The U.S. men's national team plays its final match of a busy and memorable 2009 today when it takes on Denmark in Aarhus (2:30pm, ESPN Classic/Galavision/ESPN2 after Ukraine-Greece).
Both teams will be missing several key players, with the Americans playing without Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey (as well as injured regulars Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit and Charlie Davies). The Danes will be missing Nicklas Bendtner, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Dennis Rommedahl and Daniel Agger, to name a few.
That doesn't mean today's match won't be useful in providing U.S. coach Bob Bradley with chance to see how some new faces stack up against what will still be a talented Denmark team.
U.S. fans will be especially interested in seeing who starts at forward and at left back today. Eddie Johnson and Jeff Cunningham are both vying for the chance to fill in for Charlie Davies and one of them should get the start today ahead of Conor Casey, who was largely ineffective against Slovakia (and who is not in the 18-man roster for today's match).
At left back, Jonathan Bornstein has been the regular starter, but with Edgar Castillo and Heath Pearce both in camp, you would imagine that Bradley will give one of them a chance to start. (UPDATE-Edgar Castillo is in the 18-man gameday roster. Pearce is not.)
Denmark will offer a good challenge for whoever Bradley starts at forward or left back. Central defender Simon Kjaer is one of the most highly-regarded young defenders in Europe, while the midfield tandem of Christian and Jacob Poulsen will make things difficult for whoever the Americans deploy in midfield or at left back.
What will be interesting to see is whether Denmark plays in the 4-3-3 it uses traditionally, or if the rash of injuries will force the Danes into a 4-4-2. Either way, the Americans will likely trot out a 4-4-2. The real question is who will partner in central midfield with Michael Bradley. Will it be Ricardo Clark, or will it be Benny Feilhaber. Feilhaber will be playing in his club's stadium and seems like a safe bet to start, but he could also be deployed on the left flank to make room for Clark in the middle, with Stuart Holden looking like a good bet to start on the right wing.
SBI will be providing a live commentary on the match so please feel free to follow the match here. For now, what do you think of today's match? Who would you like to see start at left wing, central midfield and left back today?
Share your pre-game thoughts below.
http://atdhe.net/index.html thats the best ive seen.
JFT has some issues. Im not sure if that’ll prevent him from making the SA squad next year. He shows more promise than current players. No offense to Holden or Benny fans, but his style is very dynamic. He makes things happen as oppose to following the flow.
He lacks playing time. We could use him for any and all friendlies.
One can only speculate.
Hope Castillo comes in for the 2nd 45minutes. Here is Cunninghams opportunity!
Speed isn’t the only thing you need to pay that position.
Wonder if Mikey B will get subbed out today???
In his current position, Donovan is playing the best he ever has for the US. Why do you want to mess that up when you don’t know what you will get from Torres or Benny?
Yeah…I like it, as long as Castillo gets the 2nd 45.
FRANKAYYYYYY….sadly though I’m coming into the realization his chance at SA is getting very slim.
Would like to see him with the team in SA though maybe not fully as a player.
Who knows though with Spector emerging as a CB if Goochie is out frankie is our backup at RB
Fuckiing beautiful starting 11
starting XI is up.
Guzan
Hejduk
Spector
Bocanegra
Bornstein
Holden
Clark
Bradley
Feilhaber
Altidore
Cunningham
Bring back Mcbride……Please
Donovan up top is something to consider. With our depth in the midfield, especially if Jones can ever get healthy, it seems like something we should at least try out. I don’t think it’s necessarily the best way to utilize Donovan’s talents, but it would open up a spot for another playmaker like Benny or Torres and provide the speed and skill we’re missing up top.
Stickers? No. But stinkers? Yes. We’ve done a great job at finding marginal strikers to this point. We never seem to be able to unearth a consistent threat, just flashes.
