Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey (8) should start together. (Photo: MexSport)
Jürgen Klinsmann should start Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan together as outside attacking midfielders as opposed to starting one or the other as a second striker because both would be free to roam in support of Jozy Altidore.
Players like Dempsey and Donovan are hard to categorize as players who play just one position, and starting both together is the best thing that Klinsmann can do to immediately improve the USMNT’s attack.
Donovan’s and Dempsey’s positions on paper are irrelevant as long as they have more defensive midfielders like Geoff Cameron and Michael Bradley behind them along with a natural playmaker like Joe Benny Corona starting in an advanced position.
There are new players like Benji Joya who could contribute to the USMNT as a box-to-box midfielder, but starting Geoff Cameron and Michael Bradley behind a line of three attacking midfielders (Landon Donovan, Joe Benny Corona, and Clint Dempsey) is a good first step for Klinsmann to revert back to taking advantage of two talents like Dempsey and Donovan, as opposed to having Graham Zusi play out of position as an outside midfielder and/or winger.
Bob Bradley enjoyed his best success when he started a playmaker along with Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan together as the left and right midfielders. The playmaker, who was Benny Feilhaber, allowed Dempsey and Donovan to have a player with whom they could not only combine but also who could play them final balls and quality passes in the final third.
One of the best qualities about Dempsey and Donovan is that they are players who adapt to the game they’re in and they go wherever the game dictates that they go, so their actual position on paper is largely irrelevant with Bradley and Cameron or Bradley and Jones behind them, not to mention the defensive back four.
As mentioned above, there are a lot of new players in the American player pool that deserve to play some sort of role for the United States or even start, but Klinsmann should make sure that he starts both Donovan and Dempsey together in the next game and games, in order to establish some better attacking play for the United States Men’s National Team.
Klinsmann learned a lot in the Gold Cup, but the most important thing that he learned was that players like Joe Benny Corona and Mix Diskerud bring better playmaking qualities to the team than Bradley, Cameron, Jones, Dempsey, and Donovan bring.
Whoever Klinsmann decides to start in the USMNT back four, starting Donovan and Dempsey at the same time with a playmaker in between them is the first step in establishing the exact style of soccer than Klinsmann is looking for.
In the coming weeks and months, Klinsmann and the United States will need to determine which players deserve roster spots and which new players possibly deserve starting line-up spots, but certainly using some sort of playmaker from the Gold Cup along with Cameron, Bradley, Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore is the best way to continue to improve the team.
The coaching staff of the United States should work hard to incorporate new talent into the roster and decide who else should be on the roster besides Cameron, Bradley, Jones, Donovan, Corona, Diskerud, Dempsey and Altidore, but starting a Front Six of Cameron, Bradley, Donovan, Corona, Donovan, and Altidore should be the first step toward improving the balance, skill-level, and effectiveness of the United States.
Jürgen Klinsmann should at least start with this USMNT Front Six in the following 4-2-3-1 formation:CAMERON, BRADLEY; DONOVAN, CORONA, DEMPSEY; ALTIDORE.
Guessing who Jürgen Klinsmann will select for the USMNT roster to face Bosnia-Herzegovina is impossible because there are too many factors that come into play, including his personal opinion of players and what his goals are. World Soccer Source’s guess at a possible Klinsmann USMNT roster can be found at the bottom of the page.
On the other hand, World Soccer Source would like to see a combination of the players from the Gold Cup and World Cup qualifying, in addition to some new players to strengthen the United States Men’s National Team at various positions.
Below is the roster that World Soccer Source would like to see called up to face Bosnia-Herzegovina, and it contains more than 23 players:
WSS USMNT ROSTER PROPOSAL VS. BOSNIA
GOALKEEPERS (3): Tim HOWARD, Brad GUZAN, Luis ROBLES.
DEFENDERS (8): Shane O’NEILL, Michael OROZCO, Gale AGBOSSOUMONDE, Andrew FARRELL; DeAndre YEDLIN, Chris KLUTE, Kofi SARKODIE, Eric LICHAJ.
FORWARDS (5): Jozy ALTIDORE, Terrence BOYD, Mario RODRIGUEZ, José VILLARREAL, Gyasi ZARDES.
*Injured- Juan AGUDELO
Based on World Cup qualifying and the 2013 Gold Cup, World Soccer Source believes this 23-man roster below is close to Jürgen Klinsmann’s first-choice team, with the exception of DeAndre Yedlin and Chris Klute who World Soccer Source believes Jürgen Klinsmann is close to calling up due to a need for outside backs:
Jürgen Klinsmann’s Likely USMNT Roster vs. Bosnia
GOALKEEPERS (3): Tim HOWARD, Brad GUZAN, Nick RIMANDO.
