Pre-match: USA vs Belgium; May 29th; FirstEnergy Stadium

Fair enough, what I mostly mean is he has very little recovery speed and can get turned by a fast winger. Omar gets turned by a fast winger, but he has recovery speed.

Remember, it was Geoff that got burned on Kevin Mirallas' individual 70-80 yard run when Everton played Stoke. Not that one play makes a man, but I'm not looking forward to Belgium's wingers going at our fullbacks.

 

Considering the likely absences from this game, this is what I expect to see:

--------------Altidore
E.Johnson---Dempsey---Zusi
---------Jones--------Edu------
DMB----Besler---Gonzo---Cam
-------------Howard------------

I could also see Goodson sneaking in for Besler, since Besler has missed some time and it's also not clear who Klinsi rates higher (let's not forget that Besler only started against Mexico cause Goodson was hurt. Personally I think Besler won another start with his performance.)

 

After reviewing the absences, think you're absolutely right.

That left side is ripe for the picking. Hope DMB has another Mexico in him.

 

Don't forget that Parkhurst has already started 2 WCQs for The MNT. He started at RB at Jamaica and at LB v Guatemala.

 

Ha. That lineup draws itself (just did it in the other thread, hadn't seen it here). Of interest: the LB position has no backup (Cameron has played it like four times in the last couple of years, that's it).

So if something happens to The Beaz, Parkhurst to the right and Geoff to the left. Scary. Bet Klinsmann wins the friendlies and gets the usual minimum-acceptable points in the important ones.

PS: Right, Parkhurst was LB vs. Guatemala, and didn't do it badly. That's a position he never seems to play for his clubs, though. Maybe it's more of the poly-functional thing JK has going on.

 

Geoff got turned by Mirallas because he has bad hips i.e. no agility. I hate to disagree but as far as straight line speed is concerned GCAM is much faster than Omar. No shame in getting scalped by Mirallas anyway, it would've happened to most of our CB's if put in the same situation.

 

If he had been playing, I would feel better. But he hasn't been.

 

That's probably a better way to put it actually. Rather than saying no pace, saying no agility. I'd agree with that.

So his lack of agility worries me playing fullback. And he's seeing Mirallas in a week and a half.

 

Just necessity, both Fab and Castillo were (as usual) out injured for the A&B and Guatemala WCQs. Boca played LB v A&B and Parkhurst played LB v Guatemala.

 

In PES-speak, Geoff's problem is a very low dribbling speed, that is, he doesn't turn on a dime and a fast dribbling winger or forward can "break" him and go around him.

 

Well anybody can play left back amirite?

He has moved there sometimes during games when a top winger went to the other side he just followed the guy and his mate just swapped sides with him.

As for the Mirallas incident, a lot of guys are getting toasted there anyway. I can't think of any 1v1 defenders we have that are clearly better than him. I think the attacker should win that battle more often than not anyway, a whole half a pitch and one man twenty yards away to beat.

I know Parkhurst has not played much lately but he is a pretty good player and he has competed against the best in the CL. When I think of him I think of tidy. He is not a world beater or anything but I have never seen him get Costly-ed multiple times in a game. He seldom puts a foot wrong.

 

This but I think Klinsmann goes with Herc on the left rather than E. Johnson. Other than that I could absolutely see him going with this. Raise your hand if your psyched about the possibility of Edu/Jones in the middle...

 

Eh, it's just for the friendly, I wouldn't be worried. Fabian and Castillo will be back before the qualifiers, so we'll have LB depth.

 

Beasley going to get torched. F. Johnson will miss Belgium game right?

 

Yes he is playing in the promotion/relegation playoff for Hoffenheim then.

 

Why? JK was going to start GAM over Herc at LW in the last qualifiers if not for nagging injuries, or so it was said. I'd much rather have EJ there because he's got electric pace and can actually take his man in 1v1 unlike most of our player pool.

 

EJ with a monster match (brace) tonight in a 4-2 win v Dallas. First goal a pace and strength job. 2nd a good run for a through ball in the box. More important he was very active with great workrate.

 

The only thing that stops that run is a decisive, well timed challenge. You can't give that fast of a player that much of a head start and expect to be able to react to their feints/cuts. I criticized Geoff at the time for it but it was more about decision making. 1v1 on the wing I've rarely seen Cam get skinned and his quickness was tested over and over, his ability to win tackles at full stretch is impressive.

---------Johnson------------Altidore-----------------
----------------------Dempsey------------------------
-----------------------------------------Zusi-----------
-----------Jones---------------------------------------
------------------------Edu----------------------------
Beasley------------------------------------------------
----------------Besler------Gonzalez-----Cameron--
----------------------Howard-------------------------

Morph from 4-1-2-1-2 to 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2.

I know EJ is useful on the wing but he's better up top and he will give someone other than Dempsey for Altidore to play off. His extra pace can stretch the field, and it's best to do that from a higher starting point than a LAM.

Jones had an amazing game for Schalke in the Champions League playing LCM in a 4-2-3-1. Normally we see him shade to the right but on the left he's able to cut inside and be dangerous without then having to turn the corner and put in a cross.

Zusi should have freedom to attack but he should be our 4th most attacking option. He'll play wider than Jones and hopefully he really starts to impact the game by sending in all kinds of crosses to the very dangerous front 3 (who need to be in the box often).

Beasley gets up the wing more than Cameron, looking at the mids and attackers in front of them it's a natural fit to complement those guy's movement and skills.

 

With EJ being mentioned and used in qualifiers I think he would be used at LAM before Herc

 

That lineup will get creamed by Belgium.

 

Thats pretty much 90% of our best players soooo what your saying is were gonna get killed regardless.

 

Well Belgium wont have some of their best players so that can help.

 

Belgium has a talented team. I am certainly in agreement that they can make some noise in Brazil. I don't understand the sensitivity of some of the posters, however. I'm not calling any stupid or insane. Just pointing out the facts of the team's history. Is News and Analysis becoming Yanks Abroad?

 

Though his performances had declined over the past several months Cameron rarely gets beaten by wingers in the Prem. The strength of his high opta marks lie essentially in his ability to stop people.

We'll be missing Bradley, Johnson, Williams, Corona, Castillo, and Altidore correct?

 

Not if they play it like a friendly and sub half the team by the half.