For the first time since the start of the Copa America, the U.S. Men’s National Team will require a change to the starting XI, but Jurgen Klinsmann is far from worried about the upcoming shift in personnel.
After earning a red card in the USMNT’s win over Paraguay, DeAndre Yedlin will miss out on Thursday’s Copa America quarterfinal against Ecuador. The dismissal put a bit of a sour note on what has been a solid tournament for the young fullback, who has firmly locked down the right back position for the national team.
Now forced to alter his XI, Klinsmann played coy when asked how exactly he planned to shuffle his defense ahead of a match with a talented Ecuador team.
“No, I’m not going into details about that,” Klinsmann said with a laugh. “We’re working on it.”
Klinsmann will have several choices heading into Thursday’s match, which will see whoever starts at right back matched up with the dangerous Jefferson Montero. Klinsmann could stick with Michael Orozco, who joined the fray following Yedlin’s dismissal against Paraguay. He could shift Fabian Johnson over to the right back position while adding Matt Besler or Edgar Castillo in at left back, or he could push Geoff Cameron out wide at the risk of breaking up his centerback pairing.
No matter what Klinsmann ends up fielding, the USMNT head coach is confident in his team’s ability to adapt and push forward after three games of complete consistency.
“A tournament is decided by the chemistry of a group, not necessarily by the best team,” Klinsmann said. “It’s how a group grows together, how they support each other, how they stay in a good mood for a longer period of time and how they sense problems, how they solve problems. I see, as a group, similar to (the World Cup in) Brazil, that is kind of getting along. The spirit of the bench is there and, with that spirit, it’s easier to go through six or seven weeks of pushing everyone to the limit.
“It’s a bummer that DeAndre cannot play, but I’m not worried because I know whoever plays instead of him will get his job done, will give everything he has. The team know it, the starting team. The bench know it and everybody feels appreciated in his own role right now. This is what can make a tournament successful. It’s the group that makes the difference, and this is what happens right now.”
As for Yedlin, Klinsmann expects Saturday’s dismissal to be just a minor blip on the defender’s path. Throughout the past year or two, Yedlin has grown exponentially, according to Klinsmann, who expects the dismissal to be just another lesson for the fullback, even if it came at a bit of an inopportune time.
“It’s absolutely a learning moment, saying that you cannot overreact when something goes wrong. With the first yellow card, he was too emotional about it, too upset about it,” Klinsmann said. “He was upset about everything: himself, the call and stuff. That’s when you have to be more calm. This will come over time.
No good alternative here really. I have more confidence in Birnbaum than in Orozco or Castillo but playing Birnbaum means breaking up the Cameron-Brooks pairing so I’d probably go with Orozco.
I have heard 3-4-3 bandied about… howd’ya like dem apples
Valencia would totally destroy Castillo. It’s every bit the concern Montero vs. Orozco is. Sadly, there’s not a really good option here. One thing is for sure there is no way you should disrupt the CB pairing.
And this is where we miss not having Chandler.
Not really – he’s generally been terrible for the USMNT.
You misspelled “Cherundolo”
No Cameron at right back, he is bad at crossing when under pressure, in my opinion.
As long as they win I could care less who is at RB
How much less?
A lot
Don’t disrupt a center back pair that hasn’t given up a goal during the run of play. Castillo has the best wheels of the remaining options and is the most like-for-like player for Yedlin, so other than shifting the side you can keep the same tactics that have worked.
He can run but he’s a horrible defender and is muscled off the ball way too easily. We can’t play out of pressure with that turnover machine. Orozco at least gives some stability on the defensive side. I’m not so worried about him being beaten out as he typically keeps a very good starting position when we lose possession.
Klinsmann also has played Besler at LB before and Birnbaum at RB so we could actually see both of them play and Fabian up to the midfield for Bedoya. It’s out of left field but Klinsmann has done it before.
I think we’ll likely see Orozco slotted in there, which I don’t have a problem with. Would much rather see Orozco there then shift Cameron over and start someone else at CB. The CB pairing of Cameron and Brooks is really solid and they’re getting more and more comfortable with each other. Keeping that “spine” in place is important. Plus, Cameron has the ability to help Orozco out.
I for one, would like to see Fabian shifted over to right back and Castillo/Besler inserted at left back, if only because if either Castillo or Besler do a solid job at LB, we could shift Fabian to his preferred (and more effective position) of left mid in the future. Fabian at LB is my one real quibble with Jurgen’s Copa so far. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s performed pretty well there, but I’d love to see him on the wing. This seems like the perfect opportunity to throw someone else in at LB and see how they do.
But, like I said, I think we’ll see Orozco. And even with my Fabian at left wing tinted glasses on, I can admit that that makes the most sense.
