Photo by John Todd/ISIphotos.com
The first chance for Bob Bradley to trot out his first choice starting lineup before the World Cup comes on Saturday against Turkey in Philadelphia. Just what that lineup will be is the big question.
There are questions all over the field, from the striker position to the fullbacks, the wings to central midfield. Bradley will give the first signs of the players he is leaning toward for the June 12 World Cup opener vs. England.
So who will start vs. Turkey on Saturday? Here is our projected lineup:
PROJECTED USA LINEUP vs. TURKEY
——————-Altidore———-Dempsey—————-
Beasley————————————————Donovan
———————Bradley———Clark———————-
Bocanegra———Onyewu—–DeMerit———-Cherundolo
—————————–Howard——————————
The three positions toughest to call are right back (Cherundolo or Spector), wing midfield (Beasley or Holden) and forward (Dempsey, Gomez or Findley).
If Dempsey plays up top, the decision is between Holden and Beasley. If Dempsey is deployed on the flank, Herculez Gomez could get the nod (he and Altidore were paired up top in training on Thursday).
Central midfield could offer a surprise, with Maurice Edu and Jose Torres as options, but the odds are good that we will see the Michael Bradley-Ricardo Clark tandem.
What do you think of the above lineup? Which starting 11 would you like to see against Turkey?
Share your thoughts below.
Lando missed the winning penalty in the MLS cup… nobody’s benching him.
don’t get ahead of yourself there…
if we field 3 keepers….
cricket cricket cricket
yeah and a penchant for collecting straight red cards…
Great player, but I think you’re right. We need more of a bruiser against England. Expecially to put up with Gerrard/Lampard.
He was poor.
I like Dempsey and Donavan on the outside. Torres and Bradley in the middle. Gomez and Altidore up top. I will take anybody on defense except cherundolo.
Beasley was completely useless against the Czechs too.
what does everyone think about Gomez and Dempsey up top with Altidore as a sub?
Gomez and Demps. Altidore as sub
Landon Edu Bradley Holden. Beas as sub
Boca DeMerrit Gooch Spector
Timmayyyyyyy
Only change I’d make for Turkey is Edu over Clark.
For England, Goodson over Onyewu. We need his height.
Okay I kind of like this line up but I want to see 2 things:
Lets leave Landon where he plays his best, on the left wing and either put Beasley on the right wing or give Stuart Holden the start and have Beasley come off the bench.
And number 2 can we please try playing with Torres and Bradley? or Edu and Bradley for that matter? Clark played the least out of all out CM and don’t see why we have to play with two players who essentially are the same type of CM?
I like this line up:
=====Altidore====Demspey=====
=Donovan==============Holden=
=======Bradley==Torres=======
=Boca=Gooch==DeMerit=Spector=
============Howard===========
Then have Benny come in for Holden and maybe Edu for Bradley. But what am I thinking asking Bob to take out his son out of a game, that has happened what ONCE? In El Salvador but only because Bradley Jr had to come off for a minor knock so Bob didn’t want to play with 10.
The more I think about it, the more I like Beasley starting against England and Having Holden come in for Beas.
Beasley can provide great cover for the LB ( I think they both can, but Beas would be a little better), plus his experience could be very benefical.
Holden can start agianst Alergia and Slovenia, with Beasley coming off the bench.
Dude was coming off of injury sort like holden right now……. So ill take beas, thank you
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Beasley had the same experience in the confed cup. Whoops. I prefer Holden but I’m comfortable with both on the field.
Much higher quality competition compared to what he had. West Ham was awful this year. West Ham was much was against the elite in the Premier League than the US is. Similar to Jozy at Hull, your teammates are great part of success or failure.
would like to see Michael pair with Stuart in the middle, see how that goes; somehow Stuart needs to be on the field
excellent post…this is how I see we play, too
this is on target, nice post Murphy
Findley best be aggressive this time, can’t be out there defending himself like vs. the Dutch; once he subbed out, we looked pretty good. he needs to go after that Turk back line like there is no tomorrow IF he gets one more chance
priceless indeed
looking forward to your first hand report, and have fun!
The problem is that the US isn’t trying to attack or maintain possession. Torres is the sacrifice on the altar of ‘bunker and counter’. He’s the most under-played player on the US roster, and he’d get better treatment on most national sides.
