USMNT: To Rüssia With Love

McBride11

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
22,109
Durham, NC
I wasn't able to watch this one, but I can't imagine there was much to be learned from a game against Puerto Rico?

Were Kitchen and Morales really used as outside midfielders?
Yup. PK at RM and Morales at LM. Williams and Bedoya in the middle.
PK and Yedlin did some good work on the right. Morales had a good shot from 20ish yds to set up Reans rebound goal. Otherwise eh.
And like you said, PR so who really knows.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
Kellyn Acosta has been added to the roster for the friendlies. That makes me wonder whether Fabian Johnson isn't recovering as quickly as hoped. Hopefully it's just because Chandler will show up to camp later and a bit more tired than most because of Frankfurt's relegation playoff.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
Kellyn Acosta has been added to the roster for the friendlies. That makes me wonder whether Fabian Johnson isn't recovering as quickly as hoped. Hopefully it's just because Chandler will show up to camp later and a bit more tired than most because of Frankfurt's relegation playoff.
Per Jeff Carlisle, it's because of the latter. HOWEVER....very soon after the announcement, Chandler was subbed off against Nürnberg with some sort of muscle injury. Ream, Castillo, Lichaj, and Acosta would be the replacement fullback options -- or "fullback" in Acosta's case.
 

Tangled Up In Red

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Nov 8, 2004
4,538
Bernal
What a boring line-up for tonight vs Columbia

Guzan
Yedlin - Birnbaum - Brooks - FJ
Beckerman (covering eight foot triangle)
Jones/Bradley
Zusi - Demsey - Zardes
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
What a boring line-up for tonight vs Columbia

Guzan
Yedlin - Birnbaum - Brooks - FJ
Beckerman (covering eight foot triangle)
Jones/Bradley
Zusi - Demsey - Zardes
GZ and GZ on the wings. All we need is Gedion Zelalem pulling the strings...


By the end of 2016, I would really like Klinsmann to settle on partnerships at CB and CM. There has been a lot of turnover and very little continuity. I think it's important to have stability. Hopefully we settle into some successful partnerships by the end of the Copa and carry some of that into WCQ.

Brooks/Cameron is probably the strongest bet for CB (Cameron has a minor injury tonight, which is probably why Birnbaum is starting).

Bradley and Jones often play as less than the sum of their parts and Beckerman's sell-by date is fast approaching. This is only a friendly, but I have many doubts about building a midfield around them - also because we don't have great options at wing-forward. Zardes often struggles wide, and Zusi is a limited player in general. Until Pulisic comes into his own and Johnson is freed from LB duties, wing-forwards in a 4-3-3 will be dicey for us.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
WTF Birnbaum, head that to Guzan not shittily to the edge of the 18 where an Ecuador guy is standing.
Steve Birnbaum is fucking terrible, he makes Orozco look like a golden god.
It's almost as if he's not the most deserving CB in MLS to be getting these calls...

He hasn't had a chance to show it, but it's true that he's a BEAST in the air, though. Might be useful on a set piece at some point.
 

McBride11

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
22,109
Durham, NC
It's almost as if he's not the most deserving CB in MLS to be getting these calls...

He hasn't had a chance to show it, but it's true that he's a BEAST in the air, though. Might be useful on a set piece at some point.
It was awesome how he tackled the Ecuador guy on that first set piece...

Who is the best CB in MLS these days? Besler? Don't follow MLS much. And certainly not to your level of knowledge TB.

edit - on ESPN2
 

Cellar-Door

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 1, 2006
34,457
This is luckily a team where probably half of the starters won't be in Russia. If there is an MLS CB anywhere near the starting lineup in Russia it would be a real surprise.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
It was awesome how he tackled the Ecuador guy on that first set piece...

Who is the best CB in MLS these days? Besler? Don't follow MLS much. And certainly not to your level of knowledge TB.

edit - on ESPN2
Besler has been a top CB for a while, but he's been out of form for the last month or two. Another reason why this Copa is a big opportunity for Brooks to make the LCB position truly his own.

I'd really have liked to see Matt Hedges (Dallas) get the opportunities that have been given to Birnbaum - though he's injured at the moment. Hedges is only eight months older than Birnbaum too, so it's not a building-for-the-future thing. Another player who has been rather consistent in MLS and who is young enough to still have room for growth is Vancouver's Tim Parker.

