A few words about the roster

Bob Bradley unveiled a few days ago the 22 men he'll be taking into battle against Honduras next week, and there were few surprises. Though two crucial World Cup Qualifiers are probably not the place to experiment with new player combinations, the fact that the newly eligible Edgar Castillo is left off the roster is a little dissapointing.

In goal, of course, there are no surprises. Tim Howard starting with Brad Guzan backing him up is no surprise at all. It would seem to make sense to bring a third keeper (you can never be too careful), but that is unlikely to be an issue.

In defense, Bradley largely went with the guys who have been playing there recently. Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra are locks to start in the middle on defense with Jay Demerit out, and Jonothan Specter is likely to see another start at either right back (where he has been starting for Bob Bradley) or left back (where he has been starting for West Ham), a position at which the US sorely lacks depth. The other start outside back slot will go to Steve Cherundolo or Jonathan Bornstein. Jimmy Conrad and Clarence Goodson will also be available. Noticeably absent, as I already mentioned, is talented Mexican-American left back Edgar Castillo. While it would be reasonable to point out that Castillo has never played with the USMNT before and how is hardly the time to thrust him into the starting lineup, it is worth noting that, though Jimmy Conrad has 26 caps, he has yet to play in the US World Cup Qualifying campaign either. Goodson, for his part, has played in exactly one such game: a 2008 contest against Guatemala. Conrad has played in three games for the national team since 2007 (two in this summer's Gold Cup that featured almost no USMNT regulars), and Goodson has played in 6 total. Both did a good job in the Gold Cup and earned their call-up, but would giving minutes to either one of them be less of a mistake than giving minutes to Castillo?

In the midfield, Bradley has the usual suspects, and this was an easy choice. Landon Donovan and Stuart Holden have impressed in every performance they have had recently. Donovan will start both games will Holden, unfortunately, may not. Also probably starting will be Michael Bradley, who brings little to the table except a willingness to shoot and being the coach's son. Ricardo Clark and Benny Feilhaber certainly deserve to be in the 22, but the fact that one of them will be starting over Jose Francisco Torres (also on the roster) is a little depressing. Most writers include Clint Dempsey among this group, because tmidfield is where Bob Bradley has been playing him (despite his scoring goals for the USMNT being highly correlated with him playing forward). Giving him a start at striker would not be a bad idea. Rounding out the midfield is Robbie Rogers, who won the spot with a good performance in the Gold Cup.

Up top, Charlie Davies and Jozy Altidore will both be hoping to start both games. As likely as that seems, they've only started a couple of qualifiers together up there, and neither have gone particularly well. As I've already indicated, swapping one out for Dempsey in the starting 11, then bringing the other on as a sub in the second half, would be a great move. Rounding out the attackers are a trio of players that every US soccer fan is hoping won't see much playing time: Brian Ching, Conor Casey and Kenny Cooper. These are three guys that play well for their club teams, and certainly do everything they're asked in Bob Bradley's "kick the ball as far as you can and then let the strikers try to get their head on it" system, but they are not players that belong on a world class national side.

So no surprises, just a bit of dissapointment that Bradley once again went with some pretty marginal, uncreative players (Goodson, Conrad, Cherundolo, Bornstein, Cooper, Ching and Casey) instead of guys that have a real chance to make an impact for the national team in the near future (Castillo, and maybe even Freddy Adu who didn't look half bad today for Belenenses).