Agreed. I love what Torres brings to the game for us. He has the ability to control the pace of the game. I thought he and Edu looked good together the other night. USA had a lot of possession. Now, it’s a given that Lil Brad is one of the CMs. So, I call for Bradley-Torres.
your logic as merit, i intriged with the combo of altidore and buddle, talk about having two tanks on top.
6 subs again right?
he hasn’t been doing that for his club this season. in fact, he got benched numerous times for his out of form play.
You didn’t get that memo either?
You never take your 2 best field players off.
Everyone other than Howard, Donovan and Dempsey we can sub for, those 3 need to play 270 minutes each to get us out of the 1st round.
Papa would add a 4th player into the irreplaceable category.
Anyway, build your sub patterns around those 4, because they’re never sitting. Well if we’re up by a couple goals with 10 minutes to go he might sit Donovan or Demps to save them for the next opponent.
Gooch can’t go 90, he’s playing himself back into game shape.
woops double post
——Altidore——Dempsey——
Beasley—-Bradley—Clark—Donovan
Bocanegra–Onyewu–DeMerit–Spector
————-Howard————-
Unsure whether to switch Beasley and Donovan.
It didn’t work before, we all promised to never speak of it again (Beas as left back)).
You must not have gotten the memo.
Good point about Beasley’s contract situation, he’ll be desperate to perform well if/when he gets on the field in SA.
Since otherwise he’s looking at MLS wages for his next contract.
+1
Except I wish we had more legit contenders for the back 4.
And relying on 2 hot strikers out of MLS and the Mexican league wouldn’t be my dream preference either.
But hey, we got more than a few decent middies, which is progress.
That sounds good too. However, I wouldn’t be surprised either if Bradley starts Clark with M Bradley to get him minutes, then totally swaps out the center midfield for Torres-Edu in the 2nd half. Ain’t prognosticatin’ fun?
Right, Benny just can’t do it for 90.
He plays much better coming in in the 60th minute or so. Then Benny can go full speed for 30 minutes.
Redu? love it.
Deal. Your lineup and subs make most sense of anyone’s I’ve seen here.
A few months ago I could not have even envisioned Beasley on the team. As things have unfolded, it does appear that he may be the best option against England at left mid. He’ll probobly have to play against Lennon and maybe Theo as well, depending on how the game goes.
Bradley’s not close to pulling off a Snejder imitation against World Cup quality opponents
+1
To me gooch looked still hurt, not out of shape, he was favoring one leg for the other, he couldn’t jump and when he did, he made sure he landed first on the good leg, and his sprint looked slow. I just don’t think that in 2 weeks he is going to be the old self gooch, england is licking their chops waiting to go at him. they better make a final decision on him by half time of this up coming game. otherwise…demerit and goodson i the middle.
Touche
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——–Altidore—-Dempsey——
Beasley—-Bradley—Clark—Donovan
Bocanegra–Onyewu–DeMerit–Spector
————-Howard————-
Undecided if I would switch Donovan and Beasley.
buddle is the reason why ching didn’t make the cut, buddle can hold the ball, great first touch, but he lacks moving to open space without the ball, hence why he didn’t get a single shot on goal. Now Gomez he is less of a holding player loves to do give and go in short spaces. his bread and butter is moving without the ball, that is why is able to get shots on goal while doing less of the dirty work that buddle does so well.
Funny, but no. I just don’t use my name when I’m on SBI instead of working at work!
You have a point…Holden’s crossing is dangerous and has a great delivery, however, only a handfull of players are able to get away with just having that as thier only attributes ie…Beckham. As it stands, Bradley asks too much of him in that winger position with regards to tracking back and tiring him out. He can do that for 30 minutes but the whole game is asking for trouble.
I think Holden is a better player when he is played in a defensive midfield capacity, even more so than Edu or Clark IMO. I think he is most beneficial to us playing defensively then getting into the attack. However, you cant nit-pick him too much considering he assisted on one of the goals.
Cherundolo looked great from my view. Got forward, dribbled and passed well, defended pretty well, although he might have done better on the Czech’s 2nd goal.
+1
I disagree with you on Clark. He was a beast at the Confederation Cup. Plus, Clark can score off a bomb, Edu scores mainly by crashing the box during set pieces. I would rather see Clark in this tune-up since chances will be few against Turkey. Turkey got 4 points against Bosnia in Qualification. They have little offense, but a good D to test our mids and fwds.
Your wrong man…go back and youtube his goals with puebla. Three of those were cherry-picked if memory serves me correct.
I just don’t see Feilhaber starting, he didn’t have a good season, in fact, he got bench a few times.