With the first friendly of 2012 producing a thrilling, though somewhat disappointing 1-0 victory against Venezuela on Saturday, the U.S. men's national team is now in Panama preparing for the first tough road match for this young group.
Jurgen Klinsmann scheduled this Panama match with the expressed purpose of testing inexperienced players in a hostile environment, and the opponent is one who should provide a tougher test than the one provided by Venezuela.
The short turnaround time means it seems unlikely that Klinsmann will go with the same starting lineup again, but it's safe to say that the players who he liked the most against Venezuela (like Jermaine Jones and Geoff Cameron) will be on the field again on Wednesday night in Panama City.
So what will the U.S. lineup look like that takes on Panama? Here is one potential squad we could see:
–Shea————Wondolowski——–Sapong–
———————-Feilhaber——————–
—————Jones———–Clark————–
Loyd——-Cameron——Parkhurst—-De La Garza
———————–Hamid———————–
Some thoughts on this lineup:
Could very well see Graham Zusi get the nod in place of Feilhaber in his preferred attacking midfielder role, but Feilhaber did look pretty sharp there vs. Venezuela.
We have Sapong listed at right forward, but he and Wondolowski could wind up paired together in a 4-4-2, which would mean Feilhaber would be out to the right in a bit of a box midfield. Could see Zusi in place of Sapong, but he wasn't particularly effective working the wing (which really isn't his posiiton). Can't see Teal Bunbury getting another start after a shaky effort against Venezuela, but stranger things have happened.
Zach Loyd was very good in his minutes at left back on Saturday and merits a start there. Whether he starts on the left or the right, it's tough to picture Loyd not getting a longer run at fullback.
Ricardo Clark was playing well even before scoring the game-winning goal against Venezuela and merits a start. Jeff Larentowicz didn't have a bad game, but it's tough not to include Clark in this group.
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What do you think of this lineup? What squad would you like to see against Panama?
Share your thoughts below.
GOOOOAAAALLLLLLL
I know, but at least Chandler will cross the ball with his left foot.
i’m ok with this lineup. i’d be ok making it a 4-4-2 and not using two defensive mids. i don’t mind seeing it as a 4-3-3 with CJ out wide either. and i’ll be fine with either Wondo or Teal starting. Teal didn’t do great, but he’s young. we know what we’ll get with Wondo.
I think the guys awesome in the MLS, I just haven’t seen anything from him on the National Team. If he does play today and does well then more power to him… I wish he could do what he does in MLS for the USMNT.
“Wondo is done at the national lvl in my opinion”
Strongly disagree. He looked just fine last week and I’m betting he scores today if he plays.
Hamid at Goalie and i meant for DeLaGArza to be on the RB
——————Wondo————-
——Shea——–Felihaber———Zusi
—————–Jones————–
——Lloyd—Cameron—-Parkhurst——DeLaGarza
Which is certainly a fair assumption, but Big Red didn’t really do much in that sense. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t have a bad game, just a very simple one. It was Jones that did everything in terms of possession and starting our movement up field. Not to mention the distribution from Cameron was quite good as well. In essence, Big Red didn’t do anything that warrants benching, but also nothing that warrants playing time. Thus, I say go more offensive and see what happens. If we are constantly being hit with a counter attack that we can’t cover, then make the switch to 2 DM’s.
Agreed, no one can predict which players will do well in a couple years, try as they will. Many budding stars fail to bloom and some unattractive things become stars in their own right. Only a few years ago, Adu was destined for greatness, while Wondolowski who struggling during his first 5 years in MLS to get much playing time has scored more than any other player in MLS in the last 2 years.
I find it hard to say either never or definitely will in regards to any player’s future.
so like is this game on ONLY espn3 and galavision again? jeeeez