Pre-match: US v. Costa Rica -- Gold Cup SF -- 7/22/17

Dom Dwyer is back with Kansas City and will play at Rio Tinto tonight.

 

Morris and Agudelo up top then.

 

What is your hesitation re: Altidore?

 

Now, while I think Arena goes with that 4-5-1 type lineup of my prior post, if I were coaching I'd roll out a 3-5-2 as I think the 3-CB system has a useful future for the USA over the next 12 months, something along these lines:

--------------Altidore-----Dempsey*---------------
-----------------------Nagbe--------------------------
Villafana------Acosta------Bradley--------Lichaj
--------------Besler----Gonzo----Miazga---------
----------------------Howard-------------------------

* could also be Agudelo for greater mobility.

 

He's on 3-days rest and is not a cyborg. And, tbh, he has done little against the top Concacaf teams.

 

Why do all of these lineups not discuss CR's lineup and tactics? Against good teams, we should start by what we think they're going to do and then adjust our lineup to find matchups that work in our favor and hide our deficiencies.

Perhaps CR isn't an opponent that we need to do anything other than send out what we want and have them adjust to us but I'm not so sure.

 

Altidore and Dempsey don't provide an adequate press even when well rested. 352 with those two up top would be asking to get humiliated by a good counter-attacking team.

 

Don't know if the CB's need to be "fresh." Due to Miazga's inexperience, Gonzo is likely to start next to Besler. Arena was quoted on ESPN online to say that despite Costa Rica missing some important players, they're still formidable. He also stated that the USMNT will continue to attack. Lichaj seems to have played himself off the starting XI and is certainly not fresh, so Zusi starts at RB. If as some posters suggest we should play with a fresh midfield and forwards, then Altidore, Dempsey, Nagbe and Bradley wouldn't start. That is unlikely. I believe all four will start instead of Agudelo, Acosta, Pontius, Corona. Morris, who replaced Arriola, played only 25 minutes or so. Zardes played 71 minutes. I would replace my previous lineup with:

Altidore Morris
Nagbe Dempsey Arriola
Bradley
Villafana Besler Gonzo Zusi
Howard

 

I was going more Beckenbauer...

In a 3 man backline it is incumbent on the CB's to read when to step.

I think a 3-4-3 variant favors having two rangy CMs. This particular variant allows for two hybrid attackers in front of them.

 

Arena has been evaluating the players; it'd make sense for Miazga, who has played well, to get the start.

Bradly and Zardes have incredible stamina, so even as Arena rotates most of the rest of the team, keeping those two in the lineup also makes sense.

 

Arena speaks on the lineup in the pre-match press conference:

“Every game is different from one to the other, so you put a group of players on the field that have played a little bit together and if they figure things out, they’ll find ways to create chances,” said Arena in his pre-match press conference. “If there is an issue in our team, it’s that we haven’t played together and that’s kind of by design. You can’t be real concerned about that, but I think at this stage of the tournament we can go with a lineup that’s a little bit more familiar to our team.”

Arena has made it known that from the start his approach in this Gold Cup was to evaluate players who could help the US later down the road.

“There have been a number of players that have shown and it helps us formulate our roster for future competitions, most notably the World Cup qualifiers in September and October, and hopefully to be in a position for a World Cup next year. It’s more information in helping us try to piece together a roster,” said Arena.

 

Bahahaha, if either Juve or USA lose, this is all on you . . .

 

TBH, the team we can send out for today is nothing special. Keep a man on Ruiz and you kill our creativity. Also, get your tallest man to cling to Waston for dear life in every corner. Ureña can be a nuisance when countering, as he is lightning quick when given space, but any action that requires anything that is not running in a straight line is too challenging for him (including finishing chances).

This CR side, with the players we are missing and the style of coach we have, will mostly leave you guys to lead the tempo and try to hurt you with counters and setpieces. So, yeah, feel free to take some basic precautions and dictate the match.

 

According to the email I got about event info, the game is supposed to kick off at 9:15 pm (CST)

 

If he pairs Hedges with Gonzalez again we might lose.

 

Not trying to be rude or disrespect you guys at all - but you guys should play for penalty kicks if it's tied late.

 

Awesome, thank you.

 

I think that player in the hole (Dempsey/Corona) has been a huge gap this tournament. We really missed having an impact player there.

 

My guess is that we run out roughly the same team from Wednesday other than the backline, which should be completely replaced.

 

Your point on Waston is a good one. He has a way of getting his head on anything in his general direction and is always a threat on set pieces.

 

Yeah, that's one of my main takeaways from this tournament...in a short amount of time, Pulisic seems to have become an indispensable player for us. The offense seems pedestrian when he's not there.

 

I expect Lichaj and Morrow to be on the bench because they are gassed. Lichaj was taking a pounding all game from MS13.

Deuce on the bench.

4-5-1 with

Agudelo up top

Dax/MB/Acosta in the central midfield.

Out wide is where it gets interesting. He did take Arriola and Zardes off which leads me to believe he might start 1 of them or both.

We really should beat this Costa Rica team assuming we aren't out coached. They are depleted and we have enough going to forward to score.

Our defense terrifies me. Zusi is to slow and will be targeted with speed. Villafana will get bulldozed with physicality. Gonzo will randomly let a cross bounce inside the 6 for no reason as well as at least 1 horrendous marking job. Besler will be solid though so there is that.

Goodness we missed an opportunity to see CCV this tournament. Same with Danny Williams and a couple others.

 

Wasnt Carter-Vickers hurt?

 

Dempsey tallied an assist and had another potential one called back due to a false offsides call.

Corona has one goal in his two starts.

Neither player has been an issue in this tournament.

 

Danny Williams is signing with new team entering the EPL. He needs to be with his team and take a starting spot far more than he needs to be at this gold cup