DEFENDERS (8): Matt BESLER, Omar GONZALEZ, Michael OROZCO, Clarence GOODSON, Timothy CHANDLER, DeAndre YEDLIN, Fabian JOHNSON, Chris KLUTE.
*It’s unclear whether John Anthony Brooks will be representing the United States.
MIDFIELDERS (8): Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES, Geoff CAMERON, Clint DEMPSEY, Landon DONOVAN, Mix DISKERUD, Joe Benny CORONA, Graham ZUSI.
FORWARDS (4): Jozy ALTIDORE, Terrence BOYD, Eddie JOHNSON, Aron JÓHANNSSON.
In a new series, World Soccer Source will propose a hypothetical United States Men’s National Team Starting XI that could possible improve the play of the United States.
Additionally, World Soccer Source will propose a Starting XI that is likely the first-choice of the U.S. national team coach.
For August 2013, World Soccer Source proposes the following Starting XI in a 4-1-2-1-2 Formation:
GOALKEEPER: Tim HOWARD
RIGHT BACK: DeAndre YEDLIN
CENTER BACK: Andrew FARRELL
CENTER BACK: Shane O’NEILL
LEFT BACK: Chris KLUTE
MIDFIELD DESTROYER: Geoff CAMERON
BOX-TO-BOX MIDFIELDER: Michael BRADLEY
BOX-TO-BOX MIDFIELDER: Benji JOYA
CENTRAL ATTACKING MIDFIELDER: Joe Benny CORONA
SECOND STRIKER: Clint DEMPSEY
FIRST STRIKER: Jozy ALTIDORE
The Starting USMNT Starting XI Formation above would line up as follows:
Jürgen Klinsmann has repeatedly expressed his desire to play proactive, one-to-two touch soccer where the attack starts from the back. This Starting XI aims to do just that.
DeAndre Yedlin and Chris Klute as the right back and left back bring electrifying speed and excellent technical ability on the ball. Both players look to get forward and both players have the defensive skills in addition to the speed to strengthen the USMNT’s ability to defend out wide.
Andrew Farrell is naturally a center back who has been playing as a right back. His comfort on the ball and his willingness to pass and go forward have been seen by everyone watching MLS closely, and this combination of athleticism and the ability to pass and dribble out of the final third, not to mention his keen defensive instincts and defensive fundamentals, make him a legitimate option at center back.
Farrell’s center back partner should be Shane O’Neill. O’Neill has received widespread praise for his overall skill-set and his defensive positioning and abilities. Like Farrell, O’Neill can play more than one defensive position, and Tab Ramos has praised O’Neill as the type of center back that the USMNT needs to be using.
The Front Six requires less explaining.
Geoff Cameron’s athleticism, passing, tackling, and overall technical ability are well-known, and there was a general consensus that he was more willing to hang back deeper to play the midfield destroyer role than Jermaine Jones.
Michael Bradley has developed into more of a box-to-box midfielder than in years past, and pairing Bradley with another box-to-box midfielder like Benji Joya could bring a nice balance of better attacking and playmaker abilities (Joya) and tireless running combined with strong defensive abilities and excellent passing skills (Bradley).
To be clear, while both Joya and Bradley attack and defend, Joya is better at playing final balls and setting up goals than Bradley, and Bradley is better at covering more territory to maintain ball possession than Joya.
The combination of two box-to-box midfielders who excel at different things and who both have a midfield destroyer behind them will help the United States to win the battle of the midfield.
Joe Benny Corona has proven to Klinsmann that he is a viable goal-scoring playmaker that can bring playmaking abilities that Dempsey and Donovan don’t have. Corona is a necessary and vital link between players like Bradley and players like Dempsey and Altidore.
Klinsmann’s Possible USMNT XI:
Tim HOWARD; Timothy CHANDLER, Michael OROZCO, Matt BESLER, Fabian JOHNSON; Geoff CAMERON; Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES; Clint DEMPSEY; Jozy ALTIDORE, Landon DONOVAN.
Neymar’s left-footed golaço past Iker Casillas. (Photo: AP Photo)
Supposedly, the United States Soccer Federation has been studying Brazilian soccer for years, and looking at some of the young MLS players and younger American products, maybe the USSF and MLS are placing a higher premium on technically-skilled players than they used to.
Nevertheless, Brazil’s Confederations Cup formations and starting line-ups are a good case study for the USMNT, even if the USMNT doesn’t have players who are as skilled as the very best Brazilian players.
The Seleção is the model that U.S. Soccer should look to study and emulate.
