What: The United States Men's National Team (USMNT) is hosting the Costa Rican National
Team at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, California tonight in an international friendly.
When/Where: 11 pm on ESPN 2. Andy Roddick and some guy with the last name of "Sock" are
currently playing in the second set of their tennis match on ESPN 2.
USA Setup: Jurgen Klinsmann set up the USA in a 4-3-3. Castillo was back at left back, and
Timmy Chandler was in at right back, making his second appearance for the USA. Orozco and Bocanegra
partnered in the center. Castillo looked better than the Mexico match for sure, but his slight
build continues to show a cause for concern, as he was troubled with the bigger and stronger Costa
Rica players.
Each Sides' Setup
Juergen Klinsmann made three changes from the side that lost to Costa Rica on Friday. Steve
Cherundolo slotted in at right back and Timmy Chandler auditioned at the problem position of left
back. Clint Dempsey came in for Landon Donovan in attacking midfield and Clarence Goodson came in
centrally to replace Michael Orozco Fiscal.
This is a guest post by Jacques Pelham.
Predictably, there are still many outstanding questions regarding Juergen Klinsmann and the US
national team after Klinsmann's second and third games as US coach. On Tuesday, the US demonstrated
sustained effort for 90 minutes and crafted occasional quality sequences against a Belgium team
that effectively pressed the US without the ball and featured dangerous attacking talents.
Are they the best?
In his last post, Jacques posed an interesting question:
Is it acceptable/effective to select experienced players with incomplete skill sets and little
tactical malleability? Or, is the system Klinsmann seeks to implement better served by selecting
players with less pedigree but with skill sets better suited to succeed in a possession based
system?
There was a decidedly American flavor to Glasgow Rangers' 4-0 rout of Motherwell on Saturday, as
U.S. teammates Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu both scored goals for the Scottish champions.
Bocanegra opened the scoring in the ninth minute on a powerful header, while Edu blasted a
long-range left-footed shot in the 17th minute.
