The USA-England World Cup opener got all the hype, but Friday's match between the United States and Slovenia is as actually more important for the Americans. A win puts them in comfortable shape heading into the last group match against Algeria. A loss would all but eliminate the Americans.
Slovenia comes in off a 1-0 win against Algeria, while the Americans have one point from their 1-1 draw against England. A Slovenia victory secures passage into the second round, while a draw keeps both teams in the hunt (though it will mean the Americans face a must-win against Algeria).
For a primer on Friday's match, here is one of my previews for Fox Soccer, a look at how the sides facing off tomorrow night are very similar.
The big question heading into Friday's match is what, if any, changes will Bob Bradley make to the side that held England last Saturday. Will he go with the same lineup (shown above) or will he make some tweaks?
Here is the lineup we see Bradley fielding on Friday night against Slovenia:
USA Projected Lineup vs. Slovenia
—————Altidore————Findley————–
Donovan————————————-Dempsey
—————–Torres——-Bradley—————–
Bocanegra—-Onyewu—–DeMerit——Cherundolo
———————-Howard—————————
So why this lineup? Jose Torres over Ricardo Clark is the only change from the England match. Why? It doesn't make much sense to have Clark and Bradley in the middle against Slovenia. My money is on Michael Bradley being assigned to stifle Robert Koren, with Jose Torres taking advantage of the space given by a Slovenia midfield that should give him room to operate and circulate passes to the flanks.
Robbie Findley might come as a surprise, and I could see Edson Buddle getting the call, but Slovenia showed some vulnerability to pace against Algeria and Findley could unsettle the defense and make things easier for Altidore, Donovan and Dempsey.
Another option Bradley has is to move Dempsey up top, though this doesn't quite look like the match to do that in. If Dempsey is moved up top, you could see DaMarcus Beasley make his tournament debut.
Either way, I think the Americans will look to get forward more, and while they won't be attacking in waves, they'll show more of their attacking arsenal against the Slovenians than they did against England.
What lineup would you like to see against Slovenia? Hoping for the same lineup that tied England? Hoping the Americans go on the attack? Confident in a victory?
Share your thoughts below.
SBI, I’m with you on the lineup except I give Buddle the nod over Findley. I think you’re gonna see the Green Dragons concede a lot of space to the USA and basically dare us to take our shot at them. As a result I din’t know how much a speedy striker stretching a backline that will camp out pretty deep to begin with will help us much. We will absolutely need someone who is very comfortable on the ball and with distribution with that anticipated strategy in mind, so my vote is for Torres or Benny.
I think some of the USA goals are going to be from rebound-y and fluke-y type plays and from set pieces, which is what Buddle is great at.
Plus, I give Gomez a go from 65 on regardless of the score.
Are you high, seriously!? Your complaining about one cross and come to the conclusion jozy isn’t hungry enough, WTF! if you think Buddle is better than jozy you should leave this blog right now. sure he is on a good streak but altidore is the the better player and the future of USSOCCER. if you want to see the US lose go head and start buddle with findley and see what happens. I tired of people riding jozy like he isn’t our best forward regardless of how many goals he has or had. oh and jozy didn’t pull away from anything he missed the ball completly. you must be some fair weather fan, MLS fanboy, our someone who knows nothing about the US team and is just following now while trolling this site like a leprechaun claiming things are cold when they clearly aren’t.
good point
>Bob has an inherent fear of flair, talent, and potential.
That’s because he has an inherent love of getting results. *rolls eyes*
We’re all in agreement that Bob will make the mistake of starting Redcardo again tomorrow though, right? I know I’m not getting my hopes up. Bob has an inherent fear of flair, talent, and potential.
Buddle, too who knew.
If this is the lineup Bob plays, I will be very happy. I’d prefer to see Buddle in there and have Findley come on in the second half for either forward, but the key is Torres in for Clark. I expect this to make a big difference for the US attack.
Bold prediction Ives! Would love to see Torres start, tho I cant help remember the Netherlands game where he did not do well. My preference would be for Holden to start next to Bradley. I understand that Clark is an athletic and ferocious defender, but I agree with most of the posters that we need better possession and distribution from that position.
