theres not a lot i take from yesterdays match. minus donovan, feilhaber playing horrendously, and beas having a pedistrian effect there was no link between the backline and the attack. this isnt a vague "they didnt get service" complaint- the upside for both is that theyre not dependant on service- but they didnt see the ball nearly enough.
It wasn't surprising to me that Altidore hardly got a touch with Adu and Dempsey out. Adu and Dempsey have shown glimpses of a real connection, with Adu making a good run and Dempsey seeing that and providing him with the beautiful through ball twice in two games. This is what I'd like to see to get some offense going. ------------Altidore--------------- ---------Adu-------------- Beasley------Dempsey---------Donovan ----------------Edu--------------- ----------Back Four-------------------
I think we play with a gaping whole at attacking midfield even more than we do at striker. M Bradley isn't it. Feilhaber did ok with it this summer, but isn't on form. Bob has decided he doesn't want that pressure on Donovan and would rather see him out wide right or up top, which isn't a bad decision. Who is it going to be - Adu, Dempsey, Feilhaber? I think these are the candidates. But Bradley doesn't actually want to play through the midfield. He wants a very high backline that can shorten the field, and try to play one pass through midfield right into the strikers. So, he plays w/ 2 d mids to try and be destroyers. But, I would rather see us play with a stronger posession midfield (e.g. Bradley, Dempsey, Adu, Donovan). In front of this kind of midfield, I think Altidore, Ching, Rolfe, EJ, could be succesful strikers.
i don't see altidore beign a starter short term....maybe autumn 2008 given success during the olympics... short term...ching as target starts, although he's getting to be way too fragile, and i see him as short term option...before he breaks down again... beasley and donovan as attacking mids....leaving dempsey to float underneath ching... adu, offense off the bench.. now, when adu and altidore become starting options...the target days are over, i'd prefer altidore up top, with dempsey to continue to float beneath him... adu as more a left sided mid, with donovan on the right... this means beasley can come in for adu...defensive replacement, but still fresh legs can create some offensive options... the other option is to continue to have adu as master offensive sub...until the days when adu can subplant either dempsey or donovan... having too many attack options is good because, injuries or cards, with attacking depth aren't a death sentence to attacking football
Dempsey and Adu are fine as the second (withdrawn if you will) forward playing in support of a true striker. They should not be paired up top together as the only two forwards, or as a lone forward themselves...
Not sure how anybody can call this a "proven lineup", seeing as it has never taken the field for the MNT. A lot of the individual players are "proven" (although debates will continue as to how effective each one is), but some are not at this level, and this hypothetical lineup hasn't proven anything. As far as being solid for your club team... Taylor Twellman is solid for his club team... Eddie Johnson is solid for his club team... Ben Olsen is solid for his club team... etc etc...