The first U.S. national team match of the year won't feature many familiar faces. In fact, there are no players who could be considered first-choice national team options. No, Saturday's friendly against Chile is instead about new faces and Bob Bradley's chance to see how a new crop of MLS players can measure up in what will be a first or second appearance for many of them.
So who will Bob Bradley start against Chile? Will MLS veterans like Jeff Larentowicz and Chris Wondolowski get the nod, or will Bradley turn to new faces like Juan Agudelo and Teal Bunbury to lead the charge?
Perhaps an even more intriguing question is just what formation Bob Bradley will trot out. Will he continue his recent fascination with a variation of a 4-2-3-1, or will he try a two-forward formation?
Here is the lineup we can see Bob Bradley trotting out against Chile on Saturday:
PROJECTED USMNT STARTING LINEUP vs. CHILE
——————–Bunbury—————–
Agudelo———–Diskerud———Bedoya
———Larentowicz—McCarty———–
Wallace—-Ream—–Gonzalez–Franklin
—————–Rimando——————–
Some thoughts on this squad:
Agudelo gets the nod over Brek Shea. Agudelo isn't a pure winger, but he has played wide for the Red Bulls and plays wide for the U.S. Under-20s in their 4-3-3. Sliding Bedoya centrally and putting Shea on the wing is another option, but we'll give Diskerud the nod here.
Now, if it's a 4-4-2, we could see this lineup:
———–Bunbury——-Agudelo———–
Shea————McCarty————Bedoya
—————-Larentowicz—————–
Wallace—-Ream—–Gonzalez–Franklin
—————–Rimando——————–
Dax McCarty gets the nod over Diskerud, though a good camp could push Diskerud into the lineup.
In both lineups, left back is a question mark. Anthony Wallace is the lone natural left back in the camp so we give him the nod, but it's a safe bet Bob Bradley will have a look at one of his many right back options on the left to see which of them can slot in and be comfortable on that side of the field.
—
What do you think of the lineups above? Which of them would you prefer to see? What lineup would you like to see Bob Bradley use?
Share your thoughts below.
That was the formation that the US typically played last cycle, but Bradley has been switching it up a bit in the last friendlies. Formation choice depends a lot on the type of players you have and/or who you’re playing.
ummmm…incorrect.
Considering the outcome of the match does not matter one bit, I hope we see the promising young guys instead of B-C teamers who have little hope of breaking into the starting team. Diskerud over McCarty, Sean Johnson or Cervi over Rimando, etc.
ussoccer.com
He’s referring to a video segment called Inside the Lines.
Have to disagree if we don’t keep pushing our providers then it will never happen (not that I have been sucessful with FIOS)
+1
I’ll co-sign that…
I hope he doesnt get the nod out wide over Juan…only because I would rather see him play in the defense.
Thats right Guy…now really tell me how you feel about Cervi. And dont hold back!
That said, it’s your time…read what you want.
What don’t you like about it?
The only time Wynne should be representing our country is in a track meet for the Olympics.
Anything else is just absurd.
Cervi at GK is a freaking joke.
The kid cant even get minutes on a lower tier SPL team. I’m all for development but at least make the prospect worthy of said national team development.
I stopped reading your post immediately after that.
Were you just throwing out names?
That’s not the responsibility of the consumer.
If the company wants to advertise itself as “being in HD” than it should formulate an agreement with cable providers.
Unless I’m on the payroll for FSC, my job isn’t to do it’s lobbying.
From everything I’ve read, it appears FSC is unwilling to fork over the cash for the HD conversion with the cable providers.
No, I won’t keep pushing my provider. I’ll continue to enjoy other channels until FSC is ready to step out of the stone-age.
FSC winning Champions League right was one of the worst things to happen to American viewers.
All I gotta say is, at least it’s actually in HD.
Not some Faux-HD icon annoys 98 % of it’s viewers that aren’t seeing it in HD.
Cablevision in NJ/NY has a d*ck owner and won’t allow it… $$$$$$$$$
um, to my point, Shea is almost three years older that Agudelo and had begun to make a significant impact in MLS before his first call up.
