
By Jared Launius
I probably don't need to tell you the US hosts Spain today at Gilette Field in Foxborough, Mass (4:30 EST! ESPN!). Here are three things to chew on going into the match.
What tactics and approach will Bob Bradley employ?
For me, this match has one purpose: to go live with the preparations you've been practicing the last week for Gold Cup. Bob will surely have an approach for the tournament – tactics and a style of play that will match up best against CONCACAF opponents. This is a chance to put them to work against an actual opponent in an actual game with actual refs and an actual clock and actual scores. Securing a result should be considered secondary to doing what you need to do to be ready for the Gold Cup opener Tuesday against Canada: practicing tactics, working lots of guys in and, perhaps most importantly, not letting them get hurt.
And that would all be fine and good if the opponent was someone like, say, Australia, the US's last gear-up opponent for the World Cup last year.
But this is Spain. You know, the reigning World Cup champion. The reigning Euro champion. The world's number one team. Yeah, those guys. This presents two rather difficult roadblocks to that plan.
First, there's the fact tactics that work against CONCACAF competition for the US, to put it lightly, won't work against Spain. There is no "taking it to Spain" the way you'd expect the US to do against the nations it will face in Gold Cup. No one "takes it to Spain." They hold the ball. You defend and counter-attack. This makes things rather difficult.
Second, you don't get very many chances to measure yourself against the world's best team. We know how much Bob enjoys seeing exactly how his side stacks up. You'd have to think he's at least a little enticed to throw his best players out there for 90 minutes in search of a draw or win. This also flies in the face of what this type of friendly should be used for.
So, what does Bob do? Run out the tactics, formation and lineup he's been preparing for Gold Cup or throw that out the window in search of a result against the world's premier footballing nation?
Given the vibe I've gotten from player interviews this week (the one's posted on US soccer's Web site – don't let me trick you into thinking I've done actual reporting), the guys seem to think it will be used for the former. We'll see if Bob feels the same.
Who will Bradley feature in the XI?
We have a bit of a clue here given that US Soccer has already tweeted the 18 players in the roster. Among the non-selected are Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Freddy Adu and Nick Rimando. Adu and Rimando's absences are not all that shocking as they're perceived fringy guys anyway, but the same can't be said for the former three.
Donovan and Bocanegra are semi-explainable given that Donovan has a reported illness and Bocanegra was among the last players to arrive in camp. Bornstein's non-inclusion, though, is rather telling about what Bradley will do in the Gold Cup. I'll have more thoughts on that when I preview the GC next week (that's a teaser, folks!).
All that said, here's what I expect to see trotted out today:
Howard
Cherundolo – Onyewu – Ream – Lichaj
Jones – Bradley
Dempsey – Edu – Kljestan
Altidore
Licha, I think, will get the nod at left back because he played there during his loan spell for Leeds this spring and Bob has talked about as much to the media. He's also mentioned that he likes the way Spector has featured in midfield for West Ham, so I doubt we'll see Johnny tossed out on the left flank.
Ream will get a chance to start, I think, as Bradley seems to be keen on him. His presence on the ball will be tested greatly by Spain's stable of mercurial attackers.
With Donovan out, I think we'll see Kljestan out on the wing. That's where Bob played him against Paraguay in March. That said, I wouldn't be particularly surprised if Robbie Rogers or Alejandro Bedoya was featured out there instead, nor does it really matter that much either, as Donovan will likely play every meaningful minute of the Gold Cup out there anyway. This will just be a temporary fix.
For reasons really only known to him, Bob seems to fancy playing Edu, Bradley and Jones together. I've mentioned this before, but for someone that spends so much time thinking about and engaging in the game, sometimes Bob really seems to not know so much about soccer. I think that's a fabulously ignorant idea, but Bob does what Bob wants.
What will the result be?
Donovan's absence will certainly be felt, and a result was in doubt before one of the team's key attacking cogs was omitted. Couple that with the fact Bradley (hopefully) won't be terribly result-focused, and a loss seems to be in the cards for the US. This is fine, as there are more important matches coming, and, come on, it's Spain.
I'm more interested in seeing how a few key areas play out. In no particular order: how Lichaj/Spector performs at LB, what Bob does with his forwards, who subs in and where they sub in at, how Tim Ream features against a true world power (remember, his three previous starts with the US came against South Africa, Chile and Paraguay), where guys without defined positions (i.e. Kljestan, Wondolowski, Agudelo, Dempsey and Spector) are filled in, what the US can accomplish in the middle of the field, how much Jozy has benefited from regular playing time in Turkey and if Michael Bradley was able to stay sharp despite scarce playing time at Aston Villa.
Prediction: Spain 2-0 United States
Cherundolo – Onyewu – Ream – Lichaj
Jones – Bradley
Dempsey – Edu – Kljestan
Altidore
Licha, I think, will get the nod at left back because he played there during his loan spell for Leeds this spring and Bob has talked about as much to the media. He's also mentioned that he likes the way Spector has featured in midfield for West Ham, so I doubt we'll see Johnny tossed out on the left flank.
Ream will get a chance to start, I think, as Bradley seems to be keen on him. His presence on the ball will be tested greatly by Spain's stable of mercurial attackers.
With Donovan out, I think we'll see Kljestan out on the wing. That's where Bob played him against Paraguay in March. That said, I wouldn't be particularly surprised if Robbie Rogers or Alejandro Bedoya was featured out there instead, nor does it really matter that much either, as Donovan will likely play every meaningful minute of the Gold Cup out there anyway. This will just be a temporary fix.
For reasons really only known to him, Bob seems to fancy playing Edu, Bradley and Jones together. I've mentioned this before, but for someone that spends so much time thinking about and engaging in the game, sometimes Bob really seems to not know so much about soccer. I think that's a fabulously ignorant idea, but Bob does what Bob wants.
What will the result be?
Donovan's absence will certainly be felt, and a result was in doubt before one of the team's key attacking cogs was omitted. Couple that with the fact Bradley (hopefully) won't be terribly result-focused, and a loss seems to be in the cards for the US. This is fine, as there are more important matches coming, and, come on, it's Spain.
I'm more interested in seeing how a few key areas play out. In no particular order: how Lichaj/Spector performs at LB, what Bob does with his forwards, who subs in and where they sub in at, how Tim Ream features against a true world power (remember, his three previous starts with the US came against South Africa, Chile and Paraguay), where guys without defined positions (i.e. Kljestan, Wondolowski, Agudelo, Dempsey and Spector) are filled in, what the US can accomplish in the middle of the field, how much Jozy has benefited from regular playing time in Turkey and if Michael Bradley was able to stay sharp despite scarce playing time at Aston Villa.
Prediction: Spain 2-0 United States