Final U.S. tuneup does little to establish Bradley's starting XI
There were plenty of positives, including the play of the forwards, Cherundolo’s play at right back, Carlos Bocanegra’s play at left back, and Michael Bradley’s solid effort in central midfield.
Edson Buddle stole the show, finishing off two chances and impressing both with his fearlessness and finishing ability. Originally considered a potential option off the bench, Buddle has jumped into starting forward conversation with both feet and must be taken seriously as a candidate to face England as a starter.
If Buddle came close to claiming a starting role, Cherundolo absolutely cemented his place as the team’s starting right back. He defended well, but also looked good getting forward. What had once been considered the trait that gave Jonathan Spector the edge over him is now a strength Cherundolo can also claim.
Not all was positive from Saturday’s victory though.
The central defense pairing of Clarence Goodson and Jay DeMerit looked shaky on set pieces and appeared vulnerable at times in open play. In midfield, Ricardo Clark played 90 minutes and did little to justify that opportunity. Robbie Findley also had a forgettable showing. He was active and put himself in position to score on multiple occasions, but his finishing was awful.
The victory may overshadow those defensive struggles, but the fact remains that the Americans need Oguchi Onyewu to be healthy and in the starting lineup against England on June 12th. Onyewu came on as a substitute and played 30 minutes, and while he looked a bit gimpy at times, Onyewu did deliver some strong tackles and won balls in the air.
He didn’t look ready to go 90 minutes any time soon, but Goodson and DeMerit have shown well at times in recent weeks, but they didn’t look entirely comfortable playing together on Saturday (they didn‘t exactly dominate when paired together against Turkey either).
It isn’t a stretch to suggest that they work better as central defenders playing alongside an Onyewu or Bocanegra than they do playing together. Corner kicks were especially adventurous for the tandem, which is troubling considering England’s ability to score on them.
Bob Bradley will be hoping Onyewu can be fit enough to start against England, but if Onyewu can’t, Bradley will have to consider moving Bocanegra back into the middle. That seems foolish considering how good Bocanegra has looked at left back, but the Goodson-DeMerit tandem hasn’t exactly instilled confidence as a potential first-choice pairing.
The only problem with potentially moving Bocanegra back to central defense is the possibility that it could mean having Jonathan Bornstein back in a starting role. Bornstein was the first defensive substitution for Bradley on Saturday, which would suggest Bradley hasn’t lost faith in him, but there’s no denying that Bornstein has looked shaky in just about every national team match he has played in recent memory.
Concerns about the defense were compounded by another lackluster performance from Clark, who came off with a hamstring injury in second-half stoppage time. If serious, the injury may force Bradley to look to Maurice Edu or Jose Francisco Torres against England, something recent matches should have already led him to consider.
The concerns presented by the defense are balanced against a strong showing from Buddle, who looked every bit the red-hot goal scorer he has been for the Los Angeles Galaxy. He blasted his first goal in beautiful fashion, and calmly headed home a perfect Cherundolo cross for his second. If there were any nerves in a start so important, Buddle didn’t show any in scoring the first two goals of his late-blooming national team career.
Jozy Altidore’s inability to recover from his ankle injury in time for Saturday’s match, coupled with Buddle’s stellar effort, makes you wonder whether Bradley will consider sitting Altidore against England. That would have seemed impossible to consider a week ago, but Buddle is looking like a viable starting option and there are midfield options in Stuart Holden and DaMarcus Beasley who could allow Bradley to move Dempsey up top and give Altidore some more time to recover.
This leads us to Findley, whose speed did create problems for Australia, but whose wasted chances have to be considered troubling. Does Bradley start him and hope his speed can create problems for a potential England center back tandem of John Terry and Jamie Carragher, or does Bradley go with an established player like Altidore or Dempsey alongside the red-hot Buddle?
This is just one of a handful of lineup questions that remain unanswered a week before the United States begins its World Cup with England. There are things to be optimistic about as we head closer to that fateful day, but there are also still issues to address before the most highly-anticipated match in U.S. national team history.
Ives Galarcep is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com who will be covering U.S. Soccer and MLS.