And, thanks for the thoughtful question about clown music. yes, and it’s awesome.
To someone else’s point, by thrown to the “wolves” I don’t mean the chilean national teamers. i mean the media/blog posters who are going to scrutinize every split-second of his play for the nats and will draw conclusions that are way too positive or negative.
Even if this kid has had a monster camp, Bob shouldn’t start him. Sends the wrong signal, particularly when you have an mls golden boot winner on hand.
FSC HD is truly beautiful (besides the Fox Soccer Report).. Keep pushing your TV provider to pick it up!
I’ll +1 that 😛
Correct.
What USMNT career? I’m just saying I think he deserves the start to see what he can do from the get go. Golden boot winner > than future talent which is going to start on the bench in the near future anyway. At least that’s my take.
(SBI-“Deserves” has nothing to do with it. They’ve been in camp two weeks. Either Wondolowski has stood out ahead of the other forwards or he hasn’t. Don’t think he’s running around the field with the MLS Golden Boot hanging around his neck as if that somehow guarantees him a start. I would like to see Wondolowski play as well, but Agudelo is the more intriguing prospect, and arguably the more dangerous player right now on the international level.)
Have any links for these videos? I’d love to see the guys at camp etc.
I thought Bradley used the empty box formation of a 4-4-2….either way I like your line-up selection Ives…I would like to see Starikov get some minutes though…
NEVER AGAIN!! I know he’s never played CB for the Nats but he is atrocious no matter where he plays.
Has anyone seen or read anything about how guys are looking in camp so far? Specifically, Agudelo?
Are you even a USMNT fan? You just sound like a Eurosnob who thinks he’s better than everyone else. The reason we ‘waste our time’ is because we love the USMNT no matter who is playing for it. We ‘waste our time’ because we love this nation, and we ‘waste our time’ because we love the beautiful game. If that’s too difficult for you to understand then maybe I just wasted my time writing this comment.
You were good until the end. Altidore is 21 and is playing at a top 3 club in La Liga. A strike partner needs to be found for him; not casting him to the side. He will be starting in 2014, 2018 and probably 2022.
Agudelo, Bunbury, Bedoya, and Mix are locks to start in my opinion, but also talking to friends who have watched practices.
Supposably Mix looks a league above everyone else in training.
Someone plays too much FIFA
IMHO, the most important positions that BB should be looking at in this match are; 1.) the defensive back line, 2.) Strikers.
The USMNT are blessed with more good midfielders than you can shake a stick at. The new midfielders from this camp who perform well against Chile may hope to be be put into 3rd or 4th position on the depth chart.
BB need to audition more players at the left back, a position sometimes filled by the overwhelmed Bornstein and often filled by Bocanegra who does better in central defense. In fact the whole defensive back line needs more depth, as was shown in the WC when BB had to use injures or unfit players on the back line.
We all learn from mistakes and the well functioning backline setup that defeated Spain in the Confed Cup, when filled with injuries was only average.
I think Altidore has been given enough time to produce for the US and now is the time to see some of the younger talent get a chance.
would rather have it on Telefutura in HD than on Fox Soccer Channel in SD.
I think someone compared Starikov to Cooper. Well not even close. Eugene is 5’9 and a scrappy kinda of guy while Kenny is 6’3 and tries to play with finesse (not sure why). Starikov started nine games (last nine of a relegation battle) in the Russian league scoring once and getting at least 2 penalties for his club. I think his quality should get him some PT.
+.0004
I’m assuming that ESPN outbid FSC to broadcast this game, even it IS only on ESPN3.
-23.4
“But there would be unrest for Bob if the team does poorly. There are still a lot (and I am included here) who feel he has overstayed his welcome. I’m not judging on a meaningless friendly but I’d like to see some youth given a proper chance – none of that 15 minute business at the end of a scrappy game.”
So, which is it?
