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Who Should the USMNT Start vs. Panama?

 

With two matches left in World Cup qualifying, Bruce Arena and the U.S. Men’s National Team cannot afford to get it wrong. The margin for error is all but gone. It disappeared last month.

Now, that means Arena has some decisions to make, and those decisions could be vital when it comes to securing a World Cup spot. Without several regulars in the squad, Arena will need to mix and match some things while assembling a team equipped to take down a tough Panama team on Friday in Orlando.

For years, Panama has played the U.S. tough, showing a strong defensive posture and the ability to find the one or two goals needed to make the difference. Friday’s match won’t be easy by any means, but it is a virtual must-win for the USMNT.

With that in mind, here’s a look at one possible lineup we could see on Friday:

—————–Altidore—Wood—————–
————————Pulisic————————
——————Nagbe–Bradley——————
Arriola–Ream–Gonzalez–Cameron–Yedlin
———————Howard———————

Some thoughts:

Bruce Arena clearly has several tactical choices to make, but the group as assembled is one that should shine in a three-at-the-back set. There’s a wealth of solid centerback options, and the U.S. should rely on that relative strength to offer a bit more tactical flexibility throughout Friday’s match. The formation worked well against Mexico and Honduras. It can shift from a three to a five back to a three depending on the scenario, but one would expect to see the U.S. pushing forward with a bulk of possession.

With the formation, DeAndre Yedlin is free to create mismatches out wide, using his speed to cause trouble down the line. On the other side, the U.S. can go with a more conservative option like Jorge Villafana or even DaMarcus Beasley, but Paul Arriola is faster and more creative than the two. He has experience in this role from Club Tijuana and, even if he’s probably better on the right side, he fits just fine in a left wingback spot.

Centrally, you can rely on Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez and Tim Ream, even if all three looked pretty bad in September. Cameron and Gonzalez have too many good USMNT performances between them to think that September issues were just a blip. Ream, meanwhile, hasn’t always been solid, but he’s been more than good enough in the Championship to justify his spot ahead of someone like Matt Besler.

With Yedlin more or less patrolling the right, Christian Pulisic is free to tuck in. His best position is still up for debate, and he’s probably not a pure No. 10, but, in a match like this, you want Pulisic taking as many touches as possible. Centrally, he should get on the ball plenty, which is good news for a U.S. team that saw its best playmaker isolated on the wing against Costa Rica last month.

Up top, the duo of Jozy Altidore and Bobby Wood return with Clint Dempsey waiting in the wings as a super-sub option. Altidore and Michael Bradley have experience in a three-at-the-back set dating back to the 2016 season, making both more than comfortable with the tactics. Wood can play the role of Sebastian Giovinco to some degree, drifting out a little bit more and using his speed and workrate to cause problems.

Overall, you look at the squad and the formation should be a bit more familiar than it was even a year ago. There should be a level of comfort, and that comfort is vital against Panama. If the U.S. can attack in numbers and frustrate a somewhat slow Panama defense, they should create chances. Burying those chances will be key and, if the U.S. can, a World Cup ticket will rapidly look a bit more clear.

Comments

  1. I think it is funny how some posts disappear. I told you Rob you!T hey boys would get the job done. I can’t stand these Clintonites with no patriotism.

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  2. IVES – I’m begging you, contact your web designer and have him fix the comment section so that we can tell who is responding to what comment. It absolutely kills the single best part of your website. The lack of traffic/post in recent months confirms this. If we can’t tell which comment is directed to which post, there’s no point in posting…

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  3. We’re over thinking this. It is panama, not Mexico. Play our best formation/most familiar formation 4-4-2 (yes it is boring). Just stop playing pulisic as a wide midfielder. Anyone who watched him play understands his club position is a wide forward (winger). Play him up top with wood or jozy. None of our forwards play great together anyway so this also solves this. Only negative is no dempsey. Just some thoughts, go USA!!!

