Some thoughts about yesterday's final tuneup for the U.S. team, a 3-1 win over Australia:
- Jozy's on a vacation far away. Edson Buddle was quoted as saying he had given Bob Bradley a headache, but a good headache. That said, Jozy is more familiar with English defenders, and he got a goal against Turkey, so it's not like he's coming off a long recovery from his day-to-day knock. I think he's still the odds-on favorite to start up top. The second forward spot is going to be one to watch, because Buddle is in form, but may be too similar to play alongside Altidore. He isn't likely to stretch defenses and create space for the other guys the way Findley can. So I think that what Buddle did with his performance is guarantee he starts at least one of the other group matches.
- A defensive shakeup? The question that's been top of mind for the backline has been whether or not a full-strength Clarence Goodson is comparable to a not-quite-full-strength Oguchi Onyewu. Now, I still believe Goodson was a better pick for the team than Chad Marshall, but I thought he looked particularly bad against the Socceroos. His positioning, communication, and just overall level of effort fell way short. As for Gooch, his body language and slight hitch in his step made me think he's just not ready, despite his post-game quote to the contrary. Especially his body language. He just didn't look right. Plus, Jonathan Bornstein looked downright stellar when he entered the match, so I'm starting to wonder if Bob Bradley considers moving Carlos Bocanegra back into the middle. With Bornstein playing well, that seems like better cover than dropping Maurice Edu back from the midfield.
- Meanwhile, in the midfield. One of the big things I noticed in the Australia match was how little I noticed Ricardo Clark. Now, for a defensive midfielder, that's not always a bad thing -- having watched the Chicago Fire for so many years, I know that very little of the dirty work you have to do in that spot makes the highlight reel. With Clark and Bradley playing the entire match, you have to figure they're the presumptive pairing for England. We may see Torres or Edu start one of the other matches, though. Dempsey had a solid match, but got tired at the end, and I thought he would have come out earlier, maybe giving DaMarcus Beasley some minutes on the left.
Less than a week to go. And Saturday will be the first time I watch the USA play in the opening round on television instead of in person in 12 years. It feels weird.