By: COLIN REESE
As a midfield trio, Michael Bradley, Geoff Cameron, and Benny Feilhaber make a lot of sense.
That’s a box-to-box midfielder, a defensive midfielder, and an attacking midfielder.
This formula is used by many of the top national and club teams in the world, and with Feilhaber’s improved defending and work rate, Feilhaber would also be helping Bradley and Cameron to win back possession.
Winning the battle for the midfield is a crucial component to winning games, especially against elite teams full of pass masters.
In the American player pool for the national team, Bradley, Cameron, and Feilhaber are arguably the very best options for the central midfielder spot, the defensive midfielder spot, and the attacking midfielder spot.
Mix Diskerud is certainly a talented attacking midfielder that is a two-way player that is proven against top-level competition, but Feilhaber is more experienced and arguably better against the best teams. Either way, Diskerud is capable of playing this role as well.
Given all of the line-ups and players that Jürgen Klinsmann has used in the American midfield, it is quite surprising that a trio of Bradley, Cameron, and Feilhaber has never been used, particularly because Klinsmann likes the 4-3-3 formation.
Bradley, Cameron, and Feilhaber form a group of experienced U.S. internationals that can win back possession and keep possession, and all three players stand out amongst most American players for their technical ability. Clint Dempsey is more technical and creative than all three, but a defensive midfielder and central midfielder with loads of two-footed technical ability and creativity is nothing to be taken lightly.
The United States is often struggling to keep possession against the top national teams, if not totally overrun, so it makes it even more baffling that Klinsmann wouldn’t immediately gravitate towards starting a three-man midfield with three different types of midfielders that can play together at the speed of elite international soccer.
Klinsmann views recruiting dual-nationals from Europe as the solution to improving the USMNT, but the real problem has been not using the right combination of players.
Trying new players and thinking outside of the box are great tactics, but totally abandoning proven tactics and overlooking proven players doesn’t help the national team.
Based on the American player pool, arguing that the United States has a better midfield trio that Bradley, Cameron, and Feilhaber is hard to do.
Firstly, Cameron and Bradley form a defensive midfielder partnership where each knows and accepts their different roles, and secondly, Feilhaber is the most technical, the most experienced, and the most proven of the American attacking midfielders.
His progress in becoming a two-way midfielder that defends more and covers more territory in winning back possession only makes him more worthy now than in the past. At 30 years old, he’s enjoying his peak years.
Bradley, Cameron, and Feilhaber. Three proven, technical, and athletic American midfielders that play different but complementary roles.
The USA National Team needs to try out this midfield trio to look to stabilize and improve the squad.