I read this board and always see projected lineups that seem kinda boring and predictable, (arguments about bornstein v. pearce or donavon v. dempsey). However, I don't think these conversations add much to our team because you either like a player or you don't. Additionally you have to take into account the form of players 2.5 years from now, which is difficult by any stretch. With that said I love the 4-3-3. You play FIFA or watch Serie A and it is so fluid and fun to watch. In the 4-3-3, I like the idea of: Dempsey--------Altidore---------Donavon Convey----------Adu-------------Bradley Beasley---Bocanegra---DeMerit---Cherundolo --------------Howard--------------------- The first thing to come to mind is Beasley at LB. We are in poor position in the U.S. that we have a million LM's and no LB's. Beasley reminds me of Miguel from Portugal. I would just like to see his speed in back. he would take less knocks and could be legal with overlapping runs. As for Altidore and Adu I have been sold since the U-20. I think having the talent of Dempsey and Donavon would be great for getting them adjusted to the international stage. Convey should be in form by then and is our best crosser of the ball. Feilhaber could stretch Convey for this spot depending on form at Derby or wherever he is playing. Bradley has so much work-rate you can't take him off the field. People talk about him being the coaches son but he plays balls to the walls for 90 minutes. people are critical of his late penalties, but sometimes it nice to see that late in the game someone on our time hasn't given up when we are behind. It is DeMerit's turn in back. With Watford joining the Premiereship next season he should get a lot of experience. Gooch is young. Maybe he can get a call-up by the Dallas Cowboys or something. I love Dolo. I think I am biased being 5'6" but he gives us a calming influence and a big game player in back. I think Howard is the 2nd best goalie in the world except for his momentary "brain fades." Too bad the best is Freidel. If he comes back, we might win the World Cup. Without him we might have to settle for the semi's. If you have something constructive to add, please post. I would love input. However, if you just want to talk sh** on my spelling or punctuation, I would rather you not. It gets old. Football is fun and the pissing contest I get used to reading on this board takes away that fun.
there's no way on earth that convey's going to be starting in 2010. He's not even good enough to start now, and you'd know that if you'd watched the Sweden match.
I don't think you're being fair in judging him as he was completely off form and only played for a half. Sounds like he was pretty good against Liverpool.
----------Altidore----????------------- -----Adu----Edu---Feilhaber--???------- ---We----Better----Find----Someone--- ---------------Howard-----------------
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12199925&postcount=115 This is my top-45 list from the "2010 World Cup Lineup" thread that I hope will continue to be updated as the cycle progresses. Now, this list was updated at the end of the summer tournies and doesn't include recent friendlies. I'll update it again after the SUI and RSA matches. ------------------Howard------------------- --Spector--Onyewu--Bocanegra--Bornstein-- -------------------------------------------- --------------Clark----Feilhaber-------------* ----Dempsey---------------------Beasey---- -------------------------------------------- ----------Donovan---------Altidore---------- *(Clark playing defensively, Feilhaber more of an attacking role) I'll most likely shift the formation around a bit, as well as update the selections come January (give the RSA two weeks to settle).
How many matches has Bobby played since Germany? He looked poor against Sweden and dreadful against Brazil, but he's been hurt a long time.
Here's the problem with your proposed line-up: It's not defensive enough. If you're going to play with a 4-3-3, you'd better have midfielders that are more than capable on the defensive end. Neither Adu nor Convey are able defenders, which would leave Bradley to do all the work himself and leave us very vulnerable in defense. Add to that the fact that both Beasley & Cherundolo would want to get forward often from the fullback spots, and we're looking quite vulnerable defensively. Going forward, yes, your formation is good, but I think we'd concede far too many goals to get out of the group stage. Also, I'm puzzled as to how Benny Feilhaber isn't in your starting 11. He's not the destroyer that Bradley is and perhaps doesn't have quite the work rate, but he's far more creative, much better on the ball and offers more going forward. Our personnel is probably still best suited to a 4-4-1-1, with Feilhaber partnered with a defensive-minded midfielder (Clark, Bradley, Mastro, Edu). I'm also puzzled by your comment that the top two keepers in the world are Brad Friedel and Tim Howard. I love the patriotism, but seriously...? Top 20 or top 15, yes, but they're not 1-2.