Brazilian soccer is based on skill and allowing the players the freedom to express themselves with the ball, which is Brazil’s main weapon against opponents, but Brazilian soccer is not without defense, tactics, or strategy.
Brazilian players are allowed the freedom to be more creative with the ball than other national teams, and Brazilians don’t base their attack on merely sending in a steady stream of crosses into the box without a clear target. The premium on working the ball around mostly on the ground is so high that many of the passes that the Brazilian national team executes in its own final third are very risqué by other national teams’ standards.
After a series of games intended to find his best formation and combination of players, Felipão found a strong and balanced Seleção XI right before the 2013 Confederations Cup started.
Traditionally, Brazil uses a 4-2-2-2 formation, but the Confederations Cup formation was more akin to a 4-2-3-1 where the right attacking midfielder and left attacking midfielders were really almost forwards.
There was nothing new or revolutionary about Felipão’s tactics, but they were well-designed and perfectly implemented. In the 4-2-3-1 formation, Brazil mostly used this XI below:
Julio Cesar; Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo; Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho; Hulk, Oscar, Neymar; Fred.
The Seleção almost always exclusively uses two center backs, who have the technical ability and speed of a defensive midfielder, and outside backs that provide width to the attack while always defending the flanks with speed and skill.
In front of the defense, Brazil normally uses two defensive midfielders: one who is more of a midfield destroyer (Luiz Gustavo) and another who is a box-to-box midfielder (Paulinho).
These two players were one of the keys for Brazil’s success because they brought needed defensive skills to a midfield that allowed Brazil to win the ball back without sacrificing technical ability. They also ran without tiring.
There is some important background information about Brazil’s use of defensive midfielders.
It’s fairly well-known that Brazil uses a system of normally two defensive midfielders. One of them plays deeper and doesn’t really go forward, and this midfield destroyer is called a cabeça de área or a volante de contenção. In addition to this player who is associated with the number 5, there is also a more box-to-box midfielder who is associated with the number 8 and called a “volante.” “Volante” is a general term for any defensive midfielder, and it means “steering wheel.”
In front of these two defensive midfielders, Felipão used a line of three attacking midfielders where Oscar was the playmaker (meia-armador) in the middle and Neymar and Hulk were really almost forwards just lining up out left and right on paper.
Likewise, Jürgen Klinsmann has begun to at least iron out a tactical formation. Recently, Klinsmann starting using a 4-2-3-1 formation where two different kinds of defensive midfielders lined up behind three attacking midfielders and a striker. At times, Klinsmann used two strikers during the Gold Cup.
Klinsmann’s switch to the 4-2-3-1 formation was a deviation from his previous use of three defensive midfielders, but Klinsmann has still never fielded three highly-skilled attacking midfielders like Landon Donovan, Joe Benny Corona, and Clint Dempsey at the same time.
In the Gold Cup, a midfield destroyer was used next to an attacking midfielder (Stuart Holden or Mix Diskerud), who was impersonating a box-to-box midfielder, who both lined up behind a line of three attacking midfielders, and this formation and its tactics are covered in detail in other recent World Soccer Source articles.
This formation is somewhat similar to what Felipão used during the Confederations Cup.
Klinsmann is well-aware of how Brazil plays and surely studied their tactics during the Confederations Cup closely, but looking at how Brazil played and why it worked is something that Americans and non-Americans might be wise to do.
This Brazilian midfield formation outlined above is something that Klinsmann has used with the USMNT, but many of Klinsmann’s right and left midfielders in World Cup qualifiers have been players who are either married to the sideline or just looking to play crosses or both.
Klinsmann has used Geoff Cameron as a midfield destroyer with Michael Bradley as a box-to-box midfielder, and in Gold Cup games without Bradley or Cameron, Klinsmann has used Joe Benny Corona as a playmaker flanked by attacking midfielders on the right and left with a striker up top.
The system that Brazil used is a perfect example for the USMNT to study and implement, even if it isn’t as good as the Brazilian version.
Certainly, the USMNT can use a similar set-up to Brazil, which other national teams and clubs also use, even if the overall skill level of all the players is nowhere near Brazil’s.
Tactically, the balance of that Brazilian squad was perfect.
The team was difficult to beat with speed or skill down the middle, and the flanks were patrolled by outside backs, who posed a two-way threat.
Additionally, when the outside backs attacked, the defensive midfielders dropped back to fill the hole left by the outside backs.
Finally, with a playmaker like Oscar combining with Neymar, Hulk, and Fred, the attacking threat was too much for Spain who were humiliated by Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final.
For all the stereotypes of Brazil not defending, Brazil’s 2013 Confederations Cup squad showed not only good team defense through pressing, but they also displayed outstanding individual defenders in the line of two defensive midfielders and in the defensive back four.