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  4. ————Altidore—————
    —–Pulisic————————
    ————-Benny—————-
    Nagbe——————-Bedoya
    ————-Bradley—————
    Vil—-Besler—Cam—–Yedlin
    Pulisic roams in the space under Altidore as a second striker, by not having a set side Panama can’t focus on boxing him in and they have to respect every run he makes to leave space for others. Altidore is better than Wood at playing into the runs of others from his time with Giovinco, but I’d be fine with Wood. By having CP under Jozy it also pushes Benny a little deeper which should keep him connected to Bradley’s deep position. I throw in Bedoya because he plays more narrow than Arriola which will allow Yedlin to overlap and he has more bite in defense. Yedlin has to play high so that the defense is stretched and can’t plug the middle as they do when Zusi is at RB. And I don’t think we will see anything close to this. I would guess 4-4-2 Bradley and Acosta central, CP and Nagbe wide two strikers, bland risk averse bring on Dempsey convert to some sort of 3 man backline if we need a goal late.

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  5. Not too many poster here think it is a good lineup. I think the 3-5-2 is out of necessity so I think this would be there best lineup except I would use Besler over Ream. Our wingback one on one defending is horrible and Yedlin would only solve half of that problem with the current roster and if he goes down it would be back to watching guys go by our wing backs with no support. I would play Nagbe over Acosta as suggested and would play with two defensive midfielders because Bradley will lose every 50/50 ball and we need someone near him to get the second balls. Nagbe holds the ball well (IMO better than Acosta). The only players likely to score for US are Pulisic, Wood, Altidore, and Dempsey so I would want three of the four on the field to start.

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  6. Whatever the formation, the US has to go for broke, super-aggressive from the opening whistle. It is so so important to get an early goal. If it’s tied (or worse) at the half, Panama will be fouling and falling all over the place. I remember being amazed how they could waste so much time in a game recently that it essentially killed off the entire second half. I despise how the central American teams do this, but we know they will if they can. Only way to prevent it is to grab the lead early.

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  7. I agree I think the 3-man back is by far the US’s best option formation-wise, both now and long term. Yedlin and FJ are as pure wing backs as they come, and I agree with the commenters above that if Arena goes 3 across the back, it makes the exclusion of FJ completely inexcusable.

    I also agree that Besler>Ream. Besler has far more chemistry with Omar than Ream has with Omar or Cameron.

    Finally, I think the clear partner for Bradley is Acosta. Love his work-rate, and his defensive ability allows Bradley more freedom to be creative, and Bradley is at his best when he is free. So for me, the best XI looks like this:

    ————–Altidore—Wood—————
    ———————Pulisic——————–
    —Arriola–Accosta–Bradley—Yedlin–
    —–Besler–-Gonzalez–-Cameron–—-
    ———————Howard——————

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    • @jerrybroadway, LIKE! I’m not a big fan of Nagbe dribbling with his head down and frequently dribble himself into loss of possessions. Nagbe works best coming in as a sub for a change of pace when the opposition starts to have heavy legs and is less focused on him.

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  8. hopefully Altidore will be in beast mode and not fall down mode. It seems like Panama man-handled us the last couple of matches. I don’t think the USMNT has the skillset to overcome that tactically, so we need people not afraid to mix it up. To bad there will be no J.J..

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  9. I am going the BobBradleyEmptyBucket ™…
    .
    Howard
    Yedlin Gonz Besler Vilif.
    Bradley Acosta
    Pulisic Nagbe
    Dempsey Jozy
    .
    Howard is always huge when he needs to be.
    I think that Pulisic needs to get dangerous, Yedlin can provide width
    Acosta will pivot up top more than Bradley, just because that is how both play.
    Dempsey will win a game for you.
    Pray the D doesn’t give away anything.

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    • Have you not watched US Soccer since June, forwards isolated with no service, Pulisic surrounded whenever he gets the ball and no one near him to play the ball to. I’d rather them play any other formation than the empty bucket.

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  10. We are going with 5 in the back? Against a team that will sit back. With a team that has been lackluster at best in attack.

    Then we are going to leave a back three including Gonzo who always makes at least one big mistake and Ream who decided to top that by a factor of many last game.

    In a nutshell, I hate that line up and formation choice.

    One, Dempsey needs to play. If he is a sub, I don’t wait until 30 mins left. We need goals in a big game. There is one guy who does that, who has done that. Dempsey.

