ESPN Andrew Hush Blog

The annual January U.S. training camp is under way in California, with the national team preparing for a friendly against Sweden on Jan. 24 and for the opening match of the final round of World Cup qualifying against Mexico on Feb. 11.

After reading last week's blog, one reader asked me whom I would like to see line up in each of the upcoming games. Here are my thoughts:

Against Sweden: Troy Perkins, Marvell Wynne, Chad Marshall, Danny Califf, Jonathan Bornstein, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers, Charlie Davies and Brian Ching.

Against Mexico: Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Clark, Kljestan and Ching.

Of course, each side is vastly different than the other, and while there are spaces up for grabs in the XI for the Sweden game, I see the team for the match against El Tri almost picking itself.

Against Sweden, Bornstein has a chance to press his claim for the left-back position, while Marshall can position himself as the first reserve center back, with Jimmy Conrad now apparently out of the picture. Holden and Rogers deserve their chances, as does Davies up front.

Ching gets the nod ahead of Kenny Cooper because he is more likely to start against Mexico. He may have his doubters, but the fact is that, in a fairly small pool, Ching may not be the biggest fish -- but he is the most suitable. Cooper and Jozy Altidore may go on to be better players, but much like Emile Heskey has proved with England, Ching is a reliable horses-for-courses type of player who can do the job now.

The back four against Mexico picks itself, but the midfield does have some questions -- most notably on the left, given DaMarcus Beasley's lack of recent action and confidence. Kljestan, who started the past four qualifiers in the previous round, gets my nod -- though Bradley may stick with Beasley, who, to be fair, showed decent form in the latter qualifiers last year.

The other tough decision to make was whom to partner with Bradley in the middle. Clark gets the nod over Jose Torres because of his greater international experience. Maurice Edu might have been a candidate but, like Beasley, simply hasn't played enough.

Combine conundrum

While the league's best players battle for playing time on the national team, the next generation will gather in Florida this weekend for the annual MLS combine, ahead of next week's SuperDraft.

I have previously written in this space about my issues with the combine. Basically, it's a poor way to judge potential professionals for a number of reasons, two of the main ones being that the best players do not always play, and those who do are so aware they are on trial that the overall quality of play suffers. The fact that most attendees have not played a competitive match for almost two months by the time of the event is a further hindrance.

With the league having ended the supplemental draft, this year's combine is in danger of being the least useful yet. There are simply fewer draft spots up for grabs, so the event will become more of an examination of MLS coaches than of its participants.

Although there are exceptions, the combine is rarely the platform for a player to suddenly blossom into a can't-miss pick. Coaches who put aside months of scouting in favor of a neat trick or a top-corner goal should beware. Likewise, if a player struggles, it does not automatically reduce his stock. One Florida weekend does not a superstar make or, for that matter, break.

Well-played, young man

It took an FA Cup game at Macclesfield to trigger an outpouring of praise for Tim Howard but, the timing notwithstanding, the recent praise aimed his way by current teammate Leon Osman and former Everton netminder Nigel Martyn is most certainly deserved.

The latest shutout by America's No. 1 was his fifth in succession, with Howard having previously kept Premier League clean sheets against Manchester City, Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Sunderland. Since allowing 13 goals in the first six games of the season, Howard has picked the ball out of his net just 14 times in 18 matches since.

Howard's status as the best goalkeeper this country has -- though Brad Friedel also continues to excel -- is so secure that he often is taken for granted, with his performances going unnoticed. As U.S. coach Bob Bradley continues to look for a top-line striker to score the goals needed to elevate the U.S. to the next level on the world scene, he must be comforted by the knowledge that, at the other end of the field, the house is in good order.

A thing that made me go hmmm ...

The January transfer window tends to throw up some interesting moves, so the news that Denilson is on trial at Bolton should probably not be seen as a surprise. After all, he won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002, having played in the final four years earlier. He won 68 caps for the most successful country in the history of the game and, at the club level, was once the subject of the biggest transfer fee in soccer history.

However, FC Dallas fans were seduced by the résumé themselves back in 2007 when the fading star arrived in the Lone Star State. He played seven games, showing nothing more than a few stopovers, and departed soon after being left off the squad for a U.S. Open Cup match.

Don't get your hopes up, Trotters fans.

A reminder

Just a reminder for those of you who haven't been watching ESPN360, Friday's featured game will be Watford vs. Reading (3 p.m. ET) -- and a chance to catch fellow blogger Jay DeMerit in action.