This system is essentially what Jürgen Klinsmann is trying to implement with the United States Men’s National Team, and frankly some of his player selections do not seem to have the physical gifts and skills to fulfill their required roles.
To Klinsmann’s credit, in the Gold Cup, he did use a formation that was similar to Brazil’s, but now it’s time to put the higher-level players together in a balanced starting line-up.
The USMNT hasn’t yet used outside backs or center backs like Brazil uses, and given how obvious it is to start Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Joe Benny Corona, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore as the Front Six, Klinsmann will have to start using faster and more skilled center backs who are flanked by modern outside backs who pose an attacking threat and who defend out wide.
While Brazil uses Daniel Alves at right back and Marcelo at left back, Jürgen Klinsmann refuses to use any of the new MLS outside backs like Chris Klute, DeAndre Yedlin, or Andrew Farrell who at least attempt to play with the same aggressive attacking style down the sideline and who can defend skillful and quick attackers.
At center back, Klinsmann has never fielded two players who combine athleticism, technical ability, and the defensive skills of quick, strong, and talented defensive midfielders like Geoff Cameron.
The Brazilian way is one way for the United States to start improving its level of play, but Jürgen Klinsmann will have to field the players with the right tools because the Brazilian way is rooted in having technically-gifted players at every position, even the most defensive positions.
Joe Benny Corona (Photo: Evan Habeeb/USA TODAY Sports)
Jürgen Klinsmann has certainly improved his tactical approach to games, and he now should be ready to field a team with better passing and a stronger attack.
The formations and tactics used in the Gold Cup differed from the formations and tactics used in World Cup qualifying.
As of right now, Klinsmann is currently using a defensive back four, a midfield destroyer, and box-to-box midfielder, a line of three attacking midfielders, and a striker. The only problem with this set-up is that the player who is supposed to be a central attacking midfielder has been Landon Donovan, a second striker.
Now that the Gold Cup is over, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore will be incorporated into the Starting XI with Landon Donovan, but Klinsmann has to decide if he wants to start Jermaine Jones or Geoff Cameron next to Bradley. Additionally, there is a spot open for a central attacking midfielder.
Instead of starting Landon Donovan as the central attacking midfielder or using Clint Dempsey as a second striker in place of a central attacking midfielder, Klinsmann would be wise to start Donovan out right, Dempsey out left, and Joe Benny Corona in the middle as the central attacking midfielder.
This gives the USMNT two attacking midfielders in Donovan and Dempsey who are free to roam wherever they see fit without ironing out an exact positional name for them. Klinsmann should just put them down in the Starting XI as a right midfielder and as a left midfielder and just let them roam as they naturally roam.
Given Corona’s superior playmaking abilities to both Donovan and Dempsey who are really second strikers/wingers, Corona should be started in order to free up Dempsey and Donovan to make runs, attack the goal, provide support for Altidore, apply pressure on the opposing team’s defenders and midfielders, and just do what they naturally do.
Corona is a goal-scoring playmaker, and he is fully capable of simultaneously looking to play a constant stream of final balls to Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore, in addition to looking to score himself. Corona can play off all three of these players and do whatever the game dictates.
Starting Corona as a playmaker frees up the confusion between Donovan and Dempsey about whether they need to primarily look to make runs into the final third or if they need to be responsible for providing service to Altidore.
Donovan, Corona, and Dempsey in a line of three attacking midfielders foster a style of one-to-two touch soccer based off passing and moving and combing with your teammates as much as possible. Furthermore, this system allows Altidore to not need to drop back into the midfield to get the ball, and it also gives the USMNT four strong attacking threats that will force the opposition to take all of them seriously, rather than focusing their defense on containing one or two of them.
This use of four attacking players actually corresponds with Klinsmann’s vision of high pressure team defense because having four attackers like Donovan, Corona, Dempsey, and Altidore provides the United States with a group of players who have the speed, skill, and intelligence to know how to pressure the opposing defenders and midfielders into making mistakes in their own half or final third.
The two players that Klinsmann selects to play behind the four more attack-minded players and the defensive back four is something that Klinsmann will have to decide.
Michael Bradley is a lock as a starter, and his style of play has evolved into playing a box-to-box midfielder role more so than as a midfield destroyer. Jermaine Jones plays a similar style to Bradley, which has caused some miscommunication between the two players.
Both players seemed to want to go forward as much as possible, and frequently Bradley realized that he would have to play a deeper more defensive role than he wanted to because Jones wasn’t going to do it.
