By: COLIN REESE
With two international friendlies on the horizon, the United States Men’s National Team has to look to improve its mediocre passing in the 2014 World Cup, and it’s time to take stock of the player pool.
The 4-3-3 formation quickly becomes the 4-2-3-1 formation, but thinking of the USMNT as a 4-3-3 formation is a convenient way to list a balanced midfield and attack in a sport where players’ positions are so fluid.
As some attacking midfielders that play wide or centrally are referred to as forwards or attackers nowadays while other similar players are listed as midfielders, fielding a midfield three comprised of a defensive midfielder, a box-to-box midfielder, and a playmaker or central attacking midfielder is a simple and logical way begin forming a USA XI.
Most of this is semantics, and the important things are to have defensive coverage in front of the defense and to have link-up play between the defensive midfielders and the attacking players.
Nevertheless, selecting a defensive midfielder, a two-way central midfielder, and a playmaker is a great method to ensure that the USA has a nice balance of players in the midfield.
AS Roma is associate with the 4-3-3, and that’s exactly the type of soccer that the United States is looking to play – proactive with an organized and traditional defense made up of two-way outside backs and two center backs.
Tab Ramos in an interview with Soccer America explained how his U-20 USMNT roster from the last U-20 World Cup had Will Trapp as the defensive midfielder, Benji Joya as the box-to-box midfielder, and Luis Gil as the Number 10.
It’s easy to see how this playing philosophy demonstrates a strong fundamental understanding of how to field a midfield that is a balance between defending and attacking.
In addition to the three types of midfielders listed above, let some of the wingers or wide attacking midfielders that like to cut inside be listed as forwards if that makes selecting a balanced roster easier.
The important thing is to be two players deep at all 11 positions in a common and proven tactical formation such as the 4-2-3-1, the 4-3-3, or the 4-1-4-1. The players on the field are just going to move around constantly anyway.
Putting two defensive midfielders, two box-to-box midfielders, and two playmakers on the 23-man roster eliminates the problem that the United States had in the 2014 World Cup: no link-up play between the defensive midfielders and the attack.
For the United States right now, the midfield has to begin with Michael Bradley as the defensive midfielder, and Benny Feilhaber continues to make his case as the best American playmaker in the pool, plus he has the international experience and success to back up this claim.
Selecting a box-to-box midfielder is more difficult and controversial for many people. Should the USA go with a new talent like Benji Joya or Dillon Powers, or is it too soon?
Landon Donovan, DeAndre Yedlin, and Juan Agudelo have all debunked the belief that young and inexperienced American players can’t deliver on the international level, and Joya is at the top of the list as far as young American box-to-box midfielders go.
By all accounts, Joya is the central midfielder that will be a fixture for the USMNT for the next 10 plus years.
Dillon Powers is another option, and perhaps he should already be thought of as the second-choice box-to-box midfielder behind Joya.
Either way, Joya and Powers are ready to be on the roster now because the best you can do is pick your best players for each position even if they aren’t too experienced internationally.
Talented young players need to be allowed to play to keep a club or national team with a steady pipeline of talent with playing time.
The other advantage of both Joya and Powers on the roster is that the USA does have the option of using a midfield three comprised of two box-to-box midfielders with a defensive midfielder.
With two box-to-box midfielders flanking a defensive midfielder, the playmaker on paper can just be in the front line of three attackers who will all be constantly moving, roaming around, and swapping positions with one another, except for the striker who should be playing higher and looking to stretch the defense.
For simplicity’s sake, a three-man midfield made up of Joya, Bradley, and Feilhaber is a technical and athletic group that are all two way players with some differing skill-sets.
The four-man defense should be a foregone conclusion. Whether one chooses Fabian Johnson or Chris Klute as the left back, the USA Back Four should be DeAndre Yedlin, Geoff Cameron, John Brooks, and Johnson or Klute.
The argument can be made for Matt Besler as the left center back, but Brooks is a better 1v1 defender, more two-footed, and a Bundesliga starter. Brooks is therefore a better defender and a better soccer player than Besler, plus he’s younger. This makes Brooks the better option.
The three-man attack is really two attacking midfielders plus a striker. With Joe Corona out right and Clint Dempsey out left, both players can cut inside, play wide, and float behind Juan Agudelo who is the most talented and complete striker in the American pool.
Both Corona and Dempsey are attacking midfielders that are always looking to score and to get into the penalty box, so using these two players behind Agudelo gives the American attack lots of combination play and goal-scoring ability.
In many ways this set-up is just a 4-2-3-1 in disguise (with Corona, Feilhaber, and Dempsey as the line of three), but listing it as a 4-3-3 is a convenient way to separate the midfielders with the midfield-forward hybrids like Corona and Dempsey.
Bradley and Joya would be the line of two defensive midfielders – with Joya being the box-to-box midfielder and Bradley being the stay-at-home defensive midfielder. Corona, Feilhaber, and Dempsey would be the line of three attacking midfielders, and Agudelo would be the striker.
This sort of balanced and organized tactical set-up would allow the United States to maximize its talent while not continuing to play too defensively without the link-up players needed to have an effective and technical attack.
What would a USMNT 4-3-3 look like?
GUZAN
YEDLIN CAMERON BROOKS KLUTE/JOHNSON
JOYA BRADLEY FEILHABER
CORONA AGUDELO DEMPSEY
– This USA XI includes four lines of players comprised of a goalkeeper, a defense, a midfield, and an attack.
– Specifically, this 4-3-3- has a goalkeeper, a right back, two center backs, a left back, a box-to-box midfielder, a defensive midfielder, a playmaker, two attacking midfielders that line up out wide and cut inside, and a striker.
– With this USA XI, it’s also easy to select a suitable back-up for each of the 10 field positions, plus two more goalkeepers.