I think see Geoff pushed out wide tbh….if that happens Birnbaum will likely partner Brooks like we saw in the friendly vs Ecuador. Ecuador likes to attack from the flanks because their speed and creativity is with their wide men in Montero and Valencia. Geoff has Prem experience over a number of years with Stoke at RB and his thatvexpeeience couples with his skill marcher up better against Montero in NY opinion. JK clearly trust Birnbaum as well given that he’s played him at CB in the absence of Geoff at the end of the club season and in all of the pre Copa friendlies. No offense to Orozco, but we can’t afford to have him abused out there, match-ups are important at this stage and hopefully we’ll get this one right
In terms of quality the best option is probably to move Cameron to RB and put in either back up CBs. My guess though is that Klinsman just goes with Orozco. I don’t know why he is on the team given his lack of club form and not really being a right back. It’s a shame because the US only has 4 players in the 11 where there is a massive gaping hole if they are out given the current roster and one of them happens to be Yedlin (Johnson, Bradley, and Dempsey are the others). Double shame that it creates weakness right where Ecuador’s best strength is.
I do bot get why Orozco is hated so much. He has scored a few times for the nats,good at headers on set pieces, and is good defensively. I have seen him play in person a few times.
i like him in the mix (solid, while not spectacular), but he’s good for a few bone-headed plays every now and then.
however, i think most of the current “hate” is simply because he’s been out of form with his club recently, making people skeptical about how he’ll perform at the international level.
Right there with you. Orozco doesn’t aspire to be anything he isn’t … No he isn’t special and Barcelona are not going to be preparing an 8 figure bid for him, but he pretty much gives you the same mostly reliable performance every time (which it should be noted is almost always on short notice and in a variety of positions). Even chips in a goal from time to time.
I have nothing against Orozco, but I worry about how well he can handle Montero’s speed. While Valencia is also a handful on the other side, I think the best approach is to flip Fabian to the right and stick Castilio on the left. Castillo has been playing much more and for a better team than has Orozco and is pretty good going forward.
I dream of the day when “next man up” isn’t an empty bromide.
Starting Orozco or sliding Johnson to the right and starting Castillo seems to be the question. I’m guessing JK will go with the former. Of course, you could always slot in Birnbaum and have a three man backline . . .
Orozco is kind of a Klinsmann favorite. So I see him slotting in at Yedlin;s position. What Orozco does not bring is Yedlins speed. He will mostly sit and defend and only go forward sparingly as he can easily get caught out without Yedlins speed. As a full back Orozco is quite good. His only drawback is that he is not a gifted passer and tend to loose the ball when pressed hard. He is ot as versatile as Yedlin, but keep him back and he’ll do fine.
Except Orosco may the slowest alternative and against Montero…How I wished we had Chandler for this one, he has Valencia’s number.
Yes Chandler has better speed than Orozco, but I think Orozco will be Ok if he stays home and not senf into the attacking half. His other detriment is that he is not a good passer under pressure. and makes more turnovers than is comfortable.
if birnbaum is in consideration then i’m assuming we would keep 4 in the back, with either birnbaum as the right back (not my pick) or pushing cameron to right back.
So Orozco is: not a natural RB, non-threatening in the attack, average quickness, not a great passer and loses track of the ball when pressed. Great option there against a pacey winger.
Fabian has to be shifted over to RB, LB should be covered by Castillo.
I don’t want our CB pairing to be changed, at the very least. They seem to have good chemistry (and continually growing). Regardless of our full-back choices, it would be best for Cameron and Brooks to play together as they will have a better understanding of dealing with the eventual crosses that we will see going into the box due to our lack of depth at RB. From my perspective, I would put Castillo at LB (can’t believe I am typing this) and FJ at RB to deal with Montero. Can we slot Orozco in at RB? Sure, but I just don’t see him being able to keep up with Montero, and he doesn’t have the offensive presence to force Montero to cover him deeper in their defensive territory, thus limiting Montero’s ability to get forward, especially on counters.
Agreed, FJ on paper makes the most sense. In EPL, the only time Montero wasn’t overwhelming the RB was when they were as quick as he was and could counter, forcing him to stay back some. If so, FJ could really have an amazing game, as Ecuador’s prime attacking strategy so far has been pass it to Montero and watch him break ankles, A. Valencia has been more of a decoy. From the only equal parts Ecuador & USA supporter so far, if JK puts Orozco out there, Ecuador will quickly overload the left with 1-2 after 1-2 to free up Montero for cross after dribble into thebox and pass after cross. JK’s only strategy from there could be quick counters up the right into space. Dangerous game, but possible. Montero does eventually tire and our bench is nowhere near as strong as our starters. Overall JK invites the Ecuador attack in, I wish you well. JK decides to attack as much as to defend, USA will win, as our D isn’t the greatest and our goalie folds under pressure. May the best team win! Will barely be able to watch.