USA-Netherlands friendly

[El Kabong]

So this game is happening Wednesday and it figures to tell us a lot about both teams. The US will be sporting their new uni's (very classy looking, much better than our recent uniforms) and without Onyewu, Davies, and Dempsey due to injury we're going to see some other guys play and hopefully do well: Goodson, Beasley, Edu, Torres, Findley and Johnson all figure to get loads of PT in this game/training camp and all of them figure to have a spot of the roster as reserves if they do well. I think depending on how DMB and Edu perform they could figure into if Freddy Adu makes the team.

USA
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England)
Defenders: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday, England), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)
Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Landon Donovan (Everton, England), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Eddie Johnson (Aris, Greece)

Your thoughts?

[El Kabong]

I also want to know if this game is a "MUST WIN" for the US or do we just have to perform well?

I would love to see Torres get lots of PT, but I think our starting squad will look like this.

--------Altidore-----Findley--------
--------------Holden------------
Donovan-----------------------DMB
--------------Bradley-------------
Bornstein--DeMerit--Bocanegra--Spector
---------------Howard------------

I assume that Donovan will play LM instead of CAM just because he's played that so well with Everton. I would like to see Edu get more PT than Bradley but we all know that won't happen

[OumaFan]

I'm not gonna watch it, just have to be somewhere else, I don't really care but obviously I hope we play well.

Holden's played well in the middle for Bolton but I'll believe it when I see it as far as him playing there for us. You know Bradley's gonna play. And honestly I don't dislike Bradley, I think he's a solid player but they don't seem to like to play him as the more defensive midfielder so that's why you rarely see a Bradley-Feilhaber cause then he's the clear defensive mid. Bradley Sr. seems to prefer to play Bradley with a more pure d mid so Bradley can play box to box.

I would like to just see how Edu-Holden looked once. Or even Clark-Holden as they played together for a while. But Michael Jr. is one of the untouchables along with Howard, Dempsey, Donovan, maybe Altidore, Gooch and Boca so apparently it will be Bradley-d mid.

Holden-Bradley could work if both played like they were two way mids, as in they rotated when to go forward and when to hold back but it seems like that's not Bradley's preference.

[El Kabong]

Altidore should be untouchable, he's one of the few offensive threats we have.

I would like to see Torres get some run.

Bradley is good and everything but he does deserve to have some run. I don't think he has enough skill on the ball to earn play over some other guys.

If we run a flat 4-4-2 maybe we could see Holden and Bradley...that could work pretty nice and could really help our attack. We could always sub in Edu, Clarke, or someone more defensive minded in after we go up a few goals.

I am making plans to watch the game and I'm hoping we don't get a red card...we don't need that.

[HattonTheHammer]

must be the 1st world cup in years where nobody is really talking up the dutch instead concentrating on the likes of brazil/spain/italy

These friendlys really are nothing but a good day out for those in attendants getting to see world class footballers going about as they would in a training session.

England-Egypt for us tonight. 90,000 fans get to see a nice little performance, a few quality goals and everybody goes home happy!!

[OumaFan]

good lord Findley looks like he'd have trouble making a high school team, just dreadful, but its early and this is a big step up so he might just be nervous. Jozy's looked all right and Holden's got something there, he should be one of our starting 11 most of the time.

Meanwhile, guys that shouldn't sniff our national team: Bocanegraa (ha he's our captain, fuck) and Bornstein. And maybe Findley. I guess there's nobody to replace Bocanegra at the moment.

Bradley looks pretty awful too, not that it matters.

[OumaFan]

De Jong takes out Holden, Holden injured has to be subbed out, and not even a yellow. Fuck off. Guaranteed straight red if its us playing in a major international tournament.

[OumaFan]

And they gave Torres a card for arguing about that cunt De Jong not getting a card, bahaha.

[OumaFan]

And now down 1-0 on a fucking idiotic PK given up by Bornstein, a hilarious dive by Schneider who's apparently working on that aspect of his game, but it still was a penalty.

[OumaFan]

Jonathan Bornstein is one of the worst players I've ever seen on a national team. EVER. Ha, that should be two PK's on him. I don't get it. Pick somebody up off the street.