Here's something a little different (I guess I would call it a 3-6-1 or 3-3-3-1): ---------------------------Howard-------------------------- ---------Spector-----------DeMerit-----------Bocanegra----- --Cherundolo---------------Bradley-----------------Beasley-- ------------Donovan-------Dempsey----------Adu------------ ---------------------------Altidore--------------------------- A couple of points: -I really think our biggest issue right now is with defending, not attacking. Playing three at the back would help us not only because of the extra central defender, but also because it would allow us to play Beasley as a left wingback, instead of having both a fullback and midfielder on the left. This is optimal considering that Beasley is so far and away our best left-sided wide player. Also, because Beasley would be playing further forward than a standard fullback, Adu would be able to play further inside than if he were a winger in a 4-4-2. As for which CB's I chose, Bocanegra's by far our best defender, and I think DeMerit along with Spector (to a lesser extent) are both definitely better than Onyewu, whose size and strength do little to cover up his complete and utter lack of football intelligence. -It's interesting, before I had first read anything on BigSoccer about Mike Bradley (which was sometime this summer, I usually stick to the EPL forums), it didn't even occur to me that there could be people that don't rate him, or that think nepotism is the only reason he starts for us. This guy was absolutely great at the U-20 World Cup, and he's been pretty good in the rest of the times I've seen him as well. He's already better defensively than any of our other central midfielders, and he's shown some ability going forward. Sure, he gave up a stupid penalty late against Brazil, but that shouldn't overshadow his definite promise as a defensive/central midfielder. Also, I've heard a lot of people say things like, "there are Americans in the MLS just as good as Bradley, he shouldn't get extra credit just for playing in Holland," but that's a stupid way of looking at it. The truth is that, game in and game out, he plays against tougher competition than the MLS, and you absolutely have to take that into consideration. -I think Donovan, Dempsey, and Adu are all best suited playing as sort of wingers/second strikers. I didn't want to play any of them as as side midfielder in a 4-4-2, and none of them are really well suited to playing as the center forward in a 4-3-3. Thus, I think they could work well playing just behind Altidore, who is more of a true center forward, as it would allow them each to play in their natural positions. -If this lineup is too attacking, I wouldn't be opposed to putting Feilhaber in for Donovan, Dempsey or Adu, and playing more of a 3-4-2-1 with Feilhaber and Bradley in the center of midfield.
In the 2006 World Cup Beasley was criticized for not going forward enough when playing against the Czech Republic (Nedved and Rosicky). I think he is a great player, but he weighs 140 lbs. Right now he is one good injury away from not being there. He is not going to last unless he puts on some weight. This would extend his career because he wouldn't take so many reckless tackles. Plus he is the quickest player on the field so I thing he would be able to get back on Defense. As for Cherundolo with his experience I think he is getting much better and will continue to get better at making timely runs not to expose the defense to counterattacks. Feilhaber didn't make my squad because he can't make the squad for Derby and I think our national team should strive to be better than Derby. Also Steve Coppel is supposed to start playing Convey on the right side more so if he ever gets comfortable with his right will be the starter by 2010. The comment about the goalies was a joke. Personally I think Buffon, Czech, and maybe Doni are the three best goalies in the world...but I don't think there is much drop off from our American goalies. Also besides being class Freidel is a scary mofo. I think he scares Blackburn into playing good defense. Howard is great too. The problem about being American sometimes is that it feels that 4 of our top 5 players are goaltenders. It's pretty disheartening and that is why everyone gets so excited when someone like Adu, Altidore, Szetela, Nimo,etc. play one good game.
You can imply whatever you want in that comment, but I did watch the game. We played unattractive football in a 0-1 defeat. (I gave up on american football a couple years ago because of the excessive commercials after watching a 4 hour super bowl where there is only 60 minutes actually played.) But these are the type of games you wonder why you are a fan. Convey played horribly so you are partially correct, but so did everyone else. I think the formation is more the problem than the players. We have a ton of wingers so we might as well use them. I think the 4-3-3 will help to spread out other teams defenses, giving us the space our guys need. P.S. Whoever talked about Feilhaber over Convey needed to Tivo the Sewden game and watch it over and over. Convey was horrible, but I don't think Feilhaber touched the ball the whole game. Benny might have more long term potential than Convey, but I am beginning to think we all saw a few good passes and instantly coined him the second coming of John O'Brien. He needs to prove he belongs on the field.
I dont want Landon Donovan to have anything to do with the future of our team. So overrated. Hasn't truly impressed me in a long time.
