How to pick 30

There has been a lot of speculation about who Bob Bradley will take to Princeton today, and I want to go on record before 2 P.M. with my top choices. In my opinion, there is an obvious formula that should fill up most of the spots, and account for the majority of the playing time in South Africa. So without further ado (Adu? Edu?) here is how to pick the best 30 for camp, and hence the best 23 for South Africa.

1) Choose from non-injured players from European first divisions. If this number is less than 30, take all of them. This should be obvious. Playing and training in Europe is fundamentally different than playing and training in MLS. Competition on the field is stronger, competition for playing time is stronger, and matches are bigger and more important. Thus, I would take Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Jonathon Spector, Demarcus Beasley, Alejandro Bedoya, Benny Feilhaber, Michael Bradley, Carlos Bocanegra, Stuart Holden, Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, Eddie Johnson, Jay Demerit, Ricardo Clark, Steve Cherundolo, Clarence Goodson, Tim Howard, Brad Guzan and Marcus Hahnemann. Additionally, Landon Donovan played quite well at Everton (and is obviously the best American player) and falls into this category. That is 20 players that, in my opinion, should be no-brainers.

2) Choose from players that contributed in a major way to the qualifying campaign. If the total number is still less than 30, take all of them. Obviously there will some overlap with the first group. Only 3 Americans realistically fall into this category. They are Brian Ching, Conor Casey, Jonathan Bornstein, bringing the roster total up to 23. All 3 saw major minutes and important minutes. I'm not a big Bornstein fan or Casey fan, but they were both there for the big matches with Casey netting two crucial goals in the game that qualified that United States for the World Cup. Ching is another guy that really isn't a world class player, but his experience with the team is worth something. Again, these are 3 guys you only take if the first group does not fill up your entire roster. Jose Francisco Torres should be in this group but really did not see enough minutes. Guys like Ricardo Clark who have barely played in Europe could also fall into this category if they weren't already taken.



3) Choose from non-injured players that are currently performing at a very high level in the MLS or Mexican 1st division. Such players are Torres, strikers Edson Buddle and Hercules Gomez, and defenders Chad Marshall, and Heath Pearce. This brings the roster total up to 28.

4) Take players that are recovering from injury but have a realistic chance to be match-ready by the World Cup if and only if they are difference makers. These players, of course, are Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu, bringing the roster total up to 30.

And that's it! It's a pretty easy formula that I think is pretty difficult to argue with, and I can't think of a player that I think should be on that roster outside of those 30. I would prefer Jermaine Jones and Edgar Castillo, but both have been injured and will not be ready to play on June 11th. Now I only need to wait less than an hour to see if Bob Bradley follows my advice.