The current state of the men’s national team is kinda iffy at many different areas. To say some good things first off are: We have a capable keeper in Tim Howard. I like Oguchi Onyewu has pretty good size and performed well with the Premiership team Newcastle United. I think “Gooch” as they call him will have a good future ahead of him. After all the stars of now start to fade and get older, the one thing that the U.S. will rely on is the youth-fullness that we now see in the midfield…furthermore these guys should grow into a talented and good midfield someday. I also have a good feeling about the young forwards Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore.

Finally…The Whole Breakdown for 2010:

The U.S. has notoriously only carried 2 goalkeepers for the last 5 World Cups. I am sure there are other reserve keepers or keepers that still train with the team in case one of the two goes down…but only 2 are listed. We can clearly see that Brad Guzan will probably become the starter once Howard is gone. However do not look to only Guzan as this country’s future…there are others and soon they will start getting some time for friendlies etc. etc.

The Defense: Anchored by Carlos Bocanegra, we shall see how well their younger guys develop(Parkhurst, Moore, and Gooch). While others will certainly vie for spots on the team, I do like Gooch as aforementioned.

Midfield: The midfield should shape up to be something great someday. As I said, we have a really nice mix here. Right now and for the next Cup, which should be the last for Eddie Lewis, we’ll see Bobby Convey a young but very experienced player. Landon Donovan, a more attacking mid/ forward also must be mentioned. The youth that I speak of is only going to get better as they develop, The U.S. has 4 talented mid-fielders in Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, Maurice Edu, and Convey.

Forwards: Clint Dempsey will anchor this line for a long time, we should see him on the U.S. for another good 10 years however I can’t tell you how high I would be on the tandem of Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu who are both “barely legal”(18).

We should see a much stronger U.S. national side in 2010. The thing that the U.S. will always have over other opponents is our diversity. We see this diversity emerging as former immigrants’ children are now playing on the team.