It’s worth mentioning that Bradley and Jones are not as effective in the attack as true box-to-box midfielders such as Paulinho or Arturo Vidal, so both of them can be fairly described as defensive midfielders.
While there is nothing wrong with two defensive midfielders with box-to-box abilities, a high level of overall athleticism, and an advanced technical ability, there does need to be an understanding that only one of the two can make forays at a time.
This similarity between Bradley’s and Jones’ style of play makes Geoff Cameron’s strong showing as a midfield destroyer very appealing. Cameron enjoyed patrolling the back and fulfilling a lot of the defensive responsibilities because he had a lot of touches on the ball, which allowed him to be heavily involved in the passing to the extent that he looked to play final balls from a deep position.
Cameron truly seemed to embrace the role of covering a lot of the ground in the back and being heavily involved in the midfield passing of the United States because he didn’t feel that his ability to impact the attack was hampered by his midfield destroyer role.
If anything, Cameron was playing more of an attacking role than when he played center back or even right back because at right back he was confined to only attacking and patrolling along the right sideline. As a midfield destroyer, Cameron was able to cover the entire width of the field and combine with his teammates and mix it up defensively with the opposition.
One more defensive option for Klinsmann and the United States, should the game call for it, would be to use a diamond midfield formation with Cameron as the midfield destroyer, Jones and Bradley as box-to-box midfielders lining up in front of Cameron, Corona as the tip of the diamond as the playmaker, and Dempsey and Altidore as the second and first strikers, respectively.
The United States Men’s National Team sits in a better position right now than it did after the most recent set of World Cup qualifying games because Klinsmann seems to have found a new balance of attacking and defensive midfielders. The defensive back four is a big question mark, but the Front Six and the general tactics of the national team shouldn’t be.
Cameron and Bradley provide excellent passing and defensive coverage and Donovan, Corona, Dempsey, and Altidore provide a strong attacking threat and a good balance of differing skill-sets that can work together to form a cohesive and efficient team.
The World Soccer Source 23-Man USMNT 2014 World Cup Roster Proposal
(August 2013 Edition)
COMMENT:
This 23-man USMNT Roster Proposal is less conservative than other projections and predictions that you will find from other writers and websites.
The purpose of not just going with the current group of Jürgen Klinsmann regulars who are doing a good job at staying on top of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying table is not to purposely propose a group of inexperienced and young players for the sake of creating controversy.
On the contrary, the purpose is that this group of players below represents a sincere attempt to not just survive the group stage but to give young, talented, and athletic players the chance to try and raise the level of play of the USMNT.
For example, Gyasi Zardes and Mario Rodriguez are on the list over Eddie Johnson, which will seem almost comical to many people.
The reason that this writer selected Zardes and Rodriguez, despite the excellent combination of skill and overall athleticism of Johnson, is that this writer believes that these two young and internationally inexperienced players, if they happen to play for whatever reason over starters like Juan Agudelo or Terrence Boyd, will relentlessly attack the goal no matter the opponent more so than Johnson will.
It’s important to remember that Rodriguez is highly-regarded by Tab Ramos, and Rodriguez plays in Germany. Additionally, Zardes is widely-considered an extremely talented striker in MLS circles, and Zardes seemed to have no problem playing against Real Madrid yesterday who were fielding a strong line-up, including Casemiro at the defensive midfielder role.
Here is the roster proposal:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad GUZAN, Tim HOWARD, Nick RIMANDO.
CENTER BACKS (4): Gale AGBOSSOUMONDE, Andrew FARRELL, Shane O’NEILL, Michael OROZCO FISCAL.
OUTSIDE BACKS (3): Chris KLUTE, Kofi SARKODIE, DeAndre YEDLIN.
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS (3): Michael BRADLEY, Geoff CAMERON, Benji JOYA.
FORWARDS (5): Juan AGUDELO, Jozy ALTIDORE, Terrence BOYD, Mario RODRIGUEZ, Gyasi ZARDES.
NOTES:
-There are 7 defenders as opposed to 8 because Geoff Cameron plays center back as well as both outside back positions.
-Michael Orozco, Geoff Cameron, Andrew Farrell, Shane O’Neill can all play as outside backs and as defensive midfielders.
-Geoff Cameron is as much of a center back as he is a defensive midfielder.
-Benji Joya is a box-to-box midfielder listed with the defensive midfielders.
-Freddy Adu and Benny Feilhaber are on this roster proposal. Both of these players are highly-valued by World Soccer Source for their proven-ability and record of performing and making a positive impact at the international level regardless of the opponent. Many Americans and non-Americans consider these two players to be inconsistent and lazy playmakers with a poor attitude, but World Soccer Source considers them to be invaluable midfielders for the USMNT due to their ability to bring creative and quality passing and attacking play to a national team that lacks these qualities.
