By IVES GALARCEP
After a 6-0 victory against Guatemala, you would think U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann would have easy decisions to make about what lineup to use in his team’s Gold Cup opener on Tuesday, but the way that match went raised plenty of questions about what players will start vs. Belize.
The second-half performances against Guatemala by Stuart Holden and Mix Diskerud turned plenty of heads, especially considering the first half wasn’t nearly as impressive.
Should we expect wholesale changes vs. Belize? Probably not. Klinsmann has his preferences and it’s tough to see him shaking things up a bunch. He will have to at least consider Holden and Diskerud, and now having Brek Shea for the Gold Cup group stage could lead him to make consider a few adjustments to the midfield.
So what lineup should we expect to see take on Belize in Portland? Here is our projected USMNT lineup:
USMNT PROJECTED LINEUP vs. BELIZE
——–Herculez Gomez————Landon Donovan——-
Edgar Castillo———-Stuart Holden———-Joe Corona
————————–Kyle Beckerman———————-
DaMarcus Beasley————————Michael Parkhurst
———-Clarence Goodson——Oguchi Onyewu———–
—————————Nick Rimando———————–
Some thoughts:
Stuart Holden gets the nod over Jose Torres. Would I be shocked if Klinsmann trotted out the same exact lineup that started vs. Guatemala? Not really, but the one change that makes too much sense is Holden for Torres. Now, if Klinsmann doesn’t feel Holden is ready to play 90 minutes then he could choose to start Torres or Mix Diskerud, or even Alejandro Bedoya, with Joe Corona sliding in centrally, but we’ll give Holden the nod here.
I know plenty of fans want Diskerud to start, and plenty of U.S. fans don’t rate Beckerman as a starter. That may be, but Klinsmann rates Beckerman and wants him to play that No. 6 role. Do you actually need a true No. 6 to beat Belize? Not really, but as a coach you can understand why he’d want his squad to gain a rhythm heading toward the group finale vs. Costa Rica and Gold Cup knockout rounds.
Brek Shea is on the Gold Cup squad now, and showed some good flashes late in the Guatemala match. I see him eventually taking over the starting role on the left wing during the Gold Cup, but I’m not sure he starts the opener.
It’s tough to see any changes to the back-line, so expect the same back four.
What lineup would I start vs. Belize? Here’s the XI I would go with:
——–Herculez Gomez————Landon Donovan——-
Brek Shea————–Stuart Holden———-Joe Corona
————————–Kyle Beckerman———————-
DaMarcus Beasley————————Michael Parkhurst
———-Clarence Goodson——Oguchi Onyewu———–
—————————Nick Rimando———————–
———-
What do you think of the projected lineup? What changes would you make to the lineup vs. Guatemala?
Share your thoughts below.