Talking Dempsey and injuries: I ponder the question, "What next?"

First off, I may get my little reporter’s badge yanked by U.S. Soccer in short order. On the very same day this piece appears on ESPN Soccernet, a look at the ongoing Clint Dempsey debate, the feisty Texan goes out and gets hammered by a nasty bolt of injury lightning.

Coincidence? Of course it was. As I’ve said before, I’m not superstitious. I don’t believe in the ways of the shaman, nor in spells, charms, incantations or the undead. But since not everyone sees it thus, it has been politely suggested that I work up a piece on Wayne Rooney – ya know, just in case there’s a chance I can keep my streak going.

So while we all not-so-patiently await word on the injury that could keep Dempsey out of the 2010 World Cup – diminishing the hopes of a team that would then be dealing with three significant injury setbacks – let’s look at what might be:

What if the worst-case scenario develops involving Dempsey, who has been performing so well lately at Fulham in the land of abundant pubs and sticky toffee pudding? Who could effectively step into the breach?

Landon Donovan can surely shift to the right. He’s playing there for Everton at the moment, although he has been playing on the left for Bob Bradley’s national team, opposite Dempsey.) But that just creates the "poor man’s blanket" scenario. That is, if your feet are cold, you push down the blanket to keep them warm – only to discover that your shoulders are now cold. So you pull it up, but then your feet … ok, ok, you get it.

So that’s not much of an option.

Stuart Holden becomes a legitimate option to start. 

For me, this is the option that makes the most sense, and one that actually presents a chance for minimal dropoff. Holden could become to 2010 what DaMarcus Beasley was to 2002: a young, relatively unknown (around the world, that is) winger who causes trouble with his pace and hustle. If you watched Holden at all last year with the Dynamo, you know that guy works his little dri-fit socks off. He’s always chasing back to help holding midfielder Ricardo Clark.

I’ve said before that I think Holden’s best spot is out wide. The Dynamo plays him inside because that’s where he best fits the club. Fair enough. But if he catches on somewhere in England this winter – and I see that as a big possibility – I do believe it will be as a wide midfielder.

Benny Feilhaber has played on the right, so that’s an option. And as Feilhaber is really more of a central player, that move fits into Bradley’s system, where the outside midfielders are encouraged to tuck inside liberally.

That said, Feilhaber isn’t going to do much to create dynamic scenarios.

There’s also Beasley, who has become the little lost puppy dog of the national team bunch. I’ve seen it suggested that perhaps the Rangers’ man, who recently re-gained a toehold on relevancy by making a couple of productive appearances for the Scottish giants, could be the answer. Well, let me say this: any such move would be borne of desperation. At this point, Beasley needs to show a lot just to prove that he’s a candidate for selection. He hasn’t been a productive player for four years. If Bradley rolls the Beasley dice again, he does so at great peril.

Bruce Arena trusted Beasley to, somehow, magically snap back into form back in 2006, against all evidence that such a thing was going to happen. Beasley’s bad form helped scuttle the ship then, and if he’s allowed to do the same, then it’s clearly on the manager this time around.

Robbie Rogers? Yeah, he’s got some pace and he’s the rare winger who can serve from either side. But his game remains on the naïve side: He still hasn’t figured out how to solve problems, how to get the most from his speed, how to add precision to those crosses – and that’s all against Major League Soccer. I think he’d be a fairly easy shut-down for a more sophisticated fullback, which he’s sure to face in South Africa.

Past that, you’re looking at guys like Sacha Kljestan and Jose Francisco Torres. Kljestan is in the national team camp at the moment, straining to forget about 2009. It’s a contract year for him, and he’s well aware that a return to productivity would reap millions (literally) in the transfer market this year. (The Chivas USA man is in the final year of his MLS contract.) So it is possible that Kljestan goes nuts in the early MLS rounds, regains confidence and then gets slotted into Dempsey’s spot. The chances aren’t great that it will happen just so … but there’s a chance nonetheless.

Torres isn’t a completely unattractive option. But it also means, essentially, building your system around the young, technically gifted midfielder. You’d have to tweak the works to provide cover for his defensive liabilities, which are fairly significant. I know people want to see Torres out there more often, but big boy soccer means playing a more complete game. Right now, Torres isn’t an effective two-way midfielder.

In my mind, Holden is the best hope. He’s got something. He may be as close as this team can come to replacing Dempsey with a dynamic, confident presence, one capable of seizing initiative through bold action. Technical proficiency isn’t a problem. Heart and effort aren’t a problem. His mad moment against Everton at last year’s MLS All-Star game may raise some red flags, but in the absence of further evidence that he can’t stomach the big stage, we can call that one a one-off accident for now.