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Torres or Adu: Who will get the call vs. Egypt?

Jose Francisco Torres (ISIphotos.com)   Freddy Adu 2 (ISIphotos.com)

                                                                 Photos by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team has been missing plenty during the Confederations Cup, but one of the most glaring problems is a lack of attacking creativity. The poor form of Clint Dempsey and DaMarcus Beasley has left the U.S. midfield sorely lacking the necessary creativity to help spark the U.S. attack.

Enter young midfielders Jose Francisco Torres and Freddy Adu. Neither has seen a minute of playing time in the Confederations Cup, but now with the U.S. team all but eliminated heading into the group stage finale vs. Egypt on Sunday, U.S. coach Bob Bradley will be hard-pressed not to include one of these skillful midfielders.

Could Bradley leave both on the bench yet again? It's plausible, especially if he trots out the out-of-form Clint Dempsey again, but with the United States playing on short rest, it is tough to imagine Bradley not starting one of them.

So which of these left-footed skill players should get the call?

Adu has more caps, and has played in bigger national team games in his young career, but Torres has played more club soccer over the past year, emerging as a key player for Pachuca and playing well enough to start drawing interest from Europe. He also showed some impressive flashes in his start vs. Costa Rica earlier this month.

So why is it an either/or situation instead of both players playing? The fact is that neither Torres or Adu brings much to the table defensively and both bring similar traits to the table. A team can pick up the slack for one of them being in the lineup, but having Adu and Torres on the field together would require the U.S. team to have an all-world defensive midfielder (or two) playing behind them (perhaps we can see that when Jermaine Jones comes aboard).

So here' is the question. Which of these players would you insert into the starting lineup vs. Egypt on Sunday. Cast your vote below:

Who is my pick? I think Torres is the better option, but I also think the Gold Cup will tell us a lot more about where they both stand heading into the next stretch of World Cup qualifiers. Whether it is Adu or Torres, one of them needs to get the start vs. Egypt so we can see how they perform in a pressure match. We have seen enough in this tournament from veterans Dempsey and Feilhaber.

Who did you vote for? Why? Hoping both get to start? Would you rather see them getting steady starts in the Gold Cup to see how they do on that level, or do you want to see them against Egypt in a match with more pressure?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. PLAY BOTH!!!!!!! You hit the nail on the head! Torres and Adu in the middle with Jermaine Johnson backing the up. Holy ****! That would be amazing! I know Johnson is not there yet, which is why I voted screw the defense. Until you get someone to replace Onyewu and Bornstein, nothing is going to change there any way! Onyewu is pitifully out of position far too much and why is going all the way forward to handle a throw in only to get caught chasing the play back? It’s a throw in! When was the last time they actually got a shot on goal with that play much less scored? And, Bornstein! God love you, brother, but you are a boy among men and not even close to ready to play at that level. Whose butt did you kiss to make this squad or the player pool for that matter? You play like a deer in headlights and have been burned so many times you are starting to resemble and smell like burnt toast!!! Besides that, if we have to look at the sour puss faces of Dempsey and Donovan any longer, you can feel the fan base shrinking all across the country. (Actually told my boys to find another team internationally with players who play together with confidence to emulate. i.e. Spain, Italy, Brazil and how about even Egypt and Iraq holding their own?!) Our MNT, literally, WALKS around the pitch as if something is owed them and it’s embarassing, LITERALLY! I think we are only team in the world that actually plays the ball backwards and goes into defensive mode when we get behind in a game!!! How does that happen, COACH?!! Just a suggestion. But, why not let Dempsey go practice his juggling and stroke himself somewhere else, ANYWHERE ELSE, than on this squad/team? And, maybe it would make sense to let Donovan go back up front and use his speed to get behind the defense? Maybe then he can earn his OWN penalty kicks, Right?!! Hell, he doesn’t work on defense, anyway, or challenge a ball. But, I bet he still remembers how to work into space, play a ball across or maybe, just maybe TAKE A SHOT!!!! And, last but not least, could we please see someone put free kick on frame? All it takes is practice!! You guys haven’t challenged a keeper, yet. And, I’m amazed at our bland commentators who have to talk about set pieces from players years past because there hasn’t been a whole lot to talk about in the recent (fast becoming distant) past!! Fix your defense coach, let Adu, Torres and soon to be Johnson OWN THE MIDDLE, and let let Altidore and Donovan put some balls in the back of the net!!!! Then you’ll get my attention back and I’m sure millions of quiet fans out there who would love to scream and shout “Go USA!” But, quite frankly, are too embarassed to open their mouths! And, who can blame them? As our younger players and leagues around the country are becoming more and more influenced with international coaches and players, your poor decision making becomes more blatantly obvious with every CAP. We’re tired of apologizing for you and trying to explain some of your moves when these ‘kids’ are pointing out YOUR and your staff’s mistakes which rears it’s ugly head the moment a lineup is announced and the scared play begins after the whistle is blown. Have you ever thought of having all your players watch ‘Learn how to play like a Brazilian’ on Youtube? It couldn’t hurt. Seems like our U-23’s, U-20’s and other younger teams did quite well as they played/play around the world. What happened? Oh yeah, Adu was on the field along with Szetela and others. And, that weren’t afraid of ANYBODY! Time to grow some gnads, coach and replace the old guard with some fresh talent. It’s gonna happen, anyway, and should be your decision! Your choice, HERO or zero. Me, for one, I’ve seen enough zeros from this team already. Take a look at Confederation’s Cup standings. Whoa. Embarassing. go usa! (spoken quietly)

