That's On Point: The Web Site

There are obviously people around the globe that stay awake twisting and turning in their beds about real problems. Scientists fret if they'll ever discover a cure for cancer. Working middle class folks wonder if they'll still have a job in the morning. Unfortunate people in impoverished areas hope tomorrow will bring them a meal.

You know, real issues.

For me?

The huge social dilemma that kept me from meeting up with Mr. Sandman last week was: if there was a game the next morning, who would be the starting XI for the U.S. National Team?

But let's not get ahead of things. Tuck away that thought for the comments section.

Perhaps the real root cause of the underlying angst that plagues so many USMNT supporters is the utter lacking of compelling games that matter on the calendar. For every World Cup showdown with England, there are about 10 other forgettable games against over-matched CONCACAF foes or disinterested Scandinavian 'B' teams.

It's a mild surprise the U.S. hasn't been duped into playing the fake Togo squad.

Falling in the latter category are the upcoming matches in October with Poland and Columbia and November in South Africa. Yeah, it's nice to see the U.S. out there on the field, but with nothing at stake it's hard to enjoy them at face value. Instead, we need to break them down and obsess over them like Jim Garrison over the Zapbruder Film.

Now since we know Bob Bradley is coaching, there is are two routes these friendlies can take:

1. Call in the full squad, get some nice wins to gussy up the overall team's winning percentage for 2010. In essence, putting a cherry on top of the memorable year.

2. Call in an experimental/new squad,. evaluate them in training then give them some international experience. Think guys like Chivas USA striker Justin Braun getting a look.

Granted there are other factors at work. Bradley has to dance around MLS and its playoffs. He has to value if it's worth subjecting Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, etc. to another trans-Atlantic flight for games where nothing is truly at stake. Or does Bradley figure that he'll have an extended camp in January for MLSers and guys playing in Scandinavia (ie. Alejandro Bedoya) during those leagues winter breaks, so the only chance to intergrate the fringe/new players with the established core for a couple training sessions is October ahead of next summer's Gold Cup?

In light of not knowing which way Bradley decides to go, here are a few roster-type issues that could come into question heading into 2011. It's not a huge year for the U.S., but Bradley does need to find a squad that can (probably) best Mexico in the Gold Cup and earn a ticket to the 2013 Confederations Cup. Is this a be-all, end-all situation? Not really, but once again, it's not like the U.S. gets a ton of non-World Cup opportunities to flex its muscles against the world's best teams. If the U.S. fails to win the Gold Cup, between July 2011 and June 2014 all we'll have is the long-and-winding (and possibly changing) road of CONCACAF qualifiers.

Heeeellloooo Antigua.

Issue No. 1, Formation -- Bradley seems a slave to 4-4-2, or more specifically the dual holding/defensive midfield spots. This isn't a terrible idea for playing against better opponents in the World Cup. Against the majority of lesser CONCACAF teams, a tad wasteful.

The formation de riguer internationally is the 4-2-3-1 or some variant. Rare are top-level club teams fielding the traditional strike partnership, which Bradley seems to prefer. Bradley does utilize the holders/shielders/disruptors, yet none of the players in those slots are the greatest distributors, aside from Jose Torres who doesn't seem to have the requisite defensive commitment to earn Bradley's full trust.

For what its worth, I looked at the formations used last weekend in MLS. Only two teams (New England, DC) fielded straight 4-4-2s. The most usual lineup was a 4-1-3-2. Only FC Dallas, the Red Bulls and Columbus played lone striker systems. MLS, like it or not, does hold a bearing over the National Team, as at least most of the player pool passes through its doors at one point or another.

Remember at the moment Jozy Altidore seems like the only established, healthy striker for the U.S. that you can reasonably pencil in for a place in 2014.(*) Villareal appears to be fluctuating between a lone-striker system on the road and a two striker (Gio Rossi/Nilmar) at home. Bears watching. It's doubtful Villareal is isolating Altidore by himself for extended road stretches in the Europa League.

(*) Kind of silly trying to project this far down the line. Players will emerge.

Oh, and Charlie Davies has yet to play a competitive match with the Sochaux first team. I'll personally hold off on projecting where he figures into the mix once we actually see him play a match.

