We'll have Morris and his speed available off the bench too. Holy shxt, do we finally have depth up top?
I am a little worried about width, but no worse than what we had against Honduras. I'll take FJ and Yedlin over Bedoya, Nagbe and Villafana. All three of the forwards can take up spaces from wide positions. All three are different players and should complement each other well. Pulisic, Altidore and wood/Dempsey have combined well together. There is no reason all four couldn't as well. Adding Wood to the other three actually adds movement and target which we didn't have this last game. All the attacking options just reinforces that Bradley needs to stay deep and keeps his role much simpler.
The most sensible lineup. Maybe stick Johnson or Nagbe(if he can quickly adapt) at leftback so that more quality is on the field.
3421 and 442-diamond are two of the better ways of limiting Dempsey's defensive workload. For balance, I'd want one of the CAMs to be an honest flanker.
... and I've always thought a good manager could put more attacking talent on the field w/o losing any defense — with the right midfielders. I just think if the US doesn't put enough capable attackers with speed on the field, games against good opponents become an unwatchable quagmire. The addition of CP, the emergence of Wood and the freeing FJ from fullback has me pretty optimistic, whatever the "formation."
There should be a plan for playing all our best attackers at once but we don't have the luxury of going expansive against everyone from the start. Current: -------------JA---------------- ------------------CD---------- ---------CP------------------- -----DN--------------JJ------ ---------------MB---------TC --JV--------------------------- --------MH-------GC-------- --------------TH--------------
Best 11 at this point has to include Altidore, Dempsey, and Pulisic. Altidore may not have scored versus Honduras but his passing was excellent. He was a big reason for several of the goals. Best 11 today if everyone is healthy: Howard Yedlin-Cameron-Brooks-Villafana Nagbe-Bradley-Johnson Pulisic Dempsey-Altidore
Similar to mine: --------------- Wood ----- Dempsey --------------- ------------------------- Pulisic ------------------------- ------- Johnson -------------------- Nagbe ------- ------------------------ Bradley ------------------------ - Chandler - Brooks - Cameron - Yedlin - ------------------------ Howard ------------------------
Yeah I am not starting Jozy over Wood either, and while CD is fresh off a hattie, I don't know how long he can hold up. I do not think it will be any longer than the gold cup before Hyndman gets a call up to the full men and I look for him to be a regular from then on. Nagbe's spot maybe? Still there are only two teams in Concacaf that can truly give that team trouble, the others we ought to be able to get points from at home or on the road. If Zimmerman can push Geoff of CB, I have more trust in Geoff at DM than Bradley.
Jozy played well but he's no lock. It will be a battle between Dempsey, Wood and Jozy for 2 spots and of the 3 Wood brings something that neither are capable of, the ability to stretch the field. I think the 3 will rotate depending on match up and time between games. Dempsey will eventually be the odd man out as a super sub. Also, I doubt we play the same type of formation with a full squad.
------------wood-------- ------------------altidore------- johnson---dempsey-------pulisic ------------------nagbe-------------------- villafana---brooks---cameron---yedlin or ------------------wood---------------------- ---------------------dempsey-------------- manneh--------feilhaber----------pulisic ------------------nagbe----------------- johnson-----brooks--cameron----yedlin
first, i think if the us actually started putting lineups out like that, i think youd see teams adjust by playing very defensively. second, im happy with the backline, especially with the mids dropping back in defense, johnson, nagbe and pulisic are all pretty good defenders. other teams can try to go all-out attacking against that lineup and see what happens ( i doubt they would though)...either way,i like the chances of that lineup to score a lot. dortmund won a game 8-4 in champions league this year...i'd rather watch that than backpass inc. with 3 dmids.
You are probably right about the formation. It depends on who is available and who the opponent is. I would guess that Bruce will start Jones more often than not. That said, this is a thread about the best 11, not the formation.
True but it is also impossible to incorporate your best 11. This isn't basketball you can't just play all guards for stretchs of the game. Your best 11 means absolutely nothing if your team has a zero balance. The formation help give your team balance through roles and responsibilities. 352 might give us the best balance to get the attackers on the field. However is our third best center back better in one of our attacking players or midfielder's. Or does that 3rd cbs role attacking players to do what they do best. A 4132 may do the same but can the 1 control the midfield to optimize the talent in front by themselves. Best 11 and formation/tactics go hand in hand
Jozy doesn't play a traditional 9 role though. The closest player we have to that role is Terrance Boyd. Jozy isn't a lock because he's competing with Dempsey and Wood. In fact he's at a disadvantage in many ways because he likes to operate in the same space that dempsey does. It's one of the biggest reasons he's struggled against better competition when paired with Dempsey. Wood has an advantage in the fact that he creates space for Dempsey/Jozy to operate in and against better teams he can be lethal in the counter in ways they can't. The likely hood is that Jozy and Wood will be paired together with Dempsey as weapon off the bench and Bruce said as much going into these two games. However, if Dempsey has another good game in panama Bruce maybe tempted to ride him a little longer. I doubt we see all 3 on the field together tho I'm sure Bruce will try it in practice.
I think Hyndman will be a good box to box guy. Put him next to Bradley in a 4-5-1 and let them go to work -------------------------- Wood ------------------------- -- Johnson --------- Pulisic --------- Nagbe -- ----------- Hyndman --------- Bradley ----------- - Chandler - Brooks - Cameron - Yedlin - ------------------------ Howard ------------------------
I'm not sure if I would say that "traditional #9" = Target Forward. I think the latter is a subset of the former.
Wait, Clint Dempsey just scored a hat trick for the USA and you don't think he's one of the team's best 11 players?
So far through the Hex... Dempsey 3G, 0A Pulisic 1G, 2A Altidore 0G, 2A Wood, 1G, 0A Bradley 1G, 0A Lletget 1G, 0A Bedoya 0G, 1A I'm finding a way to get those first four on the field. They all bring something different, complement each other and combine well with each other.
Not to mention the inclusion of a player who has looked decidedly mediocre when playing against competition stronger than Motherwell/St. Johnstone/Hamilton...
Uh oh... I feel a robust discussion of the the SPL coming on. Hyndman isn't in my XI today, but easily in my 23 and would bet on him over Lletget, Nagbe, etc over the next 12+ months.