The one bright spot was Holden and he was taken out by a stupid tackle.

[OumaFan]

Maurice Edu looking pretty good. I like him.

EJ and Findley have both looked awful, its just too high a level. Meh, I guess bring Freddy. He's not a forward but he can play attacking mid and apparently our forwards are gigantic suck.

Beasley's missed some open guys but I guess compared to some of the other guys he hasn't been bad really.

And an assist for Beas. Actually he's arguably been our best player.

With Charlie Davies

Jozy Davies
LD Bradley Edu Dempsey
Boca Demerit Gooch Spector
Howard

Bench: Guzan, other goalie, Hedjuk, Marshall, Geoff Cameron, Cherundolo, R. Clark, Beasley, Holden, Feilhaber, Adu, random atrocious forward.

Without Charlie

Jozy Demps
LD/Beasley Bradley Edu LD/Holden
Boca Gooch Demerit Spector

Guzan, other goalie, Hedjuk, Marshall, Cameron, Cherundolo, R. Clark, Beasley/Holden, Feilhaber, Torres, Adu, random atrocious forward.

We actually played real well for the last ten minutes and could have easily tied it. Our striker issues are depressing me. If Davies is there then 3 strikers is fine as Demps can move up there, without Davies I just include Dempsey as 1 of the 3 strikers, that's absurd of course but I can't deal with bringing more than 1 of these guys: Findley, Cunningham, Cooper, Ching, Casey, EJ. That's just a craptastic list. Please come back Charlie Davies.

[HattonTheHammer]

Maurice Edu looking pretty good. I like him.

EJ and Findley have both looked awful, its just too high a level. Meh, I guess bring Freddy. He's not a forward but he can play attacking mid and apparently our forwards are gigantic suck.

Beasley's missed some open guys but I guess compared to some of the other guys he hasn't been bad really.

And an assist for Beas. Actually he's arguably been our best player.

With Charlie Davies

Jozy Davies
LD Bradley Edu Dempsey
Boca Demerit Gooch Spector
Howard

Bench: Guzan, other goalie, Hedjuk, Marshall, Geoff Cameron, Cherundolo, R. Clark, Beasley, Holden, Feilhaber, Adu, random atrocious forward.

Without Charlie

Jozy Demps
LD/Beasley Bradley Edu LD/Holden
Boca Gooch Demerit Spector

Guzan, other goalie, Hedjuk, Marshall, Cameron, Cherundolo, R. Clark, Beasley/Holden, Feilhaber, Torres, Adu, random atrocious forward.

We actually played real well for the last ten minutes and could have easily tied it. Our striker issues are depressing me. If Davies is there then 3 strikers is fine as Demps can move up there, without Davies I just include Dempsey as 1 of the 3 strikers, that's absurd of course but I can't deal with bringing more than 1 of these guys: Findley, Cunningham, Cooper, Ching, Casey, EJ. That's just a craptastic list. Please come back Charlie Davies.

key to a good world cup for sides like the US is versatility up top. If you cant ask questions in the 1st 20-30minutes against sides like netherlands/england they`ll just take libertys with you and push up more and more.

Dempseys fine. He bothers the hell out of some of the finest defences in britain. Not a hell of a lot up to date on the rest of those guys but essentially if your gonna go with dempsey you need a ball winner up top that can bring others into the game

[El Kabong]

The goals were really 1 person's fault..... BORNSTEIN he alone damn near gave up 3!!! The PK, the uncalled hand ball, and the deflection. I have no idea what Bradley sees in him, at BEST he's a sub or a bench warmer our D is too deep to have him start. Our staring back line should be: Spector/Cherundolo on the left, Gooch and DeMerit in the middle and Bocanegra on the right and late in the match you can sub in either Spector/Dolo whichever one didn't start.

Beasley played a little hectic at first but he was our best player in the second half he really did well. Torres played pretty well, Edu was very good, and DeMerit looked like a champ out there, good hard nosed player. And we didn't get carded (besides Torres who was immediately subbed) we still got calls against us but we have to learn. I will say one of the better plays I saw was Bedoya drawing a foul right outside the box, he played great.

