USMNT In's and out's.

Switzerland may not field their best eleven. Maybe they give one last look to some outsiders for Euro 2008. Or maybe the US is being paid to lose.

It'll be good experience for our younger players though.

 

I would rather see Ching in there over Twellman but then for some reason I am not making the calls. At least we have a more seasoned striker on the roster. Anyone heard who will suit up for the game?

Lyle, you may be right about the Swiss not playing their best eleven. They dont need to qualify for Euro 2008 since they're hosting so I guess they still have time to be fine tuning.

 

Starting XI?

Mine:

----------------------------- Hahnemann ----------------------------

---- 'Dolo -------- Gooch ---------------- Boca -------- Pearcey --

------------------------------------------- Bradley -------------------
----- Adu -------- Feilhaber ------------------------ Beasley -------

------------ Dempsey -------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------- Twellman ------------------

IF this is the line-up, will be interesting to see how Dempsey and Adu work together on the right. Eddie may get the start in Adu's position, but you know Senior wants to see how the Benfica youngster looks these days.

Final Switzerland 1 - 3 USA

 

I"m glad Robbie Findley got a call up. I'm sure he won't play, but this will be good experience for this talented young player. If you haven't seen this guy, he has tons of pace and is finishes well on breakaways. He lleads all rookies in goals in MLS. He is related to Michael Finley the basketball player (cousins I think), and I think has tremendous upside. I just hope he does well in training and continues to improve.

 

My lineup.

Hahnemann
'Dolo-Gooch-Boca-Pearce
Lewis-Bradley-Feilhaber-Beasely
Dempsey-Twellman

Adu will get beat up by the large Swiss players; he might come on as a "super sub."

 

Per Wikipedia (which we all know is infallible), Robbie Findley is a cousin of Mike Bibby and Detroit Lions wide receiver Shaun McDonald.

As I mentioned upthread, Findley could be capped for Trinidad and Tobago if he isn't for the U.S. - I haven't seen him play but if he's as good as omsdogg suggests, it might be a good idea to cap him.

 

im happy with the choice's of bradley on this one , it will be good to see some of the young faces , and how they play with the big boys

 

I like Findley. He has good speed and he has demonstrated that he can finish. I am bummed the Galaxy traded him away, but on the upside Klein was acquired.

I am looking forward to seeing the Feilhaber Bradley combo in the middle again. The future.

 

1-0 to our boys!!! Michael Bradley the goal scorer. Man I like this kid

 

Feilhaber is much more effective in the middle. The Bradley Feilhaber combo is something this team should embrace, so he needs to stay on the inside. Although I understand Edu had to show what he could do, so the central mid was where he would get his chance. I could see that he was a little shaky at first, but there appears to be some future depth in the middle with his improvement and experience at this level. The conditions were not helping, so he may not have had as much success as he would have on a normal day.

I was hoping Szetela would have come in sooner. M Bradley did not really get involved in the game until the second half. I did not think Dempsey had that many opportunities, but the pass to Adu was sweet. The limited offense throughout the game rendered Twellman ineffective. Boca looked tough in the back as usual. Cherundolo is a tough guy to keep out of the starting XI. Pearce is a solid defender. Aside from the hand ball outside the edge of the box, I thought Guzan did well.

I thought the Swiss moved the ball around better overall, but they did not constantly press the defense. They appeared to mount a better attack than we did, but I think the D did a nice job of turning back most of their attack.

 

I was particularly impressed with Adu last night. In the short time he was in he created a bundle of problems for the Swiss defense.

I also liked Edu's tough, physical play. His touch could use some work but with the weather conditions last night a lot of players first touch looked poor.

 

Nice summary of the game Don. Not much to add. Adu was impressive. Things really do look promising for the future of the US side. I liked the corner kick when the US just quickly passed it in for a nice cross (I think by Lewis) toward the goal. Good way to mix things up and catch them off guard. I was disappointed in the conditions though. I think it would have been a super match under normal conditions.

 

I agree with Edibella - Feilhaber didn't look so hot playing out wide on the right. Maybe Szetela is the answer out there, maybe Dempsey, maybe Beasley or Convey playing on the off wing, but not Benny.

It looked like playing against a guy with comparable size is what it took to make Gooch to actually JUMP for the ball. Maybe he can do that more often.

 

In terms of the starting XI, I do not think we can rule out LD. I think he can be an effective outside midfielder for this team (speed, skills, etc...). In the defense, I like to see Jimmy Conrad next to Boca in the middle as opposed to Gooch.

 

Adu could displace cakes, and then cakes would officially be one of the biggest busts in American soccer history.

 

i agree 100000%, but to be a bust the media needs to hate you. and landycakes is a media darling. so that will never happen.

what the hell ever happened to him anyway? too old?