The USA will beat England. Here is why…
England v USA, 28 May 2008, Friendly, Wembley.
The USA is the habitual underdog in football, and England is the habitual underachiever. Those two virtues make the upcoming friendly exceedingly interesting.
The history between these two nations goes as far back as 1607, when the Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock. The animosity between these two nations did not start until 1776. The Americans have won all of the wars, but have not enjoyed the same success on the pitch. The USA has only beaten England twice, once in 1950, and most recently in 1993, but never in England. The other 6 times the two sides have played, England has won, usually in emphatic style. In 1964, England beat the Yanks 10-0 in New York. Luckily for the Yanks, the level of play in the US has improved substantially since that 10-0 drubbing.
Nineteen of the twenty-two players called in for this game are European-based. The US does not have any superstars, but the squad is full of very good and consistent players. It all starts in the back with Tim Howard. He is the keeper for Everton, and he is is one of the best in the EPL. The defense is physically imposing in the middle, and consistent and methodical on the wings. Oguchi Onyewu, one of the US’s central defenders, is coming off a championship in the Belgian League with Standard Liege. Onyewu is a towering 6 feet and 4 inches tall, and has scored in the US’s previous two friendlies against Mexico and Poland. His partner in the middle, Carlos Bocanegra, is also a physical defender. At 6 feet tall, he will also pose trouble for the English attackers. The wings are manned by Steve Cherundolo, and Heath Pearce. These two play in the Bundesliga, and are used to dealing with capable attackers from the wings. The defense will pose problems for whomever Fabio Capello selects up top.
The midfield should also provide trouble for England. Damarcus Beasley, if fit, will be on the left. His speed is tremendous and could cause trouble for either David Beckham or David Bentley. Either Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan will be on the right wing. Both are tricky players who carry the ball well. They are also adept at making darting runs to the middle and distributing from there. Ricardo Clark and Michael Bradley will most likely be in the center of the pitch. Clark is a hard-nosed midfielder who is not afraid to let his presence be known. Michael Bradley is one of the most sought after commodities in Europe. At 20 years old, Bradley scored 20 goals for Heerenveen, and has garnered interest from teams in England such as Everton, Blackburn, Sunderland, and Middlesborough. He is a relentless worker and will give plenty of trouble to whomever is in the center for England.
The forward position is one where the US pool is shallow. Eddie Johnson will most likely be partnered with either Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey. Bob Bradley decided not to bring Jozy Altidore, the 18-year-old phenom who is the bright hope at the forward position. He has been linked to Real Madrid, Chelsea, Villareal, and Manchester United. His absence leaves a significant void. If you watched Eddie Johnson at Fulham, you will know he too often plays the ball back and dives all over the pitch. However, he is known to be a streaky player. If he is able to hit a good run of form, he could cause trouble for England. Landon Donovan has also played well recently. He has scored 8 goals in 8 games this year for the Galaxy. If it is Clint Dempsey up top, he might play a more withdrawn role, with Johnson directly in front of him. Dempsey is not a true forward, but has shown himself to be more than capable of playing the role. He was the lone scorer for the Yanks in the previous game between the US and England.
The US should be able to exploit the left side through Damarcus Beasley and make trouble for England. If they can do that and take their set pieces well, the US could be leaving Wembley with a win. The US was able to score all three of their goals in their previous game against Poland from set pieces. Oguchi Onyewu is difficult to handle on set pieces and even John Terry could have trouble because of Gooch’s significant physical advantage. If the US is able to stop the English attack, control the central midfield, and attack the left side with Beasley, they have a chance of surprising England.
Will the underdogs surprise the underachievers? What will the final score be? Have your say.
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Errr no, sorry mate. You forgot to mention any possible threats from the England team. I’m sure they pose more problems for the USA than the USA will do for England.
England will prevail, but only if it avoids some catastrophic mistake. Around 8 players from the Champions League Final will be on the England Team. A week is plenty of time to recover physically, but can the players recover emotionally from such a game??
If Beasley, Adu, Donovan and Johnson start up front, it will be an exceedingly FAST and skilled attack. Can an end of season, tired English Team keep up? And finally, It should be noted that at least 8 of the yanks and almost all of the English player play in the EPL and having played against each other many times, know the relative strengths and weaknesses. It will be up to the likes of Donovan, Adu and Bradley to inject an element of the unknown into the match to at least make it interesting!!
Lamby, I agree, England are the odds on favorite, but if the US can play to the gameplan I have mapped out and succesfully execute it, they might be able to win. I’d say England wins this game 75% of the time but they are only playing one game. The US players are generally more rested as there are many English players coming back from the Champions League final. If I’m making a prediction, I say England wins, but I don’t want to count out a quite skilled US team, especially since I’m a big supporter of them.