1st you can't say that Benny needs to PROVE he belongs on the field and include Adu, Altidore and Convey. Adu has 1 debatable cap. Altidore has played well in the MLS but doesn't even have a cap. and Convey hasn't played well in a game for us in over a year. Your lineup is awful by the way. Beasley can not and will not play in the back. He weighs 135 lbs. And don't bring up the Bornstein thing. He blows there too. The midfield of Bradley (Who I like), Convey and Adu would get pummeled by Toronto F.C. Convey and Adu can't and don't defend. And Bradley is not a rt midfielder (I am assuming that is where you have him from your drawing.) Granted your 3 front seems to have potential in terms of being dangerous but we would give up 5 goals in the MLS with Beas at lft back and Adu, Convey and Bradley in the middle. Why must we reinvent the wheel? We aren't going to play a 3-6-1 Sampson Jr. We aren't going to play Beas in the back. And we shouldn't.
Why do we have duplicate threads? https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549995 If you think your line-up is the best, then put it up against others in the same thread.
I sincerely hope you are joking. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We have duplicate threads for the same reason we have duplicate posts
you know what the guy who said that freidal and howard are 1 and 2 in the world guess what hes right! im shocked how everybody here is saying that they are not when we all watch the highlights of EPL and the USMNT matches and see freidal and howard make these amazing saves all the time. Brad Friedal is the best keeper in the world period, just go ask drogba and all of the chelsea players and everybody else in the EPL. Everytime i watch the EPL and its higlight show blackburns defense gets destroyed and then you always here and see the offense never score becuase friedal makes 15 amazing saves in a row. half those saves are when its 1vs 1 or 2vs 1 and he still saves it. the dude is a monster. Theres a reason why he stopped 2 PKS in Korea WC and was said to the best keeper in the tornament with Kahn. And for Howard, this dude is #2 this dude is a monster in net for everton, thats the only reason why they were in the top 4 in the EPL this year before he got hurt. For the USMNT hes been a monster, he stopped first, slatan Ibrohimovich on a BREAK AWAY! one of the best strikers in the world, and then against brazil he stopped KAKA 1 on 1 so tell me how there is a beter keepper besides freidel better than him. (i think theres a reason he went straight form the Metrostars to starting at MAN U, and his first year was voted BEST Goalkeeper of the EPL. So anybody who says that there not well good luck in proving it cuz i guarentted you wont
Don't get me wrong I'm as big a homer as the next guy, but even I think that Big Brad and T-Ho are not 1 & 2 in the world. I'd take Cech, Buffon, Casillas over them, just to name a few.
What I would like to see: ------------------Howard------------------ -------Simek---Bocanegra(C)---Gibbs------- -----------Bradley----Feilhaber------------- Kljestan----------------------------Mccarty ------------------Adu---------------------- -----------Dempsey---Altidore-------------- There will be many disagreements with this but 3 years down the road I see this being the best lineup we can put on the field. -Howard is undoubtedly our 1st choice keeper. -Simek is athletic, tough, and strong, and could be very well suited in a 3 man backline I believe, Bocanegra is my anchor and captain in the center of defense, directing the back and stepping up in the center to break up plays, I believe he is the reason a 3 man back can work. Gibbs is very athletic, fast, with decent size and an awesome man marker, and will be a very steady left back in a 3 man backline, I believe these 3 make a very solid backline together which allows us more freedom in midfield and attack. -Bradley hangs back and is more of a destroyer sitting back and distributing, we all saw what he can do against Brazil and he will be a vital piece to the World Cup team, Feilhaber is alongside him playing a little more defensive but moves up with more freedom than Bradley linking up in attack his distribution and field vision will keep possession for us very nicely, he also would be my dead ball specialist, Adu is my CAM, he has potential to be an elite player with his creativity, flare and is dangerous in attack he will be an excellent player come 2010 World Cup, and the offense will run mainly through him, my surprising picks, Kljestan and Mccarty are my sidemids, theyre ability to defend and get behind the ball being natural centermids in this alignment will help immensly, along with their possesion skills and ball control they will add to possesion, link up well and also defend well, they will be very good at the two sidemids. No one will agree but Donovan and Beasley just don't have the skills with the very best, it is not all speed and workrate, everyone has workrate in the World Cup. This midfield is highly skilled and will maintain possession very well, link up in attack great and also defend very well. -My forwards are Dempsey as the more creative ball controlling forward, he produces against top teams more than any one on the USMNT and Altidore the bigger target forward who will hold the ball up and put the ball in the net, he is a great player with tremendous upside and could be amazing come 2010. - I believe 3 years down the road this is the lineup that will produce the most against world class opponents, although none others will agree this is my opinion. What I think we will see: --------------------Howard-------------------- Cherundalo----Demerit---Bocanegra----Bornstein Donovan------Bradley-----Feilhaber------Beasley ---------------Dempsey----Altidore------------- Which is still real good, and I think could give a good showing.
