Post-match: USMNT vs Russia: Second Viewing Analysis

Back when Jones was still shooting for a spot with Germany, Loew went to the press and said Jones needs to calm down, be less hectic, and play more precisely. Loew never called him up again, and that description is as accurate today as it was 4 years ago.

If you analyze Jones in a vacuum, he's OK. But consider the impact he has on his teammates. Chandler's cue to get up the sideline and add overlapping width is knowing he has defensive cover when he does. Instead, Jones is the one all over the place, and Chandler is forced to stay put more often. How is Gatt supposed to cue off of Jones? Or Gomez? Both had little impact on the right, and that's partly because of their "supporting" #8.

Look, if people want to play Jones as he does with Schalke, awesome. Sit Bradley, put a more attacking midfielder in front of Jones, put a DMid behind him, and let Jones be a box to box animal. So, who wants to sit Bradley? Who wants to restrict Bradley's forward movement by making him a dual 8 with no supporting 6, or have Bradley play the 6 behind Jones?

Or, you ask Jones to be the 6 he was at Blackburn, which requires he stops being all over the place.

I'm well aware of that. Like I said, if people want to play Schalke's system, we leave Williams at the 6 and sit Bradley for a more attacking midfielder. You want to sit Bradley?

Weak.

We disagree on the discipline required of an 8 in yesterday's formation. So be it.

Or just play Bradley in the more advanced role. He's plenty capable of it, and of the three midfielders we started yesterday he's the most likely to be able to alter his game to that extent.

You want Bradley to be an AM to make room for Jones? OK. I think there are other alternatives that make the team better.

Nope. Read again - I said IF you want to play Jones in the system he plays at Schalke, he needs to be in front of a 6 and behind a more attacking mid. That means sitting Bradley.

If you don't want to sit Bradley, fine. We agree.



So then you have to figure out what system you want to use. You think last night's was great. I don't, for the reasons I stated. We disagree. That's OK. I also don't think those two as dual #8's has worked.

The one system I'd be supportive of is using Jones as a 6 behind Bradley. He'd have to outperform Williams, but I think he could. He'd just have to be more disciplined - play as he did for Blackburn.

Like? The only players in our pool that have more playmaking ability than Bradley are Dempsey and Donovan, and they are both better in other positions. Zusi is about the same level, Mix is not as good, Corona isn't ready yet. I don't see a better option without losing something somewhere else on the field. I could see this:
Dempsey...............Jozy...................Zusi
........................Donovan........................
...............Jones..............Williams..........
with Jones playing his Schalke role and Williams sitting in. But we lose quite a bit on the wings with that formation. We could play Gatt, and with Donovan there we could take full advantage of his speed. But then we lose the calmness that Zusi would bring if we had a lead. Which is why, IMO, this is still best:
Dempsey..................Jozy......................Donovan
.................Bradley................Jones......................
............................Williams.................................

Fair enough. You agree with RC.

I don't think that's our best team.

That's fine. We don't have to agree. Who would be in your midfield on our best team?

I think Holden is the best fit if he is healthy, but it's unlucky.
------D-Will
-Bradley--Holden

Like I said, we disagree. In the 4-3-3 we used last night, the 8 and the wide attacker have to help support the wide area defensively if the full back goes forward. The 6 needs to anchor his central defenders.

OK. What does that have to do with his job as an 8?

I'd try Jones at the 6 behind Bradley. But the roles would be clearly defined and Jones would need to stay disciplined.

I think the US is best when you have 4 attackers. So I want to see Dempsey, Donovan, Altidore, and Zusi in front of 2 central midfielders. I think that's our best team right now.

And for the love of God, no Goodson.

Not the scheme we play and quite frankly no team I know plays the 4-3-3 the way you describe it.

In full attack the strong (ball) side F, #8, and FB are likely in the attack. In the event of a counter behind the advanced FB, the #6 slides over to cover the FB slot and the weak side FB slides over to provide defensive integration with the 2 CBs.

Never mind. Not worth the discussion - agree to disagree.

I think Williams is going to be a very good 6. It's a position that requires time and experience, so he's going to have off games.

Jones has played the 6 well in his career. Like I said, it's something worth trying.

Bottom line, Jones+Bradley as 8s isn't a great combination. Good to have in some situations, but we've seen the team perform better recently with two central midfielders. One 6, one 8.

a la Onyewu vs Brazil. He's young and seemed to be off his game for his entire duration. I don't know if it was the FK or something else but I'm sure things like that will get hammered out as he matures a bit more as a player.

I personally wouldn't write off the Bradley+Jones pairing so quickly. Our wing play simply wasn't productive enough. You mentioned our wing play being unsupported as a reason why it was largely unproductive but consider Jones bombing forward as a reaction to our lack of wing play. I think the circumstances might back this up.

Russia has been a very strong side lately. Playing them away was never going to be easy. We had the debut of a promising young winger with Gatt. For the wings to work the wingback has to have some understanding with the wide forward. Needless to say Chandler and Gatt have never played together. All of this leads to an unbalanced attack. A large portion of the creative burdon on the right fell on Jones' shoulders.

He will be fine. Klinsmann isn't the type to hammer a youngster and make things worse. I think he will be a beast for us. Less prone to getting caught in possession compared to Edu.