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Who should the USA start vs. Barbados?

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With World Cup qualifying for the U.S. national team set to begin on Sunday against Barbados, it is time to start thinking about what starting lineup Bob Bradley will put on the field.

Will he stick with Eddie Johnson up top? Will he go back to the Onyewu-Bocanegra center back tandem? Will he consider starting Freddy Adu? Is Brian Ching ready to step back in and start?

All these questions will be answered soon enough. For now, here is a look at the starting lineup I think we will see against Barbados on Sunday:

USA POTENTIAL LINEUP vs. BARBADOS

———————Ching———————

Beasley———–Donovan———Dempsey

————-Bradley——Mastroeni———-

Pearce—Bocanegra—Onyewu—Cherundolo

——————–Howard———————

Variations I could see:

Word I’m getting is that Dempsey is really worn down and if he can’t go then Bradley will have to decide whether to slide Beasley to the right and start an in-form Eddie Lewis or move Donovan to the right and start Freddy Adu. I know fans would love to see Adu but I don’t think he starts. Then again, Bradley may want to rest a vet or two for the road leg and might give Adu a long look in that case.

The back-line is pretty set. Danny Califf and Jay Demerit were good vs. Argentina but Bocanegra will get the nod.

Who will start at forward? Fans might hold protests at Home Depot Center if Eddie Johnson gets the nod but don’t be surprised if he does. For all his struggles in the Big Three friendlies (and the past two years for the national team) he has put himself into position to do things. He’s just been awful at actually doing anything. The Barbados series could be Johnson’s last chance to really show what he can do.

I have a feeling Bradley could just as easily go with Ching, who plays very well with Donovan and has the experience of playing well in qualifying. He’s also on pretty good form in MLS and has been healthy.

What starting lineup do you want to see the U.S. national team field against Barbados? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Does anyone know of an internet link for the game tomorrow so that I could watch it online? I am overseas, but would still like to see it. Thank you in advance.

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  2. We have to score goals, period.

    EJ ain’t getting it done, time for Ching.

    I like the idea of Adu and Dempsey behind ala Rooney and Gerrard. Could have LD and Deuce switch, but with a packed box, taller in the middle makes more sense. That means Beas has to go. Frankly he has not done much for me lately.

    ————–Ching——————-

    ———–Adu–Dempsey————–

    ——Bradley—Edu—–Donovan——–

    Pearce—Bocanegra—Onyewu—Cherundolo

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  3. groovester- good to hear…. all the waiting at TGIF is truely a workout… id be in the best shape of my life if i didnt get free beer 🙁

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  4. Kevin- what more impt games?? 1st leg of WCQ is most impt… its best we start strong… (which shouldnt be a problem, but we definately shouldnt take any WCQ game lightly

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  5. Why start our top squad? Let’s go with something like

    G: Guzan

    D: Califf, Pearce, DeMerit, Bocanegra

    M: Deuce, Kljestan, Edu, Adu

    F: EJ, Ching

    Seems like we should rest our starters for more important games, especially MLS players.

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  6. groovester- “chet, brett, mark, dave, steve, dom, mike, pedro, scott, greg and pete from TGIF’s down the street: 3”

    sweet, not only did i make the team, but we beat Barbados…. YES!!!! hope i get called up again

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  7. I think it’ll be a 4-4-2 with Johnson as the target for Donovan to move around…I also agree that Dempsey looks a bit on fumes, and may be rested, at least for the home leg. Plus, it’d be real nice not to have to worry about having to go to Barbados needing something. Adu, Edu, and Ching to come on in later:

    GK: Howard

    DF (R -L): Cherundolo-Bocanegra-Onyewu-Pearce

    MF (R-L): Beasley-Bradley-Mastroeni-Lewis

    FW: Donovan-Johnson

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  8. Well, not to quibble, but EJ did score against Trinidad and Tobago about a year ago.

    Wait a minute! So did Brian Ching!

    Look out, Barbados….

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  9. E.J.’s last chance should have been a year ago. Tough to say about such a young player. But this guy has given chance after chance and has not produced besides a PK vs. Argentina in Copa America.