    Two, Yedlin can still be the missing piece without having to leave 3 back and playing him in the overused 5 converting to 3 man back line.

    Three, I think that CP realizes now that this isn’t some cakewalk, he can just dribble through and win games. Hopefully he still will take on a few guys and make things happen.

    Four, someone, maybe Yedlin, needs to set a tone. This is how US plays soccer, not some of the last no desire garbage. The rest will follow.

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  11. Current Roster I go with 433:
    —-
    Dempsey——-Wood———Pulisic
    —-
    ———Nagbe———Bradley——-
    —————–Acosta——————
    Villaf—–Besler—-Cameron—Yedlin
    —————-Guzan——————-

    Everyone healthy and all available pool options, 433:

    Dempsey—–Wood——-Pulisic

    ——Klejstan——–Bradley——
    —————D.Williams————–
    FJ—–Brooks——-Cameron—–Yedlin

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    • Because T-Ho’s and Guzman’ horrific distribution don’t seem to matter. Watching the two of them kick/throw out of bounds or directly to the opposing team is our trademark.

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  12. I see there’s been a lot of chatter from other sites also recommending a 3 man backline.
    – If so, it makes the exclusion of Fabian a MUCH dumber move..
    – Playing Ream as the LCB with Villafana as the left wingback means we have a SLOW left side. Gotta think Besler would be a better choice
    – Playing Nagbe as one of the two holding mids in this line-up is also scary, don’t think that matches his skill set.. makes the exclusion of Jermaine that much dumber also
    – It does play better for CP, because CP playing in that flat 442 that we’ve been watching is really not where we want our best player

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  13. I know I’m unAmerican for saying this, but am I the only one hoping we don’t qualify for this World Cup? Daunting as that would be, it may just provide the impetus needed for drastic change from the top down.

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    • It wouldn’t change anything. The problem we have is the lack of player development knowledge. Learning how to develop players is a long process and not qualifying wouldn’t set the process back much but it won’t speed it along either.

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    • Good luck implementing your drastic change. Maybe you can sell loose cigarettes to fund it. Or borrow from the women’s team. That revenue comes from somewhere, you know.

      And yes, you are very UnAmerican for rooting against your team. Pretty terrible.

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    • And you are the one that has the answers and will save US soccer after it fails?

      I don’t mean to be a jerk, but a lot of us work pretty dang hard to make soccer players in this country great. I am not a big fan of some things like that amount of money it takes to make the nat team, in fact I am the opposite and I think it kills many opportunities for the national team and soccer players in general….but I am not rooting against something I am working my tail off at either. It is inconceivable that you are involved to much of a degree or you wouldn’t be either.

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      • For real. “Development is a long process and Americans just don’t understand it.”

        Bull. It isn’t some mysterious Dark Art. I’m a USSF national D myself and have coached all the way through high school, as well as a bunch of state-level club kids all the way up to Premier and the game isn’t overly complicated. There’s always more to learn, mind, and new ways of teaching and new stuff people have come up with, but we run the same drills and emphasize the same techniques as anybody else in the world – maybe more so, because the USA has always been a melting pot that borrows everybody’s best practices.

        The biggest problem is the pay-for-play club system and the fact that a lot of adults – mostly foreigners, actually – have made a ton of money monopolizing what should be a kid’s game. That system is artificial and will be displaced as pro clubs start footing the bill but it’s only been the last 10 years it’s been displaced anywhere and in a lot of places it still exists.

    • @Soccering is Fun, Please no, no, no! Drastic changes within the US Soccer Federation shouldn’t come as the expense of the US’ failure to qualify for Russia 2018. Gulati and Bruce Arena should be replaced at some point even if the US qualifies for the World Cup 2018.

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    • Many confuse the difference in fandom of Club and Country. For Club, if you support through buying tickets etc, you are a supporter and thus in a loose sense you have “input” in that club growing. If the club does poorly you have every right to say ‘my money helps keep this club going and i demand a better product!’

      For Country, however, it isn’t about dollars, it’s about patriotism. Thus, not making the WC would def hurt more than it would help. Losing the fans and the momentum would crush MLS and US Soccer. The sad thing is when a “fan” claims they want what’s NOT best for their team. No fan should EVER root AGAINST their team making the WC.

