By: COLIN REESE
Joe Corona and Clint Dempsey flanking Juan Agudelo on paper but really playing as attacking midfielders behind Agudelo is a big attacking upgrade for the United States Men’s National Team.
Those three players added to an American midfield comprised of Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, and Benji Joya discussed in a previous article make for a formidable Front Six entirely made up of technically-skilled and athletic players with the ability to play high quality soccer.
On paper this is a 4-3-3 formation, but it’s really the same as the 4-2-3-1 formation.
Corona, Feilhaber, and Dempsey form the attacking midfield portion of the Front Six, and Bradley is the defensive midfielder lining up in front of the Back Four. Joya is a two-way central midfielder than defends and attacks in addition to helping to link Bradley to the likes of Corona, Feilhaber, and Dempsey.
In the same way, Corona, Feilhaber, and Dempsey help to make sure Agudelo sees plenty of the ball in the attacking third to maximize his effectiveness as a striker and goal-scorer.
This trident of Corona, Agudelo, and Dempsey is a departure from the formula Jürgen Klinsmann planned on using in the World Cup before Jozy Altidore was injured in the first game. Klinsmann appeared to be banking on Dempsey alone being the only real link between the midfield and the attack, but the trident as described above allows for a much more potent attack made up of more attackers that can combine with one another and create more scoring chances and hopefully finish them.
Corona, Agudelo, and Dempsey all passing and moving and swirling around in the attacking third makes for a much more fluid and dynamic combination of attackers who pass and move as opposed to just leaving Dempsey and Altidore isolated up top with no consistent service other than long balls.
The best choice of players is subjective but a midfield of Bradley, Feilhaber, and Joya behind an attack of Corona, Agudelo, and Dempsey is a big step in the right direction for the United States that is still considered a national team that lacks collective technical skill and inventive play by most of the world that admires the Americans’ determination, teamwork, and work rate but little else.
While many Americans love that their national team is known around the world for its mental toughness and running, this is another way of saying that Americans run a lot but lack the skill needed to consistently create scoring chances and beat top national teams from the run of play.
Using the Corona, Agudelo, and Dempsey trident is a way to immediately bolster the inventiveness, attacking skill, and dynamism of the American attack, and the United States would be wise to use these players who have all proven their worth either on the club level or internationally or both.
Another way to think of this trident is actually Corona, Feilhaber, and Dempsey forming the line of three attacking midfielders behind Agudelo, but Corona and Dempsey are both forward-midfield hybrids that look to score and get into the penalty box.
Below is the three-man USMNT attack that World Soccer Source backs for success.
Right Attacker: Joe CORONA
*(Fabian JOHNSON)
Striker: Juan AGUDELO
Left Attacker: Clint DEMPSEY