By IVES GALARCEP
More than three months removed from the last time they were on the field together, the nucleus of the U.S. Men’s National Team will reunite when the Americans face Honduras in a friendly on Tuesday night.
Jurgen Klinsmann has called in a half dozen veterans for the second of two October friendlies, and the result will be a team that more closely resembles the one that played in Brazil this past summer. Tim Howard isn’t around, as he enjoys some time off, but the rest of the team that takes the field at FAU Stadium on Tuesday will have a serious World Cup resemblance.
The trio of Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones have returned, and should slot right into the starting lineup, while Sporting Kansas City teammates Graham Zusi and Matt Besler also return to the field for the first time since the summer.
Klinsmann could go in any number of directions, but based on recent performances, here is the starting lineup we can see taking the field against the ‘Catrachos’:
PROJECTED USMNT STARTING LINEUP vs. HONDURAS
—————–Altidore——————-
Jones———Dempsey—————Zusi
———Diskerud——-Bradley————
Garza——Besler—-Orozco—-Chandler
——————Rimando——————
Some thoughts on this lineup:
Diskerud has been the USMNT’s Man of the Match in the past two matches, so it makes sense to see him slotted into a starting role with a veteran supporting cast.
Graham Zusi is projected here at right back, but DeAndre Yedlin could just as easily earn a second straight. Another option is to play Yedlin at right back. If that happens, look for Greg Garza to stay in the lineup at left back. He looks like a very good option there and Klinsmann will want to give him some more minutes.
Jermaine Jones hinted at a new position being in his future. He played on the left side of midfield at the World Cup, but perhaps we could see Jones deployed in a central defense role. He hasn’t played there before, but given Jones’ hints at playing somewhere he hasn’t played before, central defense seems a logical choice for a player who turns 33 next month.
If Klinsmann isn’t experimenting with Jones as a central defender, then we should probably expect the Matt Besler-Michael Orozco tandem to start. Besler hasn’t been at his best since the World Cup, but he should still get the nod. A Besler-Tim Ream tandem would be interesting, though less likely given the fact both are left footed.
What do you think of this projected lineup? Who would you like to see in the lineup against Honduras? Where would you like to see Jermaine Jones lined up?
Share your thoughts below.
Please no zusi.
I might be wrong but friendlies are or should be used to view and asses new talent. With that said we already know:
1. Altidore has great hold up play, combines well in pass plays but cant score.
2. Zusi is a good player but ever since his DP contract his level of play has dropped, considerably.
3. Bradley has had no impact with Toronto, even with quality like Defoe and Gilberto up top.
4. Dempsey needs a “Obafemi Martins like” player up with him up top…..with Skill, vison, passing accuracy, shooting ability.
5. Wondo……Is a dangerous player….in MLS only
6. Diskerud doesn’t have the speed or physique to boss the central part of the field. Best player in the Ecuador game but got manhandled in the midfield.
With that being said we have a striker (Zardes), FIFTH in the GOLDEN BOOT race, learning from some of the best in MLS (LD and Keane) and combining well with them. We have a Midfielder (Nyugen) scoring clutch goals, SIXTH in the GOLDEN BOOT race (behind Zardes, a midfielder!!!) with insane assists, playing and combining well with one of the best players (Jones) on the USMNT to just name a few……Ibarra was an amazing and surprising selection by Klinsmann but instead of surprise picks he needs to pick and give an honest chance to some players that are directly in front of him
Mostly, I think you are too negative:
1) Saying Altidore can’t score is not correct, saying he has not scored a lot recently is.
2) Zusi has hardly been dropped by KC, but is not quite where he was last year.
3) Bradley has not yet become the team leader in the sense of taking the game on his back and bossing it, but he has not been bad either, just not grown as fast as we might like.
4) Dempsey has played well with Altidore, with Bradley, with Donavon, with Gomez, etc. True he is not a guy whose forte is beating multiple defenders on the dribble, but he is good at beating a defender and does find spots where the ball can get to him where he can finish.
5) Wondo scores in MLS because that is where he plays. If you look at his USMNT history, neither Bradley nor JK used him very much (He played what maybe 2 full games for JK and no full 90 for Bradley) under Bradley, he played in 11 games but averaged something like 30 minutes/game.
6) I am still waiting for Mix to bulk up a bit to handle physical challenges better, he may.
It is hard think that other MLS players who are are back in 5th and 6th in the scoring race for a single season really matter that much when you dismiss Wondo’s performance as being only MLS. Despite what is an off year for him, he still has scored more goals in the last 4 years than any other player in MLS. Of course those other players may have other strengths, but you don’t really bother to give them. Mostly you are just being negative.
