US Soccer

USMNT: GOLD CUP XI TAKES SHAPE

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The Best USMNT Gold Cup XI is taking shape.(Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
The Best USMNT Gold Cup XI is taking shape. (Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

 

As this writer previously wrote in the build up to the USMNT vs. Guatemala game, Stuart Holden and Mix Diskerud need to be started slightly deeper in the midfield, as opposed to using Kyle Beckerman as a defensive midfielder.

 

Additionally, José Torres wasn’t as effective as Holden and Diskerud at facilitating ball movement and possession, which was his job.

 

Once Joe Corona had Holden and Diskerud to combine with in the second half, Corona was able to have more technical players with whom to pass, despite passing well without Diskerud and Holden in the first half.

 

Jürgen Klinsmann made two excellent halftime substitutions: Holden and Diskerud.

 

Both players as mentioned above eclipsed Beckerman’s and Torres’ performances. Additionally, the insertion of Brek Shea gave the U.S.’ attack an additional technically-skilled player who brought speed and the will and ability to get past defenders.

 

The set-up of Diskerud and Holden playing behind Donovan, Corona, and Shea looks to be the strongest and most effective option.

 

Going forward in the Gold Cup, Klinsmann will have to continue this strategy of flooding the midfield with players who are comfortable on the ball and who facilitate a style of one-to-two touch passing.

 

Perhaps, Klinsmann can experiment with Michael Orozco as a defensive midfielder, but the strategy of using midfield possession as a form of defense might be Klinsmann’s best option, given the presence of only one defensive midfielder on the entire Gold Cup roster.

 

Holden, Diskerud, and Corona all demonstrated that they can tackle and that they are willing to tackle. All three players have the soccer IQ to realize that they will need to provide a lot of tackling and defensive pressure in the midfield to compensate for the lack of a midfield destroyer or just a true box-to-box midfield who defends with authority.

 

Looking back on the Guatemala game, the best Front Six looks to be: Stuart Holden, Mix Diskerud; Landon Donovan, Joe Corona, Brek Shea; Herculez Gomez.

 

This Front Six is predicated on the strategy of asking non-defensive midfielders to not only pressure the opposition into making mistakes and providing defense and tackling but also to use ball possession and offense as a form of defense.

 

Beckerman and Torres are both liabilities athletically and technically. Beckerman is way too slow and makes reckless tackles, and Torres is a one-footed soccer player who doesn’t play enough quality passes and final balls, in addition to being too easy to dispossess.

 

Torres is certainly a player with technical-ability, but it’s held back by relying on just his favored left foot.

 

Klinsmann made the changes that he needed to make, and he now likely knows that the Front Six mentioned above is his best option for the group stage.

 

The defense is a different story.

 

Certainly, Michael Parkhurst and DaMarcus Beasley performed well as outside backs, and Clarence Goodson really outperformed Oguchi Onyewu who looked top-heavy, awkward, and a step too slow.

 

Nevertheless, Goodson is hardly better than the other options Klinsmann could have picked for the roster, but Goodson showed a level of skill in scoring his goal that Onyewu doesn’t have.

 

Going forward, the USMNT should field a back line made up of: Michael Parkhurst, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco Fiscal, and DaMarcus Beasley. Depending on how well Tony Beltran does, Klinsmann has the option of using Parkhurst and Orozco as the center back tandem.

 

Klinsmann and the United States’ staff didn’t get their Starting XI right, but Klinsmann seems to have spotted the problem players in the game and corrected them quickly.

 

This was an example of Klinsmann making excellent player changes that drastically improved the level of play and created five second half goals.

 

It’s likely that Jürgen Klinsmann will use (or at least should use) the following starting line-up in the first Gold Cup game: Rimando; Parkhurst, Goodson, Orozco, Beasley; Holden, Diskerud; Donovan, Corona, Shea; Gomez.

 

This starting line-up is built around ball possession, and using the best defenders possible, given the questionable roster choices in the defense.

