If we have a friendly right now, what's your lineup?

if you are going for an all mls line-up with younger players instead of the old guard, and i would probably go with a 3-5-2 with donovan kinda playing a forward/attacking midfielder role in which he is more a forward than a midfielder...

----------- howard -----------

-- ??? -- bocanegra -- suarez --

-------- pablo -- mais --------

--- west ---------- beasley ---

----------- donovan ----------

-- cunningham ---- twellman --

 

Re: just MLS players?

Barring injury, I'll bet that both have their hands full overseas this November. Heh... "hands full"... "goalkeepers"... get it?

I agree... Pablo's gotta be in there. He needs to be reined in at times, but still one of the more solid defensive players available. I'm guessing (hoping?) that Agoos isn't making travel or lodging arrangements for November.

Fully agree here... I'd like to see Beasley get lots of time. I'm convinced he can do a full 90, sip some Gatorade, and go do another 90...

Also agree here... though, I'd definitely pair him up with Donovan. I like Mathis, but I think his role/playing time in the near term are a question mark for some (esp. Arena).

-- jeff

 

Veronica Paysse - Jack Edwards

Ty Keough - Phil Schoen - Paul Gardner - Seamus Malin

Max Bretos - Bob Ley - Roger Twibel - Tommy Smyth

Lisa Salters

 

Here's mine and I haven't looked at anyone else's(And mine presumes a home game and is, as such, MLS only):


********Twellman*******Donovan**********

Beasley*********Martino***********Ralston**

********Mastroeni******Mulrooney**********

******Boca*******************Suarez*****
****************Barrett*****************
****************Howard*****************

I'd put Broome and Klein as outside backs if it were a 442. I'd sit Mulrooney and Suarez (who I think has to grow up a bit, still).

But I believe in 352 so, there you go.

Maybe I'd start Brad Davis. I'd at least sub him in at one point.

 

And I want Lisa Salters.

 

------------Donovan-----------Mathis-----------

DMB--------JOB=====Mastro-----------Ralston


Hejduk-----Berhalter-----Pope----------Suarez----

--------------------Howard------------------


We need to find a LB, and a better complement to Pope. The midfield is as solid as it can get in my opinion.

 

Barret as a sweeper? And Mulrooney is out with broken ankle.

 

--------------------HOward

--------Suarez--Pope--Boca--Barrett (maybe Gbandi, if he's healthy, possibly Convey)

--------------------Mastroeni

----Olsen---------------------------DMB

---------------------LD

-----------McBride-----------Twellman

 

---------Adu-------
Adu-----Adu--Adu----Adu
Adu----Adu------Adu
---Adu------Adu----
--------Adu-------

I know it's crazy to have him as the lone forward, but gotta see what the kid can do.

Substitute: Mathis, Mathis, Mathis, Mathis, Mathis.

This way Adu can learn how a real footballer( Mathis) does it.

 

our next friendly will likely be all-mls as our euro-nats won't be called in so here's who i'd start. remember we're prepairing for copa and confed cup right now not wc qualification.



howard
mullrooney pope boca barrett

maistroni
klein beasley
donovan
mathis twellman


basically...it's not a bad line-up...though left and right back both look suspect. does anyone have any better options on the left than barrett???

 

well, if we play a friendly right now, I know I start Mathis and Howard, since they're not playing anywhere else this week.

 

Meola
Chulis Pollard Agoos
Olsen Reyna Fisher Harkes Martino
West Albright

 

mike piazza

charles woodson...strahan...chelios...ozzie smith

elton brand...kobe bryant...agassi...garciaparra

marshall faulk...iverson

 

If that's your criteria, next week you could have the entire DCU team

 

Boy,based on this thread and save for a precious few spots, we really don't have alot of depth.

 

Well, I agree our depth is somewhat lacking. But that is what we get to do for the next four years, build depth.

In this thread it seems to be safe assumption that this is just a friendly. So I would say this.

I think you want to mix in a little bit of the old guard with the new guard to see how they mesh together. I will also assume all European players are trying to play in Europe. So they are all eliminated.

Go 3-5-2

GK: Howard
D: Pope, Bocanegra and Suarez, obviously Pope in the center

DM: Pablo
LW: DMB
RW: West probably, maybe ralston, maybe olsen
Center mid: Convey
AM: Donovan
F: Mathis and Twellman

Subs: 1. Martino for DMB with Convey moving to LW 2. Cunningham for Mathis 3. Davis for Convey late.

