Photo by ISIphotos.com
The U.S. men's national team will face Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday night in a World Cup qualifier it desperately needs a result from in order to stay in good shape in the super-tight CONCACAF qualifying race.
Who will start in this all-important match? U.S. head coach Bob Bradley has plenty of options to choose from, both in defense and in the midfield. Does he stick with the same midfield that started vs. El Salvador on Saturday? Does he give Jonathan Bornstein another look at left back? Does he give Jonathan Spector another start, or does he turn to veteran Steve Cherundolo at right back.
Here is the lineup we could see Bradley using for Wednesday's qualifier in Port of Spain:
—————Davies———–Altidore—————
Donovan————————————–Dempsey
—————-Bradley——–Clark——————–
Bocanegra—-Onyewu——-DeMerit———Spector
———————–Howard—————————
If the above lineup looks familiar, yes, it is the same one in the above photo and the same one that beat Spain in the Confederations Cup. It hasn't been used since.
So why this group? While Benny Feilhaber did relatively well vs. El Salvador, I can see Bob Bradley wanting to control the middle of the field and limit the service the T&T midfield provides, which would mean going with Clark to partner with Michael Bradley. If Davies can't recover from his calf injury I think we would be more likely to see Dempsey up top than Brian Ching, with Holden getting a look.
Defensively, Bradley could go with Spector at left back and Cherundolo at right back, especially if Jay DeMerit can't go, but if DeMerit can start, look for Bocanegra to get the nod on the left. Even though he had his struggles vs. El Salvador, Spector stays in ahead of Cherundolo for his impeccable service, which should have produced a few goals on Saturday. And no, I can't really see Jonathan Bornstein starting vs. T&T, but stranger things have happened.
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What lineup would you like to see on Wednesday? Which lineup do you think Bradley will go with? Which player are you praying gets a start vs. Trinidad & Tobago? Which player are you hoping stays on the bench?
Share your thoughts below.