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  2. I went with Torres. I would be just fine seeing them both come on. But if I had to choose, I would go with Torres.

    Once we have Jones, I would like to see something like this:

    GK: Howard

    LB: Boca
    CB: Gooch
    RB: Spector

    CDM: Jones
    CDM: Bradley
    LW: Adu
    RW: LD
    CAM: Dempsey

    ST: Altidore
    ST: Davies

    Possible Subs: Torres, Edu, Feilhaber, DeMerit, Davies, etc.

    ——————-OR———————-

    GK: Howard

    LB: Boca
    CB: Gooch
    CB: DeMerit
    RB: Spector

    CDM: Jones
    LM: Torres
    RM: Dempsey
    CM: LD (Bradley?)

    ST: Altidore

    Possible Subs: Edu, Adu, (Bradley?), Feilhaber, Davies, etc.

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  3. A little off-topic, but I’m starting to wonder… Bob Bradley’s the worst coach the US has had in some time – arguably worse than Steve Sampson? If he truly does fall below Sampson in the pecking order, you’re looking at him being the worst coach in more than 25 years…. Quite the dubious distinction…

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  4. IMO the missing players aren’t the problem. There has been progressive degradation of the on-field form. Watch the first half of the Brasil game again. There were far too many unforced giveaways – that’s amateur stuff. How many “passes” went to no one? The hopeful longballs to the lone striker marked by multiple defenders is not going to result in consistent success.

    Where the hell is that terrier Cobi Jones when you need him?

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  5. We don’t need defense. We need a 5-goal win. Probably not going to happen, but there’s absolutely no reason to do anything but an all-out attack in this situation.

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  6. I don’t think Torres or Adu playing will make a huge difference in and of itself. Our main problem in this tourney is injuries at multiple, key positions, namely Cherundolo, Hejduk, Ching, and Edu. With those guys in the mix, we are an entirely different team. Anyone who thinks Adu or Torres will be the “magic bullet” isn’t really paying attention to the multitude of poor play all over the field. THE TEAM has to play better as a whole. That means creativity on and off the ball, discipline and timing on defensive challenges (ie: no high, late tackles that earn reds), finishing chances, etc., etc., etc.

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  7. Yes, the odds of us getting out of the group are insane but if we even want a shot at it, we have to win by at least 3 goals so we must go offensive. I say cap them both and see what happens.

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  8. I was all for standing behind Bradley until this tournament.

    TO THOSE WHO SAY BRADLEY IS NOT TO BLAME:

    Saying its not his fault because we don’t have the players is wrong. If we don’t have the players, the coach is at least responsible to put forth tactics to get results … just as coaches in the past have done.

    Against Brazil we should have sat all behind the ball and counter-attacked.

    Away game in Costa Rica, we should have had more conservative tactics.

    This team has not had the correct mental mindset and determination. That is largely part of the coach to drill that into them.

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  9. With the first goal, after the cheap dive. Maicon placed the ball 8 yards ahead of where the foul was committed.
    Other games Donovan would have got the ref or linesman to replace the ball, he would have complained about the call, and the committement for game in early minutes was not in the right place.
    They knew the call was bogus, they knew his freekick close to almost inside 18 yards of the endline and they would have in any other situation been on that. In that game they needed to be on that, they needed to be on everything. But they were not.
    That was just the first impression of the whole game I had.

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  10. i have been around soccer for 50 years so let me add some wisdom to these boards.

    1. did we play lousy…yes

    2. did the red cards hurt us…yes

    3. did missing cherundolo, hedjuk, bocanegra, ching, clark. edu, and mashcionni hurt us….yes

    4.has twillman, conner casey, or cooper helped us when brought up…no

    5. has adu proven to any coach in the last two years that he is the answer….no

    6. have we found out that beasley and klejian are not the answer….yes

    7.are we hurt by having the team together before these games for such a short time…yes

    8. has anyone that has been tearing up the mls helped when called in…no

    9. lets just wait until we get healthly and

    add jones to the mix before we panic.

    i hope i have offered some advice to the fans that panic over everything and think they have all the answers…………

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  11. bob will never put in torres against these teams because with his skill he would get looked a real good clubs and bobs son will lose his spot on the team but he will play adu because he hasn’t play one real game with his club

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