U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley named his 24-man roster for the United States’ friendly against Spain on Wednesday.
Pablo Mastroeni was the new name on the Spain roster, with all 17 European-based players who played against England also being recalled.
Here is the list:
GOALKEEPERS– Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC) ]
DEFENDERS– Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS– Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)
FORWARDS– Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (out of contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (out of contract)
So what do I see the starting lineup being vs. Spain? Here’s one possibility:
USA Roster vs. Spain
———Johnson—–Donovan————
Beasley—————————Dempsey
———–Bradley—-Mastroeni———–
Pearce————————–Cherundolo
———Bocanegra—Onyewu————-
——————Howard——————-
If Donovan can’t go then I think Bradley will have to consider sliding Beasley to the right and starting Eddie Lewis to the left wing, with Dempsey moving to forward.
I know the clamor continues for Freddy Adu but I just don’t think he is seen as a 90-minute player for the national team just yet. He is a defensive liability and the team just isn’t equipped to pick up that slack. While I would like to see Adu get a start in one of these three friendlies, I think Argentina might be the safer bet than Spain.
Now, if we do see Adu start, I think it would have to be in a 4-2-3-1 like this:
—————–Dempsey——————-
Beasley———–Adu————Donovan
———–Bradley—-Mastroeni———–
Pearce————————–Cherundolo
———Bocanegra—Onyewu————-
——————Howard——————-
I would have absolutely no problem with this lineup, and probably prefer it to the above lineup, which is the lineup I think Bradley will use if everyone is healthy.
After Clark’s less than stellar showing vs. England, I could see Bradley going with a veteran presence in Mastroeni.
As for the forwards, let me state it one more time. Kenny Cooper and Jozy Altidore were not called in because of MLS commitments as well as because of what will likely be busy national team/Olympic duty for both this summer. It would be great if they were called in but Bradley can’t just ignore the fact that these guys have club games to play.
What do you think of the squad called by Bradley? What lineup would you start based on that roster? Share your thoughts below.