Well, now that we know who is playing against a Brazil side with not many big names but not lacking in quality, we can begin to analyze on how we can setup the best 11 of 18 players called to the friendly at the Meadowlands.
Shall we begin......
The rosters (in case you haven't seen) goes as follows:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (6): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)
FORWARDS (3): Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)
Let's start first with the formation. I personally have nothing against a 4-4-2... simply because it works out for us and if the right people are located into the right positions.... a lot can happen.
With that said...... I (Bob may disagree) would think we can do real well if we field the following players:
T. Howard
S. Cherundolo-------C. Bocanegra------C. Goodson------J. Bornstein
L. Donovan------------M. Edu---------M. Bradley---------B. Feilhaber
E. Buddle---------H. Gomez
There you have it..... Timmy (THE WALL) Howard is a sure lock... I mean that will always be a given until he retires.
Mr. Dolo you rock! this guy is awesome goes up and down all day and sends in great crosses here and there. To me he has to start along with my buddy Cap'n America. Boca needs no introduction he is strong and has great presence and we all know what this guy can do so expect him at Center D. Moving on to Mr. Goodson (the son of goodness). He is tall, strong, has the leap of a grasshopper and has the knack of using his head in all the right wayz, there is no doubting that this partnership can be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Bornstein to me has been the wild card. He can single handedly earn the other team a quick penalty against his team and a 1 goal deficit OR can actually PLAY like he is supposed to and prevent goals. Lucky for him that Bob doesn't give 2 flying bananas about what people say, cuz if it were on us.... he would've never worn a US uniform again. Yet, he proved to me and a lot of us out there wrong with a nice showing against Ghana and I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
Johnny.....I have my eye on you!
Donovan on the right or on the left, quite frankly it doesn't matter to me where he is as long as he is placed in a place where he can roam freely and make his darting runs, cross into the box at will, give pin-point services with his awesome through-balls and just let all that soccer IQ unravel on the field. I can care less where you put him as long as he can do all that awesome stuff we love him for.
I think we all agree that the Edu/Bradley combo is just pretty sick. Bradley has quickly become one of the best destroyers i have ever seen for the US and Edu is similar to Bradley's style but adds his twist to the story by getting in the right place at the right time on set pieces. Sure, with Jones on the roster everyone will be boarding that plane 'till it crashes.... personally, I think that with Edu and Bradley growing with experience and the more time they get together will only increase the chemistry they have and along with that- their effectiveness and influence on the field.
Sorry Jones but your ship has sailed...
With DEUCE out, Feilhaber seems to be the only choice that makes sense to start on the left. I always thought of him as a Central Midfielder but Bob utilized this guy as a Left Mid through out the World Cup and I think I speak for the majority that the impact he had off the bench on the left was a very positive one. So Benny keep it up we need your Brazilian Ginga to come into effect Tuesday.
OK, so NO Altidore....but we have the next best thing in Buddle and Gomez. Edson is good, he is quality but we need to see his scoring streak extend to the international level. I loved his direct approach during the Australia friendly prior to the WC and I believe he'll score, simply because Donovan knows how to find him and Vice-Versa. Herc was an off the bench magician, but failed to do much in South Africa. Let's hope he keeps it simple and can find the net once or twice .... maybe thrice.
Findley is a troubling case all too common in the Soccer world. He scores for his club, has great speed but can't manage for the life of him to do the same for his national team!?
Sound familiar? I'm not going to point any fingers....just say names ::cough:: Messi, Ronaldo ::cough:: sorry but I'm coming down with something...
Findley needs to pretend that he is playing in Real Salt Lake all the time, maybe that will get him to score for the USA. If this kid can somehow manage to do that we could be talking about the next big thing. Until then, i'll be hoping for Davies to show up one day and just amaze us with his tenacity, speed and (what our forwards are lacking lately) a nose for goal.
please feel free to comment below
OR contact me at my email Kennyalvarez123@gmail.com or my twitter @kennyalvarez123
God Bless to y'all and stay posted!
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