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  10. Jeffrey: “I am for any lineup that wins 4-0”

    chet, brett, mark, dave, steve, dom, mike, pedro, scott, greg and pete from TGIF’s down the street: 3

    Barbados: 0

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  11. I would love to see a more attacking alignment. This would give us the numbers in attack to break into a packed defense. It will also test our defensive line in one on one situations on the counter. It’s Barbados.

    —-Johnson–Ching–Donovan—-

    Beasley—Adu—Bradley—Klejstan

    —Bocanegra–Gooch—-Cherundolo

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  12. we really don’t need to defensive midfielders against barbados. and for those who are putting donovan as the striker with no one in front of him, that doesn’t work, it’s been tried before. When donovan is the striker there’s no one to take down long balls, and everything has to be played a long the ground = no hold up play, at least EJ has done that, even if his touch is inconsistent. So why not try a more attacking lineup that could potentially be used against good teams in the future?

    ———Johnson———-

    ——-Adu—-Donovan—–

    Beasley————Dempsey

    ———Bradley———-

    Pearce-Boca-Onyewu-Cherundolo

    ——–Howard————-

    using two attacking midfielders, instead of two defensive midfielders, obviously Adu and Donovan would have to come back for the ball more often than they do now, but what’s to lose? might as well see if it could work against a team like barbados.

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  13. Metzeng – agree completely with your comments on ej’s performance being as good as you could expect from any US forward flying solo v. that opposition, with the recent selections in midfield “supporting”…

    if we played our strongest central midfield, in the five player formation, we and could actually build an attack. The solo forward wouldn’t have to be supernatural in that context…

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  14. EJ is improving, take a look at the last 3 games. He’s putting himself in good positions. Before then he didn’t have the confidence to move forward. In previous games he’d pass rather then take a shot. Sure now he’s not finishing…but that’s going to improve. I think he can get over this hurdle.

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  15. Give EJ the start. My thinking being that he might be able to get a goal against inferior competition which could get him on track. It’s like a boxer who fights a couple of tomato cans to start off to build confidence, then starts fighting better competition.

    But I do agree that if he can’t regain his scoring prowess he needs to be dropped from the nats until he gets it together at the club level.

    Barbados or bust for EJ.

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  16. I agree that we should be more aggressive at home against Barbados… but why not play two AMs instead of two DMs? That way both Adu and Donovan are on the field able to make runs and create. They didn’t seem to get in each other’s way last weekend, and IF we put a big ol’ target man up to hold the ball and let them run on to it, it ought to work like a charm.

    —————–Ching—————

    ———–Adu———Donovan——-

    Beasley———————–Dempsey

    ———–Mastro/Bradley/Edu——–

    Pearce—–Boca—-Onyewu–Lil’ Stevie

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  17. And, yes, I realize Altidore and Clark are not on the roster for this match. I was speaking about the overall player pool.

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  18. And, yes, I realize Altidore and Clark are not on the roster for this match. I was speaking about the overall player pool.

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  19. re: “2 d-mids”

    the “please no 2 d-mids” argument is not really about the label d-mid. It is more about personnel than formation in my view. You call MB whatever you want. The point is this:

    what BB has been playing =

    ———————————-

    2 of MB, Edu, Clark, Pablo

    + 4 other MF/FWs

    + 4 backs

    + 1 GK.

    What I would rather see =

    ———————————

    1 (not 2) of MB/Edu/Pablo/Clark (not Clark)

    + 5 (not 4) best attacking players

    + 4 backs

    + 1 GK

    That is the switch.

    Just saying that MB could play in a more advanced position does NOT address the issue. It is a personnel issue, not a formation issue.

    Of course, there can be debate about which 5 players can generate the most in attack (I would say Donovan, Adu, Altidore, Dempsey, Beasley), but I don’t think that many would argue for MB on that list. MB is a nice player, but if you were looking for our 5 most dangerous players to put into attack together, I wouldn’t include him. He can have the “d-mid” or whatever you call it role.

