USA post-mortem

And rarely has the term "post-mortem" been more apropos, as the US coaching staff tries to bring themselves back from the dead in group E. The state of the US camp is best conveyed by Steve Goff in his report today in the Post, which you should definitely read if you haven't already done so. The money quote, re: DaMarcus Beasley:

"If he's any kind of player and man, he understands [that he did not perform well]," [Arena] said. "If he doesn't, he's not going to be able to help us in Games 2 or 3, either." (Emphasis mine)

Youch.

So what changes will Arena bring in? Reading between the lines, I don't think he will mess with the back four. Arena said that "[d]efensively we actually played quite well," and I'm not sure you really get any value in replacing Pope or Lewis with someone else. The only change I could possibly see here would be Chris Albright, but I think Arena will resist it for the time being.

It's hard not to get a sense from the interview that Beasley will be benched for Italy. My guess is that Convey will remain in the left of midfield. On the right, I think it's time to unleash Clint Dempsey upon an unsuspecting world. He's totally untested at this level, but he has the strength and energy the US will need in this match.

My second guess is that Johnson will start alongside McBride, with Mastroeni being benched and Reyna as the sole defensive midfielder. I'm not sure what I think of such a switch, because we play better with someone suporting Reyna in the center. But we need goals, and in getting them, we'll have to take a chance in the back. If this happens, Reyna will need to play destroyer as much as provider.

We'll see if we get more hints as the week progresses.