Five Predictions [11.11.11, at France] (GRADED)

1. ~~Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Jermaine Jones, and Kyle Beckerman will hold down the~~ Sorry. Forgot who was coaching. Jurgen Klinsmann (obviously influenced by our latest P2010 Index) cools it on Beckerman and gives the nod to Edu and Bradley in central midfield. The back line will look a bit of a throwback, with Cherundolo,Onyewu, and Bocanegra all starting – Timmy Chandler will hold down left back. Shea and Williams will play the wings, and Dempsey will play as second striker. Altidore will get the nod up top.

Apparently Onyewu suffered a minor injury that kept him out of the squad. Other than that, the only thing I got wrong (formation included) was Beckerman. Should have known better. GRADE: B

2. The German influence will be more prevalent than ever today. Between the coach and players, at least 1/3 of American participants will be German-born. 40% or more will have played in a German league at some point.

Almost. By my count, coach included, 8/16 (50%) of participants played in Germany, but only 5/16 (31%) were born in Germany. GRADE: A-

3. Michael Orozco Fiscal will participate in his fourth “this has to be his last cap ever, right?” match in a row — the longest streak since Frankie Hejduk’s dream run of ’09.

Didn’t play, but this one’s still alive for the next game. GRADE: F

4. After the US is held scoreless in the first half, “Josh Gatt” will become the #9 trending topic on Twitter. #givemeabreak

#TheyWereHeldScorelessAndIAssumeGattWasTrending GRADE: A

5. USA 1 – 3 France. The USA will look in the game for the first 35 minutes or so, before France goes ahead 1-0 and takes the wind out of their sails. They’ll score their second soon after the break. Altidore will give the Americans their only goal and a bit of hope in the 61st minute, but France will put the game out of reach in the 80th. Yet another game where individuals will have nice performances (Shea, Altidore, Dempsey, Chandler), but the team won’t be able to pull it together. Man of the Match for the Americans will go to Jozy Altidore, for his contribution to the scoresheet. Impatient fans are going to start asking (if they haven’t already), “When are we going to see some results?” Maybe we will, too…

I should have known better. The US has allowed one goal 5/6 games. They have failed to score 4/6 games. And they’ve lost 1-0 4/6 games. Clearly, that was the scoreline to go with. Altidore and Dempsey looked ok. Shea and Chandler were hit-and-miss. Jozy didn’t get on the scoresheet and didn’t get MoM — that went to Howard (again, I should be going with the obvious). I don’t know about you all, but we’re itching to see some results. GRADE: C

OVERALL GRADE: B-. Mediocre predictions for a mediocre game. Bring on Slovenia.

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