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  20. Groovester: “If Johnson scores in bunches Sunday it means nothing. He’s proven he has no first touch, has no cojones and is a lazy ass player who only hustles part-time. Case closed.”

    Wow.

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  21. Nicholas- i have nothing against Pablo, my new point was all this “2 def. mids need to be changed” that everyone loves to say….

    im simply saying that the def. need to pass and play a bit of control rather then booting it….

    and another thing, when MB makes a run to check and receive the ball, someone has got to make another run off him… most of the time he gets it people just stand there… not opening the field at all…

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  22. eric- comon’… the france squad was not ready for the tourny.. everyone sucked…

    Shea and Nguyen did some of the best plays in my opinion… but you cant look at that tourny and say “he sucked”…

    out matched in the U20’s?? he had to compete with Jozy and Adu…. kind of a tall order for any american…

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  23. —————Ching——————

    —————————Donovan———-

    —————-Adu——————

    Beasley———————-Bradley——–

    —————Mastroeni—————–

    Pearce—Bocanegra—Onyewu—Cherundolo

    ——————–Howard———————

    Reply
  24. Brett,

    Probably a fair point. I guess my thinking is that if our player pool at forward isn’t all that productive (and there’s no evidence that it is) that we need dynamic, two-way central guys. MB can do that….who else?…

    I could be wrong though….I don’t remember McBride putting up a ton of goals for us in 2002, yet we had success with Mastro in there.

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  25. Oh come on now, that’s enough Gabe Ferrari talk for now. Wait until he isn’t overmatched at the U-20 level.

    Sorry, I’m bitter, he sucked at that Toulon tournament. Hopefully he’ll continue to develop.

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  26. a page out of chelsea, let pablo play the hole. with bradley linking adu to push up, as well as the possibility for him to push up because we all know he can really push up on the wings as well, and let EJ finally play a lone striker with veteran wings, because this is the best we can do. as for subs, ching for EJ, lewis for beas early this time, dempsey for donovan, unless baby bradley can play a full 90- edu comes in.

    ———-EJ———–

    beas————donovan

    —–adu—–bradley—

    ——-mastroeni——-

    pearce-calif-gooch-dolo

    ——-howard———-

    what do you guys think?

    this is barbados and we do not need more than 5 defenders

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  27. on my MB as a CM not a DM thought:

    anyone else notice once the US got some possession in the 1st half we actually saw MB in or around the box?? im really thinking that was the issue… our lack of possession hurts his ability of moving forward

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  28. Dempsey had some moments vs Argentina, but I did think he looked worn down as well, so I very much believe Ives’ sources. I think the same could be said, though maybe not as definitively, about Michael Bradley.

    I’m not a Ching fan, but I can’t disagree with what Ives said there either. Honestly though, against Barbados, it had better not make a difference which “meh” forward we go with. As long as we go with the 4-5-1, I’ll be happy, because we can not afford to waste another spot in the Starting 11 on the “true” forwards in our player pool.

    As for EJ, I wouldn’t be surprised if he looks good in one or both of the games, but it also wouldn’t be very telling. I think his problem is that he’s gotten to England and realized that he can’t just blow by everybody with minimal effort. It seems he hasn’t reacted well to that, and has left him with practically zero confidence. While it’s encouraging that he at least has been working off the ball and in the air, it’s equally disappointing that he’s always passing the ball back and refusing to take guys on. He needs to develop at least the semblance of a killer instinct, and in a hurry.

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  29. does anyone else just look at it as Bradley playing to Center mids?? prior to Edu and the Derby debacle, it was MB and Benny…. not quite the 2 def. mids you lot claim we always play…

    perhaps BB is looking at his son as more of the attacking side of the center mids (pablo and edu would be the defensive side) but due to recent teams (ie. arg. england spain sweden poland etc…) MB has been forced to help out in the defense and is not able to open the attack…

    look at it this way… what does our defense do when they get the ball?? look for the 60 yrd pass to EJ… how does that help MB as a center mid?? it doesnt… in fact that forces him to either make a 60 yrd run just to get into the play or to trot up and wait for EJ to fumble around with the ball… maybe if we kept a lil’ more possession we would see MB in the attack more…

    a new thought 😀

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  30. i just want a forward/midfielder who is goal hungry and willing to take shots… we seem to want to pass it around too much… dangit, someone get selfish 🙁

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  31. Just thinking down the road….

