Sep 05
Who Should the USA Start VS. Cuba
Hello all, it’s been a few days since I’ve had a chance to write. School has started again, and it’s been a bit hectic, but I’m settling back in and ready to hear some of your opinions. The US’ first game of World Cup Qualifying against Guatemala wasn’t exactly smooth, and many fans felt that Bob Bradley’s choice of players was to blame, but Bradley has surprised us all by picking some of our young Olympians.
This brings us to the choice Bob Bradley will be faced with on Saturday. Who will be in the starting lineup?
I’ll give my take, and then you can give yours in the comments section.
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 4/3 SO)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 14/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 16/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 12/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 9/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 3/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)
MIDFIELDERS (6): DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 17/4), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach: 3/1), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 2/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/3)
FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 8/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 22/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 9/2), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City: 8/8)
Here’s my take:
———–Ching————–
Beasley—–Donovan—–Dempsey
——–Edu—-Bradley———
Pearce—Gooch–Bocanegra-Hejduk
———Howard————–
Howard and the backline are pretty obvious. Hejduk replaces Cherundolo because he’s suspended. I favor an Edu-Bradley partnership because that’s the one of the future. Ricardo Clark doesn’t pass well enough to play the d-mid role on the International stage. Bradley, Donovan, and Dempsey are the standard across the top, and it could be just as easy for Donovan to pair with Ching up top. Ching gets the nod because he holds play up better than Eddie Johnson although a Kenny Cooper call up is still begging.
What is your preferred lineup? Who would you like to see playing? Your thoughts below.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Yup, I think your lineup is exactly what we’ll see. I would like to see Wynne in there for Hedjuk, but I know we wont
September 5th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I think Wynne will come in in the second half, and if we are doing well, and are up, maybe Califf and Clark will get some time too. I see Donovan having a big game, and i hope that Dempsey actually shows some life and gives a good performance, instead of his usual dead self. What happened to the confidant guy who took the Italians on one v one and showed the world what he had. I think that this is one of the most disappointing things wrong with the team, even above who is on it and who isn’t.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
The one thing we used to be able to pride ourselves on win or lose was that Donovan, Beasley, and Dempsey were going to run at you constantly. Now, Dempsey looks like a tired player, and he definitely looks unmotivated. If it’s a comfortable lead, 2-0 or more, I see Wynne getting in, and I’d also like to see Orozco get about 10 minutes. It would also be nice to see Kljestan get some serious time as well. I just want to see too many players. I’m disappointed Adu and Altidore didn’t get calls. They are the two best young prospects and the fact that they can’t get calls is disturbing. I understand that they’re playing for new teams, but when country comes calling, it has to be a top priority.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I would love to see your lineup. It would allow Donovan, Dempsey and Beasley to run at them all day and not be as worried about playing both ways. But, I bet Bob would say the 4-2-3-1 formation is too defensive and stick to his 4-4-2. Also, is Beasley healthy? Here’s my best guess:
Ching — Donovan
Beasley - Rico - Bradley - Dempsey
Pearce - Gooch - Bocanegra - Hejduk
Howard
It seems to me he’s sticking with what has worked in the past - experience.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I have to say, you picked a pretty solid lineup, and for Christ sakes, I hope you’re right about Donovan being put in the middle and Dempsey taking it out wide. I know Landon’s defense on the wings is better but his ability to link up with Beasley, as well as Dempsey’s abilities out wide are too good to pass up. Either Hejduk or Wynne has plenty of speed to account for Dempsey’s weak D. Just put Edu on the right side of center mid to kind of help out and you’ll be set.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Also, I’m dying to see Sacha get some time. I think he’s one of the most exciting players in our entire pool offensively.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
me too. I think it’s time to schedule a friendly for the young players that are coming off the Olympics. Altidore, Davies, Adu, Holden, Rogers, Kljestan, Edu, Orozco, Wynne, Guzan, Cooper. Guys like that. We play a team like Finland who our full national team could handle easily, but would give a test to our youngsters. That would be a game I would like to watch, and it would be useful because BB would get a look at some of our youngsters.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
we should kill Cuba, but it is in cuba and stranger things have happened. Still, if we don’t come away with a 2-0 or more score, I will be disappointed. I think if we get up that much, we should see some of the young guys like sacha and wynne and orozco.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
max that is a great idea. we should call finland.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
a friendly would make all of us happy because we could see all of the young guys, and like you said bradley would be able so see who was legit and who wasn’t.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Maybe I should be the manager, or at least I should take Sunil Gulati’s job.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
We need a new coach asap. Bradley plays favorites and it’s time for Ching, Hejduk, Lewis, and Clark to say bye bye.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:13 am
anyone should take Sunil Gulati. Did that dude ever email you back?
September 6th, 2008 at 8:31 am
He actually did, but his letter just said that it was not appropriate to have an open discussion about Bob Bradley and his player selection. He also said that the win was a great result and he doesn’t understand why we are worried. He must have missed the fact that they ran rampant on us for about the whole game, and we had one good chance and scored. I think Sunil knows a lot about making money to invest back into the system, but he doesn’t understand that we have some great young players and they should be getting international experience en route to 2010.