Wednesday, August 02, 2006
WBA, Onyewu, Rossi, McBride, Cooper, and the MLS All-Stars
The West Bromwich Albion Zone covers their swoop for Onyewu - word is they're also looking to get New Jersey-born Giuseppe Rossi on loan from Manchester United. After the departure of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, however, most are tipping Rossi for a bigger role at Old Trafford this year. Rossi isn't currently in our player pool for US 2010 because he has only ever expressed a desire to play for Italy. Skill-wise, you'd have to consider him the top forward currently in our pool.
Which brings us to our next item, the departure of Brian McBride. While transfer rumors swirl in England (despite Fulham's hands-off declaration), McBride's retirement leaves the US looking for his replacement up top. It should have been Eddie Johnson, or maybe Conor Casey, but head issues are derailing the former and knee issues the latter. Ives Galarcep's article about McBride's replacements brings up Kenny Cooper, who is back in the states after a stint in Manchester United's youth system. While he is not on the all-star team, Cooper has been scoring in MLS every time I turn around. He's also tall and strong (and hasn't been moved to defense) which puts him in a unique category among American players.
As for the MLS All-Stars, they lose Landon Donovan and Pablo Mastroeni to injury for the Chelsea game, but that means Ricardo Clark and Eddie Robinson will be added to the roster. After his World Cup performance, it would have been nice to see Donovan out there against more top flight competition but Clark is supposedly a real up-and-comer so he might step nicely into Mastroeni's defensive midfield slot against the English powers.
Which brings us to our next item, the departure of Brian McBride. While transfer rumors swirl in England (despite Fulham's hands-off declaration), McBride's retirement leaves the US looking for his replacement up top. It should have been Eddie Johnson, or maybe Conor Casey, but head issues are derailing the former and knee issues the latter. Ives Galarcep's article about McBride's replacements brings up Kenny Cooper, who is back in the states after a stint in Manchester United's youth system. While he is not on the all-star team, Cooper has been scoring in MLS every time I turn around. He's also tall and strong (and hasn't been moved to defense) which puts him in a unique category among American players.
As for the MLS All-Stars, they lose Landon Donovan and Pablo Mastroeni to injury for the Chelsea game, but that means Ricardo Clark and Eddie Robinson will be added to the roster. After his World Cup performance, it would have been nice to see Donovan out there against more top flight competition but Clark is supposedly a real up-and-comer so he might step nicely into Mastroeni's defensive midfield slot against the English powers.
