I'll start from the top and go down.
-Jozy Altidore doesn't really require explanation at this point but just in case: He's redhot in the Eredivisie right now and I was extremely impressed with his performance on Friday.
-Herc wasn't exactly at his best on Friday, but he didn't have any mistakes (that I noticed).
-Dempsey is a no-brainer. Loves dropping deep, makes smart late runs, and gets the ball into the back of the net.
-There was a tossup between EJ and Zusi on the right side for me. Zusi was kind of invisible on Friday. He didn't necessarily put in a bad performance but it raises a question, and we can't afford to have any questions in this line-up against Mexico. However, it's still 50/50 for me between the two.
-Bradley is a fixture of this line-up, no explanation needed.
- There was also some debate about whether or not to put in Beckerman or Edu in for JJ. I initially had Beckerman, but after some thought I think Edu is the better option. Edu is months into his season rather than weeks and I think this is a game where speed is important, especially in defense, which leads me to:
-Beasely put in a great performance at left back on Friday. He got forward, he knew when to stay back, he got beat but recovered superbly each time.
-as for Gonz/Goodson/ Cameron, I feel they all did a good enough job in their respective positions. And while good enough vs Costa Rica is definitely not good enough against Mexico, why change a back 4 that worked well together?
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Chris Stritter
about 13 years
I'll start from the top and go down. -Jozy Altidore doesn't really require explanation at this point but just in case: He's redhot in the Eredivisie right now and I was extremely impressed with his performance on Friday. -Herc wasn't exactly at his best on Friday, but he didn't have any mistakes (that I noticed). -Dempsey is a no-brainer. Loves dropping deep, makes smart late runs, and gets the ball into the back of the net. -There was a tossup between EJ and Zusi on the right side for me. Zusi was kind of invisible on Friday. He didn't necessarily put in a bad performance but it raises a question, and we can't afford to have any questions in this line-up against Mexico. However, it's still 50/50 for me between the two. -Bradley is a fixture of this line-up, no explanation needed. - There was also some debate about whether or not to put in Beckerman or Edu in for JJ. I initially had Beckerman, but after some thought I think Edu is the better option. Edu is months into his season rather than weeks and I think this is a game where speed is important, especially in defense, which leads me to: -Beasely put in a great performance at left back on Friday. He got forward, he knew when to stay back, he got beat but recovered superbly each time. -as for Gonz/Goodson/ Cameron, I feel they all did a good enough job in their respective positions. And while good enough vs Costa Rica is definitely not good enough against Mexico, why change a back 4 that worked well together?