Gregg Berhalter’s third game in charge of the U.S. Men’s National Team is his most important to date, as he leads a full first-team roster into Thursday’s clash against Ecuador in Orlando.
Berhalter doesn’t have every potential first-teamer in camp, as others are off in U-23 and U-20 camp, but the USMNT head coach has plenty of weapons at his disposal to take on the South American side.
We already have a few ideas of which players will play in certain positions, as Christian Pulisic is going to play the No. 10 and Tyler Adams will start at right back with DeAndre Yedlin in a more advanced role.
However, the eight other positions are up for grabs for in-form European players and MLS stars off to a hot start looking to impress the new manager for the first time,
Below is a look at who we think will start Thursday’s match at Orlando City Stadium.
USMNT XI vs. Ecuador
Ethan Horvath
Daniel Lovitz—Aaron Long—John Brooks–Tyler Adams
Michael Bradley—Weston McKennie
Paul Arriola—Christian Pulisic—DeAndre Yedlin
Jordan Morris
With Zack Steffen sitting out the March friendlies with an injury, we’re tipping Ethan Horvath to earn a start in between the pipes.
Horvath has been called in for plenty of camps, but he still only has three appearances to his name.
In Steffen’s absence, Horvath gets an opportunity to shine in front of Berhalter and make the case to be one of the three goalkeepers called in for the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup.
In defense, Tyler Adams and John Brooks have their names written in Sharpie on the team sheet.
Berhalter wouldn’t move Adams to right back without playing him there and Brooks is the No. 1 center back on the depth chart.
Omar Gonzalez and Tim Ream are experienced options to consider, but we’ll go with Aaron Long continuing his surge from USL to MLS to USMNT to play next to Brooks.
Look for Gonzalez, Ream and Matt Miazga to all be considered next to Brooks for Tuesday’s challenging test against Chile.
Left back still remains a bit of mystery, and because he’s the only true left back on the roster, Daniel Lovitz gets the start.
With Pulisic starting at the No. 10 slot, Berhalter should build his midfield around the Borussia Dortmund star.
Michael Bradley brings experience in front of the back four to absorb counters and whatever else Ecaudor throws at the USMNT defense.
Bradley also provides cover for some of the inexperienced players on the back line, and will act more like a fifth defender.
Weston McKennie can be utilized in a variety of roles, but he starts next to Bradley in central midfield.
At points, McKennie will get forward to join the attack, and in order to trust him to do so, Bradley needs to hang back as an anchor.
Yedlin will be called upon in a winger role on the right side to complement Adams at a part of the field everyone will be watching.
Paul Arriola is a Swiss Army Knife player that gives the USMNT some needed versatility in midfield.
Arriola starts on the left wing, but he’ll be able to interchange with McKennie, Pulisic and others to challenge Ecuador’s defense.
Up top, Berhalter has to go with the hot hand in Jordan Morris, who found plenty of success in the final third in three games with the Seattle Sounders.
Of the forwards in camp, Morris is the one most likely to slide behind Jozy Altidore on a fully-healthy USMNT depth chart.
ives galarcep’s piece at goal.com:
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/adams-at-right-back-yedlin-at-right-wing-projecting-the/1xl3vksl29lws16v2p5w4591s1
I have watched McKennie and Pulisic in several games over the past several months.
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Pulisic seems to me to flourish more when he is along the touch line and has only be concerned with defenders ahead and on one side at least initially, when he is surrounded on 3 sides immediately he struggles (once he has the ball and a bit of a head of steam he can cut inside effectively, but his success rate goes down, as it would for anyone.)
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McKennie has been played all over for Schalke, I thought his worst performance was as a central froward and his best was this past weekend against Red Bull where he played right wing/midfield. There he was able to have enough time to make better decisions with the ball and he seemed to have a better ideas of where to be to stay open. His, perhaps, more common role, as defensive mid has been a bit uneven. I wonder if he isn’t really more comfortable when he is not surrounded on all sides.
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I would find a way to have McKennie and Pulisic both as wide attacking options. McKennie is the better defender, so whoever is behind Pulisic must be the better defender of the wide backs. Given the weakness of the USMNT LB position, that might present a problem if McKennie does not do well on the left.
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At CB, I think Long and Brooks are the best choices, Miazga is probably 3rd. I think Ream does not have the speed needed at LB, but he could work there against a slower opponent.
I would prefer something like this:
Morris
McKennie Pulisic
Bradley Adams
Lima Yedlin
Brooks Long
Horvath
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The weak points in this are: forward, LB, something I think we all knew going in and an unanswered question is if McKennie can handle the left side (or if Pulisic can provide the LB the help he will likely need if McKennie is on the right..
