4-4-2 Formation Starters Forwards: Donovan Boyd Midfielders:Beckerman, Williams, Jones Beasley Defenders: Cameron,Beetlejuice, Castillo, Johnson GK: Howard Subs: Gomez, Wondo Edu , Torres Orozco, Besler If holding a lead in final 10 min: Donovan to midfield Gordon as sole fwd!

Moving Beckham to center midfield moves Juninho to the right mid position. Does Juninho play well there? He was doing well at the center scoring 2 goals. On the other hand Beckham sometimes was missing in action on the right, going for long spells without getting the ball. Maybe Arena moved him to the center to be more effective. Among Landon Donovans many assets is his ability to cross well from either right or left, so naturally many coaches (Arena,Moyes, Bradley) have used him on the flanks. But Donovan has great center midfield presence and has great fluidity, foresight and technical ability and has excelled in that position. It seems to me that Arena is trying hard to put Beckham in a position that he can be somewhat effective.

No! we have options; move over another right back, move a midfielder back, or audition other left backs from the MLS and overseas. The problem is not with the left back position, although it's harder to cross from the left side, right footed, there are many excellent left backs who are right footed, it's finding one with the speed and skill as a defender to close down the speedy winger, they also need to go forward in a timely manner and track back quickly. The problem is that Bob Bradly has not tried very hard to really find one, instead, time and time again, he goes back to players who have not played the position well, ala Bornstein. There are only so many "friendlies" and camps to try out players, Bradley has a frustrating habit of a comfort level with staying with marginal players he favors instead of going outside his comfort zone to give auditions to others no matter how good they are performing. I am beginning to believe that Bob Bradley is a marginally average coach, who has achieved good results with some excellent players, but has plateaued What we need now is an superior coach to take us to another level!

Notice WHO didn't get any goals...again: Altidore. Guess who gave up the corner kick that set up the Paraguatan goal: BORNSTEIN....nuff said!

#/bitch mode on*/ Why is this not on basic cable? Stupid bball! /*bitch mode off*/ Bornstein??? Nooooooooooooooo!

Anytime you bring in teams of this caliber, to these shores, it's a good thing! But let's be realistic. We will be seeing "a lot" of the second string and reserve team members on these European Club teams.The season is long and brutal and the players need rest. Look to a lot of the teams to treat this as a "working vacation" more than a competitive tournament.

Yeas, I think it's a pretty cool natural progression to think we might have a german coach sometime in the near future. Of course, Jurgen Klinsmann comes to mind. But I think Thomas Dooley is coaching in Germany, as well as now, Joe Enochs. Although no matter who we bring in from Europe/South America., etc in the future, I think our style is, and always will be, American. And while we may borrow a lot of the good strategy and tactic as well as techniques, and even some of the bad ones, what we develop on the field will be a blend of African, South and Central American, English as well as German and European soccer styles and, like our country itself, will be uniquely American!

Whatever happened to Charlie Renken? I know he suffered through TWO knee surgeries and I know he had a deal with Hoffenheim then loaned to the Vancouver Whitecaps, but has he totally dropped of the map for U-20's ??

Yeah, they do. While you don't want to subdue the exuberance of youth, the US had the game well in hand, but let, at least, one of it's players take his focus off the game and into some personal payback. The result is that a good US player will miss the first game of the U-17 WC.As a youth coach myself, I've learned that the discipline, and/or lack of, pushes itself into the persona and habits later in life. A god lesson to be learned for the next potential US stars.

Like the Super Bowl and the NFL. You host your major event in your own stadiums in your team's cities. Otherwise we would be seeing the Super Bowl in LA, instead of BugTussel, Tenn. because they HAVE an NFL team. And you can guarantee that the stadium will be sold out, as well as showcasing your new stadiums to the rest of the non-soccer watching US fans. I HOPE they bring in an Arsenal or Barcelona. As the MLS all-stars pretty much took care of mid-level EPL teams or any Mexican team, they were pretty much handled by a Man U still in training. Any teams the All-Stars face should be, in it's own right, another "all-star" team.

He would have to be a DP player, wouldn't he? One downer is that any MLS deal will almost certainly tie Souchaux's hands in selling him. Right now, it seems he would be hard to loan out as no one is sure if he has made a complete recovery enough to regain his former form and speed. That will come with playing time, which he can't get. A vicious circle. If he does go to the MLS on loan, he will then almost certainly be retained by the MLS, should he regain his form. Why, because if indeed the MLS only accepts loaners they can buy, then the price and terms will be known and acceptable to the MLS before he is even loaned. The only way CD could get out of playing for the MLS for the next few years, is to really suck enough that even the MLS would not buy him out. That truly would be a catastrophe.