From your comments I think you just wanted to reply….
“Saying Altidore can’t score is not correct”…has he been scoring lately?
I said “Zusi is a good player but ever since his DP contract his level of play has dropped, considerably” and you reply with Zusi has hardly been dropped by KC, but is not quite where he was last year ….like seriously do you understand what I was even talking about?
Look at your write up on Dempsey….lol I’m talking about a good partner for him, not his abilities.
You trying to make a case for Wondo shows you level of thinking
Making comment doesnt mean you are negative or hate the player,and at least understand with is written before you comment (we all do it but we need to be aware of it).
bizzy, you are wrong because friendlies should be used to view and assess talent, not “view and asses.”
😉
Hahahahahahahahahaha……right after I clicked post comment I was like “Oh no”.
Give soccer fans in Fl a break. This game is on a Tuesday night four days after the big draw for Dona vans retirement with no ads in print or on TV or radio.
There will be a large walk-up crowd tonight just as there was for the USWNT when they played in Boca two years ago.
Stop getting excited about who was called in and who was not. In 3.5 years things will be clearer. Try and find a roster from a friendly in Oct. of 2010 and see how few people from that came made it to Brazil.
yes, I think only 5 from the 2011 camp cupcake are on the current roster and only 3 from the team that faced Argentina in March 2011. Those were named by Bradley,
In the Klinnsman era: Only 6 players are from the August 1012 roster in the victory over Mexico in Mexico are on the present roster (and 3 of those did not play in Mexico.)
So sure, the major point, hat only a fraction of these players will be in the squad in 2018, is very likely true.
I see a lot of 4-4-2 here, but it seems that JK is pretty intent on playing a 4-3-3. My guess is it’ll look something like this:
Dempsey ———- Jozy ———— Wood/Ibarra
—————Zusi ———— Mix ———————
———————Bradley —————————-
Garza —- Besler ——– Jones —– Chandler
Actually, Yedlin will probably start at RW instead of Wood/Ibarra.
Altidore
Dempsey
Jones LM, Yedlin RM
Bradley, Diskerud
Garza, Besler, Orozco, Chandler
OR
Zusi, Zusi, Zusi
Zusi, Zusi, Zusi
Zusi, Zusi, Zusi, Zusi
I think we should try the 3-man midfield with our experienced players. I think it went well in the World Cup. Jermaine Jones, Mix Diskerud, and Michael Bradley playing defensive midfield would prolly work great (although I would prefer Beckerman). I think we should play this line up:
Chandler-Orozco-Besler-Garza
Bradley
Dempsey-Jones
Yedlin Zusi
Altidore
Zusi Jozy Dempsey
Mix Bradley
JJ
Garza Besler Orozco Chandler
When the full team is together I could see something like this:
———–Jozy———–Dempsey———
—————–Diskerud———————
–-Johnson——————-——Yedlin—
————-—-Bradley———————–
Garza—Besler—Gonzo—-–Chandler
——————–Guzan———————
Johnson on the left and Yedlin on the right? Very nice. Would give Mix the time and space he needs to find Jozy/Dempsey. I can’t wait to see this happen.
I hope Klinsi goes with the diamond. We have got to get Jozy scoring, so US scores goals and Jozy gets club playing time. He does not do well as the lone front man so got to get Deuce up there with him.
———–Jozy———–Dempsey———
—————–Diskerud———————
–Bradley/Jones———Yedlin———–
————-Jones/Bradley——————–
Garza——Besler——-Ream———–Chandler
————-–Rimando————————
Honduras isn’t a great opponent just now, so it doesn’t really matter who JK starts.
I expect the bench to be: Diskerud, Zusi, Ream, Corona, Wondo, Wood, #2 GK.
Yedlin, Bedoya, Jones, Bradley, Dempsey and Altidore should all start.
The backs: Chandler, Orozco, Besler, Garza.
———————Altidore—————–
-Dempsey-Bedoya-Diskerud-Yedlin-
———————Bradley——————
——Garza-Besler-Jones-Chandler—
——————-Rimando——————
What I want to see:
——-Jozzmer—————–Dempsey—————
—————————Mix———————————
—————–Jones———Bradley——————-
Chandler———————————————Yedlin
———-Besler———Gonzo——-Orozco———–
————————-Hamid——————————-
What I expect to see:
———–Jozy———–Dempsey————————–
———The Human Giveaway (Mix)———————
——Jones———-MB4———Yedlin————
Garza——Besler——-Ream———–Chandler
————–Midget goalie————————
JJ at CB? Didn’t see that coming… Not saying that he wouldn’t do well there but he is still one of best Lm options we have.
