Photo by ISIphotos.com
The U.S. men's national team has secured a place in the Gold Cup quarterfinals, but still needs a result on Saturday vs. Haiti to lock up first place in Group B and the weaker quarterfinal opponent that goes with that slot.
With that in mind, it is time to think about what players U.S. coach Bob Bradley will turn to on Saturday. Which players would you start on Saturday if you were Bradley?
Here is one potential look at a squad we could see on Saturday:
Projected USA lineup vs. Haiti
—————–Cooper——–Davies————-
Colin Clark———————————–Arnaud
—————Sam Cronin—–Holden—————
Jay Heaps——Parkhurst—–Conrad——-Evans
————————–Robles———————-
(I replaced Feilhaber with Arnaud, after being told that Feilhaber has left the team. I haven't gotten that confirmed, but if he has left, this is the group I could see playing.)
This lineup would give every player on the original U.S. roster a start in the gorup stage except for KC midfielder Davy Arnaud. If Bob Bradley chooses to rest Davies (doubt it, not with Davies playing so close to home), or not start Feilhaber, then it wouldn't surprise me if Arnaud got the nod. So no Ching? Word is he will avoid games on turf in this tournament, which rules him out of this one.
Count me among those who definitely wants to see Sam Cronin get a start. The Toronto FC rookie is certainly young, but he's extremely gifted and merits a look in this tournament. It also wouldn't surprise me of Santino Quaranta drew another start, but with other players, such as Arnaud, not having gotten many minutes, I wonder if we will see him before the quarterfinals as a starter.
What do you think of the lineup? Which starting lineup would yo like to see vs. Haiti on Saturday?
Share your thoughts below.
“Jay Heaps better not start for the USMNT. Or play. Ever.
Posted by: Igor”
Please reference my comment from yesterday, re: “fans” of the US, and there disdain for players that get chosen for the highest honor you can have for soccer in your country.
Outside of Jay Heaps having molested a family member of yours, exactly why would someone be against a 30 something MLS Original who has busted his hump to grow soccer in the US for 10+ years NOT get a chance to wear the shirt in a meaningless game?
Amen, whatagame.
As a fan of the “next 3” sports (IMHO, Soccer, Cycling and Volleyball, (yes, volleyball. It’s ALSO huge in Europe and So Am.)) the last thing any fan of these sports needs to do is get competitive with the others over which sport is better…they are all exciting in their own right and can be passionately followed without denigrating the others.
That being said. I’m a Manny-hating Dodger fan, and I watch baseball In order to fall asleep.
Be champions.
Give Conrad the captain’s armband!
Man, they better start Heaps and Parkhurst at Gillette stadium. Especially when Heaps is going to miss the Revs game prior to it.
Isaac,
And why does Houston possess this depth….
Dom Kinnear!
Jay Heaps playing for the Nats is ridiculous. Drew Moor has been playing lights out D in Big D all season only to get shafted by Bradley. I don’t see anything wrong with giving Heaps a cap back in the game against Sweden’s C Team but come on now, this is a tourney to give our young talent a shot at trying to grab a last spot to go to SA. I’m not sure what BB has against Dallas but Cooper and Moor have been deserving of callups for 3 years now. And now Dax has become the backbone of the midfield. It’s time people look past the horribly run and coached FCD team and look at the few talented players that the team has.
PetedeLA, I actually think of Houston as the Manchester United of MLS because they have a ridiculous amount of depth.
Bob Bradley need to start all this attacker or Strikers and this is the time for him to learn a alternative system to used two or three strikers be more creative and offensive. Bob B. need to start the player to get to know each other well b4 the world cup or the qualifying games. And please B.B. you need to learn on how to used to clock and sub well. So please give us a good show and show the world that we are not a defend an counter attack team. Let your player loose and get a new play tactics. Make believe in you againg Bob Bradley but if you are not ready for a next level step away…
Speaking of G in Humboldt’s comments— nearly half the Dynamo team looks pretty decent. I’m saying that as a Galaxy supporter. Ching, Clark, Davis, Cameron, Holden… all have looked great whenever I’ve seen them. I guess they’ve been the Bayern Munich of MLS for a while now.
ok here is my start for the game against Haiti. Ok we akready know that we can be dangerouse playing two Striker. Now we know what the pair of Davis/Altidore, Davis/Ching or Altidore/Ching can do. Its time to give Cooper to Start on this game with Davis/Cooper or Altidore/Cooper and show that we have another weapon for the Mexico game.
