Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Tonight's Lineup vs. Trinidad & Tobago

Here's how the U.S. will lineup against Trinidad & Tobago tonight:
---------------------------Howard------------------------------
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---Hejduk--------Bocanegra (c)------Onyewu-------Beasley----
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---------------Bradley---------------Mastroeni-----------------
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Dempsey----------------------------------------------Donovan
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---------------Altidore------------Ching------------------------

Thoughts?

29 comments:

milk in the sand said...

Poor Freddy, one of the most skilled players in the world yet never sees the pitch.

Unknown said...

Interesting to have Beasely in the back. He is usually pretty strong defensively out wide, but making the move in a WCQ leaves me confused. Hopefully he can get forward for much of the game. I hope we see Torres reprise his role on Saturday.

shannon said...

beas at left back?! lol come on boys this is an attacking line up lets win this one!

Ian said...

Wow. Nice to see Altidore up top! he's gold when he gets the nod. Ching should offer him some good spots to. Interesting to see if Beas can step into the LB position. Maybe Bornstein should stay warm. Also glad to see Pablo back. He's got some fire that was missing on Saturday!

M & M said...

you almost got it right bob. torres in for mastro. as i told you.

Admin said...

uhhhhhh

Jason Gatties said...

I like Beasley playing left back. Those who don't refuse to see the big picture. This is why I like Bob Bradley.

3-0 U.S.

AdamK said...

It's an exciting line-up for those of us who wanted something new. i'm intrigued to see what happens. I love Beas, but he wasn't strong defensively the other night.

Goalscorer24 said...

Happy to see Altidore in there. Don't know about Beasley as left back. Why no Torres?

John Parmenter said...

like the others.. i feel beas at left back is a question and hopefully we will see how the game plays out to make a judgement but the rest of the lineup is solid.. hope jozy can make an impact as a starter in such a game with the full team. gl hf USA

Gabe said...

Isn't Dempsey on the left instead of Donovan? Deuce has played well for Fulham on the left, and Landon struggle out there. I assume they'll be swapping back and forth.

I have a few other qualms, but my excitement at Jozy starting has overshadowed all of them. Let's go BOYS!!!!

amy said...

wow, way to mix it up Bradley! Was Pearce really that bad in El Salvador? I thought he would have at least been on the bench.

Thayne Griffin said...

Why is Mastroeni starting? I realize he is a MNT veteran, but with the way Torres played against El Salvador I thought for sure Bradley would wise up and start him next to his son.

USchant said...

Milk in the sand.
Mr. Bradley would rather tie teams like El Salvador 2-2 than win games so he decides to feild bogus lineups.

Unknown said...

I like it! No Torres, but I think this will be very good. High pressure from Bradley up top of the midfield is important against a lower quality team. Kudos to the coach for being a bit more imaginative this time around ;). Hopefully, it will provide us a victory!

4-1 USA :crosses fingers:

Sean said...

Jozy coming out party for WC 2010. Donovan looked great with Jozy. And, Bradley had a terrific game.

Blake said...

Nice call, Zack attack.

USchant said...

Is that sarcasm?

We should be able to field nearly any combination of our players and get a result like that against a team Ranked 75th in the world(T&T).


This sounds a bit worse than intended. I didn't hate the lineup. Actually, I liked... most of it. I'm still just a bit bitter that we aren't playing the most creative player we have(Adu). One who happens to play quite well with Jozy.

I really think we need to get Edu and Adu on the field.

Unknown said...

That troublesome left-back position seems to be worrying. Heath Pearce has not looked reliable out there as of late. While Beasley is a suitable candidate for the time being, he is not the permanent answer. Bornstein had great aspirations in becoming the American version of Roberto Carlos but the mental lapses have cost him dearly. Ideally, I can see John Spector as the best candidate but I wish Cory Gibbs would stay healthy and win back his position.

Speaking of which, Benny Feilhaber needs to come back to MLS along with Lee Nguyen so they can get back in the National Team pool before the World Cup.

