Klinsmann getting a gig for Beckerman at Kaiserslauten for training leads me to believe that Klinsmann see's Beckerman as a integral part of his teams future. Good news for Beckerman. Maybe bad news for RSL if he gets a offer from a German club after this exposure to German soccer. Beckerman would be a very marketable commodity for a German club.
You're reading too far into what I was saying. Jones has greater technical ability than Beckerman. This would help our team in possession and in transition from defense to attack. I don't think what I said needed correcting.
US didn't played 451 in the Mundial. BB typically subbed in Feilhaber and then pushed Dempsey up top. I remember posters claiming it was 451 but then the average position diagrams for the second-halves disproved this.
The average positions diagram I saw, particularly against Ghana, showed a 4-5-1. I honestly thought I saw Feilhaber Bradley and Edu forming a triangle in the central midfield while Dempsey, Altidore and Donovan were higher up the field. It was a tad lopsided, but it seemed to fluidly switch between a 4-3-3, a 4-2-3-1, and a 4-4-2. Well first off, This is pretty much the first sitter that Jozy has missed in the whole of the Klinsmann era. Until that point, he'd been involved in creating some of the better opportunities of this cycle. Simply put, his mix of attributes ( speed, size, strength, skill on the ball) is very difficult for opponents to deal with. Buddle may be a good finisher, but he can be easily nullified if defenses play high up the field, because he doesn't have the pace to exploit the space in behind. Jozy, however, would be able to do so. Jozy also brings hold up play, which is good against defenses that sit a lot closer to their own goal because the hold-up play buys time for someone else to support him and in turn be close to goal. My point is a) the guy missed one opportunity b) he's dangerous in more ways.
Look at the halves separately. Findley and Altidore were equally deep in the first half, and Dempsey was almost as deep as Altidore in the second.
I think pressure from fans has caused Coach to give up his 4-2-3-1... I think he now believes we can't play it... Back to 4-4-2.... Fans are not patient enough Can't believe some were calling for him to be sacked and starting propaganda because their favorites were not playing... Sure we scored 3 but, conceded 2.. Highest so far...
But Dempsey still dropped into the midfield to help us in the central midfield. The problem in the first half was that the USA was very much outnumbered in the central midfield ( 3v2 - Annan, Boateng, and Asamoah vs Clark and Bradley), and with Ghana pressing, we had no out ball. This led directly to the first goal. You and I both saw that Clint Dempsey would drop into the midfield to help us against Ghana's central trio, regardless of what the heat maps/average positioning maps show. If we had just played a straight up 4-4-2 we would have had the exact same problem as in the first half. We clearly didn't.
The main difference was the removal of Finley. His main asset was speed which against very conservative and very athletic team was pretty useless. Dempsey up top brought a playmaker into the forward line. He played more centrally and slightly off Altidore. Still a 442. Possession was pretty even.
I can agree that removing Findley was a pretty big help. I know I dissed the average positioning maps earlier, but the heat maps suggest that Dempsey spent a lot of time deeper in midfield if you give them a look. Again, even if Dempsey did spend MORE time up top, his willingness to show for the ball in the midfield, even if it wasn't as frequent, was more important than him at times sticking closer to Altidore. It doesn't shock me he was close to Jozy at all, but he still needed to show for the ball in the midfield, and I don't think anyone can deny that he did that - we created at least two chances from such movement.
If we look at ALL the US matches, rather than just the Ghana match, the picture is more varied: Vs Slovenia -- clearly a 4-4-2 1st half and a 4-5-1 in the 2nd half: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tou.../24/96/02/22_0618_svn-usa_actualformation.pdf Vs Algeria -- 4-4-2 1st half and a muddled 2nd half closer to a 4-3-3: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tou.../25/60/63/38_0623_usa-alg_actualformation.pdf Vs England -- largely a 4-4-2 all game: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tou.../24/23/75/05_0612_eng-usa_actualformation.pdf And the perspective really depends on how you view Dempsey. He's never been a pure striker, but a tweener attacking midfielder. That's why I usually draw the US in a 4-4-1-1 when I show my preferred lineup, with Dempsey in that flexible attacking-mid/second-striker role. The fact is that the US BEGAN each Cup game with 2 pure strikers in the XI -- Altidore each game plus Findley 3 games and Gomez once. In the last three matches, after weak 1st half performances and with the US facing elimination and needed to get a result, the team took out a pure striker at halftime and replaced that striker with Feilhaber. Yes, in 3 of 4 matches Dempsey pushed "forward" more at halftime, but it wasn't a classic 4-4-2, just like it wasn't clearly a 4-5-1 either. It was a hybrid in which Dempsey was the key, moving into whatever role the action called for, supplementing the SINGLE striker or dropping back to assist the midfield. THAT is the role I've wanted for Dempsey since the Confed Cup. BB only used it as a 2nd half tactic. When BB seriously began testing a 4-5-1 after the World Cup, he messed it up by playing a 3-headed central midfield of Edu+Jones+Bradley in which all three were too similar and got in each others way. Then JK repeated BB's mistake by also playing 3 defensive-type central midfielders several times.
Agree with everything and I like the 4-4-1-1 (however you want to call it) with Dempsey in that role. I almost wondered if, during that early JK game where he played 3 DM's similar to BB...was he trying to prove to everyone that it's a horrible idea and won't work? Funny how the same thing happened to Man City's midfield prior to the acquisition of Silva - attack was lifeless.
Do we keep Dempsey where he is at CAM behind the forwards when Donavan comes back? Or do we move Donovan to forward taking Buddles place? Or do we keep Donovan in the midfield either alongside Dempsey or replacing Dempsey as the CAM? Alot of questions that need to be answered. I personally would like to see Donavan up top as a striker, he has been playing that at LA.
I completely agree with all of this. It's partly why I feel we should at least see the USA with a full strength squad in the 4-2-3-1 and the 4-4-2 diamond/4-3-1-2
Dempsey is a more of natural trequartista imo with his experience at the Revs as center-mid in 352 and then at Fulham as mostly an interior in 442. In turn I'd like to see Donovan paired up with Buddle up top if the team were to play 4312 again. Johnson, Edu, and Bradley can make up the midfield until Holden comes all the way back.
The Galaxy plays Barrett, Cristman, Keane and Cardozo as forwards. Landon plays almost exclusively as an outside mid (usually on the right). Sometimes, later in games, he gets moved up into a SS or trequarista spot to pressure the back and provide more speed on the counter if the opposition is pressing for a goal.