The U.S. men's national team takes on Slovakia on Saturday and the match is one of the last remaining opportunities this year for head coach Bob Bradley to take a look at different players and positional pairings before the end of the year.
With standouts Landon Donovan and Tim Howard not called in, and with key injuries to Oguchi Onyewu and Jay Demerit, the squad Bradley will turn to to face the Slovakians will be a much different-looking group than the ones that helped the team qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
Just who will wind up starting on Saturday? There are several lineup combinations to consider. Here is one of them:
----------------Altidore----------Casey-----------------
Rogers--------------------------------------------Dempsey
----------------Bradley---------Feilhaber-------------------
Bornstein-----Bocanegra-------Marshall----------Spector
-------------------------Guzan-------------------------------
What other variables might we see? Sacha Kljestan is back with the team and Bradley could be tempted to give him the nod in midfield, either on the right flank, with Dempsey moving up top, or in a central role with Feilhaber playing on the wing.
The forward options are interesting as well, with in-form MLS scoring leader Jeff Cunningham a very interesting speed option up top alongside Jozy Altidore.
The right back spot continues to be a tough one to call, with Bradley having to choose between Jonathan Spector and Steve Cherundolo, two players seeing regular playing time in top European leagues.
Now it's your turn. What starting lineup would you like to see against Slovakia on Saturday? Would you start Dempsey up top with Altidore? like the idea of seeing Spector at left back? Is Cunningham not really an option to start?
Share your thoughts below.
Ives Galarcep is an American soccer columnist for ESPNsoccernet.com and creator of SoccerByIves.net.
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