Michael Bradley (Photo: Garrett Ellwood / Colorado Rapids)
One of the main problems with American soccer and everything surrounding the United States Men’s National Team and MLS is that, unlike in other countries where people argue over player selection, performance, and coaching, American soccer has factions of different types of fans who compete with one another over how you should be a soccer fan.
The problem with the conflict between various types of fans, media members, coaches, and bureaucrats is that it moves the focus away from the actual soccer.
Last night, when Roma easily beat the MLS All-Stars, many people said that the result or how the MLS All-Stars played wasn’t a referendum on the progress and strength of MLS and American soccer, and this is somewhat correct.
The only problem with this viewpoint is that many people who hold this viewpoint also said the USMNT’s dominance of the weak competition in the Gold Cup showed that the U.S. was starting to play better and Jürgen Klinsmann’s methods were working.
The Gold Cup did in a way demonstrate that Klinsmann was using better tactics than he had used in the past. For the most part, Klinsmann was using a tactically sound formation and a balance of defensive and attacking players.
Therefore, a strong argument can be made that Klinsmann has begun to employ better tactics, and he deserves credit for doing this.
At the same time, questioning who Klinsmann put on the Gold Cup squad is a fair thing to do, but many people feel that questioning the player selection for the roster or the line-ups is cynical because the USMNT won the 2013 Gold Cup.
There are thousands, if not millions, of people in the United States who enjoy watching non-American soccer but who also watch MLS and view it as an improving league that has American players who would be better off playing against better competition elsewhere.
It’s fair to say that MLS isn’t as good as the European or Latin American leagues because it’s true.
It’s also true that MLS continues to have more skilled American players at every position every year. The American players who display much more skill and athleticism than other Americans stand out, and there are now too many of them to fit on the United States Men’s National Team.
It was a surprise to see many of these players not even on the ballot and/or not on the field for the MLS All-Star Game. Many people are contending that the improvement of MLS is creating a better USMNT, and this is true.
The loss to Roma did mean something. It meant that Tony Beltran and Corey Ashe couldn’t compete with Roma’s players, and it meant that Kyle Beckerman couldn’t contain Roma like he contained the CONCACAF opponents in the Gold Cup.
The MLS All-Stars’ loss in the MLS All-Star Game did raise questions about some of the players selected for the game and some of the starters.
Looking at the performance of players in MLS this season and knowing that the MLS All-Stars would be facing Roma, one comes away with the feeling that MLS could have fielded a better starting line-up to face Roma.
There were lots of American names that really stood out as snubs from the roster or players who should have started. Here are just a handful of the players who fall into this category: Omar Gonzalez, Benny Feilhaber, Amobi Okugo, Chris Klute, Shane O’Neill, Perry Kitchen, Eddie Johnson (Marco Di Vaio did deserve to start), DeAndre Yedlin, Andrew Farrell, George John, José Villarreal, Jeremy Hall, etc.
The goal of the All-Star game is to try to show to the world that the level of play in MLS is improving. Since that is the case, MLS should have used a better line-up without Tony Beltran, Corey Ashe, and Brad Davis. DeAndre Yedlin and Chris Klute deserved to start as the right and left back, especially since the MLS All-Stars needed players with their combination of pure speed and advanced skill on the ball to try to compete with the likes of Francesco Totti of Roma.
Perhaps, something like this starting line-up below would have done better at showcasing MLS’ talent:
Raul FERNANDEZ; DeAndre YEDLIN, Omar GONZALEZ, Matt BESLER, Chris KLUTE; Amobi Okugo/Perry KITCHEN; Graham ZUSI, Benny FEILHABER, Landon DONOVAN; Thierry HENRY, Marco DI VAIO.
What does this line-up correct? It removes Tony Beltran, Corey Ashe, Brad Davis, and Kyle Beckerman from the starting line-up.
Just because Beckerman is fundamentally sound and a solid MLS professional doesn’t mean that he’s the best choice to keep up with the athleticism and skill of the players that Roma has, and Roma wasn’t starting several of its best players. Additionally, starting Beltran and Ashe as the outside backs against Roma was a major mistake, as was evident to anyone who watched the game.
MLS squandered a real opportunity to showcase the vast improvement in the talent level of the league, and MLS didn’t take advantage of a great chance to really go for the victory against Roma, or at least put in a strong showing to turn some heads.
Despite a Gold Cup Final that did contain a lot of long balls and not a great deal of excitement, Jürgen Klinsmann likely has come closer to playing the style of proactive, one-to-two touch soccer where the attack starts from the defenders.
