Since we have another friendly Wednesday against Denmark, I thought it would be wise to illustrate what Bobbo “will do” and what Raf “would do differently.” As announced today, the roster for the Denmark game was just released. Here’s what Bobbo is “going to do” for his starting 11 I think:
Keeper: Guzan
Defenders: Bornstein (LB), Spector (CB), Boca (CB), Cherundolo (RB)
Midfielders: Rodgers (LMF), MB90 (DMF), Clark (DMF), Holden (RMF)
Forwards: Jozy (CF), Mallrats (CF)
With the roster Bobbo has selected, heres what I would do instead:
Keeper: Guzan
Defenders: Castillo (LB), Spector (CB), Boca (CB), Cherundolo (RB)
Midfielders: Rogers (LMF), Kljestan (CMF), Clark (DMF), Holden (RMF)
Forwards: Jozy (CF), Johnson (CF)
Raf Notes: Dempsey has been left off to make room for Ricardo Clark; Chad Marshall has been left off to make room for Castillo. Since it’s a friendly, I’m not going to be overly critical of leaving these two off in light of the fact that some of our youngsters need “experience.”
If we play with the lineup I predicted, I’m afraid Slovakia will repeat itself. Bornstein will get eaten for lunch, and we won’t score. The fact that he brought back Ricardo Clark so quickly makes me think right away that he hasn’t given up on his “dual-destroyer” plan for 2010. As I’ve said repeatedly, we need a creative presence in midfield – Sacha needs to be the guy. Especially because without Chuck D, we don’t have a creative presence up-top and we need a “feeder” to get the ball to our forwards. If we utilize Johnson’s athleticism, and if his first touch has improved (which is the HUGE caveat to using him), Sacha would be able to set him and Jozy up the entire game. We’ll see if I’m right, but if I am, I predict huge problems. With the lineup I think Bobbo will run, it’ll be 2-0, Denmark.
Check out the official U.S. Soccer blog for information on where you can watch the game.