—–Davis—–Cooper—-
Rogers————-Holden
——Clark—–Croning—-
Pearce–Marshall–Parkhurst–Cherand.
————-Robles————-
Ives,
Mr. Bradley has done a great job of getting a look at a lot of players this summer. Is there anyone else out there that has a chance to be on the USMNT in South Africa, who weren’t on the Confederation’s Cup or the Gold Cup roster? How will they get a look?
**Not in the Carribean I meant.
Why do we need to put down any sport. Let the folks who want to enjoy cylcing enjoy cycling. That’s all we ask when folks start making fun of soccer as boring among other things. Don’t need to turn into abusers just because we’ve been abused.
Having lived for a while in Haiti, I can testify that they have very good players and great passion for the sport…just not a lot of organization and infrastructure to help develop their players. At the very least, we should give them props for sending Jozy’s parents to our shores!
Merty,
You mean like Barbadoes and the Faroe Islands?
Posted by: Isaac | July 10, 2009 at 11:48 AM
Faroe Islands are in the Carib. chief.
I would really like to see Cooper play with Davies, if only for the first half. At the very least it would make the game easier to watch. First half vs. Honduras was drab.
Cooper and Davies up top. Davies because he may soon leave and Cooper hasn’t started yet.
C.Clark, Cronin, and Arnaud in midfield for their starts and Quaranta over Holden on the right to see if he continue scoring.
Heaps, Conrad, and Evans, getting their starts, and I’d go with Goodson to see him once more and rest Parky and Marshall. Busch in goal to appease the Fire.
I’d like to see Freddy get one more look. At this point he hasn’t merited a place in the lineup for knockout stage, so I’d like to insert him over Davies. I’m worried that Charlie is playing too many games.
Jay Heaps better not start for the USMNT. Or play. Ever.
Like the lineup Ives, but a diamond midfield? I’d be surprised to see that much of an attacking lineup out of Bradley. I’m sure we’ll see Cronin and Evans in the middle, or possibly Pause. If we see Holden in the middle we definitely see a much better possession game out of the US…
I’d like to see Quaranta get the start our right; I think he’d be great with Holden; will be a fun game to watch.
Then at the half we can sub in Arnaud when the game is in hand…
Merty,
You mean like Barbadoes and the Faroe Islands?
The Haiti team’s talent level is above the “sports bar” level correct? There are some concacaf teams that you could defeat with a team comprised of 11 guys from any sports bar in any major college town.
or is = is our
Call me selfish but I’m still hoping that Arnaud and Conrad won’t be on the US match day roster so they are eligible to start for KC v NE that same day, same stadium.
KC needs everything they got to climb out of this below .500 hole and Conrad is too important to the otherwise infant KC defense and Arnaud or is goal scoring threat (one of the best on the KC team, unfortunately).
So, Stuart will be playing the Holden midfielders role? Get it? Get it?
Nevermind…
I’d be surprised if Davies is with the team much longer. If the Sochaux thing is finalized, I imagine he’ll want to get over there and get situated.
Posted by: The Gentleman Masher | July 10, 2009 at 11:11 AM
….Nice….
Either way, I actually like the idea of Holden as a central midfielder but I don’t think the combination of him and Cronin has enough bite to truly close down the center. Then again, this is Haiti we’re talking about and I can’t really recall the last time I saw Sam Cronin play so I wouldn’t really know. I think that Beckerman and Quaranta have earned themselves some starts.
——————-Cooper——————
—-Rogers———————Quaranta—-
——————Beckerman—————-
———–Holden———–Cronin———
Heaps——Parkhurst——Conrad——Evans
——————–Robles—————–
I’ve always wanted to see the USA use a winger oriented version of a 4-3-3. Last time we did that was against China and we rocked that $*%&. Ives’ lineup could still happen, I just really want to see Holden as a “Holden” midfielder…..
@ Gentleman,
Not even cycling, but one event…Le Tour de France.
