While most of America's biggest stars and recognizable names are plying their trade in Europe, Bob Bradley continues the under-the-radar work of building his squad for both the 2010 World Cup and beyond.
Remember that January camp? And the friendly with Honduras at the end of the month?
While tracking the debut of Donovan, the saga of Holden to Burnley-then-Bolton, and Clint Dempsey's wonder goal (not to mention the worrying status of Carlos Bocanegra at Rennes), you might have lost track of just exactly what is going on in LA.
What's going on is a lot that likely won't matter for this year's World Cup, plus a little bit that might. Though Charlie Davies is walking unassisted and recently visited the boys in LA, he's a long ways from returning to the field. That means Bradley still needs depth at striker, and preferably of the quick, dangerous type that Davies made so valuable to the squad. Two of the candidates for that gig are in camp; Robbie Findley, the front-runner for the job in most people's minds, and Marcus Tracy, the young Wake Forest product currently signed up with Aalborg of the Danish league.
Just to refresh your memory, here's the list of players in camp at the HDC:
GOALKEEPERS (4): Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
DEFENDERS (9): Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Brandon McDonald (San Jose Earthquakes), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (12): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jeff Larentowicz (New England Revolution), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (5): Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Marcus Tracy (Aalborg)
Larentowicz has left camp due to a knee problem, and several others players have missed a session here or there with minor knocks. Marcus Tracy has a tendinitis issue and hasn't trained this week.
Unfortunately, for any real insight into who might be showcasing themselves, we'll probably have to wait for the match against Honduras on the January 23rd.
I'm sure we'll all forget about the camp again shortly, what with the MLS SuperDraft tomorrow, Donovan playing with Everton against Man City this weekend, the ongoing CBA negotiations, and whatever other news might pop up. But keep in mind that a few of the players doing their best to impress Bob Bradley out in Los Angeles this month may just end up in the US team come World Cup time.