US have more of a chance to win this than England…Sorry!! Who are the “threats” on the English side?? Tell me who England are counting on up top to score their goals? Owen is out, Rooney is tired from CL duty which leaves who? Which successful midfield partnership is Capello going to use?? Who’s going in goal for England??? The only thing that has me thinking that England might win…is the fact they need to win it more than the US…Its a 2-1 win for the USA.
I have to beleive that the USA-Spain match or USA-Argentina match will be more of a test than England…which looks like a mere photo-op for Landon and Beckham to play against each other…then give each other a “teamsmates” hug at the end of the match!!
Still no matter the outcome…Im sure I will hear the same sh!t I’ve been hearing from English people…If they win.. then its cos theyre so much superior than anyone on the field..the English League is better than anything else blah blah blah and if they lose they will stress that is was only a friendly and that it was an experimental side!!
2-1 USA…Landon scores one, Beckham scores one (cos he’ll be the only guy wearing an England jersey that plays with any heart) and then Dempsy scores the winner!!!
Seeya folks
Simon Allen
World Soccer Wrap
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Come on people, how can you all seriously suggest that the USA are actually going to beat England. Sure Donovan is a good player, but he never cut it in Europe, and a capacity crowd at Wembley is a slightly different proposition than the Home Depot Centre. Adu, Dempsey, Beasley and Johnson to an extent are decent players who are proven to play well in the big leagues of Europe, but I’m sure Ferdinand, Terry, Brown, Cole, King, Woodgate etc. will deal quite easily with that threat.
Capello won’t let England lose! (no offence America!)
Although I do think the England will be able to win this friendly, the author of this author (Max Zeger?) does pose some interesting points. If USA can hold onto the ball in their offensive end for long enough, it might make for an interesting game. Nonetheless, I still believe that England will win.
The most interesting matchup to watch will be whomever defends Oguchi Onyewu on set pieces. Gooch is the biggest outfield player in US history and he physically can dominate Rio of Terry. Whether he will is another question. On the wembley part, the US are used to playing in front of capacity crowds that in America that are mostly for the other team. Their friendly against Mexico earlier this year was an 80% mexican crowd, and there were 70,000 people there. USA will not be intimidated, and Bob Bradley has said they have come here for a win. I agree up top might be difficult for us but whomever is up top for England will have difficulties with Bocanegra, and mammoth gooch.
I’m not ruling out the USA team as you say, they do have quite a skilled team. But Mr Simon Allen is underestimating some of the other English players. So i’ve decided to answer some of the questions he posed.
Who are the “threats” on the English side??
Ashley Young and David Bentley, two of the most consistent and dangerous wingers in the EPL, both have deadly crossing ability and also score goals. Steven Gerrard, one of the best goal scoring midfielders in Europe. Walcott and Abonglahor, both young forwards and both have outrageous pace (more than measly Beasley). Defoe being in the Owen mould and having been in great form since his move to Portsmouth deserves a chance.
Tell me who England are counting on up top to score their goals?
Defoe, Walcott, Abonglahor, Ashton.
Which successful midfield partnership is Capello going to use??
Most likely Gerrard(Attacking) and Gareth Barry(Holding), seem to play well together internationally and could be club mates soon if Rafa gets his way.
Who’s going in goal for England???
Most likely David James, had an amazing season for Portsmouth and was in the EPL team of the year. May be old but can still pull off some amazing saves. Although he is prone to an occasional error, but so is old Timmy Howard.
“I have to beleive that the USA-Spain match or USA-Argentina match will be more of a test than England”…….Well it prob would be, since Spain are a better team than us and Argentina are the second best team in the world.
“Still no matter the outcome…Im sure I will hear the same sh!t I’ve been hearing from English people…If they win.. then its cos theyre so much superior than anyone on the field” ……. Well because they do have better players than the USA. Not saying we have the best in the world tho.
“the English League is better than anything else blah blah blah “……..Surely it can be seen that the EPL is the best league right now!? During the Early 90’s it was Serie A, Early 00’s it was La Liga, and now it is the EPL, as shown by the fact we had 2 English teams in the Champions League final and it grosses the highest amount of money and viewers than any other Football league in the world. Link: http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/161923/premier-league-towers-over-world-football-says-deloitte
Thank you and good night
The US squad has a real shot of winning this match. I think it will take a very unified and very error free game, but I believe we have the pieces to surprise England on their home turf. I agree with Max that England would normally win 75% of the time, but we are only playing one game, and I think the US squad has something to prove against the English. It will be a 2-1 win for the US.