I personally am SICK of Armstrong, I get its an inspiring story, but it has gone soooo much farther than that. Now it seems to be about unbelievable self-promotion.
Basically, he markets his (and more importantly Nike’s) products to people touched by the tragedy of cancer…..WHICH IS EVERYONE! Brilliant marketing move though, yet its just that.
I’ve been supporting the Nats since the 2002 world cup. I’ve been watching MLS since 2004 and since then been arguing against international friends from school that american can play the game. But Tomorrow I’ll root for my beloved Haiti. We’ve through a lot in the past years, so if we get the win or a tie I’ll be proud.
its only a manner of time before Jozy gets called back to VillaReal’s training camp. I have a feeling we wont see him during the finals…perhaps the first game of the knock out round
Only reason anyone talks about cycling is because of Armstrong. It’s a great story, so he deserved the attention. But the past couple years when he wasn’t part of it, you didn’t hear much about the sport.
Anyway, starting Heaps in Gillette is the right move. This current group of players should be able to get through this game and the quarters without much of a challenge. May need a couple extra players for the semis and the final if they make it that far.
I didn’t think the US would ever be deep enough to field a “D” team. I’m glad to be proven wrong.
AdamTheRed – cycling is one sport we seem okay celebrating in this country, even though no one watches it live.
Meanwhile – soccer has millions of players, fans, etc. and you hardly ever hear about it.
That’s changing, thankfully.
When is Altidore going to be called in? he is still in the states and on the ‘added 7.’
Also, Watching Tour de France on Versus.
SOOOOOO BORING.
No wonder everyone just watches highlights.
What happened to my Benny post?
It’s painful to watch these games with these players. It was so evident when Davies and Feilhaber stepped on the field the other night that these were like Sunday league players.
I don’t know if I will even watch this one with that group.
I like it. Give the boys a chance to shine. And yes, Conrad gets the Captains band.
So, Stuart will be playing the Holden midfielders role? Get it? Get it?
Nevermind…
I’d be surprised if Davies is with the team much longer. If the Sochaux thing is finalized, I imagine he’ll want to get over there and get situated.
It would definitely surprise me if Santino Quaranta got another start.
I deffently could see that line-up being it, though I would think Busch would get the start in goal, becuase the last two seasons he has had, he deserves to start. I would start him, and deppending on how he does, could start the next game. I have not been overly impressed with Perkins.
I’m just curious to see if Haiti’s keeper plays as well as the keeper who played for them in the Olympic Qualifier tournament, when he gave up 5 goals and was *still* man-of-the-match.
Ives that shold be the line-up. I would be excited to see Colin Clark and Sam Cronin get some time. Also, Bead Evans at right back is soemthing that is interesting to look at i think.
If thats the lineup we will score atleast 3 with Cooper Davies and Arnaud, all very dangerous goal scorers. Clark and Holden are threats as well.
If Arnaud ends up playing up top it will be withdrawn like Adu played I would guess.
Trent,
I agree with half of you statement. I’ll let you figure out which half I agree with. 😉
Benny is gone Ives, just flew across the pond to re-coop and start training with his club team…
I wouldn’t mind seeing Quaranta replace Adu and go with one striker up top – probably Cooper – but looks like a reasonable line-up.
I could see Onyewu and Marshall starting in the center for the US in the world cup. We would completely control the middle. Marshall needs tested though against some of the better teams so hopefully Bradley will allow him to be tested.
I thought Benny was headed back to Europe.
they’re not laying grass on top of the turf at Gillette?
Chad Marshall is HUGE. Significantly bigger than Ching, who is by no means a tiny dude.
IVES
are you gonna do a piece on barrak obama excepting a brazil jeresy and then saying “I always knew brazil would come back”
I thought US Soccer reported that Feilhaber was reporting back to his club team. Insert Beckerman.
“Following tonight’s match, both Adu and Feilhaber will join their clubs in Europe to begin preseason training for the upcoming season.”
http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_15106060.html
who would be captain? Conrad?
Seems about right. Nothing against Quaranta, but I do hope Holden starts again.
Also, did anyone notice on FSC when they broadcast the lineups last game.. that they didn’t use “Perkins”, but instead just called him “Troy” ?? haha Cracked me up. I thought maybe Troy Perkins was half-brazilian and just started going by “Troy”.