Quote Originally Posted by Lyle View Post
I hate to disagree with you Rozzy but you know as well as I do that being good on a CLUB doesn't equal being good for the World Cup side. Jozy Altidore is a PURE striker on a high level, the first one of his kind that the US has ever had! He has a nose for the goal and he's scored 8 goals in 21 caps for the US at age 20, I don't care who you are that's HUGE for a US soccer player so he has earned his starting spot and NOBODY is taking that away from him anytime soon.

The US has all but a few pieces set in stone Jozy Altidore is set in stone as a starting striker and he'll be ther for a long time.

The only question is who do you pair him with? #1 A speedy player LIKE Charlie Davies but obviously not Charlie Davies and in this case the players that fit this role are: Freddy Adu (who played striker with Jozy on the U-23 team), Eddie Johnson, Robbie Findley, or long shot Robbie Rodgers or #2 a bigger player who controls pace better like Dempsey or Cooper..I like what Cooper and Dempsey do for our team with set pieces but they do slow down our attack a bit.

I think if we were able to pull this off it would be the BEST situation for our team(if Onyewu is healthy he starts instead of Cherundolo and Bocanegra plays CB):

-------Donovan----Altidore------
-------------Dempsey-----------
--Bradley--------------Fielhaber--
-----------Jones or Edu--------
Cherundolo--Bocanegra--DeMerit--Spector
----------------Howard----------

The main issue with that lineup is that Dempsey isn't a box to box player like Donovan is and our speed/high motor strikers outside of Charlie Davies aren't very good: Adu, Johnson, Findley, Rodgers and Jozy isn't good enough to play up top alone and we simply don't have the talent to play that type of game (one striker). I think the more players we throw at the goal the better because our strength is defense and goal keepers
The talent on this team is at midfield. Better to play Dempsey up an give Benny or Holden a shot than insert Cooper, Adu, or Rodgers (though I like Rogers and wouldn't mind seeing him on the roster.)

If Dempsey isn't a box-to-box player, why would you play Landon up top? My diagram might not have been clear enough...I would play Dempsey as a "hole" or second striker, instead of "tandem Striker" approach. Let him attack from either side wide or go central, while Jozy stays as the pure CF. He plays this role often at Fulham and it's a big part of the reason Zamora has been tearing it up.

I agree that Jozy has probably earned his spot, but if he's not playing at a club level, I don't know how sharp he will be. Jozy would benefit more from having a big partner up front. Dempsey isn't as fast as Landon, but he compliments Jozy more than Landon. Also, Donovan is a better defender and has better pace to recover into the defense after a deep attacking run.

Also I think Dolo and Spector/Bornstein flip, but that's not important.

Club play is not insignificant. Jozy made USMNT contributions largely against CONCACAF teams. Yes, he had a goal against Spain, but a guy like Dempsey is playing against teams like Chelsea and Man U who are better than the Honduran and Costa Rican national teams. Against the same level of competition, Jozy isn't contributing. It's just food for thought.

I'm very curious to see how Beasley plays in the upcoming games against Celtic and Hibs. Goals against MLS level teams like Motherwell and Dundee don't rate on the same level as goals against Celtic or assists against Man U (did you see Dempsey's header to Zamora's feet!!)

Bradley will probably stick with Jozy unless he looks really rusty in the friendlies, but I wouldn't mind see what a Dempsey/Findley tandem could do, supported by Donovan, Bradley and Stu or Benny.