Clint Dempsey may have been left off Bruce Arena's first squad since taking over as U.S. national team coach, but the Seattle Sounders forward isn't expected to be absent for much longer.
Arena said Thursday he expects Dempsey to be back on the field for Seattle when the MLS season kicks off in two months, making him a realistic option for World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Panama in late March.
Arena names U.S. squad for January camp
Dempsey, who turns 34 in March, has not played since Aug. 21 because of an irregular heartbeat. While he sat out Seattle's run to the MLS Cup crown, he was seen doing light exercises on the side ahead of last month's title game in Toronto.
"We've been following Clint and communicating with the Seattle team," Arena said during a Facebook Q&A. "Clint is making great progress, and he's going through his progressions in Seattle. At this time he's not fully ready to come into our camp, but we really believe by March that he'll be ready to play in Seattle and be a possibility for our qualifiers in March."
One veteran Arena will have at his disposal for friendlies against Serbia on Jan. 29 and Jamaica on Feb. 3 is left back DaMarcus Beasley. The 34-year-old free agent hasn't played for the U.S. since coming out of international retirement for the 2015 Gold Cup and CONCACAF Cup but joined Greg Garza and Taylor Kemp as left backs on the January squad.
"I think DaMarcus is an outstanding player, and his experience can help our team — and his enthusiasm," Arena said. "We think DaMarcus is a good player to compare others with because we know he's been successful at the international level in that position."
Another veteran returning to the fold is 37-year-old Nick Rimando, who is joined by fellow goalkeeper David Bingham, Stefan Frei, Bill Hamid and Luis Robles on Arena's squad.
The U.S. coach, however, emphasized that Tim Howard and Brad Guzan remain the top choices between the posts, while Leon's William Yarbrough and Club Brugge's Ethan Horvath are enticing young options as well.
"As you can see from the camp roster, we have new faces in," Arena said. "Certainly we're going to look at them and give them an opportunity. Obviously Yarbrough is another player we need to think about as a possibility, and clearly Ethan Horvath has done well also. In my view we have about eight goalkeepers we're going to be looking at throughout the year, but certainly Tim Howard and Brad Guzan would have the edge at this point in time."
Arena also shed some light on the positions that certain players will fill, noting Kellyn Acosta is primarily seen as a defensive midfielder and Gyasi Zardes and Darlington Nagbe will initially be evaluated on the flank. Graham Zusi, a winger who occasionally played right back for Sporting Kansas City last season, was listed on the roster as a defender.
And Arena added that the U.S. will definitely deploy a four-man back line in the short term after former coach Jurgen Klinsmann was widely criticized for using a 3-4-1-2 formation in a 2-1 home loss to Mexico in November.
"We need to play a formation that's compatible for the qualities of our players," Arena said. "Clearly I think at this time we have to have a back four. I think playing three in the back is always an option at some point in time, but in a short period of time like a January camp and also a short camp in March to prepare for qualifying, we wouldn't do that. We'd play out of a back four."