This will give us a true test of Boca, Suarez, Howard and Twellman. RW, I couldn't really think of too many options out there. If someone thinks of one better, that wouldn't be a bad thing.

I think one of the obvious downsides of MLS contraction is less depth, less people in the pool.

 

Martino is better than Convey....right now.

 

Forgot about Mulrooney. I'd want to see what Barrett could do. He has impressed me in the back four. If Pope can play in that spot, why not give Wade a shot. Friendly only, mind you.

I'd put maybe a Cullen or an Hernandez in Mulrooney's spot. And that still assumes an all MLS line-up, obviously.

One other dude who I'd call up is Olsen. Especially base on tonight's game.

Cheers.

 

Arena is not going to clean house. He is going to do what he did over the last four years; which is phase in new players (young) over the next two to three years. Yes I'm taking for granted that he remains manager.

Arena likes to win, which is why he didn't completely overhaul the team back in 1998-99. He will continue to play the best (current) U.S. Nats, while bleeding in younger players.

He isn't going to call in 93 players over the next four years and he definitely will not cap a total of 73. I think you'll see 60 "call ups" and 40-50 players get a cap. We will probably see 20-25 players get their first cap.

If the U.S. were to play a friendly in November and on the 16th or 17th (whichever date USSF has purchased for TV time from ESPN), most likely the training camp squad will be MLS players. Only Euros not seeing playing time - such as Vanney - could be brought in. Europe has league games that weekend. The official FIFA date for international games is 11/20, IIRC.

My training camp squad...

GK: Howard, Cannon, Thornton. These are the three best 'keepers (though Busch is the MLS 'keeper of the year) in MLS at the moment.

DF: Pope, Suarez, Bocanegra, Petke, Barrett, Califf, Akwari. Suarez is the prototypical right back, IMO. Barrett is the best left back in MLS at the moment. Califf has been playing well, though is gaffe in January may keep him out; remember this is a training camp squad, not a final 18-man roster.

MF: Olsen, Beasley, Mastroeni, Martino, Maisonneuve, Klein (he replaces Mulrooney), Jones, Paule, Convey. Jones can help bring along some of the youngsters and provide leadership. He will be around the squad for the next couple of years, so don't be surprised. Klein will not - I'm not saying never - play right back for the U.S. He is an out-and-out winger and this is where Arena has played him and will play him.

FW: Donovan, Mathis, McBride, Twellman, Buddle, Cunningham. These are the best U.S. strikers in MLS at the moment.

My starters: Cannon - Suarez, Pope, Bocanegra, Barrett - Jones (c), Mastroeni, Maisonneuve, Beasley - Donovan, Twellman. The seven subs on the bench: Thornton, Petke, Akwari, Olsen, Martino, McBride, Cunningham.

Five players would receive their first senior cap from my final 18-man roster, out of seven in the 25-man roster that could. Seven (Cannon, Suarez, Akwari, Martino, Twellman, and Buddle) get their first call-up.

 

Twellman Donovan
Ralston Mathis Mastroeni Olsen
Curtin Pope Bocanegra Suarez
Rimando

Bench: Razov, Cunningham, Chung, Beasley, Convey, Howard

*Defense is the weakest position in terms of depth and youth.

 

Well, I'd like to see some experimenting with a 352, and I'd guess anything we play will be all MLS until Europe takes a break, so how about...

..............Howard
.......Petke Pope Bocanegra
Olsen Mastro Mulrooney Beasley
..............Donovan
........Twellman Mathis

This way, you've still got some experience all over the field with Pope in back, Pablo, Beasley and Donovan in midfield, and Mathis up front. Yet, all the guys are young enough to be in their prime around 2006.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised to see McBride run out again, or upset if he did. Truth be told, he'd probably start with Twellman coming off the bench for his first time out. Petke has fallen out of favor thanks to slacking off in New York, so he may not be out there. Some more youngsters like Convey, Martino, Quaranta, etc... may get shots to see what they've got, but I don't expect to see massive changes.

Continuity is important, so even the lineup I posted may be lacking experience compared to what Bruce will actually do. He'll call in plenty of guys and give a lot of people shots, but I'd be surprised if he didn't blend them with the current players and even some of the outgoing guard to get their feet wet rather than making wholesale changes right off the bat. Defense is our most immediate need, so that's where we'll probably see the most experimentation.

 

I wouldn't expect 3-5-2 for awhile. If we hada WC qualie tomorrow, we all have a firm short list of our starting midfield. WE don't know who the defenders would be. the 4-4-2 will allow Bruce one more spot to assess players.

And what's the deal with the Petke fetish?