Earlier this month, Bradley declined to name forward Charlie Davies to the US team, citing the player's lack of fitness as he recovered from multiple injuries sustained in a car accident, also last October.
When healthy, the physical Onyewu is one of the Americans best defenders and a threat to score on corners and other set pieces. However, Onyewu has yet to appear in any matches for his club side, AC Milan of Italy, and looked extremely rusty yesterday in the US MNTs 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic.
It was Onyewu's lack of mobility and his reluctance to challenge his marker on a header that led to the Czech's equalizing goal in the closing moments of the first half, erasing a 1-0 American lead courtesy of a Maurice Edu goal.
Bradley also chose a trio of inexperienced forwards to compliment Jozy Altidore. Davies, prior to his injury, seemed to nail down a starting position at forward with his incredible pace and strong finishing, scoring in the Confederations Cup against Eygpt and in a WC qualifier against Mexico. Bradley picked Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findlay (Real Salt Lake) and Hercules Gomez (Puebla-Mexican League). Of the three, Gomez seemed to impress the most, heading in a goal last night which tied the game 2-2 in the second half. Buddle played just the first half of the match and Findlay did not play last night.
Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo) was left off the squad. Fitness appeared to be a factor in that decision as he is recovering from a hamstring injury earlier this year.
I think I correctly predicted 20 of the 23 members of the US team. Onyewu, Buddle, and Findlay were the three I did not guess would make the squad. That left Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew) off the team.
The Americans have one tune-up game in Philadelphia this Saturday against Turkey. The US will depart for South Africa the following day and play a friendly against Australia on June 5, one week before their World Cup begins with a match against heavily favored England.
If the Americans play the way they did yesterday, England will win by two or three goals easily. The first goal conceded was the result of Onyewu's limited mobility and trepidation to jump on his injured knee. The third goal came about when the left fullback, Heath Pierce, who was not named to the World Cup squad, clumsily missed a slide tackle and allowed a player to cross to a wide open teammate in the penalty area.
It is easy to dismiss the American performance. For starters, it was a makeshift team, comprised mainly of reserves hoping to earn the trip to South Africa. Only a few potential starters appeared in the match (defenders Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, and Clarence Goodson and midfielders Edu, Jose Torres, and Stuart Holden).
I thought the Americans gave away possession too easily by opting first for low percentage long ball passes, which allowed the Czechs to quickly counter-attack. In order to beat England, which IMO is beatable, the Americans must be more patient and make better decsions with the ball.
One thing the US has in its favor is that England is not a fit side at the moment. In addition to forward Wayne Rooney, the Three Lions have several defenders recovering from injuries.
The best tactic for the Americans would be to use their speed which few teams in the world can match. Playing a physical game is a strength for the slow-footed Brits, who will try to exploit the American's weakness on defense by sending in crosses from the wing. British giant Peter Crouch, he of the Robot Dance in the 2006 World Cup, will try to beat American defenders on headers.
Many of the US starters either play their club football in England or have played there recently. US players currently on English clubs include Tim Howard, Everton; Jonathan Spector, West Ham United; Jay DeMerit, Watford; Clint Dempsey, Fulham; Stuart Holden, Bolton Wanderers; and Altidore, on loan to Hull. In addition, Landon Donovan played 13 times for Everton during the winter break, scoring twice and earning 11 starts and a legion of fans.
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