US MNT vs Sweden

Boca is one of those exceptionally fit people who will be playing well into his 30's.

At 30 years old, he will not be far from his prime.

 

Boca's fitness has nothing to do with it.

Dont get me wrong. I like him and want to see him do well, but I think he's not far from his peak of overall effectiveness.. may even be past it.

 

I think Bradley is a lock in the middle. I like Edu, but I think Bradley is a tough guy to keep out of the middle. I like the Bradley Feilhaber pairing in the middle. They complement each other well. Edu plays the same position as Bradley - more defensive, so when the two are together, it seems like there is not enough of an attack.

 

At least we know where Beasley and Altidore are most effective. The rest of them are more versatile.

Well, it's possible that he will be, but I think Don is right that he needs to leave MLS to reach his full potential (and obviously there are clubs interested in him).

Still not sure what Don's fixation on Pearce is, though.

 

From a pure potential standpoint, I'd love to see either of these lineups in 2010

--------------------------Howard-------------------------
---Spector---Parkhurst----------Onyewu---Simek-----
--------------------------Bradley------------------------
-----------Dempsey---------------------Beasley-------
----------------------------Adu-------------------------
----------------Donovan---------Altidore--------------

or

--------------------------Howard-------------------------
---Spector---Parkhurst----------Onyewu---Simek-----
--------Feilhaber---------Bradley---------Edu-----------
----Dempsey-------------Altidore--------------Adu-----

(I'd be 100% fine with having Donovan on the bench. He disappears under the WC spotlight anyway)

 

I don't think Simek plays the left side, but I could be wrong.

 

I thought he did play on the left. My bad. Agree with Don that we should have someone who plays there at the top level starting in that spot. It seems like LB is the hardest position to fill.

 

Either way Edu, Altidore, and possibly, possibly Bradley...have the potential to be the United States' first ever 'world class' players. What I saw from Altidore against Sweden was just beautiful...especially towards the end of the game when he was killing time near the corner flag...absolutely outstanding. Now I know it was Sweden's B team but we've lost to teams like that regularly before...


Now if we can just get Jozy overseas with Bradley and Edu oh what a team we could be fielding in 2009 for the Confederations Cup...let alone 2010 for thw World Cup.

My lineup for qualifying for what it's worth...and it isn't worth much:

........................Howard............................

Spector....Onyewu........Boca........Bornstein

........................Bradley............................
Dempsey......................................Beasely
...........................Adu..............................

............Donovan..............Altidore.............


Bench: Guzan, Pearce, Parkhurst, Davis, Edu, Feilhaber, Johnson


Davis was awesome on free kicks against Sweeden...Very David Bentley-esque

 

I'm not sold on Edu yet. Based on the Sweden game, I'd rate him behind Rico Clark. I just don't see Edu's big up side.

At the moment, I would list our "potential big stars" as Adu, Altidore, and Bradley. Adu is getting more and more playing time at Benfica.

 

Don thinks it should be Heath Pearce. Not sure if he's mentioned that to anyone yet. :lol:

Steve Cherundolo should be our right back in 2010 if he's healthy.