And he has earned his plaudits. At every level he has improved and excelled. He deserves his shot at the EPL, which, IMHO, he should have taken after leaving Heerenveen. But what concerns me, is that with the now almost embarrassing glut of talent enjoyed by the the USMNT in the central midfield, from Holden and Jones to Bradley and Edu, with peripherals like Spector, Fielhaber and Clark, AND wing/strikers who can play centrally like Donovan and Dempsey, who does Bob Bradley choose? If a Holden/Jones combo clicks where does MB go? Will his dad ensure he is picked at midfield, even if another player has shown he is the better player at that spot, or plays better with the other midfielders? MB's play at AV is a two edged sword. Play well and he can dispel any rumors that he is "dad's choice", and will have earned his position. But have a lapse or injury and lose playing time, his dad will be hard put to start him without getting loads of criticism, even if he can play the position well enough. It is said that, for gifted and growing players, every move or transfer should be a step up in quality and difficulty, MB will have to earn his position of AV in front of some good EPL veterans, but in doing so, he will also improve his chances for himself and the USMNT in a very competitive league, in a very competitive position and in what is becoming, for the USMNT, a very competitive team.

You are right, but I also think the UK work permit rules for football artificially drive up the price for English footballers. The intent was to maximize job opportunities for footballers, but with intense pressure from the rest of Europe for quality players, and the fact that the EPL too, has to compete for these players, AND the fact that there are people like Abramovich and the new owner of Man City pumping obscene amounts of money into a rather staid transfer market somewhat depleted because of the past economic woes, you have a massive inflation of transfer prices, as clubs not only sell at high prices, but need to buy scarce replacements. Supply and demand, but like any good market, manipulated by a few.

Hmm, with the exception of Landon Donovan who was loaned out to the MLS from Bayer Leverkusen, the MLS has a general policy of not taking Americans on loan from foreign clubs. But I guess an exception for Donovan, means there are exceptions. If it was a loan, it would have to be a DP loan.

Agree, Preston NE is desperate and need a scorer. This puts a lot of pressure on Johnson. If he can produce like he did at Aris Solonika, he might have a shot at another contract with an English team. If he really produces, he might find himself back in the EPL where, as we saw yesterday, there is a premium for strikers who produce. If not, back to the MLS.

It's probably; 1) announcement of opponent for All-Star Game. (Barcelona anyone?), or, 2) Announcement of a new TV rights package. As for the ALL-Star game. I hope the MLS allows a few more days for practice and/or allows more latitude in picking the coaches/commissioners choices as to allow for a more competitive squad than the one that faced Man U. last summer. As for a TV rights package; the MLS MUST allow a package that is bigger than the one they have for basic cable just now. ESPN pretty much decides what, who and where the MLS gets seen on TV. I also hope it's not the mega-package that the MLS is trying to negotiate/extort from FSC. we don't need more games on channels nobody watches. I hope Versus will step up to the plate, like they did for the NHL.

One interesting observation. Of all the transfers in and out of the FA and even worldwide, only four (4) transfers from the Bundesliga to the EPL. Half of those transfers were American!

With the exception of the good, but oft-injured Kenny Cooper, nobody else has proven MLS goal-scoring experience. But lots of potential.

Overall, probably a "bit" better than the MLS. But after the first three or four teams, the quality drops down tremendously. The first three teams plus Gala or pretty good. This is the THIRD loan spell for Altidore. True he didn't get ant playing time at Xerex, but he got loads at Hull and in the PREMIER LEAGUE and barely scored and didn't have much effect on the team. Should he flop at Boraspor, he may keep Freddy Adu company or be sold to some obscure 2nd division team. Even though he is 20, he has been given more opportunities, more chances, than even Freddy Adu. Potential goes only so far, results are needed now.

Agreed, he put a serious speedbump in Friedel's career at Liverpool and could do the same for Guzan and Lichaj. But it would be sad and ironic if that, after he is done with the yanks on the club, is himself shown the door.

Or, as someone mentioned in another forum; that Mr. Friedel purposely did not sign an extension in order to get more favorable terms under bankruptcy. With no validated income beyond a certain day, debtors would be more willing to settle the debt asap with more leverage given to Mr. Friedel because of that. After the terms of the bankruptcy are settled, a new contract would be offered and signed.

Brad Friedel has not signed a contract extension with Aston Villa yet and some pundits expect him to go. This is no surprise as Houllier gave him the old heave-ho when they were both at Liverpool. I do not expect him to go with Brad Guzan either, or, I would be really surprised if he did. I expect Houllier will go with a Euro or SA keeper with international experience. Clubs often loan out GOOD players who have had a lot of bench time in order to give them exposure to clarify their value on the transfer market. I suspect with his age and experience with the USMNT, Guzan will be the target of several teams this summer and AV will want to maximize his value by showcasing him at Hull.

Chivas has always been disingenuous with it's nationality policy. Originally it was "only" Mexican citizens could play for their team. When the specter of having dual citizens, who play for another national team (and initially at the Youth level) playing for Chivas, they changed the policy to Mexican citizens AND Mexican national team. This was always to place them as "something special" to their fans. When first formed Chivas only allowed Guadalajara born players on it's team.

The biggest hurdle Argentina had at the WC was Maradonna. The guy was a joke. Although I think Spain was not really motivated and looked jet lagged, Argentina could see what could have been with a competent coach!!

Kudos to Vancouver for sticking with their successful coach. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy is a good one. It also takes them out of the coaching merry-go-round that the MLS and USSF seems to be caught in right now.