Sorting Out The Starters

Bob Bradley says today's lineup will be "close" to their first XI for South Africa. Ives tries to read the tea leaves after seeing part of a training session, and I'm not sure he's drawing the right conclusions.

Herculez Gomez was partnered up top with Jozy Altidore on their team. The training session wasn't divided up into what could be called a first team and a second team, but the partnerships that were on display seemed to suggest some potential pairings. Gomez and Altidore worked well together and it wouldn't shock me if Gomez got a start (though Clint Dempsey is still more likely to start up top). Gomez impressed in finishing drills and has a blast of a shot.

This is a big part of what the Turkey match will sort out, but right now I think the default position is that it will, in fact, be Altidore and Gomez up top, with Donovan and Dempsey in the wide midfield spots, because that's where they prefer to play.

Maurice Edu was deployed at centerback during the late action. After being used there late in the Czech match it is clear he will be called on to provide cover if needed. Does it mean he's already lost the battle with Ricardo Clark for the starting central midfield spot? It's too early to tell.

I don't know if Ives sets up these straw men just to knock them down, but this seems like a painfully bad conclusion to even try to draw. Bradley needs to establish whether or not Edu's breakdown on the fourth Czech goal was an aberration, because his three best center backs all have possible injury issues. I still think Edu versus Clark is a tossup, with Clark having the more recent experience and success alongside Michael Bradley, but Edu being a better option when he's at his best.

Jose Torres looked sharp and confident playing alongside Michael Bradley. He definitely brings a calmness on the ball that can help in the middle of the park. Does it mean he's ready to start? Probably not against England, but I could see him getting the call against a team like Algeria.

Of course, it wouldn't be an Ives column without at least one case of pumping up a pet favorite. Torres will only start if the result doesn't matter. Which doesn't rule him out against Algeria -- who seem to be experimenting an awful lot in their warmup matches -- but he makes it sound like it's a rotation in the midfield when it's really not.

Stuart Holden was held out of practice to give him some rest after playing 90 minutes on Tuesday. He's in the mix for a starting role, but could lose out to an in-form DaMarcus Beasley.

As much as I'm a Beasley fan, I don't think he's worked himself back into the starting lineup. As much as I'm a Stuart Holden fan, I don't think he's recovered enough to start on the right and push Dempsey up top as a starter. One of them would likely be the first player off the bench, though.

Absent any massive revelations, I'm pretty confident the U.S. starting lineup against England will be this:

F Altidore Gomez
M Donovan Bradley Edu/Clark Dempsey
D Bocanegra DeMerit Onyewu Cherundolo
G Howard

The biggest three issues for the Turkey match are how Altidore and Gomez play together up top, whether it's Bradley/Edu or Bradley/Clark in the middle and how match sharp Onyewu is. Everything else -- with the possible exception of what happens when you move Dempsey up top -- is secondary. Enjoy the match.