CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – There will be many changes for the US national team on Friday against Jamaica (7 pm ET; FS1, UniMás, UDN), with one of the most important ones coming between the pipes.
“We’re going to start Luis Robles from the New York Red Bulls,” Arena said Thursday night before the team’s practice at Finley Stadium. “We want to obviously look at a couple of goalies during this camp.
“Nick Rimando played well last game, and Nick has demonstrated that his skill and abilities are still there. I think that was encouraging, and we’ll see how Luis does tomorrow night.”
Rimando looked solid in Sunday’s 0-0 draw against Serbia, but Arena has lots of options at keeper with Robles and David Bingham on the roster against Jamaica. In addition, Tim Howard is recovering from offseason surgery while fellow veteran 'keeper Brad Guzan is also an option later in the year.
Robles expressed excitement about getting the start Friday with a chance to continue keeping a clean sheet for the United States and prove his value to Arena.
“We’ve had a great month of training and a good first game against Serbia where we didn’t give them much,” Robles said said. “As far as the 'keeper situation goes, there’s only so much you can control. What I’m concerned about is my own performance and my attitude towards the group. I feel like this past month has been a good preseason, and it’s a great group of guys.
“To be able to participate in training and hang out with these guys has been a privilege.”
Despite the challenge of a crowded bench in goal for the USMNT, Robles said that all of the US keepers are supportive of each other and looking to contribute wherever and whenever called upon.
“I think as 'keeper we have our own sort of unspoken union,” he said. “We get a lot of flack for a lot of things, so we sort of stick by each other.
“I think no matter what, you just want to see someone go in there and perform to do well and represent our country. If that mean’s you’re playing a supporting role, so be it. If that means you’re in there, you want to do the best you can to help the team out.”
Another possible change for the US against Jamaica could be up front. Jozy Altidore played as the lone forward striker against Serbia, and showed well despite not coming up with a goal. However, the lack of offense could force Arena to make changes, which he feels Altidore can adapt to if needed.
“We’re going to play with two strikers at times as well as one,” Arena said. “It depends on the game, the location, those kinds of things. [Altidore] can play either as a lone striker or with partner next to him or somewhere underneath him.”
Despite expressing a desire for more help on the attack after the Serbia draw, Altidore said he feels that the US primarily needs to be more active up front regardless of the shape of the offense.
“Bruce knows better than anyone else because he’s been in this game longer than all of us,” Altidore said. “When you play the 4-3-3 you just have to make sure the pieces are around that can be dynamic enough to create and be dangerous.
“Whatever formation you play, you have to be dynamic. We have to be better at that. It’s more on the players than anything else.”
