What can the US expect against the Clockwork Orange?
The Dutch employ their personally perfected 4-3-3. Their likely starting 11?
Maarten Stekelenburg of Ajax will start in goal.
John Heitinga (Timmy's and Lando's teammate at Everton) will likely start at right back. The legendary captain Giovanni Van Brockhorst gets the nod at left back. The centerback pairing will likely be Joris Mathijsen from Hamburger SV and Andre Ooijer of PSV Eindhoven. If there's a weak spot in this Dutch side its in their back four and the US will need to take their chances well if they're to have a chance to come away with a result. I'm looking at you Jozy.
In midfield it could be any combination of Mark Van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Rafael Van Der Vaart (Real Madrid), and Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan). Yikes. Those four are as close to a world class midfield as anyone could ask for and Sneijder is currently on a tear with his club team. Expect Bob Bradley to employ his favored two deep center midfielders against the Inter Milan talisman.
Up top, look for Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool) and Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) will provide service for Klass Jan- Huntelaar (AC Milan). This will give Bob Bradley nightmares. Period.
What can we expect from the Yanks?
Look for Bob Bradley to use the 4-4-2 (as he has for most of the year). Without the services of Clint Dempsey and Charlie Davies, the US loses two of its key offensive components and therefore can't use the 4-2-2-2 that the US nearly perfected in the latter three matches of the Confederations Cup. Also missing is Oguchi Onyewu who is easily the best player the US has in the air. Who gets the starts?
Tim Howard in goal. This is easy as he is the unquestioned number 1. There are movements out there that Guzan should get a start and pick up some experience should the unthinkable happen, but Timmy has been playing well and Bradley wouldn't have brought in Howard to ride pine.
In defense, Jonathan Spector will start at right back and be tasked with containing Arjen Robben. Thrown into the fire as it were for the 23 year old. Left back is a toss up. Bradley could go with the logical choice Jonathan Bornstein to attempt to contain Kuyt, however, I think Carlos Bocanegra would be the better fit at left back for this game. Kuyt doesn't possess great speed and Bocanegra is obviously the more experienced of the pair, so I'm putting Bocanegra in at left back. Which means, in the middle we have Jay DeMerit and Clarence Goodson.
In midfield, the easy picks are Stuart Holden on the right wing, Maurice Edu and Michael Bradley in central midfield, Landon Donovan on the left wing. That's a dangerous midfield facing the US and Edu and Bradley will need to track and mark Sneijder much like the Braldey/Clark combo did against Xavi. Donovan and Holden will have to try and not get caught up field because the Dutch are masters on the counterattack.
Up top, Jozy Altidore and Eddie Johnson will be the pairing and I'll be very interested to see how this one works out. Johnson has been playing well in Greece and Altidore recently has been breaking through in England. Charlie Davies is still a month away from training and the US has yet to find a viable speed option up top. Robbie Findley has speed to burn but doesn't seem to be ready for the top flight yet.
So the line-ups...
USA:
--------------------Howard
Spector-----DeMerit-----Goodson-----Bocanegra
---------------Edu--------Bradley
Holden---------------------------------Donovan
------------Johnson-------Altidore
Netherlands:
-------------------Stekelenburg
Heitinga-----Mathijsen-----Ooijer-----Van Bronkhorst
Von Bommel--------Sneijder----------Van Der Vaart
Kuyt----------------Huntelaar------------Robben
Rockin' the new training uniforms, you may spy some guys who aren't on official roster. Onyewu and Cherundolo trained with the team but will not be added to the official roster. The fact that they were invited to train however pretty much cements their place's on the South Africa roster.
Some more questions.
Does DaMarcus Beasley get the start in his first game back?
While Beasley had a dramatic return to form with Rangers prior to his thigh injury, he has found playing time hard to come by since returning from it. Beasley should get a solid 20-25 minutes in though.
Jose Torres doesn't start?
I'm a fan of Torres, don't get me wrong. He and Benny Feilhaber are the two players on the team who excel with the ball at their feet in tight spaces. But given the offensive capabilities of Wesley Sneijder, Bob Bradley will most likely go with Bradley Jr. and Maurice Edu. Should the US fall behind, I can see Torres being brought on to spark the offense.
How much time does Alejandro Bedoya get?
With Robbie Rogers failing to impress after getting numerous run outs with the full team, it's now Bedoya's time to impress Bradley with the big guns. Whether or not that translates to playing time on Wednesday is questionable.
Robbie Findley starts over Eddie Johnson?
Lets say no. Findley is nowhere close to being able to compete with the Dutch back line. While his speed is world class, his game is not. That doesn't mean that Johnson's is, but Johnson is the more experienced of the two and has been playing well with his club side.
How about Pearce or Simek? PT?
Bradley has seen all he needs from Bornstein, which is why I don't think he gets the start. Pearce may get a run out of to see how he handles tip top competition. As for Simek, this is his first time back in camp in over two years, but he has been playing very well with his club team. Simek would be my third choice right back behind Cherundolo and Spector and seems to be close for forcing his way into the fold once Cherundolo moves on.
Some more points
- Jermaine Jones drove up from Gelsenkirchen to meet the staff and players. He will not participate in training, but this shows that he's serious about being a member on this team and is willing to go out of his way to do it. Fantastic.
Two guys don't make the game day roster: probably Hanaman & Bedoya. I think your reasoning for a starting group seems spot on but we will see what BB does.
ReplyDelete'Gooch easily the best in the air' comment is up for debate if anyone has watched Goodson the last couple of years. He will control the air if he plays so we lose nothing there w/o Gooch IMO.
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