The U.S.A. national team has another chance to build depth as it takes on Denmark in Aarhus on Wednesday afternoon. When this game was originally scheduled, it appeared to be an opportunity to trot the A team out against a European World Cup team but injuries and the MLS Cup have stolen some of the main components from the American side. Despite that, this game will still provide Bob Bradley with a chance to see how his team performs against a quality opponent.
The offense will be the big question mark coming into this match as they failed to produce a lot of quality chances against Slovakia over the weekend. Jozy Altidore is sure to start but his partner up top could be Eddie Johnson, Conor Casey or Jeff Cunningham, with no real favorite to start in that group. I'm assuming that Bob Bradley is going to go with Eddie Johnson based on the history between the two but Johnson hasn't really done much to actually earn the start. Casey hasn't played well for the U.S. aside from his two goal game down in Honduras in World Cup qualifying while Cunningham was the hottest player in MLS at the end of the regular season and is the only "on form" forward in the bunch. I'd love to see the 33 year old MLS journeyman get the call but my gut is telling me that we'll see another ho-hum Eddie Johnson performance.
The addition of Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark will most likely mean that those two will start alongside Michael Bradley and Benny Feilhaber. Holden and Feilhaber will need to create offense for the forwards and Clark and Bradley will need to play end to end soccer to help make up for the losses in the front and the back. Even without Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan this is a very solid middle four and may even be a more complete end to end bunch. Look for them to hold there own against the powerful Danes and spring a couple of quality opportunities.
The defense will be led by Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Spector and Brad Guzan in goal. The other spots are not so easy to call because of some shaky performances in the match over the weekend by Jonathan Bornstein and Clarence Goodson. That could open the door for the glorious return of Jimmy Conrad and the highly anticipated debut of Edgar Castillo. American soccer fans have long looked at left back as a weakness and Castillo's decision to switch from Mexico to the U.S.A. has made him the anointed savior at that position. Bornstein has been holding down the spot for a while now but has been up and down with his play through out his time as the starter. One player I'm hoping not to see is Heath Pearce who has not earned back my respect after his poor play against Mexico in the Gold Cup final. Bradley should use this opportunity to give Castillo the start and see if his attacking qualities mesh well with the American style of play. Castillo is a goal scoring left back and is the type of player that the U.S. has honestly never had at that position. Being able to add another player into the attack can unsettle a defense and can allow a team to sustain pressure for a longer period of time. This is what the U.S.A. has lacked when playing the top level teams in world soccer and I'm just hoping that Bradley can give Castillo a chance.
Check out the game on ESPN2 at 2pm.
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