Well he's not really saying that donovan is crap... he just knows it's going to take much more to seriously compete for the world cup.
I agree that those three are better, but it's not a stretch by any means to say one of them deserves to be in the world top 5 at the moment.
Beasley-Altidore-Dempsey Bradley-Adu-Feilhaber Pearce-Boca-DeMerit-Dolo Howard This is stacked and by 2010 will be even better. Johnson and Donovan come in for relief and probably start in the 2nd or 3rd games.
my 26 SEP 07 prediction: THE ROSTER: Goalkeepers: Howard, Hahnemann, Guzan Defenders: Bornstein, Pearce, Cherundolo, Simek, Gibbs, Parkhurst, Bocanegra, Spector Midfielders: Feilhaber, Bradley, Donovan, Beasley, Adu, Clark, Convey, Kljestan Forwards: Cooper, Altidore, Dempsey, Johnson ----Altidore---Dempsey------- Beasley----------------Donovan -----Bradley----Feilhaber------ Bornstein----------------Simek -----Bocanegra-Parkhurst------ ----------Howard------------- Bench: Hahnemann, Gibbs, Spector, Clark, Adu, Cooper, Johnson THE ALTERNATES: Goalkeepers: Pickens, Reis Defenders: DeMerit, Sturgis, Conrad, Wynne, Onyewu Midfielders: Mapp, Szetela, Edu, Holden, Mastroeni Forwards: Rolfe, Ching HONORABLE MENTION: Goalkeepers: Cannon, Perkins, Seitz Defenders: Burciaga, Dunivant, Moor, Hejduk, Harrington, Boswell, Marshall, Goodson Midfielders: Alvarez, Nguyen, Noonan, Gaven, Beckerman, Carroll, Olsen, McCarty, Zizzo Forwards: Arnaud, Barrett, Smith, Zimmermann, Ferrari, Hill, Davies, Wolff, Movsisyan, Findley DARK HORSES: Goalkeepers: Keller, Hall, Westberg, Wells, Rimando, Brown Defenders: Califf, Freeman, Ianni, Albright, Vaughn, Cochrane, Subotic, Sarkodie, Wallace, Larentowicz, Parke, E. Robinson, D. Robinson, Ihemelu, Igwe, Harden, Soumare, Gros, Namoff, Burch, Garcia, Borchers, Kirk, Bates Midfielders: Davis, Mullan, Grabavoy, Martino, Quaranta, Dalby, Simms, Villanueva, Pause, Arguez, Mulrooney, White Forwards: Jaqua, Gomez, Twellman, Marosevic, Nimo, Cunningham, Cristman, Mathis, Arvizu, Akpan, Weaver, Peterson, Thompson
I'm already having nightmares about guys like Bocangra, Demerit and Cherundolo potentially having to play for us in 2010. Frankly, if we don't get at least 2 very good defenders in place by the next world cup we're finished. I'm still holding out hope for gibbs. Spector and Simek look very promising. And don't pencil in the coaches kid just yet I have a feeling guys like Szetela, Edu, and Rico Clark might have something to say. Beasley??.... goodness me please nothing more than a reserve roll for this guy. Dempsey.... probably one of the first guys off the bench or just another piece of the puzzle, but his drive and determination are things you can't teach and he will be valuble to the team.
If 3-5-2 ---------------Howard---------------- ----Simek-----Parkhurst---Boca(C)---- ---------Bradley-----Fielhaber-------- --Donovan------------------Beasley-- ----------------Adu----------------- ---------Dempsey---Altidore--------- In a 4-4-2 --------------Howard---------------- -------Parkhurst---Bocanegra-------- --Simek-------------------Bornstein- -----------------Bradley------------ ----------Fielhaber-----------Beas-- -Donovan--------------------------- ---------Dempsey-----Altidore------