Czech Friendly Review

Okay everyone... back away from the ledge, take your head out of the oven, and open the garage door. Yes, we lost 4-2 to the Czech Republic. No, they're not a great team... but they're not terrible. They are ranked #33 in the world according to the FIFA rankings, and they played the vast majority of their usual starters. The US, on the other hand, started one player who can definitely be considered a starter... Oguchi Onyewu, who returned recently from a long layoff due to an injured patella tendon in his knee. US players on the bench: Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Bradley, Jay DeMerit, Jonathan Spector, and Jozy Altidore among others. Coach Bob Bradley definitely used this match against the Czechs to determine who would be his back-ups heading into South Africa. The 23-man roster will be announced at 1:20 pm today.

So if the score of this game doesn't particularly matter, then what does?

PLAYERS WHO HURT THEIR CHANCES

1. Heath Pearce - Left Back - Pearce was in a battle with Jonathan Bornstein for a roster spot, and Bornstein certainly left the door open with his play in the first half. Bornstein's passing was not particularly sharp and he got caught out of position a few times and was forced to foul. However, at least he made the smart foul, as opposed to Pearce, who failed to stay goal-side of an offensive player on one goal (incorrectly pleaded to the ref for an offside call), and who later tried to make a brash sliding tackle in the box, but got neither the ball nor the player, opening up the chance for another Czech goal. Pearce was also miserable with his crosses going forward... he just had a terrible night, and I can't see Bob Bradley bringing him to South Africa.


2. Sacha Kljestan - Center Mid - Completely ineffective and didn't seem to play with any heart. Sacha had a few good passes, but was never useful in the final third of the field, which is exactly where he needed to shine. To make things worse, the fourth goal for the Czechs can be attributed to some reckless play by Kljestan where he gave up the ball in a bad spot, leading to a break away goal for the Czech team.


3. Oguchi Onyewu - Center Back - He may still be recovering from his injury, and I'm not sure if that will be enough of a reason for Bob Bradley to excuse his poor play or not. Gooch just looked slow and his passing, which has never been great, was worse than normal. He did well to block a shot early in the game, but later let his team down by allowing a Czech player to climb up his back for a goal on a set play. Gooch is usually one of the strongest aerial threats in the game, so to see him get beat so easily was definitely out of the norm. I would not be entirely surprised to see him get left off of the 23-man roster if Bob Bradley doesn't think he'll be back to full strength in time for the World Cup.

PLAYERS WHO HELPED THEIR CHANCES

1. Clarence Goodson - Center Back - Goodson played the entire game and really looked sharp. His passing was solid, he never really got beat defensively, he was a beast in the air, and he even helped set up the 2nd goal for the US team by winning a header in the Czech box on a set play. Goodson's last two games in a US uniform have both been excellent, and I think you can count on seeing him on the 23-man roster.


2. Herculez Gomez - He's not the biggest striker, but he continues to show a nose for the goal. Gomez put away an easy header from Goodson for the second goal of the game for the United States. However, the goal isn't what makes me believe that Gomez really helped his chances to make the 23-man squad. Herculez made sure to make a nuisance of himself while he was on the field and showed that he has the speed to fill Charlie Davies' void. He seemed like he would make a very good compliment to Jozy Altidore.


3. Stuart Holden & Mo Edu - Center Mid - Both of these guys were always expected to make the plane to South Africa, so it was just good to see that they still wanted to bring their A-game. Holden's crossing was not up its usual par, but he did well possessing the ball and breaking things up defensively. Mo Edu had a bit of a lucky goal, but he did well to scrap and put it away. Besides that, Edu showed versatility starting at center mid and finishing at center back. His passing was crisp and he did well in breaking up some Czech possession. Both of these guys are key to the future of US soccer.


4. Brian Ching - Striker - He's 32 years old and he probably can't go 90 minutes anymore at the international level, but he's good for 60-70 minutes and plays with wisdom. No one on the US squad holds the ball up as well waiting for the offense to catch up to him, and nobody does so well when it comes to winning fouls. I don't think Ching took any shots on goal, but he was always in the mix on the offensive end, making a spectacular nutmeg pass to Herculez Gomez, who should have shot better but put the ball straight into the keeper's arms. I've said it before and I'll say it again... Ching has a useful skill set that no one else on the US team has, and it might be useful to start him opposite Altidore and then replace Ching with Gomez as our super sub at the 60 minute mark.


5. DaMarcus Beasley - Left Mid - Beasley looks like he is back to full speed after several years of injury issues. And when Beasley is at full speed, there are few playes who are faster than him. His touch looked good and he was active/involved all over the field. I really liked what I saw from him and I think he could be useful to the US team in South Africa.

I'd expect you will see almost all of the starters on Saturday as the US takes on Turkey at 2pm. Once the 23-man roster is announced, friendlies become more about preparing your starters for the World Cup. Turkey is a pretty good team. FIFA ranks them at #29 in the world, and they have some players who play for prestigious clubs around Europe. Bayern Munich's Altintop is a tricky player who plays on the wing and could cause some trouble for our defense. This game will be a much better barometer as to weather the US team will be effective in South Africa (haha, barometer... weather... get it?).