    I don’t like any of the defensive midfield combinations that Bradley could put on the field unless Feilhaber pulls it together.

    I think we need to go in a different tactical direction.

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  32. robert- Ferrari has not only played for the US youth squad, but he’s flat out said he’s an american and will play for the US….

    and id like to see what he could do with a more senior squad… that squad in France did crap to aid in the attack..

    Bernardo is the italian im banking hopes on… we’ll just have to see him play in YWC2009 to see what he’s like

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  33. dolo-gooch-demerit-lewis

    bradley-mastroeni

    donovan – Beasley

    adu

    Ching

    i think in a game like this it’d be great to start eddie lewis in the back (not a huge fan of him normally). He serves great balls and could help get some service to ching up top… let donovan, adu, and beasley do their thing and run at the defense to put them underpressure and use the outside backs to get service into the box for ching. This is what I’d really like to see

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  34. Bradley and Pablo will line up in the central midfield, but stop your screaming about having two “d-mids” in the game. Michael will be lurking in the box for most of the game, as the US will be doing very little defending.

    The starting backline is set. Cherundolo, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Pearce.

    Dempsey should be rested for this game. Beasley and Donovan will take up positions in the midfield, and I think Bob gives Adu a start in a free role with Eddie Johnson at the point. You want to score plenty of goals at home, and Freddy has been the offensive spark…won’t be much defending to do.

    If the US gets a comfortable win as expected, then Lewis, Ching, Dempsey, Demerit, Califf, Edu, Klejstan, Hejuk and Guzan will all play in the second leg.

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  35. I would like to see that exact same lineup, however if dempsey is worn out, we should sit him, move donovan to the right and start adu behind ching.

    Any chance Altidore gets a last second callup? His work at Villarreal is done and he could return to LA in time. I don’t think that will happen because 1) long trip back and 2) he’s been laid off for 2 weeks. We can always dream tho.

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  36. Collin – You say you want a more attacking line-up, yet you propose that we use Bradley + Edu + Mastroeni while leaving Adu and Lewis off the pitch. Yikes!

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  37. Bob should play it safe call in rico clark and give us Edu/Bradley/Clark/Pablo as defensive mids…. the more the better and we need to clog up that midfield

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  38. Too bad Cooper, Rogers and Co. aren’t in the line-up. Jozy’s absence is okay but I hope he plays in the real qualifiers if not this fall then next year (assuming we get past phase 2). Boca shouldn’t play. EJ is okay. He needs to get a hat trick before anyone starts believing in him again.

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  39. These CONCACAF teams are going to sit back and put all 11 men behind the ball. If you want to crack a defense like that, you need creativity like Adu’s on the field. I don’t even think it’s an option. We just don’t have other players who can create offense when we’re in possession. If we try to rely on counters and set pieces (without Adu), we may end up with a 0-0 draw.

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  40. Metzeng: “He has to score at least one goal this weekend. I’ve been fine with him starting these last three games. I don’t think any American forward (including Jozy) would have looked good playing alone up top against England, Spain and Argentina, and I think EJ did ok, not great, ok.”

    Wow, didnt even have to wait for sunday to get someone to already put stock into anything Johnson does one way or another against Barbados. You can basically pick 11 guys out of a American sports bar and beat Barbados. If Johnson scores in bunches Sunday it means nothing. He’s proven he has no first touch, has no cojones and is a lazy ass player who only hustles part-time. Case closed.

    Reply
  41. Don’t think we need 2 d-mids in this game

    —Ching–LD—–

    —————–

    DMB—Adu—Dempsy

    —–Bradley——

    Pearce———Dolo

    —-Boca–Gooch–

    ——Howard——-

    Reply

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