We already knew the big news for the US roster, which was announced today: No Clint Dempsey, as the veteran striker was sidelined earlier this week while undergoing medical evaluations for an irregular heartbeat. Laying aside the human aspect for just a second -- obviously Deuce's health is first and foremost, and everything else under discussion here adds up to a whole lot of nothing in comparison -- his absence leaves both the Seattle Sounders and now the US without their best and most reliable scorer.
It doesn't matter much for these next two games (it better not!). Trinidad & Tobago at home and St. Vincent & the Grenadines anywhere should be wins no matter how deep down the roster head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has to go.
But... he didn't go all that deep. Let's start there:
1. Wondo, Beckerman & Orozco forever?
Chris Wondolowski and Kyle Beckerman have both deserved their spots in the US player pool over the last five years. Wondo, for all the grief he's taken, has been a relatively consistent goalscorer when in US colors and is better at connecting passes than most give him credit for. Plus his inclusion sends this message: What you do for your club team matters.
Wondo has been doing the dirty for the Quakes since 2010, and last year became the first player in MLS history to score double-digit goals for six straight years. He's also on the verge of making that seven straight seasons, but... not really. He's down at .41 goals per 90, which would be the second-worst season since he broke out behind his injury-marred 2013 campaign (.38 goals per 90), and he's in the depths of a protracted slump.
How protracted? In the last four months, a stretch of 14 games, he's scored just twice.
Add in his depressingly ineffective showing against Argentina in the Copa America -- he committed more fouls than he completed passes -- and I don't think there'd have been too much of an outcry if Wondo had been omitted. Especially since he's been included at the expense of a Bundesliga starter (Aron Johannsson), a relative mystery who made a move to a Europa League club (Björn Maars Johnsen, to Hearts) and a host of MLS options (PATRICK MULLINS).
Beckerman, meanwhile, is still productive in MLS and has become accustomed to Jeff Cassar's 4-3-3 over the last few months, culminating with a superb all-around game on Friday night in RSL's Rocky Mountain Cup triumph over the Rapids.
He's also 34 years old, and has lost a step. That was apparent during his brief time on the field for the Copa America, and again: I don't think there'd be an outcry if he were omitted, especially since he's no longer the obvious starter at d-mid (that'd be Michael Bradley).
And finally, that brings us to Michael Orozco. His Tijuana team is in first place in the Liga MX, so there's that. What else is there aside from a lingering red-card suspension due to his antics against Colombia in the third-place game?
It's not like there's a lack of veteran leadership without these three guys, all of whom are over 30, since there are ton of guys who are 29 or older on the roster. Tim Howard and Brad Guzan are here, as are Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler. There's Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Alejandro Bedoya and Graham Zusi in the midfield. And while the forward corps is relatively young, Jozy Altidore will most likely pick up his 94th and 95th caps in this camp.
Which leads us to our second question...
2. Can Jozy and Bobby play together?
Dempsey's incapacitation may have sped up the timeline for answering this question, which could become the defining one of the next two years at least. Altidore is in the best form of his life as an all-around threat right now, and is still in my opinion the most talented person in the forward pool. Wood, meanwhile, kicked off his Bundesliga career like this:
Bobby Wood: 1st Bundesliga game, 1st Bundesliga goal. #USMNThttps://t.co/ja31kwIiYX
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 27, 2016
Wood + Dempsey was a pretty natural combo over the last year, as was Jozy + Dempsey. Wood + Jozy doesn't seem to work as intuitively since both are, essentially, center forwards with no secondary position. They both occupy central channels, they both do some hold-up play, and when they drop deep to pick the ball up it's either with back-to-goal, and then turn to immediately play runners through; or it's as a simple outlet in order to take some pressure off of the midfield.
That's not what Dempsey did. His gift, aside from his nose for goal, was his ability to shift between roles depending upon where on the field he was. Once upon a time he was a box-to-box midfielder; once upon a time he was an inverted winger; once upon a time he was a second forward; once upon a time he was a lone center forward. He was adequate-to-excellent depending upon his spot, and in particular he excelled when playing as a second forward who could drop into the midfield not only to relieve pressure, but actually to initiate long combinations and passing sequences, or occasionally to act as the creative brain.
Neither Wood nor Altidore will provide that kind of thing (and this is not a criticism of them -- they both have specific jobs and are good at them), and that can make any potential pairing problematic. Playing them anywhere but center forward is to concede attacking width and invite defensive pressure right up the middle.
That didn't stop Klinsmann from playing Wood on the wing during this summer's Copa, but his ineffectiveness from that spot is part of what forced the change from the 4-3-3 to the 4-4-2 in the first place.
3. Is this the New Class?
Ethan Horvath has presumably passed Bill Hamid, David Bingham and Vincent Yarbrough on the goalkeeper depth chart. I'm absolutely fine with that, since I see no rush to replace Brad Guzan and Tim Howard.
Kellyn Acosta is here to play left back, and here's my take on that inclusion from last week:
In midfield, the two new names are Paul Arriola, a winger from Tijuana who's played 101 minutes in five games and has yet to score, and d-mid Caleb Stanko, who's on loan from SC Freiburg of the Bundesliga to FC Vaduz of the Swiss Super League. Rubio Rubin, still looking for his first goal of the year after three games with FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie, is the new guy at forward.
This is fine, mostly. I can't tell you why these guys are preferred to others in the potential player pool -- Perry Kitchen was on the Copa roster, and he started and scored for Hearts yesterday so you think he'd be ahead of Stanko, who actually lost his starting job with his club, was brought off the bench two games ago and subbed out with injury yesterday -- but Jurgen's ways are typically confusing. As always, the answer is ¯\(ăƒ„)/¯
A few other notes:
8. Gyasi Zardes came off injured on Saturday night for the LA Galaxy, and has been only sporadically available since the Copa America. His omission is health-related.
7. Arriola, Zusi, Christian Pulisic and Darlington Nagbe are, I think, the wing depth. Those guys and Rubin, and arguably Wood and Jordan Morris, can all play out wide in a 4-3-3, so we may see a move to that formation.
6. No Fafa Picault (St. Pauli of the 2.Bundesliga), Jerome Kiesewetter (Fortuna Dusseldorf of the 2.Bundesliga), Ethan Finlay (Columbus Crew SC) or... Tommy McNamara (NYCFC). Or even Mike Grella (RBNY). The US is suddenly rich with wing depth.
5. Jones hasn't played in two months, since picking up an injury on July 4 vs. Portland.
4. 20-year-old Midfielder Lynden Gooch has started three EPL games in three weeks, but didn't get the call. Neither did 21-year-old Emerson Hyndman, who's just working his way back to fitness with Bournemouth.
3. Midfielder Alfredo Morales is still starting in the Bundesliga and still not preferred by Klinsmann.
2. Omar Gonzalez makes his return after a strong nine months with Pachuca.
1. No Timmy Chandler? He hasn't been starting for Eintracht Frankfurt, but he's been playing. In the past that's meant an almost automatic call-up. That didn't, however, leave the door open for Jorge Villafana, the former Portland left back who's been excellent with Santos Laguna in Liga MX all year.
ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Middlesbrough), Ethan Horvath (Molde FC),Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids)

DEFENDERS (9): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), John Brooks (Hertha BSC), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Monchengladbach), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Jermaine Jones (Colorado Rapids), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Caleb Stanko (FC Vaduz), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Rubio Rubin (FC Utrecht), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Hamburg SV)
