WCQ: Yes Way, Jose

It sure does feel like whenever it comes time for an international fixture we're always losing somebody. I'm sure that as I write this someone somewhere is getting injured.. "no jinx" (when I originally wrote this Gatt was as healthy as could be)

I'll say this though, it's getting a tad bit easier to fill spots when a player goes down. Which speaks well of the continued soccer development in this country. For right now, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Edgar Castillo and now Josh Gatt are all out for the upcoming games. With Clint’s recent transfer to Tottenham and him not playing a competitive game in about 2 ½ months I doubt he’s at his sharpest and will more than likely start on the bench.

As for this new Josh Gatt dilemma, what can you do? I was really looking forward to seeing this kid too. From the random YouTube footage I've been able to get a hold of and yanks-abroad.com updates, Gatt seems like a quality player and one who could add some much needed width to that winger-less 4-3-3 we like to employ so much. I imagine anything he could bring to the table would be better than the Danny Williams out wide experiment. Danny’s a CDM/CB btw… Hopefully this will open the door for Chris Pontius to be called in as a replacement, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.

Now, looking at our current USMNT injury situation with a “glass half full” mentality I'm actually pretty excited to hopefully see Jose Torres slide into the center of the park. When Juergen pushes Jose into the attacking third I feel like his talents are wasted. I’ve always seen Jose as a deep lying playmaker who can both mix it up and get the offense going. Think Dax McCarty when he was on FC Dallas, but better. Instead, Juergen’s got him playing in a more D.C United version of Dax McCarty. As I recall that worked wonders for Dax! McCarty now plays for the Red Bulls and has since reprised the role which made him a standout in Dallas. Maybe Klinsman would be wise to do the same with Jose.  I understand that a coach’s job is to challenge players in hopes of bringing their talents to the next level, but sometimes you just can't fit a square peg into a round hole…

With the first game being played in Jamaica, I imagine that we’ll probably go out somewhat defensively. Here’s the lineup that I wouldn’t mind seeing.

              

Howard

Cherundolo   Cameron Bocanegra  Johnson

Jones       Torres    Beckerman

Gomez              Shea

Altidore

None of the the midfielders I have starting actually fit the facilitator role, but then again we're not exactly producing them in bunches here in the States. On this current roster Zusi probably fits that role best, but with this being an important away game, I don't see him starting as he's still fairly new to the USMNT setup. In the back I think we're pretty set and up top is really anyone's guess. Go U S A !!!