My thoughts on Coach Arena's World Cup Roster

USA manager Bruce Arena released his 23-man World Cup roster, but added 13 alternates, so he's more or less stocked. I don't know any other sport where the DL can potentially be more than half the active roster.

Goalkeepers
Kasey Keller (Borussia Mochengladbach, German Bundesliga)- Fresh off serving his suspension for leading supporters of his German club Borussia Mochengladbach in song after their victory against rival FC Koln over the stadium's loudspeakers. German lyrics included words like "The Cathedral of Cologne will burn for 7 days! And we'll dance on the ashes for 7 days! Cologne! Cologne! You're shit from Cologne!" Priceless.
Tim Howard (Manchester United, English Premiership)- Coach Arena says that Howard is the USA keeper of the future, and since he has Tourette's Syndrome, his language might be able to match that of Keller. Hopefully ESPN will mike him up during the World Cup.
Marcus Hannehman (Reading FC, English Championship/Premiership)- What do you get for leading a tiny club like Reading into millions of dollars of Premiership riches? A seat at the end of the bench in Germany. Sit back and enjoy the show, Marcus- cause that's as close to the action as you're going to get.

Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC, English Premiership) Great choice! The fact that he used to play for the Fire has nothing to do with my opinion.....no seriously, the dude's legit.
Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96, German Bundesliga) Will probably play left back, even though there really isn't a left back in any of these defenders. Hopefully they can keep the wolves at bay. Has played in Germany, so at least he won't have to get lost after people give him the wrong directions to the stadium.
Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards, Major League Soccer) This guy is kind of a question mark. By "kind of a" I mean "a huge" He's proven he can go the distance and play the entire 90 minutes in the Gold Cup last year, but he only has 13 caps and NO World Cup games.
Cory Gibbs (ADO Den Haag, Belgium) Again, not that much experience with Gibbs, only 18 caps, but he should help bolster the back line and get regular minutes in Germany since he's proven he can play against European opposition.
Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew, MLS) Brings some much-needed experience to the backline, but he plays for Columbus, so he can't be that great. I'm kidding, this guy could run circles around any of you, as long as you don't play professionally.
Eddie Lewis (Leeds United, English Championship) Eddie appeared in 11 and started 7 of the 18 qualifying matches. This is Lewis's second World Cup Finals (2002). I don't follow the Championship, so I really don't know that much about Lewis.
Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege, Belgium) The Gooch is easily the keystone of this defense. Exploding onto the US National team recently, Gooch is a physical presence in the 18-yard box, and will be charged with marking the Czech, Italian, and Ghanan strikers and making their lives a living Hell.
Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake, MLS) The farewell tour begins. Easily the most prolific defender in US history, my only concern about Pope is his age (He will turn 33 this year).

Midfielders
Damarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven, Dutch Eiredivisie) The former Chicago Fire standout made history last year when he became the first American to ever play in a Champions League semifinal as PSV fell to AC Milan. Beasley is in my opinion, the best player on this roster, and his production is going to need to be at its highest level. And by that, I mean, not getting arrested for drunk driving and getting his Dutch drivers' license revoked like he did last month.
Bobby Convey (Reading FC, English Championship/Premiership) Marcus Hannehman's teammate, Convey helped Reading achieve Premiership riches with promotion from the English Championship this season. Convey is my big question mark. He's shown he can produce at the club level, but going against the best players in the world in his first World Cup is another story. As good a player as he is, I can't see him getting that much playing time, as the forward class here is STOCKED.
Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution, MLS) I hate this little bitch and I hope he breaks his legs in training camp. I have my reasons.
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS) I hate this guy too, but I'm willing to tolerate him here because he's a hell of a ballplayer when he's on. When he's off though, he has a tendency to wander and lhave absolutely no interest at all in playing top-flight football. Hopefully the right Landon shows up in Germany....lord knows he hasn't before. (Landon Donovan spent two short, unsuccessful stints on the bench at German club Bayern Leverkusen)
Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids, MLS) If the US gets out of the group stage, Mastroeni will collect his 50th cap. I'm not going to question the Italian-Argentinian's motivation because Mastroeni will do everything in his power to ensure the USA's continued survival in Germany. He'll expend the required 110% because as soon as the US is out, his European vacation gets cut short and he has to fly back to Denver to help the Rapids get back to midtable obscurity.
John O'Brien (CD Chivas USA, MLS) Could be the real deal if he stays healthy. Problem: JOB has a notorious history of falling short in that department. So if he doesn't fall apart like some cheap pinata before June 12, the Stars and Stripes should be alright.
Ben Olsen (DC United, MLS) I swear to God, I have no idea how the hell this guy ended up on the roster. The last World Cup qualifier this guy played in was two years before the 2002 World Cup! He must have really shown Arena something in camp, or in league play with DCU.
Claudio Reyna (Manchester City, English Premiership) I can understand why Arena wants Reyna on the team, because he's a proven leader and can help bring the kids along, but at the same time, we have to come to grips with the fact that this guy is older than time. This is his FOURTH World Cup Finals (1994, '98, 2002, '06). Just to put that in perspective, when this guy made his World Cup debut, I was in 5th grade.

Forwards
Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo, MLS) Nobody was talking about Brian Ching 6 months ago. Then he went on a goal-scoring binge, including four in Dynamo's opener against Colorado. Big debate was whether Ching or Taylor Twellman was going to be the last one in on the front line, and Arena decided to run with the Flyin' Hawaiian, who is really feeling the ball right now.
Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards, MLS) The 2005 version of Brian Ching. Why FCD traded him so they could re-sign that little pansy Carlos Ruiz I'll never understand. Johnson is coming off of surgery but should be at full strength in time for Germany.
Brian McBride (Fulham FC, English Premiership) Bocanegra's teammate, McBride scored the now-famous flying header against Portugal in 2002 where the United States shocked the world. Hopefully similar theatrics will follow in Germany, now that his contract with Fulham has been taken care of and Premiership survival assured for the Cottagers.
Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards, MLS) This guy is the dark horse in the roster. If he can produce, the US offense will be in great shape. If not, it could be a long....err.....short World Cup for the Americans.

Alternates
GK: Tony Meola (Red Bull New York), Matt Reis (New England Revolution)
- I like Reis, not Meola. Reis could be the backup at the 2010 World Cup, Meola's older than dirt and an obvious sentimental choice. Anyone who saw Erpen beat him from 40 yards out 2 weeks ago at Giants Stadium can tell you that.

Defenders: Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus), Todd Dunivant (Los Angeles Galaxy)
- Most people are talking about how Albright got snubbed. Albright is easily one of the most overrated defenders in MLS. He is completely worthless unless he's taking on lower-level MLS scrubs.

Mids: Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), Chris Klein (Real Salt Lake), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards)
- Everyone on this list is hurt, or coming off an injury. If any of the mids go down and these guys need to come up, the US is in BIG BIG TROUBLE.

Forwards: Conor Casey (FSV Mainz), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
- Taylor Twellman is the victim of bad luck. It was between him and Brian Ching for the last forward's slot, and Ching has scored 5 or 6 goals in his first 5 league games, and Twellman got his first on Saturday. Props to Bruce Arena for giving Chris Rolfe the recognition of the young talent that he is, but for making him an alternate so that the Fire can enjoy his services all summer long. FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa is Rolfe's year.