Starting XI

The US Soccer blog posted the starting XI for today's game vs Italy. Based on reports from practice, I expect them to line-up as follows:

----------------Altidore----------------
Donovan-------Feilhaber-----Dempsey
------------Clark------Bradley---------
Bornstein--DeMerit--Onyewu--Spector
-----------------Howard---------------

It's not our strongest line-up, but not our worst either. The big questions are:

1. How will DeMerit fill in for Los? I have confidence that DeMerit will be solid in the back, but
I'm not sure how he will play along side Gooch and if he'll be able to bring the same kind of presence that Los does.

2. With only one forward, will we threaten Italy at all? With Feilhaber in the middle, we should be able to keep some possession, but he needs attackers to pass to. Donovan and Dempsey will be called upon to track back, but the key to our attacking success will be their ability to get forward and give Feilhaber passing options. If Donovan and Dempsey end up too deep defensively, this could turn into a long game.

3. How will Bornstein perform at left back? I don't really need to elaborate on our left back issues do I?

I'll leave you with one promising statistic; the U.S. has never lost to Italy outside of Italy.

Enjoy the game.