GB has already pretty much described the starting positions he will try and they are not these.
A more readable lineup:
—————————Morris—————————–
-McKennie—–Bradley———Adams-——-Pulisic
—-Lima——-Brooks———Long——-—-Yedlin–
—————————-GK———————————-
Regarding Pulisic, in his last game for Dortmund I remember one time when he went inside and made some really nice moves inside the box to get around about several defenders. I think he has some tricky moves in tight spaces like Dempsey did. Also, in the T&T game, he scored his goal from right in front, at the top of the box. So, I wouldn’t discount his ability while playing centrally.
I agree he can cut inside with the ball, but I do not think he is best if he has to receive it with players on both sides (who is?). While his first touch is very good, he does seem to need that little bit of extra space being on the outside affords him to be more effective. When he has played for Dortmund centrally, he had some of his worst games, but his play improved when he moved outside. I saw similar things for the US, but that might be put down to poorer service.
I just think he will have more chances to unsettle the defense if he can play wide where he can establish better control before attacking.
Beating a dead horse here, but the midfield system that we are likely to employ occupies defenders so they can’t double Pulisic. Remember all of those free looks at goal Mihailovic and Roldan had? Now those looks go to Pulisic and McKennie.
Who I want to see in the starting XI…..
—————————Sargent————————
—-Pulisic————Holmes————–Weah——
————–Adams————-McKennie————-
—Robinson—–Brooks——Miazga——-Yedlin—
—————————GK———————————
Bench: Wood, Gooch, Arriola, Scott, Acosta, Lima, CCV, EPB,
Unfortunately most of these guys aren’t in camp.
What I’m kind of expecting to see…..
—————————Zardes—————————–
-Pulisic——–Bradley———-McKennie——Yedlin-
—-Ream——-Brooks———Omar———-Adams–
—————————-GK———————————-
Bench: Morris, Ramirez, Trapp, Roldan, Arriola, Lovitz, Long, Miazga, Lima,
Apparently you missed my comment in the other thread, Scott announced he has an injury which kept him out of the U23 camp.
Gonzalez and Brooks oh gosh no mames
Why Bradley? New cycle. Time to move on please!!!!!retire!!!
Aaaahhhhh ? playing players out of position argument, who ARE NOT THE BEST IN THEIR MAIN POSITION in the first place…….hmmmm, so lets see
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Tim Ream – CB / LB / DM
1. What is the best position Tim Ream plays – CB
Who at that position is better than him ? – Brooks, Miazga, Maybe even Carter-Vickers
2. Is Tim Ream our best Center Back? No, so who cares if he plays in another position because his spot at CB is taken by a better player
3. You know what would be stupid though ? ? Moving John Brooks to LB to make room for Omar Gonzalez ?
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Gyasi Zardes – CF / LW / RW
1. what is Gyasi Zardes’ best position – CF
Who at the position is better than him ? – Altidore, Wood, Sargent, Weah, a Health Johannsson…..
2. Gyasi has ALWAYS been a CF, which is his natural position and it was dumb to try him in areas that would set him up for failure. But is Gyasi Zardes our best Center Forward? No, so who cares if he plays in another position because his spot at CF is occupied by a better player.
3. But again, you know what would be stupid though ? ? Moving Bobby Wood to left-wing or Altidore to the right to make room for Chris Wondolowski ?
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So, what have we learned TODAY? You do not take the BEST PLAYER in a particular position and move him somewhere else to make room for players WHO SHOULDN’T EVEN BE STARTING… ? ? ?
Ok I’ll try one more time. Adams is not a deep holding distributor. Adams is a dynamic 6 that breaks up plays and gets forward into attack. Berhalter’s system uses a deep holding distributor. Adams is not that, hence why RBL plays Kampl next to Tyler. RBL plays their dynamic 6 in a traditional #6 spot, Berhalter uses the RB to tuck into that spot so that the midfield is flooded with 6 midfielders when in possession or directly after possession is lost. He can also go wide interchanging with wing, making it difficult on the defense to mark players. Adams is playing the exact same role he plays at RBL, he’s just lining up at the kickoff in a different spot.
