World Cup Twitter Q&A

Yesterday, I asked all of you on Twitter to send along any questions you have about the USMNT and the World Cup.  Here are my answers to those questions:

Is Robbie Findley really a better forward option than Gomez or Buddle? (from @bbmets31)


In terms of touch, finishing, and form, no.  Buddle and Gomez have shown just how efficient they are in front of goal, and Buddle showed against Australia that he has the physicality and athleticism to really bother defenders as well.  But Findley adds something that those two cannot, at least not to the same extent, and that is speed.  Against England, the US needed someone who could keep the English back line honest and pushed back a little bit to give the midfielders more space and to deter England's outside backs from straying too far forward.  Findley also provided an emergency option up top, as long balls over the top from the defensive third gave the US a chance at winning possession.  Essentially, he was a poor man's Charlie Davies, and he did a decent job of holding up the ball and getting involved in the attack, both of which ultimately contributed to the result.

With that being said...


Do you think we will see any changes in the starting lineup for the Slovenia game? (from @brnoel0906)

Does the Finley experiment continue Friday? How about Dempsey or Donovan up front and Torres or Benny at mid? (from @LonestarV)

After saying everything I said in the previous answer, I have to admit that I expect Buddle to get the start against Slovenia.  It's not so much a matter of Findley playing poorly and not deserving another shot as much as it has to do with the opponent and what I anticipate out of the game.  As I've said before, the US will be on the opposite end of expectations against Slovenia, playing as the favorites against a team that wouldn't mind a draw.  Slovenia are a very defensive, opportunistic team who will most likely put a lot of guys behind the ball and look to clog things up in their own half.  That means that the US should have the better part of possession and the territorial advantage, meaning a pure speed threat capable of stretching the field and keeping the defense pinned back won't be as essential as having a pure finisher out on the field who can create a shot for himself.  Edson Buddle fits the latter mold, and he has proven that he can be effective against international opponents with his brace against Australia, so I think he will get paired up with Jozy Altidore up front against Slovenia.  I could still see Findley getting the start, but I expect that he won't more so. 

I'll get to your point about Torres later on (Torres was a common theme in many of the questions I got), but as for Feilhaber, he really hurt his chances with his lackluster showing against Turkey.  I would expect Holden or Beasley off the bench before Benny at this point.



Aren't people too confident after England draw? Weak 2nd half against slow CBs & England had several unmarked chances. False hope? (@Pandagoal)

People are happy with the result, but I don't think (at least from what I've seen) people are over-confident.  The draw was a good result, not a fantastic one, but it's always a nice outcome when you can hold one of the world's best teams scoreless for 86 minutes.  It wasn't an incredible performance; as you said, there were some issues in the second half, and Tim Howard had to come up big on a couple of occasions.  But all in all, when you consider what the US was able to do against the group's best opponent, I think it's fair for people to think that the US should be able to beat Slovenia and Algeria, and that, if they advance, the US can hold their own against the best of the best in the knockout rounds.  And when you consider the US' start in their last two FIFA tournaments (a 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic in '06 and a 3-1 loss to Italy last year), Saturday's result was a nice change of pace, and the team showed a good deal of mental toughness in responding well to the early goal.

We knew ahead of time that the Slovenia and Algeria games were the must-win matches of the group, and that those were games that the US would be the favorites in.  Any points against England were a bonus that kept our hopes of finishing atop the group alive.  Both of those teams are capable of beating the US on their day, and so they are getting the respect they deserve.  But fans and pundits rightly expect the US to win and move on, which I think is a product of pre-World Cup expectations rather than new-found confidence after drawing England.


Is Onyewu's fitness after injury cause for concern and should USMNT fans worry about his rehab layoff? Goal his fault? (from @blancosburgers)

I'll be the first to admit that when the first goal happened, I got very worried about Gooch's preparedness.  Though Ricardo Clark was guilty of losing his man on the play, Onyewu got caught out in no man's land, the type of mistake that you would expect from someone who had only played 139 minutes of competitive soccer in 7 months.  But he really turned things around after that point and looked a lot more like the Gooch we are used to seeing.  He didn't appear to be laboring or struggling to win headers (though Emile Heskey's size made things difficult), and he made a number of well-timed tackles and clearances.  Perhaps the most encouraging sign of the night was when a long ball over the top forced Onyewu to turn and sprint to keep Wayne Rooney at bay, which he was able to do without a problem.  So, I think Onyewu is close enough to 100% from a fitness standpoint, and outside of the opening goal just four minutes in, there weren't really many mistakes that I thought were the result of a lack of sharpness or match experience (the Heskey breakaway was more the result of an awkward ball to handle on a step up, if you ask me). 

