With the confederations tournament kicking off for the US tomorrow, I felt it was a good time to expand onto my US depth chart article, with my personal opinion on what the best US starting line-up and formation should be.  Some things you should know before you continue reading this article, I am putting this together based only on who I believe she be on the team, and starting.  This line-up or formation has nothing to do with the current roster Bradley brought to South Africa, to be honest I haven't even seen the final roster for the Confederations cup.

            I will begin with the starting goalkeeper, which is a pretty obvious no-brainer, Tim Howard.  I really don't think I need to explain this decision.  The two backups would be Kasey Keller and Marcus Hahnemann.

            Now onto the defense, the two central defenders are pretty obvious choices, with Carlos Bocanegra, and Oguchi Onyewu the undisputed starters.  On the sides I would start Steve Cherundolo on the right, and Jonathon Bornstein on the left.  I like both of these players because of their ability to not only play good defense, but also their ability to attack, and provide good service into the box.

            The midfield is the United States strongest area, with many options for holding midfielders, attacking midfielders, and the right side, our left side is the only question mark.  If the US goes with a four man midfield, Dempsey should start at the right, and Donovan at the left.  In the middle I would start Bradley, with Mastroeni as our holding midfielder.  If we go a five man midfield I would like Benny Fiellhaber to be added to the mix, and dictate the tempo of the game.

            At forward depending on who we play I would prefer the partnering of Altidore, and Kenny Cooper.  Not a lot needs to be said about Jozy, but I feel that Kenny Cooper has not been given a fair chance.  I have been spouting on and on about how Bradley doesn't give him a chance and his one international appearance he scored a goal.  In my opinion Cooper gives the US the best option at forward to partner Altidore because he is good at not only holding up the ball, but also distributing to other players, and is a decent finisher to boot.

            The best formation in my opinion for the US is one that emphasizes our strength in midfield, while minimizing our weakness at forward and defense.  Too do this I believe the best formation would be a 4-5-1, or old school 4-4-2.   Below is how I think the two formations would look.  Because Donovan and Dempsey aren't out and out wing midfielders, and are basically two attacking midfielders, we need Cherundolo, or Bornstein to get up those flanks and provide service into the box.  This system also allows for a lot of interchangeability between the forwards and midfielders.  Something that would hopefully help mimic a team like Barcelona, that has much movement between Iniesta, Xavi, and Messi.

4-5-1

Howard

Cherundolo Onyewu Bocanegra Bornstein

Mastroeni

Feillhaber

Dempsey Bradley Donovan

Altidore

4-4-2

 Howard

Cherundolo Onyewu Bocanegra Bornstein

Mastroeni

Bradley

Dempsey          Donovan

Altidore Cooper