Bob Bradley makes his final cut
Bob Bradley cut his squad down to 23 for the World Cup with four MLS players making the final cut.
Jonathan Bornstein hasn’t been in the best form of his career but he has always been a favorite of Bradley so it was no surprise to see him in the final squad, while Landon Donovan was always an absolute lock.
The real shock was the inclusion of both Robbie Findley and Edson Buddle. It was widely believed that these two were to battle it out for one spot, but Bradley has elected to bring both and leave out the experienced Brian Ching.
Ching can play with his back to goal and offers more of a physical presence up top, but Bradley obviously felt he was well covered in that department with Altidore and at times Dempsey both capable of playing that role.
Chad Marshall is the only other MLS player who can feel slightly aggrieved at not making the final roster, especially after seeing Oguchi Onyewu’s performance against the Czechs on Tuesday. Onyewu has played little or no competitive football over the last year and his lack of fitness means his inclusion in the final 23 is a big gamble.
We can all question Bradley’s decisions but we will be unable to truly judge whether they were the correct ones until after the World Cup run is over. Until then it is up to us all to get behind the squad as they embark on their journey to South Africa.
Dallas rely too much on Cunningham
Dallas finished off last season as the hottest team in MLS and, although they eventually missed out on a playoff spot, they showed enough promise to suggest that they would be a real challenger this year.
That has not happened as of yet and I believe their over reliance on star-striker Jeff Cunningham is the reason. Everything Cunningham hit at the end of last season seemed to find the back of the net but he has not been prolific to start this year and the team has struggled despite dominating games for large periods.
When Cunningham doesn’t find the back of the net it is up to the rest of the Dallas team to pick up the goal-scoring slack and provide a better scoring balance. Players like David Ferreira and Atiba Harris are very attack minded but don’t score enough goals over the course of the season for this team to be really considered a threat for a playoff spot.
Cunningham is a great goal-scorer but he can’t be expected to fire this team to glory all on his own.
Crew still flying under the radar
Over the last two seasons the Columbus Crew has won the MLS Cup and two regular season crowns yet it can still be argued that they do not get the credit that a side with that kind of success should get.
Sigi Schmid started the Crew’s fantastic run but his departure to Seattle has not affected this team in the slightest with Robert Warzycha doing a tremendous job of building on Schmid’s fine work. The Crew’s success is built on a core of quality players with Chad Marshall giving them the solid defensive base that is vital to be successful, while Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven provide excellent balance in midfield.
Bbut the real key to their success has been the form of Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Schelotto came to MLS in the twilight of his career but his level of play has not dipped in the slightest and he is one of the most creative players to ever play in this league.
It is amazing that with all their success over the last few years they go into this weekend’s clash with fellow unbeatens L.A. Galaxy as the underdog in many people’s eyes. It is not something that will bother the Crew players though and I will not be surprised if they pull off the ‘upset’ this weekend and stand tall as the last remaining unbeaten side in MLS.
Pires turns down Philly
Robert Pires last week turned down a move to the Philadelphia Union stating that it is not “a beautiful city.” Peter Nowak claimed the comments stemmed from Pires comparing the size of Philadelphia with cities like New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago, and also stated Pires should be more concerned with raising the profile of the league and “not worried about living in a vacation resort.”
While Pires does have every right to demand a move to a city of his liking, his comments smacked of ignorance and he has already hurt his reputation with MLS fans before he has played a game in the league. I’m sure Pires’ comments will not deter other clubs going after the talented midfielder, but something tells me the likes of Columbus and Kansas City won’t bother making the call to the Frenchman’s agent.
On to this week's MLS Power Rankings ...
1. Los Angeles Galaxy: No Landon, Buddle or Becks, yet the Galaxy continue to roll through the rest of MLS.
2. Columbus Crew: The Crew picked up two road wins in the space of four days to show us that the Galaxy will not have it all their own way in the race for the regular season crown.
3. Real Salt Lake: If RSL can continue to pick up victories on the road they can challenge the Galaxy for top spot in the west. It is a big if though.
4. San Jose Earthquakes: The Earthquakes have been the surprise package of the season so far with Chris Wondolowski quietly putting together a superb start to the season.
5. Toronto FC: Toronto are slowly starting to show some consistency after a poor start to the season and even managed to beat the Revs without top-scorer Dwayne DeRosario.
6. Houston Dynamo: The Dynamo handily dispatched D.C. last weekend, but then again what team hasn’t handily dispatched the worst team in the league?
7. Colorado Rapids: The Rapids have had a relatively good start to the season but have some tough fixtures over the next month that will define their season.
8. New York Red Bulls: The Red Bulls defeat at the hands of Columbus shows this team is still not quite ready to compete for an Eastern Conference crown.
9. FC Dallas: When Jeff Cunningham doesn’t score Dallas struggle and the striker has not been as prolific as he was last season.
10. Seattle Sounders: Seattle has so much talent but they are yet to hit the heights of last season. Is Sigi Schmid starting to feel the height of an expectant ownership group?
11. Chicago Fire: Hopefully Carlos De Los Cobos used the bye week to finally figure out what his best starting lineup actually is. The Chicago coach has yet to find the right mix and if he doesn’t get it right soon, the Fire will continue to underachieve.
12. Kansas City Wizards: The Wizards actually played well against the Crew but unless they add more quality to their attack they will not make the playoffs.
13. New England Revolution: It was good to see Shalrie Joseph back in action for the Revs but not even the return of their best player could stop New England falling to yet another defeat.
14. Chivas USA: For the second straight week Chivas fell to a defeat after conceding a late goal. Martin Vasquez has blamed his side’s lack of focus and if it doesn’t improve quickly they will be cut adrift at the bottom of the west.
15. Philadelphia Union: It’s been a tough first few months in MLS for the Union but things will improve when PPL Park finally opens in June.
16. D.C. United: D.C.’s nightmare run continued with a defeat at Houston. Can this team possibly lay claim to being the worst United squad ever?
Keith Costigan covers MLS and U.S. Soccer for FoxSoccer.com.