Without going into too many of the players who haven’t played in any friendlies with the full national team, the USMNT now is in a better position that it was before the start of the Gold Cup.
Why?
The Gold Cup displayed how Joe Benny Corona and Mix Diskerud brought a certain creative and more advanced style of passing that was somewhat missing from the United States Men’s National Team as a whole before the Gold Cup.
While certainly Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey can play creative and quick-passing soccer that is more often seen outside of the United States, there was a missing piece to a midfield that was built around Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones or Geoff Cameron playing as a defensive midfield tandem with Clint Dempsey playing as a second striker without any player to connect the three.
Joe Benny Corona and Mix Diskerud provide this missing link, and Klinsmann now realizes that Landon Donovan is too good to exclude from his rosters and line-ups.
Any discussion of a Best USMNT XI requires one to draw a distinction between who based on their participation in full national team games should be in the starting line-up and who needs to be incorporated.
The way to include the best of the proven players and the best of the newer players is to start the more proven players and use several roster spots for players who have given strong indications based on their skill level and performances at the club or youth levels that they have something to contribute to the success of the national team.
This writer wrote an article entitled, “A Better USMNT Front Six Emerges,” and that article outlined which players should start in front of the defensive back four. That article can be found by clicking here.
That article advocated for using a 4-2-3-1 formation with the Front Six being Geoff Cameron and Michael Bradley behind (from right to left) Landon Donovan, Joe Benny Corona, and Clint Dempsey with Jozy Altidore as the lone striker.
An argument could be made that Mix Diskerud should also be used at the central attacking midfielder role, and he is also a good choice to fill that role. Obviously, anyone who follows American soccer closely knows that someone like Benny Feilhaber has proved effective in this role, but based on their play in the Gold Cup, Corona and Diskerud are excellent choices to play a playmaking role in between Dempsey and Donovan and behind Altidore.
The real question is the defensive back four. Who should Jürgen Klinsmann use there? There are many indicators that at right back and left back that DeAndre Yedlin and Chris Klute are needed now, but at center back Klinsmann does have several options.
Matt Besler continues to surpass this writer’s expectations. While some of the younger MLS center backs like Shane O’Neill or Andrew Farrell (who has been used out of position at right back by the New England Revolution) might prove to be better, using Besler as the left center back is a reasonable and wise choice, particularly because he brings speed and good technical ability to the center of the defense, and he continues to use his weaker right foot more and more.
Klinsmann appears to be sold on Matt Besler, but Klinsmann also appears to be trying to decide who his center back partner should be. Remember that this is assuming that Klinsmann will only use center backs that have been playing for the national team (as opposed to some of the promising younger options), but this writer believes that Klinsmann might be a little more open to trying other outside backs, excluding DaMarcus Beasley who is performing well at left back.
Incorporating Chris Klute into the USMNT at left back will require first that Klute is selected to participate in a friendly or in a camp before World Cup qualifying, so Beasley is likely the prudent choice from Klinsmann’s perspective among the people who have actually been playing for the United States.
Right Back is a different situation because Michael Parkhurst has done well there, but he doesn’t make as many attacking forays on the right side as Beasley does on the left side.
Since Parkhurst appeared to possess enough speed and quickness to do well as a right back, using Parkhurst at his natural position of center back might give Besler a faster and more technically-skilled partner than Clarence Goodson who is not quite quick enough and prone to hitting way too many 50 yard long balls just in the general vicinity of the U.S.’ striker.
Another center back option or even a right back option is Michael Orozco Fiscal who brings technical skill, speed, quickness, strong heading ability, and good defensive instincts and skills.
Looking at all of these positions, a first step for Jürgen Klinsmann and the USMNT could be to start this XI below:
Tim HOWARD; Michael OROZCO, Michael PARKHURST, Matt BESLER, DaMarcus BEASLEY; Geoff CAMERON, Michael BRADLEY, Landon DONOVAN, Joe Benny CORONA, Clint DEMPSEY; Jozy ALTIDORE.
There is another option, which some might describe as a more risky or experimental starting line-up, but it includes almost all of the same players as those above. This more adventurous Starting XI advocates using two young two-way outside backs from MLS: Chris Klute at left back and DeAndre Yedlin at right back. Below is the Starting XI that attempts to give the USMNT better defending and attacking out wide:
Tim HOWARD; DeAndre YEDLIN, Michael OROZCO, Matt BESLER, Chris KLUTE; Geoff CAMERON, Michael BRADLEY; Landon DONOVAN, Joe Benny CORONA, Clint DEMPSEY; Jozy ALTIDORE.
