Who’s Hot?

Mike Magee: “Magee could get some publicity at the start of this season with Beckham gone and Donovan in limbo,” we wrote last week. But even we didn’t expect Magee would be Player of the Week, scoring a hat trick against the Chicago Fire.

His Ireland international teammate Robbie Keane recently advocated for a U.S. call-up for Magee. It’s only one game, but it doesn't seem like a crazy idea after Sunday's performance.

Brad Guzan: Aston Villa is mired in the relegation zone, but Guzan has been superb. One cringes when thinking where the club would be without his heroics. Monday, he stopped Manchester City six shots, allowing only one goal in a 1-0 loss to last year’s Premier League champion. With Tim Howard’s consecutive starts streak getting snapped this weekend because of a knock, it’s pleasant to know that life without Howard for the national team wouldn’t be a disaster.

Jozy Altidore: We’ll just make his inclusion a regular feature for now. He's unstoppable.

Who’s Not?

Carlos Bocanegra: The center back's last appearance for Racing Santander came more than a month ago, before the U.S. qualifier with Honduras. There are concerns about Boca slipping and not getting regular playing time—or any playing time at all—with his club aren’t going to alleviate those worries.

Clarence Goodson: We are big proponents of athletes doing what they like. Landon Donovan wants to wander around Asia? Fine. Robbie Rogers wants to be a writer? Welcome to the club. So Clarence Goodson’s decision to stay with struggling Danish club Brondby instead of moving to a club in Turkey or seeking a MLS return is completely his business. With that said, in a time when center backs are at a premium, he’s not helping his national team chances there. Doubly so because he seems to have fallen out of the club’s starting lineup. He came off the bench after 10 minutes in a 2-0 loss to Randers. With Geoff Cameron also stuck on the bench, it’s a bad time to be an American center back.

Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) is a writer based in Arizona and is ASN's CONCACAF correspondent.