Jozy really needs to step his game up these next 6 months…and the pressure only mounts with no Chuck D. Davies has been the only guy to consistently produce for club and country as a striker so far.
listed as personal reasons…. why look more into it??
he was left off the Gold Cup b/c he’s been playing non-stop for over 1 1/2 yrs with no break to recover…. if it wasnt for that break he’d have gone 2 1/2 yrs straight going into WC, assuming he refrained from injury…
why do people always make it out more then it probably is?? it’s people speculating like this that get false rumors started…
he left b/c of personal reasons, neither bob nor JFT has expanded, why should you??
Who are you to tell people when to post and when not to? Plenty of people think these friendlies are pointless. What happens if we get another couple of injuries? I just want to get through this game healthy and with some idea of how good castillo is with the team. Ives is right, testing players and all that, but sometimes these games can do more harm than any good. How can you tell how well Castillo will do when he isn’t playing with the first team guys? After all, Sacha did well against B teams and where is he now in the pecking order? The usefulness of these games is VERY debatable. If we’re down to the 18th to 23rd roster spaces in the world cup making a difference we’re most likely screwed anyway.
most likely he’s tired from lots of long seasons, Pachuca is playing lots of games, kid probably just wanted a break, i wouldn’t look into that much, i think the Torres/Bradley conflict is overblown
The entire game will be shown in ESPN Classic. ESPN2 joins in progress after Greece/Ukraine
yes, at the completion of the Greece-Ukraine WCQ game
you don’t think we need to identify another sticker?
– i don’t know the return date on Davies, wish it was a day earlier, but I would not put all my money on him returning to start in the WC
– why hasn’t dempsey played at ST if thats our plan?
yes, i think Findley will be apart, and would have been apart, of this team in the future
yes, this looms as the white elephant in every US conversation. especially today, with no Dempsey it could have been prime time for JFT.
Does anyone know if the ESPN2 version of the US game will be the full version? It starts at 3 and says live, are they joining in progress?
Thanks Ives 🙂
I love that you respond to people…makes it seem like we’re all friends here. Really building a strong community.
I usually follow the pbp but I’m recording it to watch later as to not see any spoilers. Go USA! I hope we score this time.
Okay, here’s a random and vaguely related thought:
Ultimately, barring some unexpected event, BB will have to start Donovan up top with Altidore in South Africa. There just isn’t anyone else who can match Davies’ speed, vision, and tenacity.
In the past, Donovan up top did not work for USMNT because the midfield was weak and he would end up being isolated and ineffectual. That may happen again, but Bradley will have to hope that some combination of Dempsey, Bradley, Edu/Clark/Jones, Feilhaber/Holden will do the trick.
I know a lot of people think Dempsey will get the nod up top, but he — like Altidore — lacks speed.
The alternative — a five-man midfield with Altidore up top alone — would be a fate worse than death.
PS Whether it is deserved or not, Torres will see zero playing time in SA.
Just a note on the striker situation and this game: Bradley is probably not looking for a replacement for Davies….he’s looking for backups. EJ or Cunningham will not be starters in SA, right? Unless EJ found a way to be born-again-hard, he’s not going to get the playing time between now and then to be on the starting team (& maybe not the 23). Cunningham? I don’t think so but I don’t know, stranger things have happened.
So, we play 4-5-1 or 4-3-2-1 in SA, I suppose? Or Dempsey plays pure striker with Jozy (if he starts working hard).
My point is, today’s game (& that snoozer vs. Slovakia) is about identifying backups, not starters.
I assume Findley will get his chance in January, as will Cunningham. That’s why it is important for EJ to make an impression today.
nice touch
Yay, I can actually watch the game! No Casey.
ok, nevermind. I’m already barefoot, now all I need is to get pregnant.
I wouldnt read to much into it, Bradley knows what Torres can do and he will be in South Africa baring injury etc…
“b-level”
Denmark is a past European Champion. They qualified directly to the World Cup from a group that included Sweden and Portugal. Also, it is a country with a long history of creating top players. Peter Schmicheal, the Laudrup brothers…etc…etc…
“useless”
Every coach in the world cup is trying to figure which players belong on their rosters. Some countries are still trying to qualify so the rest of us get an early start on identifying candidates from the player pool.