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Here’s the other thought you don’t rate Bradley, I don’t rate Bradley, hardly any fan on this board or any of the other discussion boards I follow rate Bradley. However, five straight managers including four in the last three years rate Bradley, and virtually every US soccer pundit and reporter rate Bradley. Now we can believe that there is a vast conspiracy that involves literally hundreds of soccer people in America whose livelihood is based on their soccer knowledge, that for some unknown reason forces all of these people with much more soccer knowledge than you or I to publically lie to push forward this one player at the detriment of the national team program. Or he is better than we think and we’re fans we hold grudges, and we like shiny new things. I know which side of that argument you are on so please no HAHAs, emojis, or selectively quoting (I know you already have the first line of this section on your clipboard), just giving everyone something to ponder.
1. OK Johnnyrazor, I will spare you the emojis
2. You already know my thoughts on MB, so lets go over this again. I see what you are trying to say but even though you think you are a GB expect it will not work. Just like when it comes to team work. a chain is only as strong as the weakest link……and in this case its Bradley / Trapp. Those two players are very alike and somehow US Soccer thinks that that kind of player has to be on the field but when you look at it, no US coach has succeeded with those two players on the field
like you said:
“Adams is not a deep holding distributor” – neither is Bradley or Trapp. When was the last time we looked dynamic with MB on the field. They both do not have the skill, talent, speed,ball control or vision of lets say a Darlington Nagbe (who played that role as the “heartbeat for ATL before his injury). When they are on the field all we do is pass the ball laterally or pass it back, and it has never worked. “The General” at Roma was done before he even left.
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“However, five straight managers including four in the last three years rate Bradley”…..true and all of them have lost or couldn’t keep their jobs in the process because of it. He is not a complete player and relies of players around him to pick up his slack. Look at TFC, it doesn’t even seem like they have DPs on the team after Giovinco left…..and people expect him to dictate and orchestrate the pace of the game or contribute on offense and defense for the USMNT??? Not going to happen
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We will see if it works. Luckily we’ll find out in a couple of hours. I look for Ecuador to play a more counter-attacking style so the US should have plenty of possession.
I guess we can only wait and see. Hope you’re right…….GO USA
It is so crazy I can’t imagine playing a player in a position he played when he first became a professional 2 years ago, ohhhhhhh the insanity. And then switching another player to the position he played four years ago and has returned to with his club in the EPL. What’s next Tim Ream playing LB, I mean he hasn’t done that since 2017. This is just like when he moved Zardes from his position of RB at Galaxy to CF for the Crew and that was a debacle. What he scored 20 goals as a CF for Crew last year, most goals by an American striker in MLS or any other top professional league? None of this would happen if we had a real manager like Tata. What two of his top players turned down offers to camp, and he didn’t include Vela because he plays in MLS?
This line-up vexes me greatly. Traditional line-up orientation would indicate that Horvath is the lone forward and Jordan Morris in goal. That would at least get Tyler Adams and Yedlin on the correct side of the field, but they’re swapped from what GB indicated.
Alternatively, we’re going top-to-bottom & back-to-front in which case Horvath is in goal and Morris is the lone forward, but then there’s the strange case of playing Tyler Adams as a left back and Yedlin as a left wing.
I’m almost certain there’s some sort of cipher at play here. If we can only decode it, we can uncover the hidden message. Fear not, Joe. I’ll crack the code… 😛
We are lab rats in a vast government mind-control experiment…
GB is not done yet. Give him some credit ,so far so good.
Love the Yedlin Adams switch. Thinking Ream might start at stay at home left back with M-B-A.
As long as Bradley gets the start, GB is happy. I hope these teams bring a fast, skilled team so that even a GB will see how done Bradley is… My only question is if Bradley will try to sink Pulisic if he’s next to him. IMO Bradley will try to dominate a more skilled player, next to him and will freeze him out to make him look bad.
If GB subs Pulisic off and puts in Trapp for him… My head will explode
Play Bradley and Trapp as strikers in a 4-4-2. They are our best players by a country mile. Then throw Omar G. on as our attacking midfielder. His experience will create loads of chances for us. Lastly, play Adams in goal since he is the most versatile athlete and can play anywhere.
love this guy….are you into international coaching!!!! Couldn’t have said it better myself!!!!
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GO USA!!!!!!!
As goalie, Adams will tuck in on defense but then position way wide in the attack.
Pulisic Ramirez Lewis
Lletget McKennie
Adams
Lima Long Brooks Yedlin
J. Gonzalez
The defensive options are horrific. And it’s not that the better choices are playing youth ball. Some of the other lines aren’t much better.
Horvath may or may not be a better keeper than JG. I have JG starting so that we can find out on the field as opposed to guess or assume. I don’t get burning friendlies like we do only to basically assume the lineup based on a pecking order.
I wouldn’t mind seeing (even though it is WISHFUL THINKING ?)
