Picking The 23: Forwards

I’ll start it off by saying Josh Wolff, for pace and experience.

Posted from  United States

McBride is an obvious one

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The GAM himself, Eddie Johnson.

Posted from  United States

It’s pretty clear who are the top four right now. I’ll throw out Eddie Johnson and I’m sure Twellman will be the other choice.

Rolfe looked really good today for Chicago despite getting little help from his team. It’s probably too late for him to play his way onto the team but I love his fearlessness.

Here’s the vote for Taylor Twellman, who those of us in the US get to watch tonight right after the college basketball.

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Rolfe did look good today. Played the ball well to his teammates and looked dangerous with the ball and very fast when he was positioning himself.

But, not enough to get him on the WC squad. I think the top 4 are set.

A thing of note: Kenny Cooper is huge. If he begins to get skill with the ball he could make a name for himself.

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So, is anyone, anywhere going to argue with McBride, Twellman, Johnson, Wolff???

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Why do people still put Wolff in the top 4? He has not done anything in his last several appearances and has frankly looked terrible in his last few. If it is the speed teh roster needs, than why not give Rolfe another shot? Have him run off Mcbride. Wolff is a good player but has obviously not raised his level of play in the past year. I say find someone else.

Posted from  United States

I would vote for Donovan up front. Seems like we can do better than Wolff…

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Pretty obvious concensus for McBride, Johnson and Twellman. Sorry, can’t resist: who’s in favor of leaving Wolff off and adding a midfielder in anticipation of the move to the 4-5-1?

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OK people, it’s decision time. McBride, Twellman, Johnson are definitely in, so let us know if you would prefer

a)Josh Wolff as 4th striker.

c)4th striker other than Wolff.

If you vote for b or c please name a specific player.

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I vote for Wolff as the 4th striker, if only as a backup.

I don’t see any obvious midfield candidate to replace him otherwise.

Posted from  Ireland

McBride yes, Twellman yes, Johnson yes, Wolff no.

There is only one choice for fourth forward. I select, in order to generate American fan enthusiasm, infuse some high energy into the team, give birth to fears of an American World Cup title in the near future, and foster massive hype:

Freddy Adu.

Team America should do whatever is necessary to put The Future on the squad — change the rules, brainwash Coach Arena, whatever…

Cheers, all.

Posted from  Hungary

I like that Wolf has experience, I like that Adu would generate excitement but neither gives me tremendous confidence.

I think Arena has handled the whole Adu thing quite well, we can all assume that Nike and other stakeholders would love to see him go over and may have even let their opinions be known. Arena has resisted.

I frankly haven’t seen enough of freddy to know how he would respond to the pressure. he seems like a kid who thrives when people have confidence in him and wilts when that confidence wavers.

thoughts from those who have gotten more time to watch him?

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This is a vote *for* Wolff. That is, unless Arena is gonna reconsider Kreis….

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Wolff.

Rolfe is interesting, but we can’t afford to find out what he’s got against the likes of the Czech Republic and the Italian defense.

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Wolff definately in. He may not be a goal scorer, but he sets up the other at the top better than anybody else on the field. He has imigination and vision which is seriously lacking in our Nat’l squad.

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You need 4 forwards even 5 if you want to make it past the first round on this cup. Wolf should go, and wait in the bench. You need to add another striker to match against supperior defense and experience in this WC tournament. Teams like Mexico going with four strikers have Midfielders that can be just as dangerous. US team Doesn’t have that punch.

putting Adu in isn’t a bad idea. he will gain some useful experience in anticipation for next WC.

Posted from  United Kingdom

I’d have to say Wolff at this point, mainly because of his pace. I’d imagine he’d only be used as a spark off the bench though.

Adu is an intriguing idea from a PR perspective, but I simply don’t think he’s quite ready for this level of competition.

Posted from  United States

Funny idea for Adu. I’m still going to say that we should bring 4 forwards and Wolff is my last choice.

How about the 4 goals from Ching? Can he possibly wrentch the window back open? I’m watching the game as we speak and none of the first 3 are that impressive. He just fits very well into his club’s style of play but I don’t think he can replicate his club successes at the int’l level because the marking is so much tighter.

I would have no issue with Ching over Wolff, if for no other reason that it gives the US a target player on set pieces, in the event that McBride were to get injured. Wolff, Johnson and Twellman all play a very similar game. That said, I think Ching needs to impress again at the international level before I include him.
Today? I vote Wolff.

Adu and Rolfe are still overmatched at the international level.

Posted from  United States

And there we have it. The final four strikers are:

Brian McBride
Taylor Twellman
Eddie Johnson
Josh Wolff

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