It seems like YOU want the team to play poorly, so you can dislike Bob Bradley a little more. Or you want him to play all of the “youth” all the time, which is a recipe for disaster. Or it’s just a meaningless friendly.
Because, chances are, if you play a bunch of guys who have never played international soccer all at one time….. It’s going to look like a bunch of guys who have never played international soccer. (Brek Shea vs. Colombia…. we’re looking at YOU.)
So, whatever happens Saturday, you’ll be one of the vocal group that isn’t happy with the results.
Enjoy the game and your hatred of Not Jurgen Klinsmann.
Your lineup makes no sense
Erik
Are you expecting the starting 11 from South Africa? This is a game for people who care about young USMNT prospects. If you don’t care about that and only want to see our “A team” then go somewhere else and stop annoying everyone.
it would be like if USA brought, Landon, Clint, Timmy, and Bradley and then the rest were youngsters
But a lot of times in soccer, players learn their best lessons when they’re thrown to the wolves. This is a great chance for Aguedelo to get some good experience. I agree that hyping him is silly after seeing him in just one NT game–and one that he didn’t even start. But I disagree that a start wouldn’t be good for him.
That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Shea gets picked over him. He didn’t have a good game last time, and I think that a lot of people are curious about what he can do when a bit of the first-cap jitters have had a chance to go away.
You have to admit his play at CB was pretty good this past season. He provides a lot more quickness than either Ream or Omar and is a better 1 v 1 defender. Give the brother a chance.
so it’s ok to start brek shea but not Aguedelo?
Question, does clown music play in your head when you type your comments or are you void of the ability to sustain any form of thought in your mind, even if it’s stupid thought?
stupid question, I already have the answer to that.
Oh, and you think that all of the members of our first string team just fell out of the sky and onto the field in South Africa? A few of them were “small time folks” who got national playing time in games like this.
This isn’t on an international FIFA friendly date. It’s game designed to see what the NT can possibly pick out of MLS for the next cycle. If you think that that is a waste of time, picking talent out of our own national league, well then I hope that you don’t honestly call yourself a US Soccer fan. Ditto if you judge what’s important in soccer by what ESPN decides is worth their while.
Yes it is a C player but if we never give a chance to this Youth we never going to find out who are the next best player for the 2014, 2018 n 2022. Chile also coming with a mixed of Veteran and Youth more youth knowing how Bielsa works. Remember is a long time until the World Cup of 2014 and is better now to start playing the younger generation than later. Plus there are two more game coming up that will be on Fifa Calendar and will see the A team a mixed of New and Old.
Question: What type of lineup is Chile fielding? Are they also experimenting with new players?
Unabashed homer. Franklin should have a shot, not doubting that. But in neither lineup do we see changes to right or left back. Wynne is viable as RB.
I beg Bob not to start Aguedelo. As I said on another thread, the hype is just silly at this point, and Bob’s fueling the fire. I question the wisdom of having him shuttle between the sr. and u20’s camps like some chosen one, when the guy has started just a handful a games in MLS. Not saying he’s not good enough to contribute to the nats, just saying I’d rather have Bob give him some space to consistently perform at a club and succeed with the u20’s before throwing him to the wolves.
Homer. Wynne is a good MLS player but we already have found out he’s not a national team player. Give Franklin a shot.
Ok I think I’m missing something. Why can’t you just go directly on to ESPN3.COM? I have never ever had trouble going to this website. Do some ISP not carry ESPN3 for free or something? If so, that’s news to me.
Erik,
whats with the “yet another friendly with C list Players” comment? Clearly, you understand that this is not an ‘international date’ friendly. Bob, thinking long term, brought in the core of what will be the Olympic qualifying team, plus a few MLS veterns who are in their off season, and thus avaialable.
Will the game draw big ratings? doubt it. I’m going to guess they’re are less than 10,000 in the stands as well….clearly this is not “big game” but it still has some interesting features that will make the hard-core fans tune in. “not worth tuning into”? depends on your point of view, me, I want to see how the U-23’s fare against good competition.
what channel # for directv