As the tournaments rolls on, Gooch will only get sharper and more comfortable, so I think US fans should be encouraged by what they saw against England.


What team has impressed you the most?  Disappointed the most? (from @majeacfe)

I think Germany has turned in the best performance so far, albeit a referee assisted one.  South Korea also looked very good in their opener against Greece, and I think they could make some noise in this tournament.  As far as disappointments go, Italy wasn't impressive at all against Paraguay and probably didn't deserve the point.  I also expected more out of Serbia against Ghana; that loss makes advancing an even taller task in an already tough group.


If we end up playing Germany in the Round of 16, what would your starting 11 be? (from @alisonrose711)

Well, hopefully the draw against England helps the US to finish at the top of Group C and avoid Germany altogether (in the Round of 16, at least), who I expect will finish first in Group D.  Of course, there's a decent chance that won't be the case, so a rematch of the '02 World Cup quarterfinal might be on the horizon.

If I had to pick a starting XI against Germany, I think it would end up being the same one that we saw against England, with possibly the lone exception being Edson Buddle in place of Robbie Findley if he shows well in the group stage.  As much as some folks don't like Ricardo Clark (which I'll get to next), Bob Bradley favors him in that destroyer role, and some Bundesliga experience doesn't hurt when going up against the Germans, so I think he would get the nod.


And last, but not least, there were a ton of questions about Jose Torres and Ricardo Clark. Here they are most of them lumped together for brevity's sake:

Chances that Buddle and Torres start against Slovenia? (from @nickverlaney)

What are the chances Torres starts over Clark on Friday? (from @cuttwo)

What are the odds we see Jose Torres against Slovenia? Clark looked pretty terrible. He can't get another start, right? (from @BrendanAndrew)

What will it take for BB to go w/Torres or Edu in Clark's spot? Was poor showing vs. ENG enough? If so, which MF gets the start? (from @TimCary)

Why isn't Torres playing? (from @WearingOne)

As you can see, a lot of folks were not too pleased with what Ricardo Clark provided against England, instead wanting the calm possession and distribution from Jose Torres.  I might be in the minority on this, but I don't think Rico played all that bad against England.  He wasn't great, with the Gerrard goal serving as evidence of that, but he did a lot of good things as well.  Clark's game is ugly, but effective; he's a destroyer, rather than an offensive threat.  He makes tackles and clearances, even though he may not be the best at distributing.  And that works fine against a top notch opponent when defense is the primary concern.  I think the reason he got the start was also because of his experience against elite opponents from last summer's Confederations Cup, where he had a good deal of success.  Bob went with what got him here against England, and it's hard to say that it didn't work well when the US shutout England for the final 86 minutes of the match. 

With that being said, I think what I have to say about Torres follows closely to what I said about Edson Buddle earlier.  Against Slovenia, the US will be looking to break down and stubborn defensive opponent in search of a win rather than worrying first and foremost about containing a lethal attack (of course, it's important, but the expectation is that the US should have the upper hand in going forward).  So, it's more important to have a creative presence in the middle capable of orchestrating the attack rather than someone who will be able to clog up the middle and cancel out the opposing offense.  That's where Torres comes in, with his composed presence on the ball against Turkey proved to be crucial in turning around a stagnant attack.  And that's not to say that Torres would be a massive step down defensively; he showed some good bite and understanding in the defensive half in the send-off match, as well.

If Bob prefers experience and defensive security, then Clark will probably start again.  But if he sees this next match as a game in which the US should be primarily on the front foot against a packed in defense, then I think he'll go with a more technical, creative option (which could also mean Maurice Edu, who can get forward well, too).

As impressive as Torres' showing against Turkey was, though, I worry that we're getting too wrapped up in one half of play.  Bob understands his players very well, so if he doesn't think Jose is ready to start on this stage, he won't force it.  Just have faith in his decision if Torres ends up on the bench at the start of Friday's match.

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Well, that's it for now.  Thanks a lot to everyone who submitted questions.  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section, whether you agree or disagree with anything I've said.   One of the great things about soccer is that it gives us plenty of things to debate, and I know that my opinion is nothing more than that, so fire away if you'd like.

Maybe we'll do this again some time if the demand is there.