Who Starts Tonight?

Tonight is finally here.

It feels like we have reached that turning point in the cycle, like everything from now on will be raised to a higher level of intensity in anticipation of qualifying and eventually the World Cup.

Tonight’s match up provides many intriguing roster decisions for Bob Bradley, who has added a mix of European based players to the domestic based players who have been training for weeks. Most notably, the Golden Boys: Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, and Jozy Altidore, all look like a lock for playing time.

One guy you shouldn’t see in the starting lineup is Benny Feilhaber. At one point not so long ago he seemed to be a fixture in the First XI, but recently he hasn’t had any playing time with his club Derby County, and seems to be stuck at a tough point in his career. And he knows it. Telling Jack Bell of the NYTimes Goal Blog…

“Just from intuition and what’s been going on, I don’t expect to be playing,” Feilhaber said in a telephone interview after arriving in Texas from England. “I definitely wouldn’t expect to start. I haven’t been playing much at Derby, not at all in the last month. I just hope to get a spot on the bench.”

You have to feel bad for Benny, but you certainly don’t like the lack of resolve and confidence the kid seems to be showing. Hopefully he gets his transfer in the summer and can get a fresh start.

Here is the lineup I think we could see tonight:

——————Altidore—————-

——Convey–Dempsey–Donovan——

————-Bradley—Edu—————-

–Pearce–Bocanegra–Onyewu–Parkhurst–

——————Howard——————

It is pretty hard to judge exactly where Bob will go with each position, or even what formation he will try to use to stifle the desperate Mexican attack.

The places where I see the most trouble picking a starter would be the outside backs. Drew Moor is the only natural right back, but he certainly should not get the start over more experienced and adaptable defenders such as Parkhurst. It is also possible you could maybe see Bocanegra at LB, depending on which outside back spot Bob Bradley places more emphasis on.

The left mid spot is also up for grabs between Convey and Adu. I see Bob conservatively choosing Convey for the experience factor, but in my mind it should be Adu out there.

Edu gets the not over Rico Clark due to the fact that Maurice has been playing ever since the MLS campaign ended and Rico has not.

Will Bob start Jozy? I think it is very possible due to the makeup of the midfield, but it may be just as likely for Bob to call Clint and Landon his “forwards” and strengthen the midfield even more by moving Bradley up into the attack (16 goals for Heerenven), bringing on Rico, and sitting Jozy. This would leave a lot of fire power off the bench incase the US needs to make some changes at the break.

What lineup do you see Bob going with? Will the Golden Generation get their shot?