Jaqua might return to Houston, at least for a little while

It looks like the Dynamo might be about to solve some of their offensive problems as Nate Jaqua has been offered a contract to return to Houston.

Jaqua left Houston during the off season for a spell in Austria, where he put up some great numbers (5 goals in 10 apperiences). Even with these quality results on the pitch, his club decided not to offer him a new contract.

Houston has been chasing him for awhile now, but it looked unlikely until they added a little twist to the offer. As part of this deal, Houston will promise to trade him to Seattle FC for the 2009 season.

Jaqua is from Eugene, Oregon, and very much wants to play in the Northwest.

It is not clear if this trade will be part of the expansion draft.

This is a smart move by Houston as they need another striker. Sure it will hurt losing him to Seattle, however they will have seven months to find a replacement. Who knows, maybe by then Caraccio might be ready to show something.

It is even a smarter deal if this will count towards the expansion draft as then they will not have to worry about losing any other players.

US roster for Sunday's 2010 World Cup Qualifier named

US vs. Barbados
Sunday 5pET/2pPT
Home Depot Center, Carson, Ca.
Tickets (Great for Father's Day)

Bob Bradley released his 21-man roster for this Sunday's World Cup Qualifier against Barbados. There are no huge surprises, as just about everyone on the list saw minutes during warm up games. The one major exception, the Houston Dynamo's Brian Ching.

Ching was named to the preliminary roster for the three friendly matches the US played over the last couple weeks, but he did not make the final cut. Oddly enough, during this same time Ching came into his own in MLS play earning 3 goals and two assists over his last three matches. The addition of Ching gives the US a greater threat in the air and an alternative on set pieces to Onyewu.

A name not on the forward list is Nate Jaqua. I don't think he is injured so I'm a little surprise that with all the US's problems in attack, he was not given more of a chance in the warm up games as he had a great year with both Houston and Austrian side Altach. Perhaps he is trying out for club teams or maybe Bradley didn't like what he saw in camp.

Jozy Altidore is also not on the list, but this is nowhere near a surprise. With his move to Spain in the final stages and his likely call up for the Olympic team looming, Bradley doesn't want to hinder the relationship with Villarreal.

One name that is pleasing to see is Frankie Hejduk. He is a workhorse who can bring some needed experience to the squad during these early qualifiers.

Here is the full roster:

GK (3): Dominic Cervi, Brad Guzan, Tim Howard

D (7): Carlos Bocanegra, Dan Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce

M (7): Freddy Adu, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Sacha
Kljestan, Eddie Lewis, Pablo Mastroeni

F (4): Brian Ching, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson

My guess for Bradley's starting lineup is very similar to what he put out during the Argentina match, except Bocanegra will replace Califf. The position that I could see changing is Edu in for Mastroeni.

---------------------Howard-------------------

Cherundolo--Bocanegra--Onyewu--Pearce

-Dempsey--Bradley--Mastroeni--Beasley-

-----------Johnson------Donovan------------

Bradley names 22-man roster for England match

US vs. England
May 38 - 3p ET/12p PT
TV: ESPN Classic, Galavision (tape delayed till 7p ET)

US Men's National team coach Bob Bradley has narrowed his roster down to 22 players with just one week to go till they clash with England at Wembley Stadium. As expected, the list is made up mostly of European based players.

Here is the full list:

Goalkeepers (3): Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

Defenders (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

Midfielders (6): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County).

Forwards (5): Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (out of contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (out of contract)

Guzan, Clark and Donovan are the only MLS based players to earn a call up.

The obvious name absent from this list is Jozy Altidore. As much as I would love to see Jozy on the pitch for England and Spain, with the Olympics and World Cup Qualifiers coming up, Bradley is probably wants to limit the time he is away from the Red Bulls. Also, if Jozy is suffering from fatigue as Juan Carlos Osorio suggested a few weeks ago, giving him a break now will make things easier later this summer and into next year (especially is he does end up moving to Europe).

That said, there is a strong argument to be made for Jozy playing in England and Spain instead of some of the World Cup Qualifiers as these two games plus Argentina are more likely to reflect what the US will face in 2010 then games this fall.

The name that sticks out the most from this list is Michael Orozco from Mexico's San Luis. He has quickly becoming a challenger for one of the center back positions, but with Onyewu coming off a solid season, Bocanegra is most likely to lose his spot.

I've noticed that some people are surprised by Nate Jaqua's call up but I don't see why. In his 10 games with Altach, he netted five goals and was one of the main reasons the team was not relegated. It is true that Austria is not be a big league but results like that deserve some recognition (not to mention what he did with Houston last year). Add to it the lack of offensive depth for the US men and Bradley's choice makes sense.

As far as surprises, there are not many, but Eddie Lewis is the biggest (and it is not that big). Although he has little chance of being in the mix come 2010, I'm guessing Bradley selected him to bring some experience to the team. Also, if he took Maurice Edu or Sacha Kljestan away from their teams while leaving Jozy with New York, it would have looked a little off.

All and all, this is a pretty A-list roster for the US.

Here is my guess at the starting lineup:

-----------------Howard-----------------

Cherundolo---Gooch----Boca---Pearce

--Donovan---Bradley-Clark--Beasley--

----------Johnson----Dempsey----------

Of all of these, Beasley is the one I'm least sure about due to his recent return from injury. If Beasley doesn't get the start, my guess is Wolff will take it.

Houston loses another forward

I guess Nate Jaqua really likes being around Joseph Ngwenya because he is about to move to the same Austrian league (link via SBI). The club that Jaqua will now call home is SCR Altach, who currently stand in eighth place (out of 10).

Jaqua is another quality player leaving Houston, meaning the team is starting to look a bit lost up top. There has been talk about Dwayne DeRosario moving up top with Brian Ching and Stuart Holden sliding into the more attacking midfielder role, which should work well. However, no matter how you look at it, the team has lost some serious depth.

They still need a quality backup goal minder for Pat Onstad and now they could use some help up top. That said, it is nowhere near gloom and doom time as they have an amazing backline and midfield options that I'm sure make other coaches in the league cry.

So to sum up, Houston is not down, but there are a little shaky.