—————-LEWIS———MORRIS—————-
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–PULISIC—McKENNIE—-ADAMS—YEDLIN–
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REAM—–BROOKS——–MIAZGA— –LIMA
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————————-XXX——————————–
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Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge) and Sean Johnson (New York City FC) are both behind Bill Hamid in my opinion ? (and not because I am a United Fan)……Steffen is hurt and I don’t know who is worth between the two
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We can go with LOVITZ or REAM….though the latter has a better resume. Ream operates in a backline with Fulham so is use to taking a beating ?, so support from Brooks (Left-footed CB) on that side would work
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We already KINDA know Zardes and Ramirez capabilities ? , so I would like to see if Jonathan Lewis is the real deal or just hype, smoke and mirrors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at4DjdgbnFI
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Lletget should start. Need a creative numb 10 in lineup.
I’m pretty sure that’s the role Pulisic will be filling, no? But agree Lleget should be out there. I don’t get why Arriola is an automatic starter in most people’s line ups. I mean, yeah, he’s doing fine. But I think Lleget offers more
I get that GB Hath Decreed that Pulisic Shall Be a 10 and Adams shall be a RB but that doesn’t make it wise. In club Pulisic is the wide guy who wall passes inwards and takes shots. You put him in the middle and you lose the value.
Regarding Arriola, I share your opinion. He’s good, but I think Lletget offers more. There are any number of US players who are equal to Arriola and some who are better.
Gary hasn’t Lletget been playing mostly centrally for LAG since even before the injury. If I remember his resurgence in MLS was after having been moved inside. I think we could also see Morris in that wide position being that he has been playing wing this season for Sounders
Johnny, I like Lletget best in the middle as a playmaker, but the Galaxy have played him in several different spots. His first year he played mostly left wing and scored 8 goals. He was put into the middle late in his next season because of injuries to others and did well. He lost most of last season to his injury and this year it’s hard to tell where they are going to put him since they have so many midfielders and so few strikers. The last 2 games they have had injuries. In the last game they used dos Santos and Corona as defensive mids, Boateng at left wing, Pontius at right wing, and Lletget in the middle. A new guy, Altuna, was the lone stgriker. Pontius has also played striker before. Alessandrini and Ibra are supposed to be back for their next game, and Perry Kitchen may be back then, too, so no telling where they will put him next.
I too would like to see Jordan Morris get the start.
I think the only question marks are LB and LW, Berhalter has pretty much given us the rest of the lineup. Perhaps which of the CB pairings is used is still a question?
Ream will be the LB in my opinion,especially considering Greg expects his LB to stay back to be an extra defender in the mold of a back 3, who can pass efficiently to break lines leading to attack. I’d love to see Lleget somewhere in the lineup but who do you pull in this scenario?
You really looked at that lineup and thought I have very few questions? That whole backline except for Long and Lima make me question his competence. And then I don’t understand taking Pulisic who would be an excellent wide player, send him back, and then leave a blah forward line.
I just meant that Berhalter has pretty much told us everything else.
A country of 327 million people and our elite striker is…Jordan Morris? While Uruguay has literally 1% of the population size (3.4 million) and manages to produce Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez? Sheesh.
It’s worse in China and India.
…Touché! ?
Ha, but at least the aging Sunil Chhetri can still put the ball in the back of the net with some consistency!
The best forwards are with the U-23’s and U-20’s, which is OK with me, since they will soon overtake Morris, Altidore, Zardes and the rest of the mediocre senior forwards.
you must be new to the USMNT and this website…
Clearly he is a newbie, He is optimistic, unlike several frequent posters. who in addition to their profound pessimism offer soccer advice that is bizarre at the best, mostly silly and consistent only in their disdain of US Soccer and of some USMNT players.
@ Dennis Here’s a bit of empirical data to ponder. Since the MNT debacle, the only other counties to LOSE against T&T currently is Guadeloupe and the United Arab Emirates. Even Grenada pulled a result. Spot on. I am profoundly pessimistic with ussoccer.
To put this in perspective let’s classify the US as a footballing country of 50 million which may be a little off but close. It still would be regarded as a calamity.
dn: that is because it wasn’t talent that was the problem it was coaching. Arena did not comprehend that both Mexico and CR would lose he didn’t think he needed a result. Several players (granted ones who didn’t see the field) said the coaches did very little in terms of game prep or scouting report.
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Alfred: Uruguay is roughly the size of Washington state. About 40% of the people live in one city. It is much easier to train and scout talent and coaches if everyone lives within an hour of each other. Top players are playing with and against each other when their 7 and 8 years old.