I doubt that Bob Bradley will have the stones to give Onyewu's plane ticket to Johannesburg to somebody else. But he should.
Beasley at left back is something that went horribly wrong at Costa Rica but it would have been nice if we could have seen that experiment given another chance or chances before the games really started to count. I say that because there are some serious problems in the back right now.
Against England, the Yanks need either Beasley or Hejduk to start in the back. The problem is that Beasley won't be back there and Hejduk won't even be on the continent. I would seriously have brought him just for that game. (If Onyewu goes to SA and has to go home, they can call up somebody AND it doesn't have to be from this preliminary 30 man roster. I just doubt that Bob is smart enough to do that.)
Up top is another problem. The US was playing their best ball last summer with Davies up top with Altidore. Davies is obviously hurt so he needs to be replaced. The problem with that is that they aren't replacing Davies with a similar player. When he initially went down, I thought Findley could be that type of player - a speedster that takes on defenders and compliments the bigger Jozy.
Ching isn't that guy. Neither is Buddle, Johnson, or Gomez really. Dempey is obviously a class player but not really a forward. He would probably play a little behind the forward (Jozy).
Findley hasn't really gotten a chance so it's a real long shot. The fact that he even made it to the final 30 is pretty freaking impressive. Maybe the plan is to have Donovan up there since there are a bunch of midfielders. The problem with that is that Donovan tracks back a lot on defense. It's not something that gets talked about a lot but it's needed.
I can't wait to see who Bob cuts tomorrow. I hope he will learn from the mistakes that Bruce made last World Cup. Renya was past his prime and injuried. Pope should have been a back up. O'Brien was hurt.
Taking a lame duck Onyewu would be the first mistake.
I say that the 7 cuts tomorrow are:
Rogers
Marshall
Pearce
Findley
Bedoya
Johnson
Kljestan
I'd keep Findley over Ching. I'd also ship Onyewu home from SA and replace him with Hejduk. Neither of those things will happen. You won't send Ching home Bob!
4 comments:
is goff reading my blog?
i posted mine first and our list is the same.
he even threw in something about possibly taking findley for speed
you're right. We do need a "speedster" up front. Unfortunately Findley offers pace and pace only. He doesn't "take defenders on" and doesn't score like Charlie Davies. So it's back to the drawing board. Ching should've gotten a ticket. He was very creative last night. And Onyewu is still our best option at CB. Hejduk? you're out of your mind.
I'd rather have Frankie than Bornstein. I'm not picking him over Ashely Cole. I'm picking him over Mr. Chivas USA.
If Onyewu is healthy that's great. But right now he is not looking like he can start. So do you have Bocanegra in the middle? Then Bornstein plays?
That sounds awful to me.
We're seriously F-ed if Bradley is relying on Jozy to play up front against England. He couldn't score against them all year, what makes him think he'll be able to do it with the USA? Four goals, 4, for Jozy in the past 12 months. The first game should feature a 4-5-1 with Dempsey up top.
Thx,
Jay!
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