Despite being a national team that is criticized for lacking technical quality and game-changing creativity or skill, the United States Men’s National Team has enough depth in the player pool to have real positional battles.
Consider the center of the American defense, an area where the United States has been destroyed by quality opposition. It’s unclear what the best center back pairing is for the U.S. Is it Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler, or is Maurice Edu paired with Cameron a stronger partnership?
Edu and Cameron have really only been partnered on one occasion, but with these two players an argument can be made that they have all the club and international experience and skills needed to perform well when the better national teams play the United States. Omar Gonzalez and Besler don’t have any notable performances against elite attackers, but Edu and Cameron have much stronger club and international playing resumes. Edu has played all over Europe and in the Champions League, and Cameron is an EPL veteran. Edu is still under 30, so it remains a mystery why Edu and Cameron haven’t been allowed to show what they can do, especially since Cameron can play left center back well due to his skill with both feet.
There are other center backs in the player pool that warrant a serious look, and these center backs include Matt Hedges, Steve Birnbaum, Matt Miazga, and Andrew Farrell amongst others. Birnbaum and Hedges are left-footed and thus naturally-suited to play left center back, whereas Miazga and Farrell are more suited to play right center back – although these right and left center back labels are slightly small-minded and limiting in the center of the defense where both players are by definition aligned centrally.
There are of course battles at the fullback positions as well. Jorge Villafaña has emerged as a quality left back this season in MLS, so much so that he now plays for Liga MX side Santos Laguna. Brek Shea, Chris Tierney, Robbie Rogers, and Chris Klute must also be considered for one of the two left back spots on the roster. As for the other side of the defense, DeAndre Yedlin and Eric Lichaj have a silent battle for the starting right back spot. Lichaj as been one of the bizarre omissions by Jürgen Klinsmann.
The midfield is where the biggest positional battles should be. Michael Bradley is best when used as a defensive midfielder, and the United States needs to see if Benny Feilhaber and Darlington Nagbe can partner well with Bradley as a three-man midfield. Both are underrated in their ball-recovery and work rate.
Kellyn Acosta is another technically-skilled and athletic central midfielder with a complete skill set and huge work rate. Acosta also has many game-changing elements in his game, which range from bursting runs through the midfield to two-footed goal-scoring ability from distance. Acosta would bring a level of skill and athleticism to the midfield that the U.S. has never really had. The FC Dallas midfielder is even several levels above MLS-standout Dax McCarty as far as skill and athleticism go. Starting both Nagbe and Feilhaber over Acosta might make the American midfield too easy to penetrate and boss around.
There hasn’t been any movement in the media or fan base to start Acosta for the national team or even call him up, and this is a mystery. Perhaps too many people cling to experience as if it’s a guarantee for greater success.
What about some of the wingers in the pool? How will they fit in, and where should they play? Sebastian Lletget, Ethan Finlay, Fabian Johnson, and Kelyn Rowe are all international-caliber players, and they need to be incorporated into the roster and tested. The U.S. National Team needs to find out which wingers can help the team the most. If the team uses a 4-3-3 formation, then there are spots on the right and left wing in the attack, but Clint Dempsey should occupy one of those spots for a few more years.
Another battle is the battle for the center forward or Number 9 spot. Who should be the striker? Jozy Altidore has never been given enough service or enough quality service. It’s not good enough to just hit passes up in Altidore’s general vicinity. There is a real question of whether or not Altidore is better than Juan Agudelo and Rubio Rubin. Agudelo is likely the best striker in the pool because he has an arsenal of skills, creativity, and trickery that other American strikers don’t have. Agudelo can beat defenders off the dribble or score bicycle kicks or towering headers. Agudelo causes more problems for defenses, and he requires closer marking.
The best way to answer all of these positional questions is to systematically test out the best players vying for theses various starting spots without changing the whole lineup at the same time, and Jürgen Klinsmann is simply unwilling or incapable of doing this. If the United States wants to find its best players and its best chemistry, then the best and most proven players need to be played together while new players are tested out.
Right now, the main questions are the following:
Can Feilhaber, Bradley, and Nagbe form a viable three-man midfield?
Are Cameron and Besler a capable center back pairing, or should Edu and Cameron be tried for a while?
Who should be the starting fullbacks: Yedlin and Villafaña?
Is Agudelo a better center forward than Altidore, and does Agudelo play better with Dempsey ?
Is Fabian Johnson, Agudelo, and Dempsey the best attacking trident if the 4-3-3 formation is used or should Finlay and Lletget start somewhere in the Front Three?
Those are the main questions, but these are the main positional battles:
Wingers- Sebastian Lletget vs. Ethan Finlay vs. Kelyn Rowe vs. José Villarreal
Attacking Midfielder- Benny Feilhaber vs. Darlington Nagbe vs. Lee Nguyen vs. Sebastian Lletget vs. Luis Gil
Central Midfielders- Benny Feilhaber vs. Darlington Nagbe vs. Dillon Powers vs. Kellyn Acosta vs. Dax McCarty
Defensive Midfielders- Michael Bradley vs. Maurice Edu vs. Kellyn Acosta vs. Dax McCarty vs. Perry Kitchen vs. Victor Ulloa
Left Backs- Jorge Villafaña vs. Chris Klute vs. Brek Shea vs. Robbie Rogers vs. Chris Tierney
Left Center Backs- John Brooks vs. Matt Besler vs. Matt Hedges vs. Steve Birnbaum
Right Center Backs- Maurice Edu vs. Omar Gonzalez vs. Andrew Farrell vs. Matt Miazga vs. Zach Loyd
Right Backs- Eric Lichaj vs. DeAndre Yedlin vs. Kofi Sarkodie vs. London Woodberry
Goalkeepers- Clint Irwin vs. Bill Hamid vs. Luís Robles vs. Tally Hall