I'm not a huge Omar fan at the NT level, but I'd have taken him over Birnbaum. Birnbaum's a solid CB in MLS, but I'm not sure that I see a US future for him.

The current U-20 team has a really strong group of CBs. None of them are NT-ready, but some of them may move into the picture in a few years. Add Miazga to the mix and the medium-term future of the position looks good to me. At fullback, less so. Pray for Yedlin.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
Offensively, this is grim. Dempsey isn't effective as a center forward, Zardes isn't effective as a winger, and collectively the front three has no speed.

Let's bring on Wood and Pulisic. I'd like to see Nagbe, too.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
Wood for Zardes and Nagbe for Beckerman. This should be more interesting.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
Wood is playing out wide, Nagbe is playing centrally ahead of Bradley who has taken the DM position. I wish Wood and Dempsey would switch positions; Clint should never be the furthest forward player.
 

teddykgb

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
11,016
Chelmsford, MA
This looks better. Calm possession and probing. Bradley very comfortable pulling the strings from deeper. I'm pretty done watching Dempsey play for team USA and wish he'd get subbed now so we could play a more energetic attack

Edit: ask and ye shall receive apparently. I just got super interested in the last half hour
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
This looks better. Calm possession and probing. Bradley very comfortable pulling the strings from deeper. I'm pretty done watching Dempsey play for team USA and wish he'd get subbed now so we could play a more energetic attack
Your wish is Klinsmann's command. Pulisic time! I do think Dempsey wasn't put in a position to succeed this game - he's not a CF and I don't think the US can afford to have two slow clunkers in the attack in general (Dempsey + Zusi tonight).

Also, Bedoya comes on for Jones.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
Besler on for Brooks. Brooks had a really strong season for Hertha and it's showing. It seems like he has cleared up some of his issues with concentration/focus and if so, he will be a lock in the lineup.
 

teddykgb

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
11,016
Chelmsford, MA
It looks like a leftish CM.
4-2-3-1? With him playing the left in the 2? But told to attack more while MB hangs back.
That's the weird part. Bradley is playing like a pure 6 in his positioning. Staying central and covering. Which would suggest a 4-1-xx formation. And Nagbe is very clearly staying on the attacking left. He's not dropping deep with Bradley and he's not drifting centrally as a 10. With Pulisic wide of him I guess it could be a 4-1-4-1 which probably best describes what they are doing with Bedoya central I suppose
 

McBride11

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
22,109
Durham, NC
That's the weird part. Bradley is playing like a pure 6 in his positioning. Staying central and covering. Which would suggest a 4-1-xx formation. And Nagbe is very clearly staying on the attacking left. He's not dropping deep with Bradley and he's not drifting centrally as a 10. With Pulisic wide of him I guess it could be a 4-1-4-1 which probably best describes what they are doing with Bedoya central I suppose
Ya that fits. Which is frustrating as it seems awfully defensive. We put Nagbe Woods and Pulisic in for a reason. Let them spread their wings.

Love Pulisic's confidence.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
Darke: "Crowd might make USSF think about bringing more games here"

All our friendlies lately have had shit attendances. USSF needs to tone down ticket prices.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
Nagbe!

Shoddy clearance by Ecuador, but glad to see the US take advantage.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
NICE work from Pulisic there. He's not a huge dude, but he just showed how little that matters.
 

teddykgb

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
11,016
Chelmsford, MA
Ya that fits. Which is frustrating as it seems awfully defensive. We put Nagbe Woods and Pulisic in for a reason. Let them spread their wings.

Love Pulisic's confidence.
Which is why it is so weird that Twellman is talking about Nagbe and Bradley's communication. They're not the middle of a 4-4-2
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,289
Pulisic getting muscled off the ball by the bigger player then winning it back AND turning it upfield was so great.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
That second half is certainly something we can build on over the course of this tournament. Wood, Pulisic, and Nagbe are badly needed new blood; it's clear all three need bigger roles than they have been given so far. Bradley was effective as a DM, which is huge if it continues.
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,289
That second half is certainly something we can build on over the course of this tournament. Wood, Pulisic, and Nagbe are badly needed new blood; it's clear all three need bigger roles than they have been given so far. Bradley was effective as a DM, which is huge if it continues.
Yep, same old crew won't cut it. Nagbe and Pulisic bring touch and dynamism to the midfield, and Wood seems to have the knack. There's a potential identity staring JK in the face.
 

