Alejandro Bedoya may have been held off the scoresheet on Saturday, but the red-hot midfielder still found a way to make an impact.
Bedoya continued his fine run of form by assisting the opener in FC Nantes’Â 2-1 victory at home over Lorient. The U.S. Men’s National Team regular set up the game’s first goal just 10 minutes in, collecting a pass in the penalty area, racing towards the end line and slicing back a low ball across goal that open teammate Adryan rifled home.
Nantes went on to score again in the first half before conceding via a 79th-minute penalty kick that made for a nervier finish than was desired. The win moved the Canaries into fifth place on the Ligue 1 table, and brought them level on points with Nice, which holds a UEFA Champions League playoff spot. Nantes is now unbeaten in 15 games across all competitions.
Bedoya, 28, has been on an absolute tear for Nantes since late January. He has scored four goals in the club’s last seven games, including a pair in the Coupe de France, and now has an assist to add to this impressive stretch that should have him in contention to start for the U.S. during March’s World Cup qualifiers.
Here is a video of Bedoya’s assist:
What do you think of Bedoya’s latest contribution for Nantes? Why do you believe he has been so successful as of late? Fully expecting him to be a starter for the USMNT come March?
Share your thoughts below.
Bedoya is playing great right now. If we’re picking our best, most proven midfield three, I think he has to be in there with FabJo and Bradley. Although, all of these guys have left us with a few questions about their best international positions.
I get the impression most of us agree that Bradley is best suited as a pragmatic regista–making that late run–but I think JK wants the opposite out of his deeper lying CM. He wants the defensive focused enforcer who’s going to make the quick, simple pass.
Personally, I’d like to play the 442 as a base. I think Jozy and Wood up top should be a thoroughly conducted experiment. Many want to see Jozy in the middle of three up top, but I think our midfield depth is stronger than our options at wide forward, and that Jozy likes having a partner close to play off of.
I know I may have drank the kool-aid a bit prematurely on Nagbe, but I feel like he and Bradley balance each other well when operating centrally, box to box. I really like Nagbe’s defensive work rate and grit. I don’t think I’d switch Nagbe outside or move him to the bench in order to bring Bedoya inside, although the same can be said about his defensive intensity.
We could move Fabian (one of our best players) to fullback (our weakest position). That would mean moving to a 443, or starting someone like Zardes, Nguyen, or Mix, depending on how things shift, which is fine if FabJo can get forward without our backline falling apart. Maybe we do need that pitbull in front of our CBs for the time being.
I’m not at all discounting the contributions we are sure to need and receive from Dempsey and Jones in the near future, I’m just thinking about this year as a whole and moving forward towards developing a team for 2018. I also haven’t mentioned promising prospects like Pulisic, Morris, Keith Sweat, Tchani, etc. because I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, even if I’m a passenger of the hype train.
Glad to see Bedoya playing well. The discussion above just highlights to me that the real issue the USMNT has is that all our best attacking players seem to play best when played centrally. And we don’t have the same quality of player out wide, with the single exception of F Johnson(who also happens to be the most talented of the bunch). As much grief as Klinsmann gets (including some from me) about playing players out of position, at this time there just isn’t any other choice without a huge dropoff in talent. And really, for me, playing Bedoya out wide for the US is the easiest decision to make in terms of “players playing out of position”.
I note that some people want us to immediately start Ngyuen, Nagbe, maybe Pulisic and who knows who else and change our formation to accommodate all these guys. None of these players has played even one minute in a game that counts. I don’t think one of them has even played an entire game. Bedoya has played less than half a season at CAM, yet some people here think we should play him there and change MB and make all these changes based on these unproven players and unproven positions. This is crazy. Playing friendlies against Iceland and Canada means nothing. I’m reminded of an analogy. Someone once said that if a sinner repents , or someone converts from another religion to yours, you welcome them into your church, but that doesn’t mean you have them leading the choir the first week.
@ Gary Page True, but I think a lot of people are turning their heads at the form he’s in, and trying to figure out where we can fit him in. It’s hard to ignore performances like his, especially over multiple games. Bedoya’s a weird case because he’s played so few club games for a guy his age, but still come into his own. He’s moving from squad player to star player on Nantes. Before we never really knew what his best position is, that’s why I think he gets moved around so much for club and country. It’s nice to know we can always get a solid performance on the wing from him, but he’s showing he can contribute a lot in other positions. I like it because it means we can have a lot of tactical versatility.
Gary, I hear you and in a sense it is unfair to annoint some of the newcomers as automatic starters considering their inexperience on the international level but this team is lacking attacking flair and trotting out the same players, in their unnatural positions, is not getting it done. Bradley hasn’t worked out being closer to goal, it’s not debatable, so at some point you need to fill the attacking roles with attacking players instead of continuing to settle for what we’ve already seen and know. I don’t think anyone is saying that Nagbe and Nguyen are saviors but at least admit they give us something that this team is lacking
I hear you on the newcomers. Anytime anyone new does anything it’s immediately “CAP HIM NOW!!!”