Unknown said...

Altidore is the man! He came up huge! I will be sorely disappointed if he doesn't make the starting line up from here on out. Good job coach, this was your best starting line up all year...the chemistry up front was simply phenomenal With Altidore and Ching attacking and Donovan feeding them from the flank. Great to see Mastroeni back. And oddly, I kind of liked Beasley on left side in defense...he even almost got himself a goal with that header of his. Frankie, you are an inspiration...you've put in so many years of hard fought effort, and your relentless ethusiam is downright contagious! Keep up the good work Team USA! And I'll see you in South Africa 2010 as I alreadly put down my deposit on a package deal to follow Team USA there!

Wouldn't it be sweet if Team USA marches into Azteca on August 12, and not only wins for the first time on those fabled grounds against its archrival Mexico, but simultaneously clinchs CONCACAF's first berth for World Cup 2010!

As for the rest of the teams in Concacaf, wow, what a great competition!...I'll hold off my predictions until after the next set of games...at that point every team will have played each other once, and see where everyone stands after the dust settles in early June. Who agrees with me??

BatmanGK said...

milk in the sand...Freddy Adu is nowhere near one of the most skilled players in the world. You must be one of the ones who believed all the hype...

Army of Dad said...

I loved the way they played last night. Unafraid to use their skill and take people, execute some nifty passes. I lvoed seeing our most skilled players be aggressive.

Anonymous said...

great job everyone! nice lineup mixup. Altidore did an awesome job.!!It was awkard seeing Beas in the back but I found that it worked nicely. Keep it up!!!

thisisphil said...

What an interesting lineup by Bradley nice to see him change some things up, espcially after such a dismal showing in El Salvadore.

I thought there was some great chemistry between Bradley, Altidore, Donovon, Beasely and Ching. I would have liked to see Torres have more time and wishe that Dempsey would step into the "game changer" role that we all know he's capable of stepping into.

For as much as the 4-4-2 seems to click, I'd be really curious to see a 3-4-3 with Landon Ching and Jozy up top with Klestan Torres Bradley and Dempsey behind and Gooch, Boca and Cherundolo (when he's healthy) or Hedjuk playing a flat back 3.
Players like Edu, Adu, Mastro, could easily sub into that kind os scheme. I think that would play to our skill set much more appropriately, especially against bigger fish like we'll face in SA this summer.

Big question though.... where are Jonathan Spector and Jay Demerit? No offense to Frankie or to Beasely for that matter, but I just don't understand why they are not more prominent in the mix for starting or even dressing for the qualifiers.

pdrcoot said...

Yep that lineup certainly did the trick...I'm still concerned about Beasely in the back having to cover world class strikers like a Luca Toni in the air.

Which leads me to my next question...will this be the lineup in South Africa or will we send a second tier lineup?

Playing three top tier teams I would certainly like to see the regular unit there, and will help them having "already made the trip" to South Africa logistic wise when the world cup comes around.

Unknown said...

Mastroeni played very well last night. I like the diamond formation in the midfield with Bradley up top and Mastro behind. Worked out well, let's see if they can do it again!

Unknown said...

That is how I expect the US to perform. Come out and play like you care not like you are asleep.

Keep up the good work and we will be S. Africa for sure!!!!!!

UnitedCityFC said...

I thought Beasley did well given his unusual assignment. I think we should go to a 3-5-2 though and exploit Beasley's speed as a true winger but tuck a more defensive or versatile mids like a Torres, SashaK, or Edu in behind the wingers in a 5 man mid, leave Bradley as the middle man who can spray the ball with shorter passes from a central position. I think Ching has done well, but it would be nice to put more speed up front instead of target players who slow the ball down... my two cents, hope you're reading Bob!

Tim Huff said...

What is up with Freddy Adu, why can't he get on the pitch? He is inventive, skilled and quick. Brian Ching, is really nothing but a decoy, teams such as Germany, and England will distroy the US because we have no creativity in the mid-field or up top. Adu can provide that, Come on give him a run!