————————-Jozy——————-
——Jones——-Dempsey——-Yedlin——
—————–Mix—-Bradley———–
Garza—–Besler———-Orozco—Chandler
———————–Guzan——————
————————-Altidore—————————–
—Wondo—————————————–Bedoya
——————–Mix———Dempsey———————
———————–Bradley————————————
Chandler——Besler——-Orozco————Yedlin
Never want to see Wondo ever again
——————Dempsey———————-Jozy———————
—————————————–Mix————————————
Jones—————————————————————-Yedlin
————————————–Bradley———————————
Garza—————-Ream——————-Orozco——-Chandler
i’d really like to see Yedlin get another start at RM, especially with Chandler at RB. i want to see how that can develop. Jones at LM is not ideal, but he showed he can make it work. i really don’t have a desire to see Besler, so i would not mind the Ream/Orozco combo. i thought Orozco played well against Ecuador and deserves another run out.
probably isn’t realistic to think it’ll be a 4-4-2 like this, but i’d like to see it for at least a half.
I like this line up
I could do w/o Chandler. I don’t want to sit and watch him have a vapor lock moment like he did a couple of times against Ecuador and against Turkey pre WC. I want to see Miguel Ibarra. The short clip I saw on ESPN FC made him look electric. We need explosive players. Too bad Gyau got hurt because the Federation scheduled a game on a football field DURING FOOTBALL SEASON. #project dumbass.
I just don’t see why Zusi deserves to start. I mean we all saw how ineffective he is in terms of pushing forward against quick and fast defenders. He lacks the pace and skill to play anywhere but centrally, and with Diskerud, Jones, Bradley, Cameron, I don’t see any place for him.
I would like to see a 4-2-3-1
————–Altidore—————-
–Yedlin – Diskerud – Dempsey—-
———Jones—-Bradley———-
Garza – Besler – Ream – Chandler
Grandma Zusi is terrible. He is now an average MLS player now that he’s gotten paid. He was above average last year but he’s back down to the level he should rightfully be at. We should be moving on from garbage players like Grandma and start looking at SKILLED and TALENTED players like Lee Nguyen.
+1
Does anyone body need a slow winger with no offensive skills?? GRANDMA ZUSI is your man!! Let’s keep calling up scrubs and ignoring real players like Lee Nguyen! That’s how you win big games!
Did Zusi steal your girlfriend or something?
Is this a big game?
Jon receives $0.02 every time anyone writes “Grandma Zusi,” so he’s just working extra hard in hopes that the nickname catches on.
he’s actually lee nguyen.
Only 10K tickets sold ! SUM marketing is a joke of a partner for US Soccer with the locations
What do you expect? Look at this squad. Klinsmann’s play selection is terrible. His vision of US soccer is terrific. He has the right plan, his only flaw is player selection.
what are you even talking about? this game has just about the entire world cup squad. who would you bring in that would get people to go? or are you just being bitter about Zusi being there and Nguyen being left off?
EQeki is right, 10k tickets is pathetic and it has nothing to do with the player selection.
Look I’m sorry I hurt your feelings but Grandma is terrible. He needs to go. Nothing I said was incorrect. JK’s player selection is terrible. I believe he is perfect other than that
hurt my feelings? ok, so you’re obviously not ready to have a real conversation.
you can think you are correct all you want, but you’ve made no argument, of any kind, to back up your point that having Nguyen on the team changes the 10k tickets sold.
Are you really that upset I insulted Grandma? Look it’s the truth and you need to accept it
no, i don’t care what you think about Zusi. i would be fine with him not being called up. it’s irrelevant though. what i have a problem with is your response to EQeki’s comment which suggests that 1. JK’s player selection has been awful (it hasn’t), and that 2. his player selection is the reason there are only 10k tickets sold (it’s not).
this isn’t difficult to understand.
Eh, the biggest stars were called up. You could argue they shouldn’t have been but calling up big names should bring up sales not lower them.
Maybe I’m missing something.
Increase0,
The Ecuador game gave a bunch of the newbies a chance to shine. Now you bring in the starters to see how some of the more outstanding newbies look playing with the big boys.
If you had for example, 8 new caps in the lineup, it’s a little hard to see how they would look with the established starters.
Sven Goran Eriksson used to have these England friendlies where he would bring in a cattle call’s worth of subs in the second half. Any team cohesion was destroyed and from what I could tell it was pretty hard to tell how the new guys fit in with the England team.seeing as how no one had ever played with anyone else before.
I see no need to repeat that cluster with the USMNT.
It’s almost 4 years till the next WC, what is done now will have no bearing on the 2018 squad. Everybody here needs to calm down.
Put this game in Atlanta instead and no doubt they sell out the Georgia Dome.
