2010 FIFA World Cup: US Starting Stuart Holden in a Central Attacking Role?

There has been a lot of discussion around who should be Michael Bradley's partner in central midfield. Deciding who pairs up with the younger Bradley could be the one decision with the most impact on United States' World Cup success or failure.

Throughout qualifying and at last year's Confederations Cup, Bob Bradley has started two defensive midfielders rather than the more typical lineup of one attacking and one defensive midfielder.

This has led to some people nicknaming the older Bradley as "Bunker Bob" for his overly-defensive tactics. For the US to truly threaten and make a deep run, we need more than a "park the bus and counter-attack" strategy.

I would change our current lineup to the one listed below, which puts Stuart Holden at central attacking mid and pushes Clint Dempsey up front.

Holden has already played this role for Bolton Wanderers and Houston Dynamo. His technical skills and passing ability will make him a handful for opposing defenders.

Donovan can then move to the right wing—where he played at Everton—while a rejuvenated Beasley can play on the left, which also gives the team more speed on the left-flank to help Bocanegra.

One big caveat to this lineup working properly is Michael Bradley. He has to learn and be disciplined in staying deep to provide cover on defense. He has to play the Defensive Midfielder role to perfection.

-------------Altidore------------Dempsey----------------

----------------------Holden----------------------------

Beasley-----------------------------------------Donovan

----------------------Bradley---------------------------

Bocanegra-----Demerit----------Gooch-----------Spector

----------------------Howard---------------------------

This lineup gives the US a lot of attacking firepower up front. It has tons of counter-attacking speed along with technical ability across the midfielders and strikers. Ultimately, it provides the team with an experienced spine down the middle.

It's a simple modification that really changes the face and style of the team. Until seeing Holden's play Tuesday night—which in my opinion deserved man of the match honors—I wouldn't have thought to move him into an attacking role.

The other options to start along Bradley are either Maurice Edu, Ricardo Clark, Jose Torres, or Benny Feilhaber. None of them are bad options, but do they give the US the best midfield tandem? Do they get the best players on the field?

Most knowledgeable US fans would agree that Holden has better attacking abilities than any of the above choices. And guess what, before getting injured, he was already playing this central attacking role for Bolton.

I guess Bolton Manager Owen Coyle sees some of the same things.