach Denis Hamlett packed his team with forwards during the off season.

As far as salary cap space, Toronto looks to be close to their limit, so they would probably need to clear about $300k to make space for the $400k portion of McBride's DP salary, while Chicago would only need to free up about $100k. (Allocation money might make these numbers a little different)

My guess is the MLS really wants McBride and McBride really wants Chicago, so the league will find a way to make this happen. Just think how much the MLS brass would love to promote the Blanco-McBride connection. Two legends from the US-Mexico national teams coming together in Chicago.

* Under MLS rules are teams received one designated player slot that they can use to sign a player for more then a $400k a year salary or trade to any other club. Only the first $400k of the player’s salary counts towards the team’s salary cap. No team can have more then two designated players.

Brian McBride coming home to MLS

Brian McBride has decided to leave England and return stateside. Fulham hoped McBride would stick around for another season, but he decided now was the best time. He made over 150 appearances for the Cottagers and netted 40 goals.

"After much consideration with my family, we have decided to leave Fulham after four and a half fantastic years," the 35-year-old forward said in a statement Wednesday on the club's Web site. "I have always stated my intention to return to America at some stage and this seems like the right moment in my career to move on."
...
"I take great pride in the fact that my last appearance for Fulham saw the club maintain its Premier League status," McBride said. "I leave with some wonderful memories from my time at Fulham, and the club will always be in my heart."

As I said a couple weeks ago, I would have preferred he stay in England because he was a constant bright spot for American's aboard, however that is a very selfish reason. McBride is an outstanding player and a wonderful person who has more then earned all the praise that comes his way. His desire to return home to give his final quality years to his nation's league speaks volumes.

As far as his future home in the MLS, who knows where he might end up. Toronto has his rights, but Chicago is often mentioned as his landing spot (he grew up in the area). I'm sure ever Fire fan would love McBride teaming up with Blanco, but as a commenter said, 'in the grand scheme of what is right and wrong, his place is in Columbus.' It would be very strange to see him in MLS and not in a Crew uniform. Still, if he wants to play for his hometown club, I think even the hardest Crew supporter would understand.

So welcome home McBride, I, like thousands of other US soccer fans, look forward to watching you play.

Should McBride stay in England or come home? - Poll

As one of, if not the most successful US field players ever in England, Brian McBride has been a solid source of pride for American fans, however those days might be about to come to an end. The soon to be 36 year old is weighing his options and might decide to leave the top-level English league in order to return to MLS.

McBride's contract with Fulham ends next month, meaning MLS would not have to pay a transfer fee, however the Cottagers have offered him a deal for the 2008-09 season. So what should McBride do?

This past season was a very difficult one due to injury, however it did end on a very positive note as he was a key part of Fulham's escape from relegation. His end of season form suggests that he still has the ability to play in the EPL, but if he did stick around, what would Fulham accomplish? Is it worth the pounding his body will take if they end up just fighting, yet again, to stay up? And even if things did go fantastic and they were able to win a spot in European competition, he probably would not be around for 09-10 to enjoy it, so why stay?

If he came back to the US, he would probably have two or three good years left in him that he could use to push the sport in loves in his home country and have a good chance, no matter where he lands, of winning a MLS Cup.

From my own standpoint, it would be great to see McBride stay in England because he is a constant high note for American players in Europe, but that is pretty selfish on my part.

So what do you think?

Clint Dempsey sticking with Fulham

US international Clint Dempsey has decided to stay with the Cottagers after signing a contract extension that will keep him in West London through 2010. It had been rumored that if Fulham failed to stay in the Premier League, Dempsey would move along to another top-flight club, but this move seems to kill such talk.

Fulham beat Birmingham City over the weekend to move out of the bottom three for the first time in months, however they are still dangerously close to the drop zone. Since Dempsey signed even though the team might get relegated seems to suggest that he enjoys the club and that they plan on making him a key part of their future plans.

If Fulham do stay up, I'm think the only American that will leave is Bocanegra. If they don't, I see Eddie Johnson and Dempsey sticking around and possibly McBride.

Returning from the great blog exile

After a bit of a surprise 3-week sabbatical from this blog, it is funny where life will take you, I'm happy to be back. So what did I miss?

From the limited number of MLS matches I've seen, it looks like I've been absent for the start of a really solid season. Refs are calling fewer fouls allowing the game to achieve a much better pace then in the past. Got to admit, I like this.

Seattle ended up keeping the Sounders name for the expansion team saying they had to listen to the fans. If only someone could have seen this coming.

The US women will join their male counterparts in Beijing for the Olympics after beating Costa Rica 3-0 in the semifinals to earn one of the two Concacaf spots. The fact that they then went on to beat Canada in a closely fought, meaningless first place match (you don't get to type that a lot) only adds to the fun of it all.

LA's defense is still good for a few laughs.

MLS teams repeated last year's results in the Concacaf Champions Cup as both Houston and DC exited the competition in the semifinal round. With this the final version of the CCC, let's hope for better results in the new Concacaf Champions League.

Real Salt Lake still has their curse over DC United in Utah. The last two years the defeat at Real came closer to mid-season and started a bit of a downturn for United. It will be interesting to see what comes of it this year.

