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There is no position with more good options for U.S. national team head coach Bob Bradley to choose from than midfield, and Bradley will have a tough time deciding on the four or five midfielders he will start against Poland.
The first question is whether Bradley will seriously consider using a five-man midfield, and take a step away from the standard 4-4-2 he made a staple of his first four years as U.S. head coach. If he sticks with a four-man midfield then you can see Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Stuart Holden and Benny Feilhaber getting the starts. Alejandro Bedoya is another option on the wing, though Feilhaber seems like a good bet given his recent run of good form for AGF Aarhus.
Now, if Bradley plays a five-man midfield, the possibilities become even more intriguing.
You could see a trio of Clint Dempsey, Holden and Feilhaber playing in front of Bradley and Edu. If Bob Bradley decides he wants to give Jermaine Jones a start in his first U.S. cap, then we might even see the trio of Michael Bradley, Edu and Jones paired together in the middle. Both Edu and Jones are coming off impressive Champions League performances last week so it wouldn't be surprising if both started (especially if Bob Bradley decides to go with a 4-3-2-1 or gives Jones a look on the left wing, where he has seen some time for Schalke.)
Who would you start in midfield? Would you go with a four-man midfield, or are you intrigued by the possibilities of a five-man midfield?
Share your thoughts below.
Spot on.
Completely agree.
I’m not certain you and I are on the same page as evident with your “lone attacking mid” reference. The beauty of the 4-2-3-1 is that
1: you don’t rely on a complimentary player for the target forward. In case you’ve been under a rock we currently are lacking in that department. Enter Josimer.
2: You don’t have to play traditional wingers…Which, in case you havnt noticed, we dont really use. Frankly, I can’t remember the last time we played with traditional wingers on any side other than Beasley and Convey on the left few years ago. In this formation the 3 players in front of the “Holding/Connecting mids” are always Attacking mids. No one attacking MF in a 4-2-3-1 should ever be “Lone”.
with respect to better candidates for the attacking MF’s role…You are right Donovan and Dempsey and Holden should be out on the sides. Benny, Torres would be in the middle pulling strings…however, Torres and LD are not on the team. So that leaves Benny and Bradley to play that central attacking MF role. Instead of benching EDU just to bring on Benny in the attack, I would opt to play Bradley centrally and bring in the player that plays in Champions League and actually has a better oportunity of scoring on set pieces…and Taking into consideration the title of the actual piece, this is what I would like to see (Emphasis on I) I would rather see Bradley in the central attacking role. Now keep in mind we are talking about a 4-2-3-1 not a 4-4-2.
that’s 5 central players.. stu and benny can play wide, but more in a 442. They don’t really play wide attackers like that, especially benny. all these players would just get in each other’s way.
Actually I just read an article about Jones wanting to change elegibility to the US years ago but was shot down by FIFA because he played in U-20 games for Germany. So, recent change of heart because he couldn’t cut it for Germany is far from a fact. Debatable at best.
——–Jozy———
-Benny–Stu—Bedoya–
—–Edu—–Jones—–
–lichaj–boca–goods–dolo–
demps and bradley have played 95% of their teams minutes it seems like, lets get other people time
Holden-Feilhaber-Dempsey
Bradley-Edu
Jones coming in at halftime for either Bradley or Edu.
——–Jozy————-
Dempsey—————–Bedoya
——Holden-Bradley-Jones
There is no way Bradley should be in a 4231 as the the lone attacking mid. He is nowhere near creative enough to pull off that position. If the team is going is going to play a 4231 there are way better candidates to play the am position like: donovan, dempsey, torres, feilhaber, holden.
That being said, you absolutely HAVE to start moving Bradley forward and into scoring positions. He is probably the best, or second best, scoring option on the team going forward. He is a player who should be playing closer to goal in a role similar to Lampard at Chelsea. So a Mourinho/Chelsea style 433 would suit the team best.
—————–Altidore—————-
Dempsey—————————Donovan
———Holden———–Bradley——–
—————-Edu/Jones—————-
Dude, Donovan is 28 as well and Dempsey is 27. You think they’re long shots to be in Brazil as well? Jones plays CM or CDM, you don’t have to have world class speed to play there
As long as Robobob uses his trusty empty bucket, all will be right in the world.
