world cup 2010
(part four)
((my starting XI))


in the spirit of this deadspin post from earlier today, it's time to "shit just got REAL!!!" the HACAM world cup coverage up to full gear.

it's not often that one of your top three favorite teams (alabama football, the braves, us men's national team, in that order) has the biggest game of their existence. saturday, the usmnt have that game. this isn't the confederation's cup. england isn't going to take the us lightly. this isn't portugal of 2002 when the us were coming up and and aging, pre-cristiano ronaldo portugal were overrated and on their way down. this isn't any match ever with mexico. this is effing us v. england on the world cup stage. this is epic. this is what world cup should feel like.

and so, today i'll put my bob bradley hat on and announce the starting XI for saturday's match.
(please note: this will not be the starting eleven for saturday's match, because i am not the coach. if i were the coach, this would be my team. i'll explain in a minute.)

                                                      jozy

               dempsey                                                                landon

holden                       benny                                  bradley


spector        bocanegra                 onyewu                      cherundolo

                                                                  
                                             howard

here is what's not going to happen saturday. any formation from bradley that's not a 4-4-2. jozy'll probably be paired up top with buddle (the proverbial "hot hand") with herculez/robbie findley coming in early in the second half if buddle remembers that he plays professionally in mls and acts as such.

the midfield is going to be landon, dempsey, bradley and ricardo clark if clark is healthy.

the backline? who knows. captain bocanegra will be there. so will cherundolo. the other two spots will be up for discussion until gametime. is onyewu healthy enough to go 90 minutes? probably not. can he go 75? maybe. if it's determined that he may be able to go 75, you play him and hope that the us has found its way into a lead. the fourth spot is anyone's guess. our defense has sucked the last several games. i'd rather find a way not to play four of our defensive backs. get holden on the field. or benny. chances are it's not going to happen.

here's where i see my line-up working out. the usmnt is going to be sharing a field with some of the highest paid players in world. what england makes in money, though, is not counted in their athleticism. rooney's a world class athlete. so is aaron lennon. the others will all be world class soccer players, but not necessarily athletes. my starting three up top is quicker and more athletic, to a man, than england's back line. advantage: us. the problem will be getting the ball to them.

where england's depth is likely to own the us is in the midfield. gerrard, lampard and lennon are the truth. there is a great chance that they will control the run of play for 60-65 percent of the game. how would i counter? with benny. benny feilhaber is the most composed on-ball player the us has produced since tab ramos (my favorite all-time us player), and yet he doesn't seem to crack the starting line-up. i have no idea why this is. seeing him play on the field with his great vision and perfectly weighted passes just drives me the more crazy when he's not playing. who could find a way to get the ball to my attackers, dempsey and landon, and they to jozy? benny could. the question becomes, who do you take out? if bradley is bent on starting two forwards, neither of them landon or dempsey, you don't have many spots to fill. michael bradley is a done deal. so is a defensive midfielder in the person of clark/edu/torres. landon and dempsey are starting. it's the formation that handcuffs the us choices. not the personnel. benny will not start. i hold out hope that he gets a chance to make an impact.

i won't spend much time on the defenders. they don't deserve it.

the final piece of the upset. tim fucking howard. he's a world class goalie. great athlete. and he is going to have to play out of his mind saturday for us to have a chance. there will likely be at least two times during the match when it's just him and rooney. he has to win both those chances. he has to organize his sieve of a defense well on set plays. and he has to make two, maybe three saves that end up as "top plays of world cup 2010" highlight reels. the english will play fast. and they will make chances. if howard keeps them to one goal or, strike me dead, none? holy shit. it will be on.

so there we have it. the us starting XI that wasn't.

more coverage to come.