 

Benji Joya Has the Clint Dempsey Mentality

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Benji Joya (8). (Photo: MexSport)
Benji Joya (8). (Photo: MexSport)

 

Benji Joya has the Clint Dempsey mentality. It’s a winner’s mentality that is a combination of irreverence for opponents with a strong sense of humility off the field.

 

Joya is a different type of player than Dempsey, but Joya is an excellent talent who is more of a box-to-box midfielder compared to Dempsey, who is a second striker.

 

Joya plays one-to-two touch soccer. He tackles well. He’s not intimidated by opponents, even Paul Pogba, and he’s cool under pressure.

 

Big games are Joya’s favorite type of games, and he has the skill to start for the United States Men’s National Team in the 2014 World Cup, should the United States qualify.

 

For people who were so adverse to using a trequartista, enganche, meia-armador, or central attacking midfielder (all the same thing), Joya provides that sort of vision, creativity, passing ability, and style, while being an aggressive defender who tracks back on defense and times his tackles well.

 

The USMNT needs a player like Joya who offers Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, and Clint Dempsey a skilled passer and attacker who also helps to win back possession in the midfield and break up the passing of the opposition.

 

Even without international experience for the United States Men’s National Team, Benji Joya is a game day player who has shown strong signs that he is a complete midfielder unfazed by tough opponents or hostile crowds.

 

Once Joya played well against Paul Pogba, it’s hard to argue that he needs more experience. Joya even tried to put Pogba in a head lock in a recent U-20 World Cup game against France, and Pogba knew not to react.

 

Fighting for no reason shouldn’t be applauded in soccer, but Joya doesn’t do that.

 

But, Joya has shown that he is willing to mix it up with anyone just like Clint Dempsey shows almost every game.

 

However one chooses to look at Joya’s level of experience, Joya is an intense player who won’t be intimidated and psyched out by famous and talented opponents, and Joya’s skill and athleticism is matched by his mental toughness.

 

The USMNT needs more players like Benji Joya, and Jürgen Klinsmann will have to begin to incorporate Joya into his rosters, if he hopes to compete against the world’s best national teams, when they are at full-strength.

 

Benji Joya has the Clint Dempsey mentality.

 

U-20 World Cup: Tab Ramos Improves U.S. XI

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Tab Ramos made several line-up changes. (Photo: ISIphotos.com)
Tab Ramos made several line-up changes. (Photo: ISIphotos.com)

 

Unlike Jürgen Klinsmann, the United States’ U-20 coach Tab Ramos’ roster and line-up selections make sense. The criticism from the American soccer media before and after the first U-20 World Cup game for the United States was the exclusion of some Major League Soccer players and the inclusion of Javan Torre in the starting line-up.

 

Ramos’ line-ups have been balanced, and, by and large, strong at every position. Against France, Ramos used four capable defenders playing their natural positions, three different kinds of midfielders, and three strikers up top who brought different qualities.

 

Ramos used two modern outside backs in DeAndre Yedlin and Juan Pablo Ocegueda, which is an improvement over Klinsmann’s use of players out of position at outside back. Ramos also used two center backs who combined speed, skill, and sufficient size to compete against France.

 

Will Trapp was used as a defensive midfielder, but he doesn’t seem to possess anything remotely close to the speed, size, skill, or physicality of Michael Bradley. Trapp did make several key tackles against France, which was an improvement over his performance against Spain, but the line-up was basically without a midfield destroyer.

 

Trapp’s parter along with Luis Gil was Benji Joya, and Joya is the real deal. Joya is underrated by many in the American soccer media who seem to feel that Joya was responsible for covering the same amount of defensive duties as Trapp despite the fact that Joya wears the number 8 jersey for a reason instead of Trapp’s number 6 jersey.

 

Tab Ramos deploys Luis Gil as a playmaker, and this is a position that Klinsmann simply refuses to use on his United States Men’s National Team. Gil is good at playing final balls, helping the U.S. to maintain possession, and scoring goals, and he was used behind a trident of strikers.

 

This trident of strikers was a change in tactics from the formation used against Spain, and using Mario Rodriguez, José Villarreal, and Alonso Hernandez as strikers allowed the U.S. to try to stretch the French backline in addition to pressuring them when France had possession.