Six points in the bag and little doubt the US will advance to the hexagonal. However the truth be told I think the United States finishes third in the hexagonal on current form and must improve its linkup play and general possession play in the final four matches of this qualifying stage. With this in mind this is the lineup I would like to see tomorrow assuming the bucket is being used by Bradley again.
—————————–Howard———————————-
—-Hedjuk————-Onyweu————Bocanegra———–Pearce—-
———————-Clark————–Bradley———————–
Kljestan—————————————————Lewis——-
——————————Donovan——————————–
——————————Johnson——————————–
- Sacha Kljestan is the right sided player that is most dangerous for the US. He needs to play out on that side.
- Eddie Johnson gets a chance partly so he can be safely written off after this match.
- Despite scoring a goal against Cuba, Clint Dempsey’s lack of creativity and bad giveaways should earn him a place on the bench.
- DaMarcus Beasley right now could not start for most of the teams left in CONCACAF qualifying. We are allegedly better than these sides so why do we keep throwing him out there ahead of a steady, veteran Eddie Lewis who is better than any other left sided midfielder in the region?
- Rico Clark starts in place of Mo Edu who was woeful on Saturday.
- Frankie Hedjuk is now my right back until he cannot walk or is suspended. Steve Cherundolo’s lack of maturity demonstrated in the Guatemala game can be solved by watching Frankie perform since Hedjuk was equally immature at one time not so long ago.
16 Responses to “Who Should the US Start versus T&T?”
While I agree that Mo Edu was woeful on Saturday night, I disagree he should be benched. He is clearly one of our most up and coming central midfielder, who can only benefit from the added experience of WCQ matches. I expect he will be much better on home soil.
Benching him would be doing what we criticize Bradley about. We want to see Adu and Altidore, but clearly Bradley has found reason to bench them/not call them in. To bench Edu at this moment would be basically doing the same thing. While T&T will pose a stiffer challenge than Cuba, I would rather him cut his teeth in this round, then to reintroduce him during the hexagonal with limited WCQ experience.
By FC Vandy on Sep 9, 2008
Could not agree more about Klejstan and Hejduk.
Klejstan will only benefit from WCQ experience, and while he will still be bound to mistakes, he does have the individual skill to make a play. Similar to the Clint Dempsey we remember from 2005/2006.
While there may be more talented players in the pool, Hejduk’s workrate and pace have not fallen off, even at 34.
By FC Vandy on Sep 9, 2008
Beasley is not fully fit and should not be called back to the national team until he is.
By Larry on Sep 9, 2008
Good piece
By JXY on Sep 9, 2008
How about Mo instead of Clark as lone D-mid and Dempsey instead of Jr. as another attacker?
By Football Detective on Sep 10, 2008
Benching players for no valid reason is what Bradley is criticized for. Bradley even refused to answer questions about Adu/Altidore not being on the roster before the Cuba game. That’s bush league.
Seems to me Bradley either doesn’t have a good explanation, or feels that the soccer loving public doesn’t deserve to know it.
On the other hand Benching Edu would send the message that if you don’t perform, then you don’t play. That’s the way the rest of the world does, it works, and I don’t understand why so many of my fellow Americans have a hard time with this concept.
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