Here is the roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 6/5 SO), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF: 0/0) 
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 16/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 17/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 1/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 13/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 11/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 5/0)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco: 1/0), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 19/4), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach: 5/2), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 3/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 3/0), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 0/0)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal C.F.: 0/0), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 9/4), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF: 0/0) Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 11/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 24/8) 
*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals 

The most notable exclusion is Eddie Johnson (you can breath a huge sigh of relief, I mean huge).  Another head scratcher is the continued absence of Kenny Cooper.  Cooper ’s absence is concerning, but the fact that there are many new faces means he might get a call up for the Trinidad and Tobago game later this month.

The most exciting inclusions certainly have to be the five young faces on the roster.  Danny Szetela, Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Jose Francisco Torres, and Freddy Adu.  The four youngsters are exciting, but none are more exciting than Jose Francisco Torres.  Torres, who is American born but has lived and played in Mexico for the last five years was being courted by Mexico, but his decision to play for the US is very heartening.  There are plenty of Mexican-Americans playing in Mexico, and hopefully, Torres can be a model for them to emulate.  

What are you most excited about?  Who do you like on the roster, who do you dislike?  Your thoughts go below.

———————–Howard———————
Cherundolo—Onyewu–Bocanegra(c)—Pearce
—————Kljestan———-Bradley———
—-Dempsey———Donovan—————Beasley
————————–Ching———————-

What do you think?  I  got it right calling the surprise start for Kljestan.  Didn’t think he’d be playing D-mid though.  Your thoughts on the game and the lineup below.

Here’s the Roster you can choose from:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 5/4 SO) 
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 15/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 16/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 13/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 10/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 4/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0) 
MIDFIELDERS (6): DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 18/4), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach: 4/1), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 3/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 2/0), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy: 21/3) 
FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 9/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 23/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 10/3), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City: 8/8) 

Here’s my lineup:

——-Ching——-Donovan———-

Beasley——–Dempsey——–Kljestan

—————Bradley—————

Pearce–Bocanegera–Onyewu–Cherundolo

————-Howard—————-

You might be able to tell I really want to see Kljestan get some playing time.

What is your lineup?  Any thoughts on the game go below.

 Do you remember?… The last time Cuba played the USA in a full National game was in 2005. A 4-1 win for the US was convincing enough, and the highlights are right here.

Here are some pre-game comments from Beasley, Donovan, and Bocanegra. I should have the lineup within the hour.

Here’s today’s lineup:

USA LINEUP (4-4-2): Howard; Hejduk, Bocanegra, Onyewu, Pearce; Dempsey, Edu, Bradley, Beasley; Donovan, Ching.

Cherundolo (suspension) and Orozco (coach’s decision) are not in uniform.

What do you guys think?  Will it get us 3 points?  Who would you like to see off the bench?  Your thoughts below.

This brings us to the choice Bob Bradley will be faced with on Saturday.  Who will be in the starting lineup?

I’ll give my take, and then you can give yours in the comments section.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 4/3 SO) 
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 14/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 16/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 12/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 9/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 3/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0) 
MIDFIELDERS (6): DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 17/4), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach: 3/1), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 2/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/3) 
FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 8/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 22/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 9/2), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City: 8/8) 

Here’s my take:

———–Ching————–

Beasley—–Donovan—–Dempsey

——–Edu—-Bradley———

Pearce—Gooch–Bocanegra-Hejduk

———Howard————–

Howard and the backline are pretty obvious.  Hejduk replaces Cherundolo because he’s suspended.  I favor an Edu-Bradley partnership because that’s the one of the future.  Ricardo Clark doesn’t pass well enough to play the d-mid role on the International stage.  Bradley, Donovan, and Dempsey are the standard across the top, and it could be just as easy for Donovan to pair with Ching up top.  Ching gets the nod because he holds play up better than Eddie Johnson although a Kenny Cooper call up is still begging.  

What is your preferred lineup?  Who would you like to see playing?  Your thoughts below.

Preston Zimmerman 

Zimmerman has left Hamburg and will be joining newly promoted Austrian Bundesliga side Kapfenberg, or as they are officially know ksv superfund (whatever that means).  He has been sold in this instance, so this move is permanent, not a loan.  He joins fellow American Damon Wilson in Austria, and could make his first appearance in Kapfenberg’s next game on September 20th.

Jonathan Spector

I’m surprised to be hearing Spector’s name, but on the final day of the transfer season, you really don’t know.  I’ve just received word from a source in England saying that West Ham is entertaining the idea of loaning Spector to Nottingham Forest.  I think this is a bit unlikely seeing as Spector is still injured, but this is something i’ll be monitoring.  What do you think of that move?  A bit bizzare considering Spector made 28 league appearances last year.  But we’ll wait and see.

