Bradley still has many decisions to make for USA

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05/26/2010 - Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even with the announcement of his final 23- man roster for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in South Africa on Wednesday afternoon, United States coach Bob Bradley has a lot of important decisions to make.

The versatility of a number of players on the roster gives Bradley several options in both formation and starting 11 leading up to the USA's first Group C match vs. England on June 12.

Will he use just one striker and five midfielders in front of his four-man back line? Who will start in the back line, and in what positions? Will Bradley go with a more traditional 4-4-2 formation? Who will start in the middle of the field, where there are a number of solid choices? Will the team's best attacking options - Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey - be playing out wide, in the midfield, or up top?

"There is a lot of versatility with a lot of the players here," Dempsey said. "You can put Landon up top, you can play him at withdrawn forward, you can put him on the right, on the left, you can do the same with me. [Coach Bradley] definitely has a lot of options. The most important thing is about getting the strongest 11 out there, whatever he thinks. Where ever he tells you to play you have to step up and do your best job in your position."

The back line makeup hinges on whether Bradley decides to use team captain Carlos Bocanegra in central defense or out wide in front of starting goalkeeper Tim Howard.

"In the center I feel like I can help organize a lot more, but I'm comfortable playing either position," Bocanegra said. "I think it will be tactically a situation where Bob kind of chooses whether he wants me to play on the inside or outside and maybe against our opponents, and how we go about our game plan."

If Bocanegra plays in the middle, it would force Bradley to break up the Jay DeMerit/Oguchi Onyewu tandem that was instrumental in helping the USA shock the soccer world by knocking off 2008 European Champions Spain in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup last year.

"Carlos, with his club [Rennes of the French Ligue 1] the last few years has played more as a left back," Bradley said. "For us, probably you would say that we have used him more as a center back. I think he feels that in terms of being a leader on the field he is able to do more from the center.

"The fact of the matter last year is that he came out of the qualifier against Honduras with a little bit of an injury and we got to the Confederations Cup and the first few games he wasn't ready. And then by the time he was ready we felt that Gooch [Onyewu] and Jay [DeMerit] were playing really well. So now you've got the flexibility at that point. That's a good thing there."

If Bocanegra plays out wide, it would force him to bench either presumed starting right back Steve Cherundolo, or Jonathan Spector, who may fit better as a substitute.

"One of Jonathan's qualities is his versatility," Bradley said. "That works well for him with our national team and it clearly works well for him with [his club team] West Ham. He can play anywhere across the back line.

"You always look around and see other players that have those qualities. John O'Shea from Manchester United is a player who gives them some versatility. He's a player who can play different spots, so I think that's a real plus and helps us when we put our rosters together."

As many options as Bradley has in the back, the midfield is still the most murky.

"I think over this cycle we have shown that there are a number of guys who, on any day, can step in and do a real job for the team," presumed starting central midfielder Michael Bradley said. "Whether it's myself, Benny Feilhaber, Maurice Edu, Ricardo Clark, Jose Torres ... I think we have good options in there. In a World Cup you know you are going to need every guy, from the first guy to the 23rd guy. The fact that we have good options is only going to help our team."

If the team goes with a traditional four-man midfield, Michael Bradley will probably start next to Maurice Edu, with Clark and Feilhaber as the top defensive replacements, and Torres or Stuart Holden as offensive replacements. That would leave either Donovan or Dempsey out wide, with the other playing either next to or behind Jozy Altidore up top.

Torres and Holden also have the ability to play out wide in a wing pool that includes DaMarcus Beasley, Donovan and Dempsey.

If Donovan had his pick, he would be playing out wide.

"On this team I have developed a comfort playing wide in the midfield on either side," he said. "So that would be my preference. But I also understand that in certain games and even within games that those things change and tactically those things need to change. I've always been very open to that, as long as I'm on the field I know I can make an impact and it doesn't matter too much where I'm at."

If Bradley goes with a five-man midfield, the options are plentiful, with the Dempsey/Donovan combinations endless.

"I think for both of us the difference lies in the defending aspect," Donovan said of the variables concerning him and Dempsey. "When we are on the field we are relied on to do certain things offensively that we're good at. The change comes defensively. When you are in the midfield you end up naturally doing a lot more running and at times you defend more. It is just knowing tactically where to be and how to play. But offensively we're pretty much the same in that we play a certain way no matter where we are playing."

As is usually the case with a U.S. roster, Bradley is most limited with his forward options. All four true strikers at his disposal - Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez - will be playing in their first World Cup. Altidore is the favorite to have the most impact in a weak group, but look for Donovan or Dempsey to bolster the options.

While Bradley has his work cut out for him trying to figure out the best combination of players to put on the field for the USA, it is better than the alternative.

"A lot of competition brings out the best in players," Edu said. "I think that's what we all want, we all want to be playing at our best and putting ourselves in the best position possible to do well in this tournament. I think we are all trying to make the decisions as hard as possible for coach Bradley. That comes with us all working hard, training hard and pushing each other to be the best that we can be."

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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