I agree with basically every other commenter: same lineup as we used against England, except Torres for Clark, and Buddle for Findley.
pretty insane considering your line up doesn’t have a single true forward.
lineup needs less Findley. We have two guys in crazy form (Gomez/Buddle), and we’re playing a guy(Findley) who hasn’t shown he can score at the international level, and only has one goal this season in the MLS(iirc), we’re not losing a ton of speed in playing Buddle or Gomez, and both have proven they can score. I just really don’t see why Findley is playing at all, strikers are up and down, and we’re starting a guy who is down in favor of two guys who are hot just because he’s “fast”(Carragher has no pace and kept up with Findley, cmon.) would LOVE to see Torres start as well, he does it all and is a firecracker on each side of the pitch.
that’s our best goal scoring lineup. I think it’s incredible against a weaker side. But it is better to have dempsey and donovan back further against stronger teams
So Jozy didn’t outmuscle Jamie Carragher, for the our best attacking chance vs England. Yes, Buddle should get a chance to play, but not at the expense of a player that gives opposing defenses the most problems.
jozy out, buddle in. buddle is hot and uses his physcial stature more. Jozy needs to figure out he can out muscle most defenders.
I like Torres and Beasley (yes, Beasley) as second half subs to bring a spark. Torres should have more space to operate in the second half. Beasley adds speed onto the wing both offensively and tracking back to help snuff Slovenian counters. I know he has not done much in awhile, but I think that Beasley will play well if given the chance. I think he is dying to show he can still play and get himself a look from another club.
Findley must start. His speed opens up space for LD and Dempsey, who are the real attack threats. I think the mf choice to pair w/ MB is a bit overrated – if Clark starts, he can just sit back and MB can advance anyway. The midfield in this game will be quite congested (both teams play very narrow), so I don’t know that this is the best game to start Torres.
As they say in the NFL, the fans favorite player is the backup QB.
I like this lineup.
We really need a possession specialist in the middle, and Torres is the man. The same attack that broke down Turkey should do the trick in this match.
I’d like to see Bradley be a little more willing to make adjustments during the game. I thought there were some things breaking down in the second half vs. England that didn’t seem to get addressed until it was almost all over.
got to be torres. i like the idea of having a fast striker to complement Altidore (Charlie Davies anyone) but Findley has shown me nothing, except quite a brilliant chip to Donovan who then set up Altidore against Australia. Go with Buddle.
2nd Half move Dempsey up top for Buddle or Altidore and get Holden into Dempsey’s spot. Maybe bring in Gomez a bit later for the other striker. With a lead, perhaps bring in Clark for Torres (like Edu better, but that’s not happening).
How insane would I be to wish for this line-up?
—————Donovan————Dempsey————–
Beaseley————————————-Holden
—————–Torres——-Bradley—————–
Bocanegra—-Onyewu—–DeMerit——Cherundolo
———————-Howard—————————
+1
If we win tomorrow, and England lays waste to Algeria as well, then Slovenia will be playing for their lives against England on the 23rd. I don’t see England hanging 3 or 4 goals on Slovenia, while I could see us doing that to Algeria. If we win tomorrow we win the group.
Cutting his hair
The amount of Torres groupthink here is stifling.
I agree. I would pair Buddle with Jozy. We all know Findley is speedy, and frankly I’m suprised at how good his first touch has been, but in a game where USA needs to win – and thus score goals – they should not sacrifice a precious offensive spot by using Findley as a rodeo clown for the slow Slovenian defense. It’s not like Buddle is slow – and Slovenia is not England. Put someone in there who has proven they can score at this level. Worst case, Buddle fails to make an impact on the score sheet, and we have fresh legs in the form of Findley or Herc to come in and run riot on the fatigued Slovenian back line.
Yep Ives has the lineup right. But i would still consider Buddle over Findley. I think it may allow Jozy create more and not be occupied playing as a target. Findley can come out later and use his speed to cause havoc when Slovenia is tired.
