With all the Premier League excitement going on lately, it’s easy to forget that there’s also an important World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. This game is, of course, Mexico vs. USA; it’s kind of a big deal for both teams. This time out, though, it’s a particularly interesting match. Mexico is sitting in fourth place in CONCACAF; they need a win just to keep their dreams of qualification alive and kicking. The U.S., on the other hand, has a more layered motivation tapestry; they’ll be looking to avenge the 5-0 beating that Mexico laid on the U.S. reserve team in the Gold Cup Final, and they’re also still pushing to prove that their Confederations Cup run wasn’t a fluke and can be replicated.
Friday, U.S. manager Bob Bradley released the squad list; let’s look at who’s in and who’s out.
Goalkeepers
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)
No surprises on the goalkeeping front; Howard will start, Guzan will back him up. Guzan, it should be noted, played the entire Peace Cup for Aston Villa in place of Villa’s Brad Friedel; Villa won that tournament on penalty kicks, with Guzan putting on a rather impressive showing.
Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
Heath Pearce, who’s currently unattached, was omitted from the squad list, presumably because he’s no longer involved with a team. That’s a little surprising considering that the left back position has been a little shaky for the U.S., but Carlos Bocanegra did a nice job their in the Confederations Cup final; he’ll likely reprise that role on Wednesday, with Onyewu and DeMerit teaming up in the center and Jonathan Spector rounding everything out on the right. That’s about as solid a back line as the U.S. can get. It’s also worth noting that Chad Marshall’s receiving a call-up; the Crew’s centerback did well in the Gold Cup and could possibly be challenging for a spot.
Midfielders
Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (L.A. Galaxy), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca)
Lots of fun with this position group. First of all, say goodbye to the following regulars: Sacha Kljestan, DaMarcus Beasley, Freddy Adu, and Pablo Mastroeni have all been left off the squad list. Instead, Bradley’s trimmed this roster way down (he’s only taking 20 guys, which is less than he’s allowed to bring), cutting out the dead weight. Making the grade this time are Stuart Holden (who had a good-if-not-great Gold Cup) and Jose Francisco Torres, who’s intimate knowledge of the Mexican league could be helpful in a game against Mexico.
Notice that I’ve removed Donovan from the “Forwards” list and listed him as a midfielder. This is because I think he should play out left with Dempsey on the right. Finish that off with Bradley and Feilhaber in the middle; that should stay the same for this match. I want Torres to get playing time, but team chemistry dictates that Bradley probably shouldn’t screw around with personnel or formations in a heated rivalry game.
Forwards
Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Charlie Davies (Sochaux)
We all need to have a little chat about the forward situation. First, I am hoping and praying that Kenny Cooper was only omitted to give him a chance to settle in at 1860 Munich (stat line: one goal in one appearance), because I’m going to lose it if I keep seeing Conor Casey in U.S. international matches. Conor Casey is perhaps the worst striker in all of international soccer; his fourteen appearances (including several starts in the Gold Cup) have seen him net a grand total of NO GOALS. None. In fact, excluding goalkeepers, the only other members of this team that have more than ten appearances and no goals are Jay DeMerit and Jonathan Spector…and they’re both defenders. They’re NOT SUPPOSED TO SCORE. Conor Casey, on the other hand, is a freaking striker. His ONLY JOB is to score.
And don’t give me any of that “but he doesn’t start” crap. You know who else didn’t start? Kenny Cooper. Cooper came on as a sub TWICE in the Gold Cup, and he scored BOTH TIMES. That’s how you make an impact, Conor: by scoring. Not by making cute little runs that go nowhere or by misplacing passes to the opposition.
The other striker on the U.S. squad I’m pretty much about done with is Brian Ching. Ching’s good at doing one thing: slowing the game down so he can lay off a pass to another guy. He’s like the U.S. version of Emile Heskey, only with less skill and less vision. On certain teams, Ching could be useful. The U.S. team that beat Spain and gave Brazil a run for their money has no place for Ching; this is a team that counterattacks with speed and plays on the break, which is the exact opposite of what Ching’s good at.
Plus, the new version of Brian Ching’s already on the team in Jozy Altidore. Altidore’s stronger than Ching (I can’t see Ching turning Capdevila like Jozy did), which will allow him to dwell on the ball the same way Ching does…plus, he can finish. Ching’s not exactly the best finisher out there.
And so help me if Charlie Davies doesn’t start. Davies is the only striker on the roster who has any kind of speed; bringing him to Mexico so that he can watch Brian Ching fumble around on the Azteca field is insulting.
So then, if we’re playing a 4-2-2-2 (like I’ve advocated in the past), my starting eleven would look like this:
Howard
Spector – Onyewu – DeMerit – Bocanegra
Bradley – Feilhaber
Dempsey – Donovan
Davies – Altidore
Yes, this is pretty much exactly the squad that the U.S. used against Brazil and Spain. Perhaps not coincidentally, it’s also the best lineup the U.S. can squeeze out of the players they have on hand.
Mags: great work- and I’m not just saying that because I have to sit in the cubicle next to you!
My two cents…
Goalkeepers
It’s early days, but Guzan and Howard are well on their way to being as good a tandem as Keller and Friedel were at their peak. I caught quite a bit of the Peace Cup and Guzan, though just getting his feet wet, already looked like he belonged at that level.
