No one knows who Jürgen Klinsmann will start in the 2015 Gold Cup semifinal against Jamaica. Not even Klinsmann himself knows this. No point in guessing.
What about who should start and why? That’s easier to discuss.
Up to this point, Klinsmann has frequently forced Gyasi Zardes to play as a midfielder, and Alejandro Bedoya even played some 20 plus minutes at left back.
Let’s start with the center of the defense. Omar Gonzalez and Ventura Alvarado started together the last game and went the full 90, so starting them again makes sense for chemistry and consistency reasons.
Alvarado with John Brooks in the center of the defense gives the National Team more speed, but why throw the defensive chemistry into flux again?
Fabian Johnson has done well at left back, and starting DeAndre Yedlin at right back – his real position – gives the American defense more speed to chase down Jamaican attackers on the left side of Jamaica’s attack.
Yedlin is better than Timothy Chandler at chasing down and tackling attackers, so why continue to use Yedlin in the attack when the United States has Gyasi Zardes and Aron Jóhannsson to occupy the center to right side of the American attack?
In the midfield, Kyle Beckerman is a solid option anchoring the midfield as the defensive midfielder, but playing a three-man midfield of Mix Diskerud, Michael Bradley, and Joe Corona makes more sense. This gives the United States more skill, creativity, and possession, and Bradley can anchor the midfield in this tactical scheme.
Diskerud is not only a creative player that sets up goals and gets close to and into the penalty box to score them, but he’s also a center midfielder with a great engine and strong defensive skills. Corona is underrated in this area as well.
With Bradley and Diskerud carrying most of the burden of winning back possession in the midfield with Corona chipping in, as he did against Cuba in the second half of the previous game, the United States should have a nice balance of ball-recovery and possession.
This midfield isn’t perhaps up to the standards needed for a stronger opponent, but the United States could very well lose to Jamaica, so it’s important to give the midfield the pieces needed to keep possession and create goals.
It’s important to note that Alejandro Bedoya deserves to start in place of Corona or Diskerud, and most observers would say that he should.
Diskerud played well against the Netherlands and Germany before the World Cup, so it’s hard to say that his abilities wouldn’t be beneficial to the squad despite being relegated to the bench in recent games.
The USMNT would be wise to use a fluid attacking set-up against Jamaica to get Aron Johannsson, Gyasi Zardes, and Clint Dempsey all into the lineup, so an attacking trident would be a good option. Zardes has really been playing as a third forward anyway, and he is the ideal player to lead the line with Dempsey and Jóhannsson floating around him.
Below is the lineup discussed above, and it’s not the lineup the USMNT will likely use:
GK: BRAD GUZAN
RB: DeANDRE YEDLIN
CB: OMAR GONZALEZ
CB: VENTURA ALVARADO
LB: FABIAN JOHNSON
CM: MIX DISKERUD
DM: MICHAEL BRADLEY
AM: JOE CORONA
RW: ARON JOHANNSSON
CF: GYASI ZARDES
LW: CLINT DEMPSEY