Roster thoughts

I wanted to spend a minute to go over the likely roster and the bubble players:

Goalkeepers:

Definites
Keller, Howard

Probables:
Hahneman

Unlikely:
Meola

Thoughts: The Jamaica game was largely symbolic for Tony Meola. I would prefer that he goes to the WC instead of Hahneman but Bruce Arena rarely asks for my thoughts these days. Either way, the 3rd goalkeeper slot is not a very important slot in terms of playing time.

Defenders:

Definites: Cherundulo, Onyewu, Lewis
Probables: Gibbs, Hejduk, Pope
Bubbles: Berhalter, Bocanegra, Spector
Unlikely: Pearce, Albright, Conner

Thoughts: Bruce is only going to take 8 (possibly 9 but unlikely since we're not Italy) defenders. I think that the first choice pairing in the center is Onyewu and Pope. One of Berhalter or Bocanegra will probably grab the other spot with Gibbs able to cover there as well. Cherundulo and Lewis are the automatic first choices on the outsides and Hejduk's ability to play left and right will likely land him a spot. Bobby Convey, John O'Brien and Claudio Reyna (all nominally midfielders) also provide some cover on the flanks and Pablo Mastroeni can (apparently) do passably well in the center of defense.

Midfielders:

Definites: Donovan, Mastroeni, Beasley
Probables: Convey, Reyna, O'Brien, Dempsey
Bubbles: Olsen, Zavagnin, Noonan
Unlikely: Klein, Ralston, Gavin

Thoughts: Alot is going to depend on Reyna's health and whether or not Bruce thinks that O'Brien is a potential starter. Additionally, I would expect that Donovan is nominally considered the 5th forward so if there's an injury to Eddie Johnson or Josh Wolff, I would think that they would be replaced by a midfielder rather than a forward. A healthy team means that Olsen is likely superfulous. Health questions anywhere on the field mean that one or possibly two of the bubble players come in.

Forwards:

Definites: McBride
Probables: Wolff, Twellman, Johnson
Bubbles: Ching
Unlikely: Rooney

Thoughts: We're really quite thin at forward. McBride and Johnson is likely the first choice but injuries to any of those players could quickly force Donovan and/or Noonan to be deputized into action. I view Ching as the potential replacement only for McBride and Twellman. Donovan is much more likely to fill in for the other two. The other big question is whether or not Arena feels sufficiently confident with the McBride/Johnson tandem or if he'll decide that Donovan is a better bet to pair with McBride. I think that a completley healthy team or a couple key injuries at forward could see Donovan partner with McBride. Any other scenario, likely sees Landon playing in the midfield.