The game is not at Dolphins Stadium. It’s in Boca Raton at FAU or FIU. Can’t be even as big as Lockhart which I think held about 19,000 back in the days of Cubillas and Marinho and Gerd Muller.
I stand corrected. Wikipedia lists capacity at FAU Stadium as 29,419. It is also designed so that it could also could be expanded to up to 65,000.
—————–Altidore——————-
Diskerud———Dempsey—————Yedlin
———Jones-——-Bradley————
Garza——Besler—-Ream—-Chandler
——————Rimando——————
I completely agree with the personnel, but I disagree in believing that Diskerud can play a wing. He lacks pace, and one on one skill. He has the vision and passing ability though. I think Dempsey has to play outside. I think of it just like when Jones played on the left, he has the engine, but just lacks the creativity and skills to play a wing position.
It makes sense that with altidore and deuce we will see a formation with two strikers, especially if you consider mix to be starting along with jones and Bradley.
I think ream- besler- orozco could be a solid backline.
come on coach klinsmann, give us the 3-5-2 tomorrow night. just do it already!!!
I hope Ives is wrong because that projected line-up looks horrible. Jones played on the left-side of a diamond formation, which is a lot different than the more advanced role of being on the left in a 4-2-3-1. If anyone from those 3 (Jones, Bradley, Diskerud) plays on the side, it will be Mix.
I’d like to see Jones with Mix (Bradley off the bench); and I’d like to see Zusi get sent back to KC.
These are the games when JK needs to be trying out different players and situations, with emphasis on finding new players to replace the old. Other than that, it really doesn’t matter. The next games that are important are the next Gold Cup. I don’t think he needs to play the veterans until then when winning means something.
Is Jones disciplined enough to play CB? I’m not so sure about that. He can see plays develop and cut them out well, but maintaining the line might be a steep learning curve for for JJ.
He’s Jermaine Jones. He can play anywhere. MF, CB, GK. If Tom Brady slips I’m sure the Patriots will have him at QB.
I notice how terribly undisciplined Jones was in the World Cup. Take a look at his resume sometime and tell me an undisciplined player can compile such a CV.
Outside of a couple of really big plays (and the entire Belgium game), Jones was not that good in the World Cup.
Yeah, and Babe Ruth was successful as a hitter only one third of the time.
“All Cris Carter does is catch touchdowns,” Buddy Ryan.
It’s late so I’m guessing you’re tired and you don’t know what you are typing. Jones basically walked on water for us in the WC. He was visible in all 4 games! Hands down player of the tournament, heck if we had put away his potential assist against Belgium who know what we would be saying today.
Thanks for the laugh first thing in the morning after a 3 day weekend. I needed something to cheer me up.
By frequently leaving his own position on the field to help wherever the action is? It’s not good/bad, it’s just a style of play that works better as a midfielder than a CB.
Jones is a very good , intelligent footballer who has played a lot of games at a very high level. His “soccer IQ” so to speak is as high , if not the highest on the USMNT. I see no reason why he could not do a very good Vincent Kompany impersonation. Kompany started out as a midfielder ; Manchester City bought him at that position.
Ehh, I admire Jones and agree that his soccer IQ is one of the highest we have, but CB would be a BIG change. There is just no room for error at that position, unlike other positions where someone is backing you up.
He could play LB though.
So the LB can’t make an error leading to a goal? Then why was everyone so mad at Bornstein?
Tell me who is a better soccer player, Cameron or Jones? Cameron seems to have become a passable imitation of a CB when called upon. I see no reason that Jones could not do as well as Cameron has.
GW, “So the LB can’t make an error leading to a goal?” I’m going to let you identify the logical absurdity of that response. I’m certain that you can see it, since it is exactly the kind of mistake you point out all the time when others on this site make it.
As for Cameron v Jones: Jones is the better player. Likewise, Dempsey is better than Cameron, Rimando is better than Cameron, and a whole host of guys who have never played CB are better than Cameron. But Cameron has experience playing at CB, so I expect that he’d be a better CB than the lot of them.
KGE,
Neither Dempsey nor Rimando are likely to move to CB so including them in the discussion is pointless.
If Cameron, who started out as a mdifielder and has moved back and forth between MF and CB can do it with some success( as did Vincent Kompany) then there is no reason to think JJ , a better player period, cannot.
Will JJ have some growing pains and make a mistake here and there? Yes. But our current crop of CB’s also make mistakes.
The question is can a JJ converted to CB play the position overall better than whoever else is available? If it keeps him in the lineup I’m all for it.
This came up when there was talk of Edu converting to CB .
Mo and JJ have all the tools they need to play the position. They just have to commit to the idea and put in the necessary work.