Jozy's backheel move was awesome, very creative play from him and if he can add that to his arsenal and if he can just get a better first touch more often then he's the most dangerous player we have. He had a great crack at goal too, unluckily the Dutch goalie was in the way.

If we can't get the ball to Donovan on the wing then he HAS to play CAM because he's too big of our attack to just vanish from play.

There are two things we need to work on....
#1 When we clear the ball we can't just kick the hell out of it and hope for the best, we create chances when we PASS (as in aim and kick it to our teammates) out of our end.

#2 Strikers...Findley and Johnson have HORRIBLE first touch/play on the ball. Findley is trying but EJ is just lost out there right now. Casey is worthless and Ching is sooo average. We need good first touch and creative play on the ball ergo I make my case (again) for Kenny Cooper and Freddy Adu! Both players have good first touch, both are creative and control possesion when they have the ball, both can finish, and Adu has played striker with Jozy with HUGE success before. Although I also hope Davies is coming back.

[El Kabong]

England had a rough go and vs Egypt


My DREAM World Cup roster for the US (providing everyone returns healthy):

GK: Howard, Guzan, Hahneman

D: Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit, Cherundolo, Spector, Goodson, Castillo

M: Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, Holden, Edu, Beasley, Torres, Clarke

F: Altidore, Davies, Cooper, Adu

and 1 more player, perhaps Jermaine Jones or someone else in midfield

[HattonTheHammer]

player ratings from goal.com


USA

Tim Howard – 6
Looks smaller in the net than a year ago when his form reached its peach, but still makes the saves required of him. Conceded to a penalty kick and a wickedly deflected shot, so no blame falls to the Everton man. Steady.

Jonathan Spector – 5
Never made it into the offensive third to display his crossing ability. Pinned-back.

Jay DeMerit – 6.5
Tough tackling and powerful, Watford's captain doesn't let anyone by without a few scars for his trouble. A minor injury eventually forced him off. Gnarly.

Carlos Bocanegra – 6.5
Headed home the consolation goal late in the match. His shift up until that point had been solid enough without ever showcasing his talents too brightly. Organized.

Jonathan Bornstein – 3
Oopsy Daisy. Five minutes after giving up a penalty for foolishly tugging on Sneijder's arm, Bornstein played the ball with his hand inside the area. Luckily for him the referee didn't see it. It was the chest of the Chivas USA man that deflected the game-winning goal in for Holland to cap off a miserable night. Silly.

Stuart Holden – N/A
Came off early with an injury before Bolton's latest addition could strut his stuff. Unfortunate.

Jose Francisco Torres – 5
Gave away the ball far too often for what is supposed to be Bob Bradley's technical option in the middle. Provided America's best chance in the first half when he sniped a shot from distance just over the net, but tempered that with picking up a needless yellow card. Sloppy.

Michael Bradley – 5
Playing in the position known as the engine, Bradley's new clean-shaven hairdo was apt; his balding tires couldn't find any traction in this match. Outplayed.

Landon Donovan – 5
Perhaps the flu that has plagued Donovan the past few weeks sapped his energy, but for some reason Donovan couldn't click in this one. Lacking.

Jozy Altidore – 6
Allowed himself to be forced wide by a wily Dutch defense far too easily. To say that he was the USA's most consistent offensive threat is to hardly offer any praise at all. In the 90th minute he found the confidence to split two defenders and cannon a shot on goal, but it was too little too late. Robust.

Robbie Findley – 5
Given chance after chance to show that he's Charlie Davies in disguise, even Bob Bradley will have to admit after this final test that Findley is, in fact, not Charlie Davies in disguise. Purposeless.

Substitutes

DaMarcus Beasley – 6.5
Promising.

Maurice Edu – 6
Tidy.

Alejandro Bedoya – 6.5
Determined.

Heath Pearce – N/A

Eddie Johnson – N/A

Clarence Goodson – N/A



i see jonathon spector is just as lame when playing for team US as he is at west ham

and how the hell does beasley get himself bumped to the bench??