ESPN Jen Chang Blog

Like most of you, I've been busy watching/dealing with Euro 2008 and so far the tournament has been going pretty much as I expected. No real surprises, although in hindsight I should have rated the Dutch over the Czechs and Italy lower than Croatia (cue more vitriol from the "Forza Italia" diehards, but then again maybe not since Gigi Buffon barely saved Italy from elimination against Romania). Anyway, here's what I'm thinking about today:

1. Nationality hijinks. For Polish fans, watching these Euros has been as frustrating as ever. Not only did Poland lose to Germany again (I won't bother to get into all the socio-political ramifications of this matchup) but the winning goals were scored by the Polish-born Lukas Podolski. The feelings of some misguided Poles are best summarized by a Polish politician's threat to withdraw Podolski's passport. The key thing to remember here though is that Podolski himself admits that Poland never interest in him as a prospect as he was growing up -- which lays the blame squarely at the blame of the Polish FA.

I mention this because in the same vein, there remain questions about the USSF's scouting network and methodology in identifying players for the U.S. One only needs to look at the Revolution's Shalrie Joseph as an example of a huge loss to the U.S. pool. He's a player that should have been indoctrinated into the U.S. system as a youth. The question is whether things are actually getting any better. The critics of the ODP system would argue it's not -- and it's hard to debate that when you have examples of players like Chivas USA's Jorge Flores, who's now playing in MLS and the U.S. U-20 team only because he won a reality TV show. How many more Jorge Flores-types are out there? Until the U.S. finds them all and adopts a better scouting system and methodology for identifying and developing youth talent in the States, you can bet that the U.S. will never maximize its potential in soccer.

2. The U.S. midfield conundrum. The Shalrie Joseph factor is particularly galling for U.S. fans because right now he's exactly what the U.S. midfield is missing against the top teams -- a classy defensive midfielder that can provide a link to the attack. We're all aware of Michael Bradley's potential and his play for Heerenveen, but let's face it -- he has yet to produce consistently strong performances for the senior national team. As such, I question why he seems to be penciled in as a certifiable lock to start in central midfield while the "other" spot is contested by Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Pablo Mastroeni and Ricardo Clark. In my mind, one of the two central spots should go to the winner of the Bradley/Edu/Clark/Mastroeni contest while the other spot needs to go to either Feilhaber or a midfielder of that ilk. Perhaps an experiment with Clint Dempsey in that role is in order.

3. Freddy Adu's time is now. After his displays against Spain and Argentina, it's pretty obvious that Adu needs to be in the mix at all times now for the senior national team. Even more so in World Cup qualifying against inferior CONCACAF opponents who will bunker down on D and try to take away the U.S. dependency on set-piece goals. Adu's creativity from the run of play will be necessary to unlock these type of defenses and he's also a far superior set-piece taker than either Landon Donovan or DaMarcus Beasley who are usually handed that role.

I've criticized Adu in the past (let's face it, his play in MLS warranted it) but he's improved dramatically since he's been at Benfica. He's more composed with the ball and makes better decisions with where to go with it, and his previously non-existent right foot has improved to the point where he even attempted a decent long-range shot against England with it. He's ready regardless of what I'm hearing about some elements of the U.S. team not believing that he's a 90-minute player at the international level yet.

4. The U.S. lineup. I'll admit I like the 4-2-3-1 formation. I think it suits the U.S. personnel but here's how I'd like to see the U.S. lineup in general for now.

GK: Tim Howard. There's no question that he's No. 1 now and for the foreseeable future.

RB: Steve Cherundolo/Frankie Simek. Cherundolo's still the preferred choice here but his displays in the recent friendlies were a little disconcerting, with Cherundolo appearing a little lightweight defensively. In the next year or so, I'm hoping to see someone like Frankie Simek step up and challenge him assuming Simek gets over his recent injury problems.

CB: Jay DeMerit/Michael Parkhurst. I think one of these guys needs to break into the lineup. Both are a lot more instinctive than either of the current incumbents Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu and have far better positional sense. There's also the possibility of guys like Michael Orozco and Neven Subotic if he ever decides to declare for the U.S. (rest assured Subotic fans I have someone working on a column about Subotic in the very near future).

CB: Onyewu/Bocanegra. The reason I don't think you can get away with starting both these guys against top-class opposition is that they're essentially the same player with the same flaws and strengths, i.e. strong in the air, the ability to score goals, good physical presence but at the same time prone to being out of position and making key mistakes. One of them paired with a DeMerit-type would be preferable in my opinion.

LB: Heath Pearce. Pearce is the incumbent for now and deservedly so, with no real challenger on the horizon. However, before U.S. fans get too carried away though about his performance against Argentina, remember that the player he was going up against Pablo Zabaleta. Zabaleta is a one-dimensional and mediocre (by typical Argentine standards) right midfielder who doesn't have much ability to beat defenders and is unlikely to seriously feature in a first-choice Argentine lineup.

CM: Bradley/Edu/Clark/Mastroeni. As outlined above, I think the U.S. needs to throw these four into the ring and let the winner emerge.

CM: Dempsey/Feilhaber/Sacha Kljestan. I honestly think Dempsey would be best utilized as a central midfielder when paired alongside a holding mid. The hope here of course is that Feilhaber gets back on track to offer the U.S. midfield more balance. Kljestan isn't ready yet, but if he continues to improve he could be an outside contender down the line.

LM: DaMarcus Beasley. Beasley remains the top choice here although I'd like to see him get pushed by Arturo Alvarez and Robbie Rogers who offer more creativity with the ball and the ability to break defenders off the dribble. For now though, Beasley's speed/experience and defensive tenacity give him the edge.

AM: Adu. It's time for Adu to start as the playmaker.

RM: Donovan. Donovan's been used by Bradley at this spot several times with a fair degree of success. Being out wide in the hybrid forward/right winger role suits him since it allows him to roam and receive the ball in space.

F: Jozy Altidore/Dempsey/Kenny Cooper. It's pretty obvious that Eddie Johnson's not the answer at forward (at least not until he gets his act together and/or improves at Fulham) and that Altidore is the most logical choice. Assuming that Altidore doesn't get the start, Clint Dempsey up top or taking a chance on someone new like Cooper might be the way to go.