SS06….you should really read the site more and comment less. You need to learn more about the sport before you will be ready to contribute to the conversations.
Any place (other than espn360) to watch the game online? I am stuck at work and we dont get ESPN360.
When are we getting the Edgar Q&A
(SBI-This was already addressed a while ago. He changed his mind on doing it after some bad treatment by the Mexican media. Hopefully he changes his mind, but for right now it’s postponed indefinitely.)
U.S. Roster vs. Denmark
2 – Jonathan Spector
3 – Carlos Bocanegra
4 – Michael Bradley
5 – Benny Feilhaber
7 – Stuart Holden
12 – Jonathan Bornstein
13 – Ricardo Clark
15 – Jimmy Conrad
17 – Jozy Altidore
18 – Brad Guzan
19 – Robbie Rogers
22 – Frankie Hejduk
25 – Clarence Goodson
28 – Dax McCarty
32 – Jeff Cunningham
33 – Edgar Castillo
35 – Marcus Hahnemann
36 – Eddie Johnson
link with the list of 18?
(SBI-It’s in our Twitter feed.)
Do any of you guys think Findley merits a look (or would have gotten one had he been out of the playoffs)?
Unless EJ has a mega-renaissance I can’t see him turning it around.
Actually, I think it’ll be mostly useless. Sure, we’ll get to watch a few players maybe get trotted out for a half like Castillo. But it’s training ground stuff, nothing more. The US CAN’T take it seriously given the various injuries and other absences. It is way to early to even think about who will fill out the scrub spots for SA..so yeah, it’s kinda useless. Other than injuries, not much to be gained. Then again, it can’t be worse than watching that Slovakia thing.
Kljestan is also not on the list.
Thanks for the post; I enjoyed watching despite my allergies to Coldplay. I could watch the goals you highlighted on loop ad nauseum.
US Soccer just post the 18 players. Good news and more good news: Castillo is in the 18 and Connor/Pearce are not.
No, I’m really curious, and worried that he has ongoing personal conflict with Bob Bradley. If I remember correctly, there was some similar weirdness after Confeds Cup when he returned to his club rather than going on to the Gold Cup. One thing seems certain — he is not looking like he’ll play a big role in South Africa.
Ives, any word on this?
Oh, okay. I wouldn’t have posted if I saw two other people already had. Didn’t mean to gang up on you there, Sarah.
Anyone hear an update on why JFT is out? Last I heard it was “personal reasons” but I’m hoping that does not mean a death in the family.
Actually, no. Questions that will be addressed today:
— Should Castillo supplant Bornstein at left back?
— Who should replace Davies up front (also known as, EJ please stop sucking already)?
— With injuries to Jones and Edu, who should partner Mikey in midfield — Clark or Feilhaber?
How can we play our best 11 when 4 of them are injured and 1 is in MLS Cup?
I wouldn’t say it’s useless. I’d say the result is meaningless but not the game itself. It can possibly answer questions regarding who can fill in for Davies and is Castillo a better option as LB.
Everybody who is available is there. What more do you want?
Another useless b-level friendly in which we don’t play our best 11 but continue our never ending search for the players that will fill out spots 21-23 on the WC roster. WoooHoooo!
(SBI-Sorry Sarah, or should I say Isaac, but this match is far from useless, and it isn’t about filling out the final roster spots, but testing players throughout the pool, which makes it very valuable.)
If I were BB, I’d start Castillo. Why? Because he’s seen Bornstein and Pearce, but Castillo is still a question mark. And with limited int’l fixture dates before the WC, now it’s the time to see Castillo.
Ives – what do you think of playing Castillo as a left wing?
Little pump up video I made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsl_az_QCEg