Tangled Up In Red

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Nov 8, 2004
4,538
Bernal
I think the best line-up utilizes and facilitates two unique talents we have: our best player, Fabian Johnson and his speediest counterpart, Yedlin. Play them as wing-backs in a back 5, with 3 CBs in between - Cameron in the CB/DM flex role.
FJ gets to play more like the LM he can be and Yedlin covers the right flank, without being fully obligated to a defensive position.

3 CM (from Nagbe, Bradley, Jones, Bedoya) in front of them and two wide attackers (Pulisic, Zardes, Julian Green? Someone? please not Zusi) + Wood up top.

Just seems like the way to maximize what we have.
 

Cellar-Door

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 1, 2006
34,457
I think the best line-up utilizes and facilitates two unique talents we have: our best player, Fabian Johnson and his speediest counterpart, Yedlin. Play them as wing-backs in a back 5, with 3 CBs in between - Cameron in the CB/DM flex role.
FJ gets to play more like the LM he can be and Yedlin covers the right flank, without being fully obligated to a defensive position.

3 CM (from Nagbe, Bradley, Jones, Bedoya) in front of them and two wide attackers (Pulisic, Zardes, Julian Green? Someone? please not Zusi) + Wood up top.

Just seems like the way to maximize what we have.
That's 11 field players.
Personally I'd rather they didn't go to a 5 man back line. Long term I think Yedlin is a fullback and moving Johnson to the midfield should be a priority.

As terrifying as it is given his issues translating Club Success to international competition, I'd like to see Chandler get another run out.

My preferred lineup for the Copa would be:

--------------Guzan----------
Yedlin---Cameron----Brooks----Chandler
-------Nagbe------Bradley
Bedoya----Dempsey-----Johnson
------------Wood---------

I'd have Zardez and Pulisic as my attackers off the bench and Kitchen/Jones/Besler in my DM/CM/CB bench spots.

Moving into 2018 I'd love to cut the old weight off the roster, move to more of a 4-3-3 and slide Dempsey to the bench and try out some more creative CAM options such as Lletget, or slide Bedoya inside and move Pusilic onto the wing.

This may be too attacking a formation for Klinsmann, but I'd like to see him try it. If it fails you'd have to go to the 4-3-3 which would be disappointing in terms of getting our best players on since it means one of the corpses (or I guess Kitchen) at the expense of one of Bedoya/Dempsey/Wood.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
I don't know how to post images without taking a screenshot and hosting the images, but there's lots of good data at the bottom of this page. You can play around with different players and see their passing charts, etc.

Nagbe was 33/33 passing. Bradley was really solid, too. Look at all those completed diagonal balls to both corners. That's much more his offensive game than being a tricky #10 in close quarters in the offensive third.

As clearly impressive as Pulisic was, he didn't complete a forward pass during his time on the field. I look forward to what happens when he builds chemistry with Wood and the other attackers.

Zardes only attempted six passes in the first half, before being subbed. No surprise there. Wood's passing chart shows his hold-up play.
 

teddykgb

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
11,016
Chelmsford, MA
I'm having a really hard time with that site on mobile do they have distance traveled? The few times I've watched Nagbe for club and country I've wished he'd put himself about more and work to get on the ball. But in this sport the eyes can really deceive on something like that so I'd love to actually know
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
I'm having a really hard time with that site on mobile do they have distance traveled? The few times I've watched Nagbe for club and country I've wished he'd put himself about more and work to get on the ball. But in this sport the eyes can really deceive on something like that so I'd love to actually know
Nope, I don't think they have that data. Maybe something like that will pop up somewhere for the Copa America.
 

Tangled Up In Red

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Nov 8, 2004
4,538
Bernal
That's 11 field players.
Apparently I solved the Guzan/Howard debate.

--------------Guzan----------
Yedlin---Cameron----Brooks----Chandler
-------Nagbe------Bradley
Bedoya----Dempsey-----Johnson
------------Wood---------

I'd have Zardez and Pulisic as my attackers off the bench and Kitchen/Jones/Besler in my DM/CM/CB bench spots.
I like this quite a bit.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
I also like the lineup that @Cellar-Door posted. My only concern is that it uses all three rostered players who are capable of playing fullback, two of whom are Germericans known for wilting in the heat of a CONCACAF summer. If Klinsmann wants to use a formation in which all three of Yedlin, Chandler, and Johnson start, he should have done some basic preparation and taken another fullback instead of Michael freaking Orozco.