By: COLIN REESE
The USA XI that started against Nigeria in the last of the United States’ official friendlies (and not scrimmages) before the World Cup looked promising, and it looked like probably 10 of the 11 starters from that game will start against Ghana.
Players like Tim Howard, Fabian Johnson, Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore offer American fans some quality players to count on and cheer for, but some of the other starters for the United States are harder to count on or get excited about.
The opening World Cup game against Ghana is a game that Jürgen Klinsmann would be wise not to start Kyle Beckerman as the defensive midfielder because he will be directly facing off with Kevin-Prince Boateng as Ghana’s central attacking midfielder, and Kwadwo Asamoah and André Ayew will likely be on the wings with Asamoah Gyan as the lone striker.
If Beckerman doesn’t start, then the set-up that Klinsmann used to free up Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones to attack more against Nigeria goes out the window.
This is a real problem with no clear answer.
Maurice Edu was unwisely cut by Klinsmann from the USA’s World Cup roster, and this eliminated the possibility of using a more athletic and more experienced defensive midfielder against a fast, strong, and technical Ghanaian side.
With Edu on the roster, then the USA could have continued to deploy Bradley and Jones as box-to-box midfielders, but this option is now off the table for the opening game against Ghana.
In all likelihood, Jones will have to play Beckerman’s defensive midfielder role, which will mean that Bradley will be playing as a traditional box-to-box midfielder, as opposed to an attacking midfielder role, which isn’t a role that maximizes Bradley’s skill set.
While Fabian Johnson, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, and DaMarcus Beasley will likely be the starting Back Four, moving Johnson to left back with DeAndre Yedlin at right back is a bolder attempt to use young two-way outside backs against a team with fast and skilled wings, but the question is whether it’s better to use the same Back Four or better to surprise Ghana by being very bold by starting Yedlin.
It’s important to note that DaMarcus Beasley did play very well against Nigeria, which was a game where he showed an ability to defend and be an important component of the attack, and the left-footed Beasley looked very confident and capable with his weaker right foot. Beasely is a left winger that was converted to left back, but against Nigeria, he looked to have possibly turned out his best left back performance yet for the United States – and he did it at the perfect time.
Setting aside the defense, the Front Six that was used against Nigeria won’t work against Ghana, Portugal, or Germany.
Just like Ghana will be a problem for Beckerman, so too will Portuguese players such as William Carvalho, Miguel Veloso, Nani, João Moutinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Eder be a problem for Beckerman. The Germans will be an even bigger problem with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Mario Götze, Mesut Özil, André Schurrle, and Thomas Müller likely starting.
None of those players are players that Kyle Beckerman can defend or compete against like Jermaine Jones or Michael Bradley can.
Beckerman is the definite weak link in the USA XI that Klinsmann used against Nigeria, and that belief isn’t a personal attack on Beckerman, but it is an indictment of Jürgen Klinsmann for preaching fitness and speed only to select a slower and less fit defensive midfielder over the more athletic and fitter Edu who has not only a better club resume (including years in Europe) but also quality performances in the 2010 World Cup.
Against any of the Group G opponents, Bradley will need a player that can help him to provide link-up play with the attack, and Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore will need some more creativity from the midfielders than Bradley can provide on his own.
Although Brazil’s Paulinho is simply a much better central midfielder than Bradley, many Americans would have you believe that Bradley doesn’t play Paulinho’s position, but rather they would have you believe that the American attack is being orchestrated by Bradley just like Oscar or Neymar pull the strings for Brazil’s attack.
Bradley is a Number 8, and he needs to be played in that role.
The United States needs to be realistic about the likely scenario of Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, and Kevin-Prince Boateng making it very difficult for Bradley to run through the center of the Ghanaian midfield to play final balls and create scoring chances.
This problem is one of the reasons that the exclusion of Maurice Edu, Landon Donovan, and Joe Corona for that matter was such a mistake in this writer’s opinion. Had all three of these players made the U.S. roster, then Klinsmann would have had the option of using Edu as the defensive midfielder with Jones and Bradley as box-to-box midfielders with Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Joe Corona helping to keep possession and provide service for Jozy Altidore.
Alejandro Bedoya is a capable attacking midfielder, but his roster inclusion still afforded room for Edu, Donovan, and Corona to make the squad, provided that Beckerman, Davis, and Green or Zusi were excluded. While Bedoya has shown an ability to maneuver and pass in tight quarters, Zusi’s play is predicated on hopeful crosses and long balls often played blindly into the penalty box or over the endline.
Who will Klinsmann start against Ghana? Who knows?
Maybe Klinsmann elects to start Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley as the defensive midfielder and box-to-box midfielder with Alejandro Bedoya, Mix Diskerud, and Clint Dempsey as the line of three attacking midfielders behind Jozy Altidore, but Klinsmann hasn’t seemed willing to start Diskerud.
Perhaps Klinsmann has to start Diskerud, but will he do it?
Diskerud’s ability to be a link between Bradley and Jones and the attack allows Jones to stay deeper and for Bradley to play more of a box-to-box role rather than being asked to not only constantly support Jones but to also orchestrate the attacking play of the Americans.
I see a major problem for Klinsmann against Ghana, Portugal, and Germany, and this problem is two-fold: how does he start an athletically-lacking midfielder like Beckerman in the World Cup, and can he trust Jones and Bradley to form a strong defensive midfield partnership?
For all the talk of Bradley being an attacking midfielder, Bradley’s skill-set and talents are special because of his classification as a two-way central midfielder, and deploying him as a central attacking midfielder diminishes his potential to be effective and influential all over the midfield and not just in the attacking third.
Klinsmann’s best option is to start Diskerud in place of Beckerman, which changes how Jones and Bradley play, but will Klinsmann acknowledge the tremendous liability that Beckerman is as a player tasked with defending midfielders and attackers that are frankly all more talented and athletic than he is?
The coach of the United States is definitely a tinkerman, but starting a natural central attacking midfielder or Number 10 is not something that he has been keen on doing.
Therefore, Diskerud’s likelihood of starting is about as low as the percentage of Hispanics that Klinsmann included on the USA roster.
In the World Cup, look for Klinsmann to employ one of three options: 1.) use the same XI that beat Nigeria; 2.) remove Beckerman from the XI and start Zusi and Bedoya as the wings flanking Dempsey in a central role as a withdrawn striker; or 3.) remove Beckerman from the XI, and start Diskerud as a central attacking midfielder in between Dempsey and Bedoya.
Anything is possible when Klinsmann is picking the USA XIs, but starting this USA XI is perhaps Klinsmann’s best option without tinkering too much:
HOWARD; JOHNSON, CAMERON, BESLER, BEASLEY; JONES, BRADLEY; BEDOYA, DISKERUD, DEMPSEY; ALTIDORE.
Personally, I would like to see this USA XI against Ghana because I think it gives the United States the best combination of players to play Ghana to win and not the best XI to bunker in on Ghana and try to stop wave after wave of Ghanaian attacks:
HOWARD; YEDLIN, CAMERON, BROOKS, JOHNSON; JONES, BRADLEY; DISKERUD; JÓHANNSSON, ALTIDORE, DEMPSEY.