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After getting my hopes up for about ten minutes, it appears that Jurgen Klinsmann will not have any current New England Revolution players on his roster for the team's January camp.
Although Juan Agudelo is currently out of contract and was initially included on the roster, I absolutely would've counted him as a "current" Revs player, his name was removed from the list after the initial posting due to a mix up according to US Soccer's Michael Kammarman. Apparently Agudelo was on the preliminary roster but shouldn't have been included in the annoucement, probably due to his ongoing quest to presumably sign in Europe. Despite good seasons in 2014, current Revs like Kelyn Rowe, Andrew Farrell and Lee Nguyen were not selected.
The full roster on USSoccer.com is as follows:
GOALKEEPERS (4): Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (DC United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (9): Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Michael Harrington (Portland Timbers), Chris Klute (Colorado Rapids), Chance Myers (Sporting Kansas City), Shane O'Neill (Colorado Rapids), Seth Sinovic (Sporting Kansas City), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders)
MIDFIELDERS (10): Eric Alexander (New York Red Bulls), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg - Norway), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake), Mike Magee (Chicago Fire), Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls, but listed as DC United on the website), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (3): Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (DC United), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Even without Agudelo, there are still two players who have ties to New England in current SKC players Sinovic and Feilhaber, although both bring back less than happy memories for Revs fans. Both players are coming off an MLS Cup title and Sinovic joins fellow SKC defenders Besler and Myers, meaning three-fourths of SKC's backline is in the US camp (Aurelien Collin isn't eligible).
From the roster selection, it appears Klinsmann is really trying to give a lot of MLS-based midfielders and defenders a legitimate look going into a World Cup year. A lot of veteran MLS players such as Mike Magee and Dax McCarty who haven't seen any or little USMNT playing time are good additions as well as youngster's like Luis Gil and Chris Klute.
I'm really excited to see Klute in particular, if not for a glimpse at a future left-back for the USMNT. I don't know how many players who haven't been involved in qualifying have a shot at making the World Cup roster, but it will be interesting to see how many of the veterans like Magee and McCarty (two of my favorites) will get a shot going into the spring friendlies and send-off games.
DeAndre Yedlin's inclusion to the roster doesn't shock me as the US is looking for a right back who is comfortable going forward. Yedlin certainly has the skill set to handle the position offensively, but it's his defense that bothers me right now. If the US is going to be unsettled at right back, I'd rather have a more defensive minded player at that spot who can support the attack without leaving the backline exposed. I also think Yedlin's better suited for a midfield spot but that's just me.
Another curious addition to the roster would be NYRB's Eric Alexander who has all of one cap for the USA in a friendly vs. Chile back in January of 2011. He did appear in all 34 of New York's MLS games this season, making 30 starts and scoring four goals with two assists so that's a pretty solid season for a guy playing with Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill and McCarty.
It will be interesting to see how Klinsmann uses the variety of midfield players at his disposal as well as the variations of defensive lineups (an all SKC defense with Goodson?) in the upcoming friendly vs. South Korea on February 1st. I think stalwarts like Donovan, Johnson and Beckerman will be included in the squad but it will be interesting to see if Klinsmann opts for a formation other than his preferred 4-2-3-1. Sure Beckerman and Diskerud can man the holding midfield spots but I'd like to see a more attacking lineup from a 4-4-2 or even a 4-1-4-1 to give the central playmakers more opportunity.
There are also a few individual positional battles that I'd like to see including Sinovic and Klute at left back, Hamid and Johnson for #4 GK and maybe Magee and McCarty for veteran longshot of the 2014 World Cup. I was at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT when Herculez Gomez scored and sealed his roster spot for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and it's always possible it can happen again, particularly for the bench spots.