It's worth noting too, that the current MLS-leading scorer Edson Buddle is 29 years old.

If anything, Bradley should use these three matches on the docket to toy around and try some different things. The problem, as you'll see later on is that he's probably limited in what he can do.

Issue No. 2, Best Players in Same Spot -- Without factoring in goalies, where is the U.S. strong on the field?

Perhaps the best quartet of players for the U.S. is Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden and Benny Feilhaber (even if he's currently mired in the Danish second division), who when they suit up under Bradley all seem to play in the same position.

Is there a way to get all four on the field at once? Is that too-offensive dominated?

If we learned something from the last couple World Cups, teams that try to shoehorn all their best offensive players onto the field at once are going to run into trouble. The Dutch made the World Cup final barely using Rafael van der Vaart, as an example. Hell, by the end Fernando Torres (mainly due to his health) was a bit of an albatross on the field for champion Spain.

Consider this: Why couldn't Holden team up in the midfield with Michael Bradley? Holden is playing in the center of the park for Bolton in the Premier League. Sure he's a little small and not exactly a guy that breaks up plays and clogs passing lanes. Holden is holding his own against guys like Cesc Fabregas, so why not given him 90 minutes in the middle of the field against the Guatemalas of the world?

We saw how well Bob Bradley's commitment to pairing his son with a Ricardo Clark-type player worked. If the U.S.'s strength is speed and athleticism, why not focus on those attributes? Why be afraid to take the game to opponents from the opening whistle.

Issue No. 3, No defense -- Kind of contradicting myself here, but Bradley is probably going to stick to his conservative guns and play two holders, though I'm not sure Michael Bradley is exactly a holding player. He's most effective with darting runs up the field to cap off movements. Either way, the real crisis brewing in the U.S. backline.

Oguchi Onyewu can't get a match for AC Milan. Jay DeMerit, despite all the rumors, remains unemployed and on the wrong side of 30. Carlos Bocanegra isn't getting any younger, nor is Steve Cherundolo.

It's crazy to think, but the one consistency in the back might be Jonathan Bornstein.

It's more than nine months away, but are people confident with guys like Omar Gonzalez, Clarence Goodson (who's actually 28) or maybe even Tim Ream playing a major role in the defense in a tournament that counts? How soon until the MLS-fanacticos start banging the drum to naturalize Columbus defender Andy Iro? (Or has it happened already?)

One guy that seems to be the next great American hope is Gale Agbossoumonde, who's only 18 and playing at Braga. If there's even a glimmer of hope for him actually playing a role in the next World Cup, Bradley is going to have to start integrating him now, which seems unlikely.

Quick tangent -- all these guys, Agbossoumonde, Sebastian Lletget, Luis Gil, Charles Renken, etc. To me? There's like minor league baseball players. If you're scouting for Fantasy or reading Baseball America, they're all touted to be great, sure-fire All-Stars. How many pan out? It's an easy trap to fall into, as the potential unknown does a lot more than the staid reality. Yes, it's easy for an ESPN 30-second pregame clip to tout the U-20s winning the Milk Cup and by transitive properties assume that it translate to the senior team. If the full senior team gets contributions from two or three players from that team it'll be a lot. Remember, for every teenage sensation like Wayne Rooney or Neymar, there are hundreds who flame out before they're 20. Don't believe me? Who's that kid that used to play for DC United ... ?

But back to the defensive issues, are international tactics changing off some of the World Cup experimentation? Could the U.S. ever switch to a three-man back line? Problem here is that the U.S. is lacking any wide players to slot into wingback roles, a position that just doesn't exist in American soccer.

My unconventional thought here is to consider Maurice Edu in a central defensive role. True, he plays in the midfield for Rangers. Yet the central midfield area is a place where the U.S. does have options. Edu has played defense in the past. It's a thought. Maybe you slot Jonathan Spector inside going forward, too.

Of all the places on the field, defense will undergo the biggest transition from 2010 to 2014, especially with the declining status of Onyewu, who himself is 28.

Issue No. 4, Schalke it to me -- Maybe it's just because I'm a jerk by nature, but I'm overly gaga about the Jermaine Jones Experience. The time he probably could have actually helped the USMNT the most was last June, not June 2014.

