Onyewu and DeMerit leave holes in U.S. backline

Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit are both undergoing surgery this week and will be out of action for about 3-4 months. Their absence has left a gaping hole in the center of the American backline and the options to fill those holes are lacking either experience or they are just plain lacking. Although it is still 8 months until the World Cup and both DeMerit and Onyewu will be healthy and physically fit at that point but Steve Davis has written this article about this issue that currently plagues the U.S. team in the wake of qualification and the tragic injury to Charlie Davies.

Davis runs down the current crop of players in the national team pool who follow Carlos Bocanegra, Onyewu and DeMerit on the depth chart. Chad Marshall, Clarence Goodson, Michael Parkhurst and Jimmy Conrad all have played with the national team in the past year and Conrad was a member of the World Cup squad in 2006. But none of these players, other than Marshall (potentially), has the track record or pedigree to elicit a great deal of confidence in a World Cup setting. What happens if one, or both, of these players suffers an injury setback or is not able to shake the rust off in time to be the starter next summer? Suddenly, there is an issue with depth at what was a supposed strength just a month ago.

Aside from the players listed above, Michael Orozco might be the only player capable of stepping onto the field and not being instantly overmatched. Obviously, Bradley has been aware of Orozco for some time but has not called him into camp and there has to be a reason for that. But without two of his top three starting centerbacks for the next 4 months, this could be the perfect opportunity to give Orozco a shot to show his worth either in the friendly against Denmark in November or even during the camp in January. Orozco has been starting in Mexico for San Luis for a couple of years now and deserves a shot to prove that he belongs to be in the discussion. Currently, Orozco is the only American player starting in central defense for a team in a top level league. That has to count for something.