Oguchi Onyewu

He’s not going anywhere until January.  I’ve just received word from a European contact that after hearing from around six or seven bidders, Liege have decided to hold on to the big American.  This means a January move is likely, considering his contract runs out at the end of the year, and Liege will want to get some money in return for Gooch.  Happy to see him stay?  Where would you have liked to see him go?  

What are your thoughts on American’s on the move?  What are their transfer values?  Any thoughts on any moves go below.

This is an ideal move for Bradley.  He moves to a big league, and a club that he can start at immediately.  Monchengladbach needs a central midfielder, and Bradley can elevate them to new heights.  I think Bradley was wise to move to a lesser Bundesliga side.  If he moved to Bayer Leverkusen or Hamburg, he would have had to fight for playing time much more, so in that respect, this is a better move.  

Monchengladbach is an up and coming team as well, with young talents like Marko Marin and Rob Friend, Bradley will fit in well.

What do you think of the move?  When the details are released, what do you think the transfer fee will be?  Your thoughts below.

Jozy revealed the following to the New York Times:

And the Olympics. Man, it seems like that was ages ago, but it was only a few weeks. I honestly don’t want to talk about. It was pretty disappointing for me as a whole. O.K., I guess I have to say something! Everyone was disappointed, even now when I think or talk about it I get a sour taste in my mouth. We had so many good players on the team and were so close to getting out of the first round. It’s hard to take and I don’t like to talk about it.

I know there were some things written about me being injured … I don’t know where that came from because I wasn’t injured. Maybe my left ankle is not the greatest, but I was more than fine to play. How much I played was really a coach’s decision. I had a game plan for myself, but I guess it wasn’t the same as the coach’s plan. My playing had nothing to do with my ankle, it was just how the coach made the lineup.

It’s shocking to me.  If Jozy was healthy, he would have been on the field the whole time so this comes as a disappointing news.  Maybe Jozy could have made the difference had he played more, unfortunately, we’ll never know.

Jozy also revealed he won’t be moving on loan, and he might even get a start on sunday against Osasuna.

So now I at least know that I’m going to be here at least until January. Everyone knows I was supposed to go to another La Liga team on loan. But I think I’ve now done well enough and we have those injuries that the coach said I’m going to be staying around and if I do well the coach said he would keep me for the whole season. With Nihat and Rossi hurt, we just want to make sure we’ve got things covered.

We won’t know the lineup until the day before the game, so I’m not sure if I’ll be starting or coming off the bench. I just have to be ready to play. I have the feeling that I’ve been given a reward in a way because the coach has liked what he’s seen from me. Also, we have a couple of injuries to our forwards, [Giuseppe] Rossi and Nihat.

Wouldn’t a surprise start be amazing for Jozy.  He’s got so much promise, and I’d love to see him get playing time immediately on a Champions League team.

What do you guys think of Jozy’s revealing comments.  Will he get the start on sunday?  Do you like him staying at Villareal?  Can you believe he actually wasn’t injured at the olympics?  Your thoughts below.

Preston Zimmerman

A man who moved to Europe in search of high quality first team football didn’t get what he wanted.  After being buried on Hamburg’s reserve squad and never making a first team appearance, his agent has said he will be on a new team by “September 1st”.  Zimmerman is attracting interest from an unnamed German club, as well as a Danish club, and a loan move is very probable at this point.

Chance of a move happening: 98%

Kamani Hill

US fans got a taste of Kamani when he was on the US Olympic Qualifying roster playing as a right back, but his natural position is a striker and that’s where he plays for Wolfsburg.  Unfortunately, Kamani hasn’t appeared all that frequently and Wolfsburg don’t want to let him leave on a free transfer so a move is becoming increasingly difficult.  There are teams interested from Scandanavia, Ligue 1, Ligue 2, Germany, and Belgium, with no specific teams mentioned yet.

Chance of a move happening: 75%

Michael Bradley

Michael Bradley has been the hottest American target coming off a season where he scored 15 goals from midfield, and he is garnering interest as you all know from many clubs.  It looks like the main suitors are know Hamburg, Celtic, and Middlesbrough, with Middlesbrough already making an offer to Heerenveen.  The only reason a deal won’t be reached is if Heerenveen sell Daniel Pranjic.  Heerenveen won’t sell both of those young talents unless they get two great offers.

Chance of a move happening: 85%

Oguchi Onyewu

Gooch has been a hot item for the last two weeks, and things have just gotten hotter since his great performance against Liverpool in the Champions League.  Since Standard was eliminated from the Champions League, it makes it all the more likely that Gooch will be sold to the host of clubs after his signature.  You can add a new club to the list, and it’s Aston Villa.  After watching Gooch at Anfield, the club which already has two Americans could be ready to add Gooch as their third.

Chance of a move happening: 95%

What do you think of our Americans on the move?  Where should they go, what should they cost?  What is the best place for Gooch?  Would you like to see him in Italy, Germany, England, France, or Spain?  Your thoughts below.