By: COLIN REESE
Jürgen Klinsmann hasn’t established a core group of United States Men’s National Team players, nor has he decided upon a preferred starting line-up that has developed chemistry.
This is a problem, and this makes predicting or endorsing a starting line-up for the 2015 Gold Cup difficult.
Questions arise about what the center back pairing should be and what midfielders and attackers play well together.
The Back Four is in the air, and the midfield and attack is in the air.
The 4-3-3 formation is a fluid and safe set-up because it is essentially the same thing as a 4-2-3-1 formation, which you could argue is the most sound formation.
For starters, Brad Guzan deserves to be the starting goalkeeper, and DeAndre Yedlin and Greg Garza deserve to be the starting right back and left back. But what about the center backs?
Ventura Alvarado and John Brooks are likely the best two center backs in the player pool, and despite a few miscommunications on marking headers, both have displayed strong 1v1 defending, good skill on the ball, and athleticism.
Klinsmann should make these two his starting center backs. Both have all the qualities and experience to man the center of the American defense.
The key to the midfield is using Michael Bradley correctly, and this boils down to giving him the freedom to both defend and attack how he sees fit.
If the United States goes with three midfielders, then Geoff Cameron and Mix Diskerud should be the other two midfielders, especial since Klinsmann doesn’t rate Benny Feilhaber.
This midfield would be Cameron as the defensive midfielder, Bradley as the box-to-box midfielder, and Diskerud as the attacking midfielder.
Since Diskerud defends well and tracks back on defense in addition to being a creative playmaker, this trio would work out well.
Cameron’s tireless running, skilled passing, athleticism, technical ability, and his strong defensive fundamentals make him the best defensive midfielder option. Defensive midfielder is after all his natural position.
A middle three of Bradley, Cameron, and Diskerud would be dynamic, balanced, and fluid, and this allows for the type of possession, pressing, and counter-attacking play that Klinsmann wants.
The American attack for this writer is a no-brainer. Juan Agudelo, Jozy Altidore, and Clint Dempsey should be the attacking trident. Agudelo is an excellent center forward and wide player, and this allows the U.S. to have him in the attack along with Altidore.
Dempsey doesn’t need a fixed position, and just lining him out left on paper allows him to roam free. This position out left in the attack is the common place to start a team’s best right-footed attacker, and we see it with top club teams and national teams around the world.
With Yedlin and Garza running the flanks, Agudelo and Dempsey don’t need to hug the sidelines. Agudelo, Altidore, and Dempsey can then combine with one another and swap places as they see fit, and this gives the American attack a certain amount of dynamism that should create more scoring opportunities.
Klinsmann’s revolving door of formations and starting lineups is too chaotic for any real conclusions to be drawn from the USA’s games, so sticking to a rational 4-3-3 made up of talented and experienced players makes more sense.
Most observers and fans of the United States Men’s National Team can likely agree on a Front Six made up of Bradley, Cameron, Diskerud, Agudelo, Altidore, and Dempsey, or at least they can acknowledge that it makes sense and that all of those players are qualified.
Using Alvarado and Brooks as the center backs is more controversial, but the USA needs mobile and technical center backs with good defensive skills, and these two have all of these things.
There are no defenders that never get beaten or lose their man. Being the last line of defense in front of the goalkeeper is a job where mistakes are a guarantee.
Given everything we know going into the 2015 Gold Cup, the following USA XI (4-3-3) makes the most sense:
Guzan; Yedlin, Alvarado, Brooks, Garza; Bradley, Cameron, Diskerud; Agudelo, Altidore, Dempsey.