“Don’t tread on me”
I view this as a good situation for the US to be in. If we win, there is attention world wide and all around the states, if we lose, it won’t be that big of a deal for people in the US. England needs to win this game. If they don’t there will be a sour taste in their mouths, especially since they lost to the US
I think Crouch will probably play for that reason, even though he’s not a proper footballer! Nearly 7 feet tall and can’t even effectively knock the ball down - what’s that all about?
Capello now also wants England to play the ball along the floor, unlike the McClaren era where they just lumped the ball to the 5 ft 10 in Wayne Rooney and the 5 ft 8 in Michael Owen, and were absolutely clueless when this never worked. As all England fans watching on at Euro 2008 know, this was immensley sucessful, and has helped Steve’s career no end.
However, this sort of style could benefit the US. Wembley will have come off the back of three play-off finals come England’s friendly with America, so the pitch will be a bit cut up to say the least, meaning that playing it along the floor would be a bit fraught, which could result in some lucky bounces and breaks for both sides. Combine that with the fact that Johnson and Dempsey are both quite tall players, so a long-ball style of play could work quite well, knocking the ball down to the onrushing Adu, etc. could cause England some problems.
Bit of change of tune from my previous entry I know - but I’ve just remembered how rubbish a side we can be!
One option for England: put Walcott in at right mid…probably the only player in either side faster than Beasley.
Looks like you were wrong, bud.
Unfortunately i feel this match was yet more evidence of hows FIFA’s rankings system over-inflates the American’s importance in world football, sure you’ve got what’s developing into a very interesting national league (Chivas USA kick ass by the way
but it is still far removed from the quality of football played in Europe or South America. Mexico (themselves not all that great) is the only other big( well ish) nation in North America for Football, and it’s on the downward at the moment. The North American Nations are still exceedingly weak. I have faith the States will get there.But they have to realise that North American Soccer(what?) is not (yet) a worldbeater, and FIFA does you no favours with your rankings based on poor quality opponents.Good Luck for 2010, England’s opposition probably means we’ll need it more than you. Alexi Lalas Rules!! Hope to meet u again in a world cup final…just 2 prove me wrong 
you talk a load of rubbish and no nothing about football.
you just wanted a headline grabber.
do your research properly , or watch netball , you might have more of a clue on that.
I honestly think that England is the better team than the US. I said that in this article. I do think though that if the US plays a strong game, they can beat England. 75% of the time England wins, but the US on their game are no slouches. They didn’t have their top two forwards, Beasley was poor today, and they had two huge defensive lapses. Gerrard walked in, and Bocanegra was not even pressuring Terry. The US played a poor game, and England played well. A full squad for the US would still probably lose often to England, but a good game for the US can see them beat England, like it has happened twice out of nine matches. The US wasn’t expecting to win this game, and yes I had high hopes, but we were humbled. England is a great team, and we were beaten soundly. On our best day we can win but this was not our best day.
your still talking nonsense , have a look at the players england have got,,,, we have a squad of world class players playing for the best teams in the world.
we had bad management before in ‘Sven’ but now that is all about to change.
and yes , any team can or could beat greater opposition on their best day if the better opponents are having an off day , but the fact is USA are a second rate team with no world class players,,, so to say ‘The USA will beat England. Here is why’ ,,,,, is just playground talk.
I completely agree that England is world class, and that the US isn’t and they were suffering from poor management.
That said, I think that the US isn’t that bad. There are no world class players but they have good consistent players. This was not a full strength squad, and they were in pretty bad form to be honest. The forwards never were in the game and we had 2 or 3 good chances the whole game. England is better, I agree, but I was just making the argument that the US is usually overlooked and they could surprise England.
I was wrong. I fully admit that, but you can’t fault me for making an argument that the US could beat England
Both teams last night were getting sucked into the midfield battle way too much. I was at Wembley last night, and it was crying out for a flair player, such as Adu, to come on and make it more interesting for the USA. He should have come on alot earlier. But England did play well last night, an Italian manager or team never does emphatic wins, they just keep possession and get the job done, which they did very well last night.
We all see your hypothesis was preposterous in hindsight
I am English and watched the game, it is true to say that England were the better side as they should be! Given the obvious disparity between the level the players on each team play at.
However, I think it is very unfair that people here blast Max Zeger from the relative comfort of hindsight. It is always a difficult and brave thing to do to write an article like this because naturally quite often things turn out differently.
Personally I think the USA team will improve, and the round of friendlies they are currently experiencing will assist them even should they lose all their games. At this stage to the USA team the results matter far less than what lessons they can take from the games to build on.
Spain will be a huge test for the USA, but the USA have my support for this game!