Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
The USA-Czech Republic friendly may just be an exhibition, but it will carry much more weight than most friendlies ever could.
The World Cup dreams of several players will be on the line on Tuesday night at Rentschler Field in East Hartford as we get our first glimpse of the group of players Bob Bradley will be choosing from to shape his 23-man roster.
There are players we already know plenty about, such as Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard, but Tuesday night's match will serve as a vital test for some new faces and some veterans working their way back into the fray.
Here is our question to you: Which player will you be watching the most closely on Tuesday night? Will it be Oguchi Onyewu? DaMarcus Beasley? Herculez Gomez? Edson Buddle? Alejandro Bedoya?
Which player did you pick, and why?
Share your thoughts below.
“Bedoya deserves”
Based on what?
No player DESERVES a spot on this team. If anyone does, Frankie Hejduk does. But he didn’t (or couldn’t) earn it, so he isn’t here.
Being the next shiny toy =/= deserving a spot.
You mean the shot that was about 10 feet to the left and 20 feet overhead?
Hell, even you can do that.
Davies isn’t on the roster so the fact you are not convinced is irrelevant.
Donovan plays all over, not just on the wing for the US. Dempsey and Holden are not traditional wingers either;like Donovan Dempsey is apt to be anywhere and Holden is always drifting inside. Torres and Benny are definitely not traditonal wingers. DMB and Bedoya are like Donovan but don’t roam as much.
I more worried about the back line than forwards.
The player I’m watching is Herculez.
The past week has mostly been about conditioning. Hard to tell about who’s “ahead ” from those kind of drills, unless someone is just completely not getting through the drills.
“Pearce is the best true left back option when he’s playing well. From what I’ve seen of him in MLS, he’s looking like his old self for the most part. ”
That’s really amusing.
The “old” Pearce was Bornstein before Bornstein was Bornstein. You guys all wanted him executed, preferably by throwing him off a cliff to save on ammunition or the cost of lethal injection chemicals.
But I guess JB and Sacha have replaced Pearce and Ching as “scapegoats of the month”.
In order:
Gooch
Boca
Demerit
Ching
Dolo
Beasley
Bedoya
Rogers
The back four has been crap so the health of those first three is vital.
If Ching is sharp and healthy, he goes if not it opens it up for Buddle, Gomez and EJ
Spector has been uneven so Dolo’s form for what has been a crap back four is vital
Beasely and Bedoya will have a secondary effect on the forward situation.
I’m wondering if Bob will try Rogers at LB (probably not)
In confederations cup Bornstein played himself off the starting line-up and DeMerritt into the starting line up, with Boca moving over. That was Bob’s line up against Spain and Brazil. Bornstein then played himself back into better graces against weaker CONCACAF competition, but against Netherlands I suspect he reminded Bradley that he’s good for giving away at least one goal a game against top quality competition.
+1. Awesome dude. I’ve never seen a post dripping with so much sarcasm!
Completely agree. I’m obsessed by the numbers of it all. How many defenders/mids/fws do we take? 8-8-4 or 7-9-4?
Will Bob go with three forwards (and say Dempsey) or four traditional forwards?
Will he take 8 defenders?
I won’t be surprised if Kljestan, Rogers, Marshall, etc don’t make the 23 but I will be surprised if Bedoya, Torres don’t and to a lesser degree if one of Buddle/Gomez don’t.
Any England v. Mexheco Running Commentary???
Yes, all these guys should see quality time along with Buddle. BB should use game to figure out final 23 and use the final 2 friendlies as simulations with starting lineups as if the WC starts that day and making subs accordingly.
As long as I’m NOT watching Kljestan, I’ll be very happy. No offense Sacha, but you’re too far down the bench.
The fitness of Gooch, Holden, etc. is definitely important, but they’ve got some time to figure that out. As far as this match and getting down to the 23 is concerned, I’m watching:
Any forward not named Altidore or Ching. Can EJ/Findley/Buddle/Gomez force Bob to take 2 of the 4, or will just 1 show up, leaving room for another midfielder?
Can Pearce make a case for the squad?
Does Kljestan get any playing time, and if so what does he do with it? Other than Bornstein, he’s probably at the top of the list of “Bob’s boys”, and I think if he sees time in this game it means he’s got a legit shot at making the 23 and is either going to play his way onto or off of the roster. Can he handle that pressure?
I am interested to see if ESPN chooses professional commentators for US friendly matches from now on. I was watching the US womens match with my daughter on tv the other day and found it horrible. I did not know what many of the players names were and whenever they would zoom in and break down the play, Foudy would use the players nicknames. I still cant figure out who boxy or lil is. I just hope espn mens commentators dont call us players with nicknames like landycakes, duece, the virtuoso, etc. I just expect some professionalism if its with ESPN, mens or womens national team.
Donovan, Dempsey, Torres and Benny are definitely not wingers. They can all play outwide but bring much different qualities to the table. More slashers and possesion guys.
Bedoya is a true winger that can get up and down and serve the ball. Dempsey and Landon are more shoot-first options than providers. Although Landon can do just about everything up front.
Herculez Gomez intrigues me. I’m also looking for Beasley to see if he may be regaining his form.
He scored 14 for Hammarby in 2008…..15 in his last year at BC
I agree. But while I’d say that The Gooch Question is most important, I’m actually more intrigued by Beasley and Bedoya. Love to watch both of them when they’re on their games and hope it doesn’t come down to either/or…but I think it will.
Stuart Holden is my key. If he can run at playersw in the world cup, we become a different team because we can truly attack from both sides of the ball. At this point, I wouldn’t say we have that luxury.
Espn3.com… perfect quality
Klejistan should not be in the 23. Ching maybe.