Defenders
Pearce was never anything more than the “best available option” at left back, and now that Bradley has finally gained confidence in DeMerit and Spector, I don’t think you’ll see Pearce again as anything but an occasional call-up to fill out the bench, which is how it should have been all along. The Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit, Spector backline is, as you said, as good a group as we’ve been able to put together in quite a while. If Gooch sees some decent playing time in Milan it’s going to get even better.
Midfielders
Nothing against him, but it’s been “Gold Watch” time for Mastroeni for a while- thank you for your service, enjoy your retirement, etc. With Dempsey and Holden in the picture, Beasley’s regular caps have probably come to an end, and while I wouldn’t write-off Kljestan or Adu yet, they both need to get consistent playing time at the club level to play their way in or out of the side on a permanent basis. I’ve also seen enough of Jose Francisco Torres to think that Bradley has to find a way to get him minutes. Remember, he chose to be a US international, not a Mexican one, and that should count for something.
Forwards
Here’s the thing with Casey: Never mind not scoring, can you even remember him “almost” scoring while wearing a USMNT shirt? I can’t either. Charlie Davies is the polar opposite: name a game he’s gotten into where he hasn’t looked dangerous or actually scored? Casey is a guy who has basically built his international career on one good season at Karlsruhe (14 goals in 30 matches) when they were in the 2. Bundesliga and a decent MLS career. At best, he’s the soccer of a “AAAA” baseball player- great in the minors (MLS), but never quite able to make the grade in the majors (USMNT). If Taylor Twellman- the fifth leading scorer in MLS history- can’t even get a regular run out (when healthy) for the national side, why is Conor Casey getting them?
As for Ching, he has always been the poor man’s Brian McBride. He’s had a great strike rate in MLS (and a decent one for the USMNT), but has any big team ever come looking for his services, or even been rumored to be doing so? None that I can think of. Now Josmer arrives on the scene: stronger, faster, more technical, and younger than Ching- and likely to continue to get better. It’s a no brainer to give Ching his gold watch as well.
Wednesday should be interesting…
Awww, thanks.
On Casey: Now that you mention it, no, I can’t. HOWEVER: I do remember him making a pass in one of the Gold Cup games that resulted in Quaranta almost scoring, and I remember thinking it was maybe not the worst thing I’d seen it that game.
He’s like the U.S. version of Emile Heskey, only with less skill and less vision.
SGE is intrigued.
I agree with most of what you wrote, Mags, but if you see Altidore as I do – a center-forward, and not an out-and-out-striker – the formation makes better sense as a 4-2-2-1-1 (a modified 4-2-3-1). Donovan/Dempsey are good links between the midfield and the strikers, but I’m unsure of their abilities to provide the necessary service while out wide. We did do a wonderful job of using our fullbacks when attacking in the Confed Cup, but something tells me that in Azteca, Bradley won’t be as adventurous going forward. I say, have Jozy play a more withdrawn role – like a young Haitian Bergkamp – to help link our middies with Davies.
Help me out on this: Why is this a 4-2-2-2 and not a 4-4-2 with two defensive midfielders? I’m probably just stupid, so you might need to go slow.
They’re basically the same thing, a 4-2-2-2 is really just a more descriptive way to describe where everyone is. The 4 is obviously defenders, the first 2 is your holding midfielders, your next 2 is your attacking midfielders, and the final 2 are strikers.
Using 4 numbers gives you a little better breakdown of where everyone is. Saying you’re playing a 4-4-2 could mean you’ve got 3 holding mids hanging back a little more and one hanging behind the strikers, or it could mean one guy hanging back with the defenders, 2 wings and 1 central attacking guy (what could be called a 4-1-2-1-2).
Also, saying a team played a 4-5-1 looks to mean that there is a clog in the middle, but if they’re playing it 4-2-1-2-1 then its probably a little more like what would be called a 4-3-3 but the two wings would be withdrawn more.
Not that using the traditional 3 number system is outdated, more that 4+ gives you a better idea of how the team is playing. Make sense?
[...] How to examine the USMNT ahead of Azteca. (Avoiding the Drop) [...]
NO BRIAN CHING. NO NO NO NO NO NO.
I’m fine with your lineup, and I’d like to see the US get as much speed on the field as possible, because the likely Mexican lineup will be fast as hell. All I know is I’m on pins and needles for this match and I haven’t felt that way for quite some time about a US match. Excited yes, but not like this.
FWIW, Eric Wynalda said that we’ll probably lose on FFF last night. Although he also said he wouldn’t start Landon Donovan every game, so he might be an idiot.
he did also say the defense is spain is better than it is in england so…
[...] U.S. Names Squad For Mexico Match “With all the Premier League excitement going on lately, it’s easy to forget that there’s also an important World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. This game is, of course, Mexico vs. USA; it’s kind of a big deal for both teams. This time out, though, it’s a particularly interesting match. Mexico is sitting in fourth place in CONCACAF; they need a win just to keep their dreams of qualification alive and kicking.” Avoiding the Drop [...]
Conor Casey did not start “many games” in the Gold Cup. Check out his minutes played and you will see hasn’t played much for the US.
Ah, you’re right…for some reason I thought he’d played a lot more in the Gold Cup.
I will give him this: I always notice when he’s on the field.