Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Tuesday Afternoon

is when we learn who Arena's 23 man squad for the World Cup is. Today, Marc Connolly gave us his assessment of the bubble players for the US. I think most of his guesses are spot on (although what's the difference between being "Bubble" and "Firmly on the Bubble?" Since a bubble is by definition a boundary area, being "firmly on the bubble" makes no sense to me.)

The boldest prediction Connolly makes is that Ben Olsen has made this team. I'm not entirely convinced of this; Steve Goff says 60/40, which seems about right to me. Certainly his utility puts him in a good position.

The biggest danger of naming an early roster is that someone might be named who's injured and expected to recover, but who's recovery goes less well than expected, putting Bruce Arena in a difficult position. John O'Brien is the obvious player in this position, but so is Carlos Bocanegra, who hasn't played for Fulham in a long while.

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