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  14. If Bruce does go 3-5-2 he needs to be very careful with his centerbacks. The centerbacks have to be good in the air, can pass, but above all can defend in space. Tim Ream and Omar cannot do this. They will get scorched one v one. If he was really serious about a 3 man backline he should have called in a Matt Miazga – who can defend in space, and it’s probably too early but EPB can also play in a 3 man backline, he is a beast defending in space, great in the air, and is good passing out of the back.

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  15. This is just stupid. Ream over Besler is stupid. Arriola as a sometimes LB is stupid.And it is vital to score first, so not starting Dempsey, IMO, is stupid. Play a 4-3-3 with Dempsey also on top and Pulisic on one side. If the US can go into the second half with a lead, then bring in Acosta for Dempsey in the second half and go back to a 4-4-2.

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  16. There’s no way playing Pulisic centrally is a smart decision on a Bruce Arena team. He will get battered to death just like last match. It’s ridiculous to ask this kid to do all the dirty work for this team, and that is precisely what we are gonna do. He needs to be NOT playing with his back to the goal 60 in our own end trying to turn and start an attack. He should be playing a pure winger role which allows him to be isolated one v one with any panamanian. Let someone else do the dirty work. He is risking major injury playing the role he does for Arena. Pathetic coaching.

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  17. If Omar is in the middle, we lose. That won’t happen. I see no attack and zero goals coming from this formation and don’t believe Arena would use Nagbe as a DM or sit Dempsey either. Well see

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    • Besler was having some concussive symptoms as of last Sunday. The plan was to evaluate him in camp to determine if he can play. Let’s hope he’ll be available at least for Tuesday as he is superior to Ream. Obviously, a healthy Brooks is our best LCB bar none. I too would rather have Besler than Ream. Since Ream looks like the probable starter, the situation calls for Arriola and not Villefana as LWB as we’ll need even more speed to cover for the flank. The decision to leave off both Chandler and FJ is even more suspect considering what formation Bruce was planning on using.

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      • Chandler is horrible and should never put on a USMNT shirt again…

        FJ was really bad last time out… but he will be missed.

    • That B England team… Fulham would likely thrash any team that Sporting KC has been playing in the MLS Western conference… Ream has been very solid and is 10 times better in possession that Besler.

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  18. You can nitpick the formation, but this gets our best players on the field, and allows us to bring on a fresh Dempsey with 30 minutes to go. Yes, I would rather not see this turn into a 442 with Ream at LB, like most people, so Bruce better sure he wants to stick with the 352 if he rolls this out.

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  19. How well has a central mid combo of Nagbe and Bradley worked? The experiment has been tried, maybe once and it did not look good. Nagbe holds onto the ball too long and dribbles into defenders which can be good because he will win free kicks, but also disrupts the flow of the offense. He is more effective as an outside midfielder, getting the ball in open space and attacking from there vs. trying to command the offense from the middle. I like Arriola, but the fact that he has become our #1 winger is sad (cough cough Fabian Johnson). Yedlin is a right back, not a winger. He hasnt played for the NATs in awhile and he should not be thrown into a new position. I actually think this formation would essential play like a 4-4-2 with Ream and Yedlin as outside backs. Won’t be fun to see Ream get burned down the line because he’s so slow (cough cough FJ). With this roster, the only logical move is to start Acosta and MB in the middle. What scares me is if Bradley get’s a yellow and say we tie. Then we go into a must win game against T&T with what? Mcarthy and Acosta in the middle? They couldn’t even play well against B-team competition in the Gold Cup. The fact that Arena would trust Mcarthy/Acosta more than a Jermaine Jones as an emergency guy is mind-boggling.

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    • What is this flow you speak of? If anything it is Michael Bradley who disrupts the flow. He shows waaaay too deep for the ball as a d-mid, often times running as far back as our center backs to feel safe enough to turn back into midfield. He then needs 2 to 4 touches to look around the field before passing the ball to someone else. There is no tactical understanding of where the ball needs to go from him or any of our current mids from a team perspective. A lot of this is on the tactical inept Bruce Arena who just “wants his players to play harder” in order to win. No Bruce, it’s smarter actually, not harder.

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