I like your lineup, but Bradley will probably continue with his strategic mentality of “Let’s keep doing the same thing until we get a bad result…then we’ll think about changing it.”
nothing to complain about with that line-up although i’d like to see buddle up with altidore. since they will allow us to get at them id rather have buddle, who can finish and is on fire. getting an early lead will really help us with this match.
then, later on, findley can come on and use his speed against a tiring slovenian side.
Torres is the right sub but leaving Findley in takes away from the speed we need in the second half.
I like this one:
Donovan-Altidore-Dempsey
Bradley-Holden-Edu
Bocanegra-DeMerit-Onyewu-Cherundolo
I more of a Holden fan than Torres, but with Bradley and Edu covering him, I am sure either would do fine. We have a lot of decent central midfielders, why not play them? (Of course, that is what Spain thought, too)
Look at it this way; Germany wouold be pay back for’02 in Korea and Ghana quite possibly could be redemption for ’06 in Germany.
My worry is that Slovenia will play us exactly the way the Swiss played Spain, and the Danes played Holland – a tight, organized, counter attacking bunker. Holland solved it by adding width and speed on the flanks, Spain tried solving it by adding a second forward. Problem is, we’re neither Holland or Spain- so this match has me worried as much as the first. Agree with Torres, who is the only one that can split defense with passing, and with Findley’s speed to help stretch the Slovenians out a bit.
I agree with Ives’ lineup completely.
Agreeing with some previous comments here, I think Buddle and Gomez have to see the pitch! They’ve demonstrated they can score goals. Goals are so precious in this world cup!
Also, I’d love to see Holden and Torres get some time (a) because they’re really good = (b) I enjoy watching them play and (c) they deserve to get noticed.
Buddle! He’s hot off the griddle! Let him burn them up!
Absolutely Torres, he’s a great catalyst. I’m glad people realize that tactical changes must be made game to game. I’d rather Dempsey and Donovan switched, and Buddle in for Findley (unless he has learned to run through walls). This game will be played in front of Slovenia’s defense, and we need to have players that can muscle, dribble, score, and hold the ball.
I agree with you Ives about the speed but wouldn’t you want that later in the game. Look what happened vs England: Findley’s speed was wasted early on vs King and Terry. They eventually bring on Carragher (given he wasn’t tired but just plain slow) but Findley is tired at that point. Why not use the speed when it can really hurt them?
BTW, in case it hasn’t been discussed yet:
The referee is Koman Coulibaly, from Mali. First WC I think. Not much I can find about him on the web. Seems to be a clean slate. At least its not Larrionda.
I like it, but I think BB will go with the same lineup we had against England, using Rico to stifle Koren and letting MB get more forward. Not that that is a better option, just what I think will make sense to BB.
what has Lalas ever been right about?
I would prfer to start Dempsey up top, move LD to the left, and bring in Stuart Holden to provide some more width and better crossing ability on the right flank. Bring on Findley’s pace against tired legs in the second half…
That being said, I expect Ives is spot on with the projected lineup…I can’t wait to watch!
I’m not much of a fan of Dempsey up top, but I could see Dempsey slide up instead of Findley, and then Holden start out wide to provide a little more defensive coverage for Torres.
I agree completely with this line-up. Torres or Stu need to start in the middle.
If Bradley goes with your lineup I would be happy! But Lalas was saying he won’t change anything from the England lineup, and I hope he is wrong because we will need some good passing from Torres to open up the Slovenian defense.
Absolutely! We can do ourselves a huge favor and try to score a ton of goals in these next 2 matches because the English will be trying to do the same thing. It’s a race to avoid zee Germans
Same line-up that tied England, plus Torres. Maybe Buddle for Findley.
i do like your projected line-up. as long as we can get a win, that’s all that really matters.
I think we’ve got to see more of Buddle tomorrow. Play the hot hand.
US needs to score and score often against Slovenia and Algeria – we need to win both and outscore England to ensure tops in the group and to avoid Germany in the round of 16.
Bornstein. I’d argue, but I don’t even feel it’s necessary.
This looks right. I wish Buddle was on instead of Jozy, however. Edson would have attacked that LD cross that Jozy pulled away from. Jozy just isn’t hungry enough. Edson is.