*yawn*, and they are wondering why they can’t sell tickets to the game in Philly….
On the contrary, the inability of this present group of midfielders to either hold possession, or to help shield our immobile centerbacks is a large part of the problem.
For the most part our wing midfielders are Donovan and Dempsey who are better at attacking rather than defending or distributing the ball.
I do agree that some of our midfielders might be better in the back. Robbie Rogers would have been better off playing left back.
This is why BB so often uses two holding midfielders.
So you see the USMNT as a bunch of fruits?
Findley-Clark central mid pairing IMO
Fielhaber-Edu-Bradley-Holden
(Dempsey up top, underneath Altidore).
Those four are likely our best talent right now and they are all still young. In 4 years they’ll all be hitting their prime (27-28 years old) and could as a group become the best midfield the US has ever had at controlling the game. They need as much time as possible playing together to become the best possible unit … As Holden and Fielhaber both are likely to drift into the middle, we will need to find some strong wingbacks to complement …
Ooops, that last lineup is impossible, let me correct it.
————-Altidore————–
Dempsey——-Holden——Feilhaber
——–Bradley——-Edu———-
Lichaj–Onyewu-Bocanegra–Cherundolo
————–Howard—————
———Altidore—–Johnson——
Dempsey——-Holden——Feilhaber
——–Bradley——-Edu———-
Lichaj–Onyewu-Bocanegra-Cherundolo
————–Howard—————
I agree with you away. But if Bradley Sr. is still the coach Bradley jr. will never have to worry about loosing his place.
Jones is 28 and is a long shot to be in Brazil. I’m all for getting him minutes, but I’d prefer to start Edu with JR since the CM role is going to be his job to lose in 4 years.
That’s a really complicated way of saying 4-3-3. I agree with you about the tactics. Although I would think Holden isn’t quite the right person for an attacking flank player in a 4-3-3. He can probably get some good crosses into the box but i’d like to see a slasher-type player out wide (Dempsey/Bedoya/Donovan/Najar). Someone who can run at the fullback with quickness. Holden’s a great defender as a midfielder, and he should be played in the midfield.
If Bob is really concerned about our best players playing, then I can’t see how he goes away from the 4-4-2. I can see how that 4-4-2 might start looking like a 4-2-3-1 with Dempsey falling into the hole created by two defensive midfielders in the middle, but it would be a 4-4-2 to me.
Ha at Jon Conway’s Goalpost!
Did you see him in the Ghana game? Look, Howard is a very good to occasionally great goalkeeper but we needed him to be great against Ghana and he wasn’t.
The US is the kind of team that needs a 2002 Freidel type performance from their goalkeeper to do well in the big tournamnets and Howard fell well short of that.
Yes, we have a crap defense but you know what, the keeper is a real big part of that crap defense and shares the blame.
Maybe the injury he sustained in the England game made him lose concentration and let in those soft goals. If so he should have given way to Guzan.
Maybe he’s getten complacent because he is starting to believe all the press about him being the greatest American keeper. I don’t know the answer but it can’t hurt to have Guzan play for a long run of games and maybe push Timmy a bit.
What I want to know is wth is jay doing where is he going? Why hasnnt he been signed?
Bradley – Edu
Dempsey – Holden – Bedoya
Jones will get his chance to partner Bradley in our second game, I’m still waiting eagerly to see Edu and Bradley get heavy minutes together.
In order to get an assist someone has to score a goal right?
Is Bradley not good at providing assists or are the USMNT guys he passes not very good at scoring?
All I know is I’ve seen him have some awesome assists for BMG.
I am intrigued. I think if we go with a 4-3-2-1 formation it has a lot of potential for the USMNT. It could help with our aging/depleted back line. It plays to our strength/depth in midfield. Gives more attacking support and power even though we dont have alot of viable forward options. Overall its provides an opportunity to get our best 11 on the field at the same time. Coach Bradley, lets roll with it!
This:
—–Bradley—Jones——
Feilhaber–Holden–Dempsey
Or this:
Bradley—-Edu—-Jones
—–Holden–Dempsey—
Hey, Man, I was at the USA-England game in Rustenburg. I agree that Guzan should play a full game, or two full halves, but Timmy singlehandedly kept us in the game in the second half v. England.