Nothing against the guy personally, but he'll be 29 in November. (See the pattern developing.) It's going to take some time to integrate him into the lineup, or simply how Bradley goes about business.

Better yet, is Jones that much of an upgrade over what Clark was bringing to the table? Take away the Bundesliga pedigree and I'll bet the margin of difference between the two isn't all that much. Don't forget, until his denouncement vs. Ghana, Clark wasn't that bad a player. Limited, yes, but useful in a way.

The one way Jones could work out is if he can man the defensive midfield all by his lonesome, allowing Michael Bradley to free up and join the attack on a more consistent basis.

Again, until he suits up in the U.S. kit, Jones' potential remains about as grounded in reality as Greek mythology.

Issue No. 5, Where Have All the Wide Players Gone? -- Not exactly true. The U.S. isn't exactly Chile or France when it comes to producing tricky wingers.

Problem is, the U.S. has one world-class outside player -- Donovan -- and he's proven capable of playing basically anywhere on the field.

Maybe a guy like Bedoya emerge. Maybe Bobby Convey gets another look. Maybe Bradley gives an underratedly talented crosser like Houston's Brad Davis a chance.

However you slice it, the lack of width limits anything the U.S. can do from a creative standpoint going forwad.


The good thing here for the U.S., there's time. Bradley has proven he'll look at a lot of players, even if he ends up forming a lot of unpopular favorites. The U.S. has talent, the problem is it comes in mostly similar pockets on the field.

As the U.S. transitions to 2011, there seems to be about four distinct pools of players forming: 1. the Pontential Starlets who might not be ready until the cusp of the Cup (think Agbossoumonde); 2. Young MLS-types (think Braun); 3. Journeyman MLSers (think Convey or Eddie Gaven/Robbie Rogers) 4. European travelers (ranging the gambit from Adu to Eddie Johnson to Kenny Cooper) and 5. the old, proven hands. (Donovan, Dempsey, etc.)

The problem is, it's going to be hard to ignore what Jurgen Klinsmann said in that interview with Sasha Victorine. How many U.S. soccer fans were nodding along as the German talked about the U.S. needing to develop a style of play?

Maybe Klinsmann is a blond-haired version of Sven-Goran Eriksson and just full of crap. Who knows. Maybe he would have brought in a new set of ideas and a fresh outlook. Or maybe he's saying stuff the fans want to hear and he saw the tricky roster dilemmas brewing and found an out.

Either way, U.S. fans are going wonder for the next four years if Bradley will be flexible enough to find the right lineup and system that works. Of course, if I'd written this post four years ago would anyone have expected Herculez Gomez would have made the 2010 World Cup roster.

Pick Your XI:

Simple question. Love to see what readers think.

If the U.S. had a match tomorrow with something at stake, who are you throwing out there?

Here's my selection. Doubt more than four or five guys would start in 2014, but here goes anyway.

Call it that 4-1-4-1

GK -- Howard

DEF -- Spector -- Bocanegra -- Edu --Bornstein

DEF MID -- Jones

MID -- Dempsey, Bradley, Holden, Donovan

FOR -- Altidore

Though I said I'm not crazy about Jones, I'd have to throw him out there since he's the only player out there that gives me enough confidence to field that attack-minded midfield. Altidore probably works best with a partner, but who is that guy right now? This formation allows either Dempsey or Donovan to drift forward into the more tradition diamond.

The main purpose of this post, however, is finding out what you gives think. So be sure to fire up your hypothetical XI in the comments.

One personal note:

Don't want to get sappy, but my father had to go to the hospital early Tuesday for (hopefully) a minor abdominal problem. He could be there a few days and as everyone knows, being bed-ridden is no fun whatsover. My hope is that reading this post occupies his time for a few minutes more than "Judge Judy" re-runs.

If it wasn't for my dad's love of the game and his passion for sitting through those brutal Univision feeds the USMNT was stuck on in the early 1990s, there's no chance this blog ever exists.

Get well soon.

Labels: bob bradley, charlie davies, clint dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, oguchi onyewu, Soccer, USMNT