But Bedoya is a USMNT regular and I think many fans (including myself) are not crazy about MB in an attacking midfield role and so, now that it looks like we have another option in that spot, those fans would like to try Bedoya there and allow MB to be in his more natural position, playing deeper in midfield.
I think we have to play Bedoya out wide on the right because if we move him into CAM, we really don’t have many wing options on the right to replace him. At least without moving Yedlin up from right back to right mid, but then who fills in at RB? Lots of options I guessm but few proven starters.
Personally I’d rather see our top players playing in there best position and then fill in with role players around it. Like with Fabian I feel like putting them where they aren’t going to thrive is just leading to somewhat frustrating play.
I agree with this strategy in theory, but I think in practice the problems are more complex. Putting your best players in their best positions seems like that would be best for the team, but that’s usually at the cost of keeping a couple of your better players on the bench. That could add to morale difficulties when things aren’t going swimmingly. You not only have to think about team chemistry and understanding, but also individual attitudes and comprehension levels.
Jack when you have a versatile player like Fabian who is likely our best player at multiple positions you have to look at the delta between him and the alternatives. As an example FJ is our best LM and, for arguments sake, the second best LM available is Nagbe. FJ is also our best LB and the second best LB is Robby Rogers. In order to field the strongest team FJ would likely need to be deployed as a LB since Nagbe is better at LM than Rogers is at LB.
Our problem is that none of our options at outside back or outside mid have really been able to distinguish/distance themselves from the rest of the pack/options. Basically all our options are equal.
On fire! Must be that mullet he is working on
I think his success has really been, being moved into that CAM role. He’s much better with the freedom of playing in the middle. Hope we see in the spot Dempsey’s played in the past, in behind either Jozy or Wood.
you would think that he would see minutes at that position considering how he’s been playing of late but JK, in the past, has put players in positions where he sees fit. We have to ask the question, “Does Jurgen still see MB 90 as the CAM going forward” or does he envision the likes of a Nguyen or Bedoya there?! JK moved away from playing baby bradley there during camp cupcakes friendlies but was that out of necessity or game plan?! I guess we’ll see soon enough but it’s great to debate nonetheless
I don’t believe that Jurgen will continue to prioritize MB as a CAM going forward. With the emergence of Nguyen, Nagbe, Bedoya, and Pulisic (in time) coupled with the likely ending of Jones being the primary Box-to-Box midfielder…the need to force Bradley into the creative position is disappointing. That’s not to say that MB will never be deployed that way again, but we should see it less often.
He and Nagbe both are perfect outside midfielders in a 4-3-3 with their combination of speed, work rate, backtracking, and center mid possession skills. Add MB in the middle and I think that’s a pretty damn good midfield. Not sure we have the forwards yet for a 4-3-3, but I love that midfield. Maybe Altidore in the middle with Morris and Zardes wide up front wouldn’t be too bad.
A 4-3-3 looks more and more like a viable formation based on the potential of our Midfield & Forward player pool.
LM: Fabian, Nagbe
CM: Bradley, Cameron, Williams
RM: Bedoya, Bradley, Nagbe
LF: Morris, Gyau, Rubin
CF: Jozy, ArJo, Zardes
RF: Wood, Pulisic, Kiesewetter
But in order to move to this type of formation our Outside Backs need to be more consistent and strong 1 vs. 1 defenders. Unfortunately their not there yet. Hopefully in the near future it’ll be an option.
I agree, lost. I think in 3-5 years our defense could be much improved tho. Payne, Acosta, Vincent, yedlin, Shea (??) look like good young fullbacks. Obviously with brooks, miazga, CCV liking promising centrally. How old is birnbaum? He impressed me in January with his ease on the ball. He simply looked like a natural, comfortable, traditional, stereotypical cb. Knew when to tackle. When to support. Etc without looking uncertain at all
Davis – Birnbaum is 25. He is an interesting option at CB for us, but I don’t see him making it as an “A” Team CB for the USMNT. He’s a good depth option but as the young CBs (Miazga, Alvarado, CCV, EPB) gain experience & maturity he’ll be overtaken and pushed out of real contention.
While I’ve liked what I’ve seen of Yedlin, Payne, Acosta, & Vincent I still have significant concerns regarding out Outside Backs. We are really thin at these positions. We need more FB options to emerge in order to insure we have the quality of players we need. I’m hoping that Villafana can help.
You cant really play a 433 because then you leave out FJ, one of our most talented players, and Altidore is much better when paired with another striker. Plus that would leave so much space in the midfield to cover, and as much as I like Bradley, he’s not an out and out d-mid ala Busquets who just cleans up messes
You’re right, I forgot about FJ, but he’d be a good fit for a 4-3-3. He’s not a heels on the chalk winger. He likes to cut inside and play inside.