Photo by John Todd/ISIPhotos.com
By IVES GALARCEP
There may not be a World Cup berth on the line, but there will still be plenty on the line for the players who take the field for the U.S. Men’s National Team against Jamaica on Friday.
Call the qualifier the first of a handful of auditions USMNT pool players will have to impress Jurgen Klinsmann. Fringe players hoping to break into the playing rotation will have opportunities to show their stuff against a Jamaica side that should be ripe for beating.
The absences of regulars such as Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley means the likes of Kyle Beckerman, Mix Diskerud, Alejandro Bedoya and Aron Johannsson could see starts or increased minutes in the pair of upcoming qualifiers. The visit to Panama on Tuesday will be the tougher test, and we could see a stronger team taking the field in the Hex finale, but the Jamaica qualifier figures to give some new faces a chance to shine in front of what should be a raucous crowd at Sporting Park.
So who will Klinsmann start vs. Jamaica on Friday night? Here is a projected lineup we could see taking the field:
PROJECTED USMNT LINEUP vs. JAMAICA (Updated)
—————————-Jozy Altidore—————————-
Alejandro Bedoya——Landon Donovan———Graham Zusi
————–Jermaine Jones——Kyle Beckerman————-
DaMarcus Beasley————————————-Brad Evans
—————–Matt Besler——–Geoff Cameron—————
—————————-Tim Howard—————————–
Some thoughts on the projected lineup:
Eddie Johnson’s injury absence makes the options for Klinsmann starting XI a choice between a 4-4-2 with Aron Johannsson or a 4-2-3-1 with Donovan as a second striker/playmaker, and the wing tandem of Graham Zusi and Alejandro Bedoya. We’ll go with the later.
We had this midfield projected to start vs. Panama, but now that Johnson is out, we could see it on Friday night.
The defense looks to be pretty straight forward, with Beasley and Evans starting at fullback, and Besler and Cameron making their first start as a tandem.
So what lineup do I think fans would like to see? Here’s a lineup I could see plenty of USMNT fans being interested in seeing:
FANS CHOICE PROJECTED USMNT LINEUP vs. JAMAICA
————–Jozy Altidore——-Aron Johannsson————–
Alejandro Bedoya——————————–Landon Donovan
————–Jermaine Jones——–Mix Diskerud—————-
DaMarcus Beasley————————————-Brad Evans
—————–Matt Besler——–Geoff Cameron—————
—————————-Brad Guzan——————————
I would actually be very interested in seeing this starting lineup play together, but I think we could see this group be the lineup that faces Panama, though with Johnson in the lineup ahead of Johannsson if he’s healthy.
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What do you think of our projected starting lineup? Which lineup would you like to see? Which player are you hoping to see get a start vs. Jamaica?
Share your thoughts below.