El Salvador V US: Projected Starting Lineup Sept. 12, '09

My starting 11:

GK - Howard (Yup)

LB - Cherundolo (I'm pretty sure he is left-footed, could be wrong....)

CB - Bocanegra (Moved from LB to the inside due to Onyewu suspension) 

CB - DeMerit (Has been rock solid since Confederations Cup)

RB - Spector (I still believe he should have started against Mexico)

M - Bradley (More of a holding midfielder role this match)               

M - Feilhaber (US attack needs some creativity & Benny brings some of that)              

M - Holden (Dempsey didn't have it against Mexico, Holden should get a chance)  

M - Donovan (Need the full 90 out of him)                            

F - Altidore (I'm still skeptical, thoughts of Eddie Johnson running through my head)

F - Davies (Is a total baller right now)                                                     

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Subs

Torres - I want to see a little more of him because he can contribute, just need to find him a role/position

Dempsey - This could actually work out, him coming in off the bench. Could sub in for Holden, Feilhaber, or even Altidore

Clark - if the US is winning w/ less than 25 mins. to go

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As long as the US comes out fired up, has some possession, and a couple of early chances we should be able to take it to El Salvador (E.S).  With that said, if the midfield turns the ball over inside our defensive third, E.S. continues to play there counterattacking style this will result in E.S. getting some chances on Howard. 

One thing Mexico did very well was to target Donovan's side of the field.  In that Mexico kept attacking down his side of the pitch, crossing the ball to his side, making him spend more time defending & getting back on D than he had w/ the ball at his feet. 

This was a very effective strategy on Mexico's part—take the US's best player out of the game by attacking his side of the field.  My gut feeling is that more CONCACAF squads will start to do the same. 

It would be great to see a really strong performance from Feilhaber.  He has an opportunity hear to make an impression on Bradely and potentially solidify his role. The US is in desperate need of a possession midfield w/ vision.

Outcome:

US 2 - E.S. 0