Bruce Arena

Can the United States Play Attacking Soccer Under Bruce Arena?

Talking on Sirius XM Radio, Bruce Arena said, “There’s enough young attacking talent to be aggressive going forward. That young energy will help our pressing game as well.”

So, who are those attacking players? Bobby Wood and Christian Pulisic top that list, and the third name on the list has to be Sebastian Lletget who played for Bruce Arena on the LA Galaxy.

Lletget is the attacking midfielder or Number 10 that the United States needs, and having both Pulisic and Lletget playing behind Wood can only help the United States to be a more dangerous attacking team. Benny Feilhaber and Lee Nguyen are also on that list. Those two attacking midfielders are widely considered the best playmakers in the American player pool along with Sacha Kljestan, who is slightly below those two in terms of skill and creativity.

Both Wood and Pulisic are dangerous enough to allow the United States to attack opposing defenses, rather than bunkering in and trying not to lose. The fact that the United States also has playmakers to feed Pulisic and Wood only makes those two more of a scoring threat. What the U.S. was really missing was link-up play between the midfield and the attack, and that connection was missing when Jürgen Klinsmann would start both Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley in the center of the midfield with no attacking midfielder.

With the LA Galaxy, Arena favored the 4-4-2 formation, and he used his outside midfielders to provide more of the creativity and playmaker. This formation isn’t much in the way of attacking soccer, but Arena could use the 4-2-3-1 formation to have more of an attacking lineup.

There can be no excuse for Arena not playing attacking soccer against CONCACAF opponents in the next World Cup qualifying games. Arena has the personnel to provide enough defending in the midfield while also having a midfield that can keep possession and create scoring opportunities.

It’s hard to see Feilhaber or Nguyen and Lletget not playing under Arena. He’ll have to figure who he wants to start with Bradley in the holding midfield roles, and maybe this is the spot for Darlington Nagbe to play his preferred Number 8 role. Almost anything would be more attack-minded than Klinsmann’s overly defensive and illogical tactics.

Looking at the available players right now, a Front Six of Bradley and Nagbe behind Lletget, Feilhaber, and Pulisic, who would be behind Wood would certainly be more of an attacking lineup. There is definitely hope for a more exciting and effective brand of soccer under Arena, who at the very least knows the player pool better than Klinsmann.

To be very specific, both Feilhaber and Nguyen are qualified to orchestrate the United States’ attack and control the team’s passing, and both Lletget and Pulisic and technical, creative, and quick wing options who can beat people 1v1, create for their teammates, and score. The United States has found an exciting and dangerous striker in Wood, and he has scored and can score against top opponents.

What Formation Should Bruce Arena Use With the United States?

As the coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Bruce Arena was known to always trot out the 4-4-2 formation, but Arena is a more advanced and versatile tactician than that.

For what it’s worth Brazil, Argentina, Chile, France, and The Netherlands all use the 4-3-3 formation, so there’s something to be said for the soundness of that formation choice. It’s worth noting that the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1 are really the same lineup more or less, unless no attacking midfielder is used in the Midfield Three.

The United States could use the 4-3-3 formation, but the 4-2-3-1 formation might be as good of a place to start as any. With that set-up, the United States can have enough ball-winning in the midfield with two defensive or holding or central midfielders, and the squad would also have plenty of attacking firepower with a line of three attacking midfielders plus a striker.

The minority viewpoint among United States Men’s National Team observers that Michael Bradley shouldn’t be starting is crazy talk. The filling of the starting two defensive or central midfield roles starts with Bradley and then moves on to selecting Darlington Nagbe, Kellyn Acosta, or Dax McCarty. The latter would make Bradley the Number 8 or box-to-box midfielder, but going with Nagbe or Acosta would definitely be the more inspired choice with the intention of making a real effort to move forward with American tactics and improve the skill of the national team.

The next midfield issue is the question of who should start as the playmaker or central attacking midfielder or Number 10. The United States has to start one. It’s not going to work to just keep fielding a lineup without a playmaker, so Arena should pick one to start. Benny Feilhaber or Lee Nguyen are the obvious choices as both are simply better than Sacha Kljestan, but using Sebastian Lletget is perhaps a better option. If Arena were to start Feilhaber, then Lletget and Christian Pulisic could flank Feilhaber on the right and left behind Bobby Wood as the striker. It’s hard to argue that Feilhaber isn’t the best American playmaker, and his skillset and style of play is sorely needed on this dull United States Men’s National Team.

The United States’ defense is arguably solid right now. DeAndre Yedlin at right back with Geoff Cameron and John Brooks as the center backs with Fabian Johnson as the left back is a suitable Back Four. Maybe using Eric Lichaj instead of Johnson is a better option since Lichaj defends better. Lichaj could also start over Yedlin. Another inspired choice would be to start Andrew Farrell at right back with Lichaj at left back since the United States needs outside backs who can defend better while still being able to bomb down the sideline in the attack.

Arena couldn’t go wrong with using the 4-2-3-1 with the United States, and it’s as sound as any formation. This formation was the traditional formation of Brazil, and you could argue that the 4-2-3-1 and the 4-3-3 are really the same thing.