US v. England preview

No country has had a greater influence on American soccer than England. Perhaps no country has had a greater influence on the history of America than England. Last December the teams were drawn into the same group, observers immediately began salivating over the match-up between the once and future kings of global hegemony.

The day is finally here and I for one am boiling over with anticipation.

US Keys of the game:

1. Start quickly - I don't mean they need to score in the first twenty minutes. They do need to maintain some possession and positive movement. They can not retreat and start defending from the opening whistle, as they will not be able to absorb pressure for the full 90 minutes. More importantly they can not allow an early goal. In 2006 Jan Koller scored within five minutes which completely deflated the US.

2. Win midfield battles - Who will Bob Bradley start aside his son Michael? My guess is Ricardo Clark, although I would prefer Maurice Edu or Jose Torres. Clark is too prone to poor decisions and late tackles and the last thing we need is to be down a man. Whoever is in the middle needs to play above their heads. England has strength in the middle with Lampard, Gerrard, Milner etc. Wayne Rooney also likes to drift back and get involved in midfield battles. The US will be over matched and they need to hold their own in order to distribute to the forwards.

3. Finish chances - The rumors seem to be that Robbie Findley will start along side Jozy Altidore. The thought is that Findley brings speed that can trouble the English defense which is vulnerable since Ledley King replaced the injured Rio Ferdinand. I would prefer Edson Buddle who has been in goal scoring form for LA Galaxy and scored two goals against Australia in the final friendly. Findley has been as cold as Buddle has been scoring only one goal so far in MLS. In that match against Australia he had two clear goal scoring chances that he was not able to convert.

The responsibility to create chances does not lie with the US forward, the goals for the US are going to be created by Donovan and Dempsey. The forwards need to capitalize on any chances that are afforded them.

England Keys:

1. Adjust to injuries - As previously mentioned the English captain Rio Ferdinand will be out of commission tomorrow. In his place is Ledley King, the 30 year old captain of Tottenham Hotspurs. This is a serious downgrade and with both Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson looking to move forward, King will be put to the test.

The injury to Gareth Barry is just as significant. It forces Fabio Capello to once again solve a problem that has plagued England in recent years. How do you effectively use Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard on the same field? The men are both icons for their respective clubs but they play the same position. Capello solved the problem by inserting Gareth Barry into a deep midfield position, shifting Gerrard to the right flank, allowing Lampard to stay in his preferred central role. The injury to Barry now forces Capello to reevaluate his strategy. I would suggest putting Michael Carrick in Gareth Barry role and leaving everything else status quo. However, the prevailing wisdom is that Gerrard will be pulled back into a more central role. That is fine for me from a US perspective but I would rather see Gerrard doing things like THIS...if I were an England supporter.