This second starting line-up would be the first step in using the players who have shown a real ability to perform on the international level with two outside backs who have the ability to improve the effectiveness of the United States out wide from a defensive and from an attacking standpoint.
Taking into account the World Cup qualifying games before the Gold Cup in addition to the Gold Cup itself, a new so-called “Front Six” has emerged that can have the USMNT playing better and more balanced soccer that provides effective defense, better possession of the ball, and a more potent attack.
In addition to the players discussed below as a better Front Six than what Jürgen Klinsmann had been using before the 2013 Gold Cup, there are additional players in the pool who are already proven or who have shown real promise to be effective alternates or different options in the USMNT’s Front Six.
In light of the last few months, the Front Six proposed below would likely have the United States playing better in World Cup qualifying and in general, despite sitting at the top of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying table:
Geoff CAMERON, Michael BRADLEY; Landon DONOVAN, Joe Benny CORONA, Clint DEMPSEY; Jozy ALTIDORE
This group of five midfielders and a striker is stronger than previous line-ups that Klinsmann has used, and it’s likely stronger than any Front Six the United States Men’s National Team has ever used.
Although Michael Bradley is a defensive midfielder, he has developed into more than a midfield destroyer who patrols directly in front of the defensive back four. Bradley plays this role very well, but as Geoff Cameron is so willing and able to play that role, the United States has two defensive midfielders who are strong defensively and comfortable with the ball at their feet.
Bradley has steadily evolved into a central midfielder who likes to be more involved in the attack going forward, and using him with Cameron allows the overall passing and defensive strength behind the attacking midfielders to be much more effective than in the past.
Turning now to Jermaine Jones, it should be made very clear that Jermaine Jones is an elite professional soccer player who is a Champions League and Bundesliga starter, and his technical skill-level is world-class, despite being associated with strong tackles and picking up cards.
Jermaine Jones is an elite athlete who is a product of the German youth system, which is far superior to the United States’ developmental system. Any honest discussion of Jermaine Jones must acknowledge the reality that he is a product of being born and raised in Germany in a superior soccer environment to that which most of the other American players grew up in. Jones is both German and American at the same time, and to some extent he has suffered from not being considered German enough or American enough by Americans and Germans.
Certainly Jones and Bradley can learn to have a better understanding of which player is going up and when and which player is hanging back and when. When Cameron partnered with Bradley as a defensive midfield tandem, the roles looked to be more defined by a clearer understanding that Cameron would play the more defensive role while still participating heavily in the passing of the American midfield.
In fact, this exact style of using one more defensive, defensive midfielder and one box-to-box defensive midfielder is exactly what the Brazilian national team does. The Brazilian system of using a number five as a midfield destroyer and a number eight as a box-to-box midfielder is one of the standard tactics the Seleção employs, and in the recent Confederations Cup, Luiz Gustavo was playing as the cabeça de área (midfield destroyer) while Paulinho was playing as the volante (box-to-box midfielder; also a general term for a defensive midfielder).
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for the United States Men’s National Team to model its midfield formation on some of Brazil’s standard tactics.
Focusing on the attacking midfielders, starting Clint Dempsey on one side of the field with the freedom to roam and starting Landon Donovan on the only side of the field with the freedom to roam is a tried and proven tactical approach for the USMNT. But, when the United States just used four midfielders with two defensive midfielders in addition to Dempsey and Donovan out wide, the United States never achieved real success or quality passing.
The absence of a playmaker has hurt Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, and Altidore because there was a vital creative force missing from the middle of the attack. Like it or not, the United States achieved its real success in major tournaments when Benny Feilhaber was subbed in to fulfill a sort of floating playmaker role.
Given Joe Benny Corona’s recent display of his qualities as a goal-scoring playmaker, starting Corona in between Dempsey and Bradley with Altidore as the lone striker offers the USMNT the ability to really have a midfield and attack that produces more effective and more attractive soccer, which should lead to better and more consistent wins.
Joe Benny Corona has marked his territory on this United States Men’s National Team like a lizard doing push-ups.
Despite the fact that Corona has finally won over the majority of the American soccer media and the American fan base, the United States does have other playmakers like Mix Diskerud, Freddy Adu, and Benny Feilhaber who are qualified to fill this role.
After the Gold Cup is over, the United States Men’s National Team and Jürgen Klinsmann would be wise to start a Front Six made up of Cameron, Bradley, Donovan, Corona, Dempsey, and Altidore.
This formation and group of starters is the next step for the United States, and it allows the United States to maintain possession, defend well in the midfield, create more scoring chances, and score more goals. Using this Front Six should be a no-brainer, and it should produce the highest caliber of soccer ever seen from the United States.
