Pre-Show Open Thread: Oct. 14, 2010

Major League Soccer Talk’s podcast will shift gears during tonight’s recording. Although we will look forward to the weekend’s action in Major League Soccer, the focus of my show with co-host Christopher Riordan will be the U.S. Men’s National Team and, specifically, your thoughts on it.

Tell us: What USMNT topics do you want covered on tonight’s show. After the jump I talk about three major areas of focus. Please use this post’s comments, email (richard.farley@gmail.com) or Twitter (@richardfarley) .

Our ideas:

#1. Approach – Did you like the way Bob Bradley and U.S. Soccer approached these friendlies? Almost no Major League Soccer talent was used, and amongst the player that were brought in, most were either at or in contention for the World Cup. Should the U.S. done as Brazil has done and brought-in young talent? Or, does the U.S. have unfinished business with the players who’ve established themselves?

#2. Formation – The Poland match was business as usual – the 4-4-2 shifting to a five midfield formation when the U.S. had a second half lead. The Colombia match was something different, with an attempt at 4-3-3 reverting to a more typical approach post-halftime. What did we learn about the teams’ formation? Did it change the rest of Bradley’s tactics? How does the team move forward?

#3. Personnel – Eric Lichaj, Brek Shea, and Jermaine Jones have been capped. Maurice Edu played in central defense. Clint Dempsey played centrally and in midfield for a half. Oguchi Onyewu was bad. What did we see from the players? What information was gleaned that can help the team, going forward?

Your thoughts on these as well as your own topics on tomorrow morning’s distribution of the podcast.