This was a tough team to put together given the players available, and my own limited knowledge of many of these MLSers. The idea though is to simultaneously court some of the young future starters and give some of the more likely last minute additions to Brazil a chance while still keeping established players on the pitch to put on a show for the folks in Cali, all within a framework that Jurgen is clearly comfortable in.
For young players, we've got Johnson, Yedlin, and Gil. I wanted to use Hamid, but I feel like Johnson shows more room for growth in the long run. Yedlin fills in that troublesome right back position for this game, my hope being that going forward, producing as many defenders as we do keepers and strikers becomes a bigger priority. Finally, Gil plays the no. 10 role for this game. Ideally, I might've filled that spot with Davis or Diskerud, but this being a friendly, I felt like this would be a good opportunity for a sort of trial-by-fire for the young midfielder.
On the possible Brazil ticket winners front, we have the suddenly super-popular Mike Magee at RW, and Beckerman and Diskerud in the holding mid positions. I like Beckerman in this position as a Jermaine Jones-esque enforcer with the ability to move forward, and Diskerud playing a similarly Bradley-esque role with a greater emphasis on distribution. Finally, Magee on the right wing has the freedom to float between E. Johnson and Gil for a strike if he needs to , with E. Johnson moving to the vacant right wing where he is equally as effective.
The mainstays occupy the opposite ends of the pitch, with E. Johnson and Donovan in familiar positions, and Gonzalez, Besler, and Evans supporting Yedlin and S. Johnson. Gil would be playing a slighter safer no. 10, moving the ball the three veterans around him and only taking a shot if he gets the opportunity. However, he very much must act the play-maker here and set up chances rather than try to make them himself. Magee, Johnson, and Donovan are of a class that can work with whatever Gil sets up. Johnson up top works particularly well in my opinion, as he has started in both wings in the past, and can easily allow Magee or Donovan to move forward while sliding easily into their vacant spot. Finally, I simply think that Gonzo, Besler, and Evans need more minutes together, so I tried not to break them up to badly with only Yedlin coming in.
Subs would be Wondo, Feilhaber, Zusi, Davis, Hall, and Sinovic.
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Geo
almost 11 years
This was a tough team to put together given the players available, and my own limited knowledge of many of these MLSers. The idea though is to simultaneously court some of the young future starters and give some of the more likely last minute additions to Brazil a chance while still keeping established players on the pitch to put on a show for the folks in Cali, all within a framework that Jurgen is clearly comfortable in. For young players, we've got Johnson, Yedlin, and Gil. I wanted to use Hamid, but I feel like Johnson shows more room for growth in the long run. Yedlin fills in that troublesome right back position for this game, my hope being that going forward, producing as many defenders as we do keepers and strikers becomes a bigger priority. Finally, Gil plays the no. 10 role for this game. Ideally, I might've filled that spot with Davis or Diskerud, but this being a friendly, I felt like this would be a good opportunity for a sort of trial-by-fire for the young midfielder. On the possible Brazil ticket winners front, we have the suddenly super-popular Mike Magee at RW, and Beckerman and Diskerud in the holding mid positions. I like Beckerman in this position as a Jermaine Jones-esque enforcer with the ability to move forward, and Diskerud playing a similarly Bradley-esque role with a greater emphasis on distribution. Finally, Magee on the right wing has the freedom to float between E. Johnson and Gil for a strike if he needs to , with E. Johnson moving to the vacant right wing where he is equally as effective. The mainstays occupy the opposite ends of the pitch, with E. Johnson and Donovan in familiar positions, and Gonzalez, Besler, and Evans supporting Yedlin and S. Johnson. Gil would be playing a slighter safer no. 10, moving the ball the three veterans around him and only taking a shot if he gets the opportunity. However, he very much must act the play-maker here and set up chances rather than try to make them himself. Magee, Johnson, and Donovan are of a class that can work with whatever Gil sets up. Johnson up top works particularly well in my opinion, as he has started in both wings in the past, and can easily allow Magee or Donovan to move forward while sliding easily into their vacant spot. Finally, I simply think that Gonzo, Besler, and Evans need more minutes together, so I tried not to break them up to badly with only Yedlin coming in. Subs would be Wondo, Feilhaber, Zusi, Davis, Hall, and Sinovic.