By: Colin Reese
Lead from the front.
In World Soccer Source’s previous article, this writer explored the possibility of a Michael Bradley and Benji Joya two-man defensive midfield, but this article goes one step further and backs Michael Bradley as the defensive midfielder, Benji Joya as the playmaker, and Jozy Altidore and Juan Agudelo as the strikers.
Jürgen Klinsmann is clearly dissatisfied with the performance of the United States Men’s National Team, and the choice of Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey to return to Major League Soccer instead of staying with Roma in Bradley’s case or finding a different club in Dempsey’s case obviously greatly disappointed and angered Klinsmann.
Additionally, Klinsmann is dissatisfied with the way that his defenders hit long ball clearances instead of working the ball out of the ball by staying calm on the ball and using quality passing to get the ball out of the danger zone.
If the coach of the United States is truly this dissatisfied with the play of the United States, then he should consider the possibility that the players that he uses simply do not have the technical skills or the physical gifts to give him what he wants.
When Klinsmann spoke of the need for American players to be playing in the Champions League, he had to really only be referring to a very small number of players.
Change is needed, even if it means letting young players start in the World Cup. There are about four months until the World Cup, and many of the players that the United States could use would have several months to be as ready as possible.
The United States might as well go all out in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It could go terribly wrong, but it could also put the players on the field with the mentality and the tools to actually play to win against Ghana, Portugal, and Germany.
Team USA needs a better Back Four, better possession in the midfield, better technical quality throughout the squad, more scoring chances created, and more goals.
This can be achieved by starting the following USMNT XI, which is an aggressive XI that only employs very technical and athletic players at every position:
GOALKEEPER: Tim HOWARD (Everton)
RIGHT BACK: DeAndre YEDLIN (Seattle Sounders)
CENTER BACK: Andrew FARRELL (New England Revolution)
CENTER BACK: Geoff CAMERON (Stoke City)
LEFT BACK: Chris KLUTE (Colorado Rapids)
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER: Michael BRADLEY (Toronto FC)
RIGHT ATTACKING MIDFIELDER: Joe CORONA (Club Tijuana)
CENTRAL ATTACKING MIDFIELDER: Benji JOYA (Chicago Fire)
LEFT ATTACKING MIDFIELDER: Clint DEMPSEY (Seattle Sounders/Fulham)
STRIKER: Jozy ALTIDORE (Sunderland)
STRIKER: Juan AGUDELO (Utrecht)
Formation (4-1-3-2):
HOWARD
YEDLIN-FARRELL-CAMERON-KLUTE
BRADLEY
CORONA-JOYA-DEMPSEY
ALTIDORE-AGUDELO