Dempsey has inside track on midfield slot

For the last few months, American soccer fans have been obsessing over the makeup of the U.S. World Cup roster. Now that national team coach Bruce Arena has made his decisions, those same fans can move on to their next fixation, namely, "Who will start?"

Of course, with one month to go until the Yanks' opening group game against the Czech Republic, one might as well use tea leaves to guess Arena's intentions. But given that there are surprisingly few positions up for grabs, the exercise is less futile than it might appear.

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Dempsey has the inside track on the right midfield position, but he does have some competition.

In goal, Kasey Keller is a shoo-in to start. Assuming a 4-4-2 alignment, the back line looks set to feature Eddie Lewis and Steve Cherundolo out wide, with Oguchi Onyewu partnering either Eddie Pope or Cory Gibbs in the center of the defense.

Up top, the most likely pairing would see Landon Donovan playing in support of Brian McBride. In midfield, John O'Brien's lack of fitness means Claudio Reyna and Pablo Mastroeni probably will line up in the center and DaMarcus Beasley and Bobby Convey will duke it out for time on the left.

This leaves us with the conundrum on the right side of midfield, a situation that has been slow to reveal itself. For most of World Cup qualifying, and continuing into this year, the burning question concerned who would slot in at left back. Arena auditioned a slew of candidates before deciding Lewis' ability to get forward trumped any concerns about his inexperience at the position, as well as his lack of size. And should Lewis find himself overpowered by the likes of Italy's Alberto Gilardino, bigger players such as Gibbs, Carlos Bocanegra and Chris Albright are waiting in the wings.

Meanwhile, the right flank appeared to be in the very capable hands of New England midfielder Steve Ralston. Santino Quaranta of D.C. United, and Ralston's club teammate, Clint Dempsey, appeared set to provide depth. But a series of injuries felled Ralston and injury and a drop in form eliminated Quaranta, leaving Dempsey as the front-runner.

Given the Texan's fine form of late, the U.S. could do far worse than to have Dempsey lining up in the opener. His slashing runs and willingness to take people on should make him a handful for any opponent, and his improved defense has won him praise from Arena.

But although Dempsey has excelled in recent months, he still is relatively untested when the stakes are highest. His best moments have come in friendlies, and Dempsey's only two starts in qualifying came after the U.S. already had clinched a spot in the finals. It begs the question: What are Arena's other options if Dempsey should falter?

There is a list of candidates from which to choose, but asking any of them to play right mid is like asking Lewis to start in goal. Could you do it? Sure, but that doesn't mean you should. The problem being that in almost every case, the nominee's best position lies elsewhere.

Donovan has played out wide in the past, and if Josh Wolff, Eddie Johnson or the like hits his top form in the coming weeks, that might afford Arena the option of pushing the Galaxy star to the wing. But given the Yanks' reliance on Donovan's creativity, the team is better off playing him in a more central position.

Beasley is another option, but his club form with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven has been so inconsistent over the past year that rehabilitating his confidence will be one of Arena's primary aims during training camp. And that means putting him in his comfort zone on the left side of midfield.

Ben Olsen is a possibility, and his early years in D.C. saw him as a flank player who frequently made marauding runs down the wing. But an ankle injury that nearly ended his career has robbed Olsen of some of his pace, and as a result, his value is more on the defensive side of the ball. It explains why Olsen's primary role will be to back up Mastroeni, whose nasty streak makes him a magnet for yellow cards. It's possible Olsen could see time out wide as a late-game defensive sub, but if Mastroeni is suspended sometime during the tournament, that will leave Olsen otherwise engaged.

As for Wolff, like Donovan, he's a forward better suited to the center of the field. Reyna? He played out wide for spells in the last World Cup, but his talents also are better used in the middle, especially if injured O'Brien fails to regain his fitness. And using Cherundolo in midfield makes sense only if Arena opts for a 3-5-2 alignment.

Which leaves Convey. The Reading midfielder's confidence is sky high after he helped his side win promotion to the English Premier League with a series of scintillating performances on the left flank. This self-belief might allow Convey to swap sides, but Arena's tendency has been to put players in positions that play to their strengths. Convey is left-footed, so such a move would go against that inclination.

All of this leaves Arena with an interesting predicament. I'm on record as saying a healthy O'Brien is vital to the Yanks' chances of advancing out of the first round, and I'm sticking to that view. But I'll admit that the statement is made with visions of O'Brien replicating his form of 2002, which seems more unlikely with each passing day. So how tempted will Arena be to pull the plug on O'Brien and bring in someone like Ralston?

As of right now, it's definitely enticing. Ralston's fitness level is miles higher than that of O'Brien, given that he not only scored in New England's 4-0 thumping of Los Angeles this past Saturday, but also exited the game unscathed after 73 minutes. Meanwhile, O'Brien was not even healthy enough to go to Seattle last weekend for Chivas USA's friendly against the Sounders. If O'Brien recovers from his current calf injury only to the point where he's good for 10-15 minutes a game, does Arena keep him on the roster? Will 20-25 minutes be enough?

Arena has until Monday to replace O'Brien with no questions asked. After that, only a documented injury to the former Ajax player will allow him to be replaced. Of course, given O'Brien's history, finding an ailment on him will be about as difficult as finding a beer in Germany. But it's still a tricky decision, and O'Brien's removal from the team would be a severe blow. That said, the addition of Ralston's crossing ability would add depth to the right side as well as another wrinkle to the U.S. attack. It also would make the Yanks less reliant on Lewis and Cherundolo to provide service from the wings.

As for the remaining options on the right flank, there is still plenty of time. The three friendlies the U.S. has scheduled for the end of the month should allow Arena a good opportunity to solidify his lineup. And give fans ample time to obsess over his choices.

Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPNsoccernet. He can be reached at eljefe1@yahoo.com