Exactly. You need to see who plays well with Bradley. Why put the burden on a midfielder to perform without him. I’d love to see us start five midfielders.
forgot Benny….I’d use him over Bedoya in a 2-3-1 and have Bedoya come in off the bench for Dempsey.
Left to Right If Bradley goes with a 4-4-2:
Dempsey—–Edu——Bradley—–Holden
Subs: Jones for Edu or Bradley, Bedoya for Dempsey
Left to Right in a 2-3-1:
——-Edu——–Bradley—-
Dempsey—-Holden——Bedoya
Subs: Jones for Bradley or Edu.
Just don’t see Jones starting since he’s new to the team and plays a position in which we have the most depth of experiance and youth. That said I really hope Bradley uses the 2-3-1 for at least 1 of the friendlies as it should enable us to put out best players in positions where they can excell.
Alex you got it, and I’m glad you have been thinking that way for a long time too, I been the same way but let’s see if BB would do that. I am fan of Barca and I think is a great way of playing all we need are guys that can hold the ball like Niesta, Xavi n Messi. I know, I know that is much to ask but we can be a copycat can we?
I’m not saying I don’t want him in attack at all, he seems to be more opportunistic than creative. Like I said, where the assists? And where is this deft passing? I must be missing something. I like him as a holding mid next to Jones or Edu. But he cannot play the entire game as an attacking center mid. You’re right when you say he can run all day and he’s a physical presence, and he doesn’t get easily disposessed. But he is not a direct threat to create scoring chances, as in being the first assist on a goal. He has great qualities as a holding mid behind the attack.
Clark and Sasha
Also, nobody ever starts out thinking, I’d be a great right back. It sure would be great to get some natural lefties.
That is pretty much what he did for the World Cup. Props for your moniker.
I think Bradley would be a great right back.
I’m not worried about our midfield. That isn’t where teams will break us down. Our problem is fullback. Let’s start converting some of this midfield surplus into some serviceable fullback play.
I realize I should switch Clint to right and Benny to left. Meh, y’all get the picture.
ding ding ding ding
Yeah, wasn’t Forlan voted like the least valuable player in the tournament or something?
“good old Timmy in goal”
Are you talking about Howard? The same guy who gave up a number of soft goals in the World Cup? Howard has gotten complacent and it’s affected his concentration.
Move on to Guzan already. Maybe that will shake up Howard.
If you can’t tell that’s sarcasm, then I’m hopin’ that fool from the projects does snatch you up.
………Altidore (EJ at 46′)….
Dempsey..Holden..Feilhaber (Bedoya at 46′).
….Bradley….Edu (Jones at 46′)…
Boca…Gooch…Goodson…Dolo (Lichaj 46′)
……..Howard………..
Dempsey is comfortable in that left wing/forward role. Holden needs to see the ball a lot! Jones shouldn’t start, but should get a half. We all know Junior won’t be subbed, ever. This is assuming Gooch is healthy. Maybe Edu slides back into Gooch’s spot once Jones is subbed in.
What do you guys think!?!??!?
more like
Holden——–Feilhaber
—Bradley—Jones
———-Edu——-
“Garbage” goals don’t count? Guys like Gerd Mueller made a living scoring them.
Holden-Feilhaber
Bradley-Jones
Edu
Diego Forlan was 31-32 this past World Cup and he obviously couldn’t cut it anymore.
this is an excellent way to get our best players on the field together! too bad it’ll never happen.
So really, a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 like Barca plays, with a d-mid (edu or Jones) holding down the middle, two mids free to attack (bradley and jones or bradley and edu) with wingers cutting in an attacking the goal (stu, clint)?
I’ve been a proponent of this idea for a LONG time. Ideally I’d like to see this:
Lando………Jozy………Clint
….Bradley……..Holden…….
…………Jones……………
And then however Bob works out the defense and good old Timmy in goal, of course. The only problem with this is that I’m leaving some good players out, like Feilhaber, Edu, potentially Davies (God willing)… But that’s not a bad problem to have.