Do you think Houston is second-guessing their Boswell for Wells trade at all? With Onstad out and Bobby not yet in the Dynamo groove, I'm guessing this isn't the start that Kinnear was hoping for. Then again, it is a long season and Dominic has worked wonders before.

Three games in and Kenny Cooper and Landon Donovan are creating and finishing chances at a very exciting clip while Blanco doesn't seem to be going to ground every time he touches the ball. If these things hold up, this season might just be one for the record books.

Beckham is actually playing so 2008 is already better then 2007.

Hugo Sanchez failed to live up to any of his promises and was unanimously kicked to the curb as coach of Mexico.

Overseas, it is wonderful to see Brian McBride back on the pitch and returning to full form. Too bad it is probably a bit too late for Fulham. On the plus side, can you say Olympic overage spot? McBride, Altidore and Adu with a bit of Sacha Kljestan on the side might just be the recipe for offensive success in China.

So there is three weeks in a nutshell. I have missed this.

Top 3 US National team goals of all time

The US MNT's blog continues their countdown to the 500th American international match by asking about the best goals in US men's history. With 665 from which to choose, this could take some time. Or then again, maybe not.

Here is my top three:

1. Paul Caligiuri - 1989 World Cup Qualifier vs. Trinidad & Tobago - Without a doubt the most important goal in US history. Without this goal, the US would have missed the 1990 World Cup, would not have been awarded the 1994 World Cup, and would not have got Major League Soccer going. All of this would have kept us from developing into the quality country we are now. But that best thing about this goal is it actually is a great shot.




2. Joe Gaetjens - 1950 World Cup vs. England - Greatest upset in World Cup history. Sadly I cannot find a video of this goal, but it was truly amazing as Gaetjens dove an incredible distance to get his head on the end of a Walter Bahr and send it past stunned goalkeeper Bert Williams.

3. Brian McBride - 2002 World Cup vs. Portugal - This is the perfect McBride goal. He placed himself in just the right spot and headed the ball with the needed force to get what turned out to be the winning goal. Adding to all of it, this is the victory that shocked a lot of Americans into watch the team.


His goal is the third one at about 37 seconds

Honorable mentions:

Benny Feihaber - 2007 Gold Cup vs. Mexico - Just an amazing, top quality blast to win a major tournament. On a side note, it is amazing how similar his goal is to Paul Caligiuri's.



Clint Dempsey - 2006 World Cup vs. Ghana - A great goal from the run of play. DeMarcus Beasley serves it up across the field to an on-rushing Dempsey who buries it.




Gregg Berhalter - 2002 World Cup vs. Germany - This should have been the tying goal in the quarterfinals, but a bad call meant Germany didn't get called for the obvious handball by Torsten Frings on the line. The US owned this game is deserved to toss the Germans out, but their luck finally ran out. And yes, I am still bitter.


The should have been goal is at 1:45

The three best US national team soccer players ever

The festivities leading up to the US men's 500th game have begun as the official US MNT bog asking readers to pick the best three US players ever. Their one rule, it should only be based on time with the national team, meaning club performance is out.

So who are the best three US Nats ever? I spent some time thinking about it and here are my picks:

1) Brian McBride - This is the exact type of player we need up top. Someone who will work himself into position and take any beating in order to get the goal.

2) Claudio Reyna - No American has ever been able to control the tempo and pace of a game like Reyna. His skill at placing balls and taking smart shots give the team their drive. So much of what team USA has accomplished over the last 10-years can be tied directly to him.

3) Brad Friedel - A US list would not be complete without a goalkeeper and for pure Nat duty, I have to go with the 'The Human Wall' himself. Simply put, 2002 would not have been so great without the work of Friedel and his two pk stops.

It really is difficult to pick a top three, but there are my selections. Here are some other folks I was considering:

Landon Donovan - His work in 2002 and every Mexico match is great, but his wash out in 2006 and his inconsistency make him a runner-up.

Kasey Keller - Anytime he is between the pipes, the US is in a good spot, but I think Friedel's '02 Cup shines just a bit brighter then his '06 Kaiserslautern outing. Still, his 1-0 win against Brazil makes this a very difficult pick.

Tony Meola - Another keeper that made his name at a time when the US goal was getting routinely pounded by any and all competition. Had he not tried to go into the NFL, history could have been very different.

Joe Gaetjens - Joe scored the biggest US World Cup goal (and second biggest goal*) ever in the shock 1950 1-0 victory over England. Even though he only played 3 matches for the Nats, this one goal alone is enough to put him in the running.

Walter Bahr - He is the man who crossed the ball that Gaetiens redirected home in 1950. Perhaps the greatest US player pre-1990. It was very hard not to select him.

And there is my list. Who is on yours?

* The biggest goal in US National history is Paul Caligiuri's 1989's "Shot Heard Round the World".

Brian McBride is Fulham's captain

The most popular man at Fulham is now their captain. Former US international and all around fantastic person Brian McBride has been given the armband by manager Lawrie Sanchez.

McBride's task at hand is not an easy one as Fulham just missed relegation last year and is picked by many to fall this year. Fulham is a club with a number of new (or close to new) EPL players so leadership is much needed. McBride has been the leading scored for the Cottagers for the last two (or is it three) seasons, which should give him some additional respect from the newbies.

McBride joins Claudio Reyna as Americans who have been full time captains of an EPL side.