Bornstein and Pearce are both better than Ashley Cole and Robbie Findley/Wayne Rooney is probably a toss-up.
Personally I believe Gooch needs at least a Half in this match and close to 90 against Turkey. Need to see if he’s fit and how much rust there is. Will go a long way towards determining if Boca can/should be pushed to the LB possition.
Holden, Bedoya,& Beasley. Can of them step up and be a starting Winger to allow Dempsey to Move up Top and pair with Jozy.
Buddle & Gomez…can either hang at the International level or will they prove to be as bad as Findley.
These are the questions I’ll be looking to have answered in the match tomorrow.
That’s a very good lineup for this game. Felli should come in for Bradley in the second half. I would like to see Bedoya, Gomez, Buddle and Torres get the whole game for sure. Have to see what these guys bring to the table. Maybe try Torres as a winger too.
I don’t think Howard should start this one.
haha how could he when he was hurt for practically the whole season?
Think you look at everyone at this point, sigh…
What makes Czech hungry???
It may be hard for Gooch to start over Terry and Rio. He would be a great number 3 cb though.
Unfortunately, if you go by the Czech vs. Turkey game the other day, this is NOT a hungry Czech side.
Buddle, Pearce, Gomez, Feilhaber, holden are the guys that I want to watch… For me these are the guys that could really make or break this team in terms of depth, and filling much needed holes in the starting lineup…
Buddle and Gomez are obviously on great form. Buddle has been more impressive for me in terms of the types of goals he scored compared to Gomez, who seems to be more of a poacher than a versatile goal scoring threat. Buddle’s been great in so many facets, but we will hopefully see which parts of his game translate to international play.
Pearce is the best true left back option when he’s playing well. From what I’ve seen of him in MLS, he’s looking like his old self for the most part. He’s got a great left foot, and is athletic enough to keep up w/ most. Hopefully boca does well at left back, but if he can’t for some reason, the team desperately needs Pearce to come through.
Feilhaber is the only real creative attacker we have in the center of the field. he may not see the field against England b/c the middle of the field should be a warzone(unless we go down or are in extreme need of a calming presence); he should be very useful in our other games, as Slovenia/Algeria are as far as I know about them organized teams w/out much attacking flair. We are gonna need to keep possession and pressure in those matches, which is Feilhabers purpose.
If Buddle, Gomez, or Johnson simply can’t produce, Holden will be the key to the team, as Clint will be forced to play up top. I think he can be good in that outside role, the question is, is he ready right now to play 90 minutes and be a key contributer? As good as Dempsey is, I don’t think he was ready in 2006 to take such an important role, and although he played well in stretches, he largely disappeared. Hopefully Holden is a little more advanced at this stage than dempsey was.
espn3.com
hahaha…
I actaully think winger might be the deepest position with Donovan, Demspey, Holden, Beasley, Bedoya and possibiliy even Torres or Felli being able to contribute at a high level.
I don’t think anyone of the fence sitters can win a place in this game. I think Bradley has already chosen his 23, but maybe 2 or three could lose their spots. So I’ll be watching Beasley, Ching and Kljestan to see if they perform well enough to stay in his 23.
Remember Bob Bradley said he’ll cut to 23 before the Turkey game, which should be the more difficult game. He is giving his not quite ready chaps an easier chore with the Czechs.
I hope he saves Gooch for a run at the Turks who have very skillful and quick attackers.
Goodson, after all the injuries to our CB’s we need good coverage. Always liked his NT games before, but this is a whole new stage.
Also, does anyone know if Bedoya is lefty, righty, or two footed?
Charlie Davies and Freddy Adu will be in a bar somewhere, drowning their sorrows and cursing at the screen 😉
All 3 goalies LD, Clint and Gooch. If back in full form Gooch could start and both LD and Clint I think could make a case for starting.
Alejandro Bedoya and Torres. Two guys who just haven’t gotten a lot of looks. Torres has looked a bit rough everytime he starts, but he’s always managed get over them. Plus, he’s never started at home. Bedoya has not only stood out, but fit in every time he has played for the USA. I’d kind of like to see Donovan sit this one out, or maybe come off the bench( I know that sounds stupid) so we can get a look at guys like Bedoya. A lineup like this might be nice:
——————-Buddle—-Gomez——————–
Bedoya————-Torres—-Bradley———–Beasley
Pearce———-Bocanegra—-Onyewu————Spector
————————Howard————————
Past that, Donovan will probably start with Bedoya coming off the bench.
You do know Bornstein will be the starter don’t you? Has Bob showed us any different?
40 minutes
been a few days, even facetiously
Also if anyone is curious Davies has scored a total of 29 professional goals and 4 with the USMNT.
I want to say Bedoya, but that left wing is covered by Donovan pretty well, who I don’t see missing a minute of action. More than likely, Bedoya would be right wing sub, which brings me to…
Holden. Holden has to prove that he can handle the start on the right wing if Dempsey is going to have license to score. Holden’s probably the most important, even though we all know he’s going to SA. If he plays well, a lot of questions will be answered.
While it is important for Buddle and Gomez to show well, I’m looking at them as late game substitutes when our starters are worn out and we just need someone who has some shooting accuracy.
Gooch, Holden, Buddle, Gomez
I’m really looking foward to see what the hype is about this young kid, Landon Donovan. He seems to be a pretty solid #10 but I just want to make sure.
Freddy Adu, of course
Gooch and Beas
Frankly, Capello would probably choose all three of our goalkeepers before any of his native choices. Guzan is the only one who is close, but I think he would have started over James or Hart or Green had he not been stuck behind Friedel this year (who also would go before all three of England’s keepers if he hadn’t retired from international duty).