That only works if you can play tika-taka like Spain and keep the ball the whole time. We can't do it against the likes of Ghana, Portugal, and Germany. Especially vs. the latter two, we aren't going to have the ball much.
I believe we have 4 good attackers in Johannsson. Dempsey. Altidore. Donovan But can we defend with 2 dmids in Bradley and Jones and 4 defenders including Fabian. Besler. Gonzo. Cameron Since Johannsson and Donovan would be assisting the fullbacks on defense? OR Do we need to drop an attacker for an additional dmid like Edu ?
well maybe we are arguing semantics but i dont think of bradley and jones or even edu as dmids. i see them more as cm's. beckerman and williams and armas (throwback example) are more dmids to me. though, i think bradley and jones is a rather defensive minded cm pairing. i'd like the team to play one dm/cm (bradley) and one cam(dont know if this player is out there currently unfortunately (holden pre-injury would be ideal)...though the jones/bradley stranglehold hasnt given much else a chance). but to reply directly to your incorrect post: the front 6 for the argentina match was: jones bradley edu dempsey altidore donovan. AGUDELO subbed in for jones and scored in the second half! the usa didnt score UNTIL they had NO DMIDS on the field buddy....haha you used the argentina result as an argument for 3 d-mids?? do your HOMEWORK! a front 6 of bradley, edu, dempsey altidore, donovan, and agudelo (the players on the pitch when the usa actually scored on argentina) is hardly 3 d-mids. its pretty much the most offensive frontline i can think of the usa playing ...and it worked...even against argentina! the russia match is another great example of why playing multiple d-mids DOES NOT HELP. starting midfield of (bocagnegra?!, williams, Bradley) usa trailed 1-0 at half (DUH) and only turned things around after several offensive substitutions and ABANDONMENT of overly defensive posture (agudelo, mix, boyd, klestan, edu) helped find 2 late goals. 3-dmid losses: 2011 france (beckerman, williams,edu), belgium 2011 5-3-2 formation. "3-dmid" results: 2010 colombia (edu, jones, bradley) italy (bradley, edu, williams) scotland 5-1 win (bradley, edu jones) colombia/italy...ugly 1-0 wins theres no evidence a defensive posture was THE REASON for these results though...it might have been in spite of this stance actually. the us scored 4 on germany (b-team whatever )without a single d-mid...front 6 bradley jones dempsey fabj altidore zusi (i dont count bradley or jones or edu as d-mids) overall, an ultra defensive stance guarantees no offense, the opposing team teeing up on goal, and defenders under constant pressure. thanks, but no thanks.
I tend to agree, but it never hurts to play conservative for 85min then play football. The goal and I think Klinsie will try this, is to put as many footballers on the pitch as possible. That is why Evans is on the pitch, he has a good footballing mind, he can pass, he can score. His physical limitations can be hidden to an extent. That is why we always played well with Adu, Donovan, Dempsey and Bradley on the pitch...we had players making smart runs, smart passes who understood each other. Zusi also falls into this group. So does cameron. Guys who are on the borderline in my opinion are Edu, Jones, EJ, Gonzo, and even a bit of Jozy sometimes. Edu brings more defensive weight to the midfield, but he has regressed. He is not the player he used to be or he thinks he is. He was a better player at 21 than he is now. Jones I have lost complete faith in. I don't trust him. Gonzo needs seasoning.
Sadly, I don't think it spells out a secret message, even if I rearrange the words. Too bad. Anyway, you said that 3 d-mids have never worked. Apparently I misunderstood your definition of "d-mids' and "worked." If d-mids doesn't include Bradley, Jones, or Edu, then you have no issues with Sam or anyone else on this forum, because I can guarantee you that no one here is advocating a midfield of Beckerman, Williams, and Armas. As far as what does or doesn't work, I pointed out 7 results in this cycle alone where we started with at least (what I figured you meant by) 3 d-mids and still managed to obtain a result against decent opposition. I could have pointed out many more from previous cycles, but I thought this would adequately counter your assertion that 3 d-mids has "never worked". Apparently, I was wrong. If "worked" means we would have assuredly lost if we had lined up with any other formation, then we can probably end this discussion now because I'm never going to be able to meet that burden of proof. Otherwise, I would say that there's at least one or two instances in there where 3 d-mids did work. (It is true that in one of those seven matches, we did not score until we replaced one of those 3 d-mids with a more attacking player, but that's why I cited more than one game.)
i think for the most part jk has shown he can switch tactically mid-game from more defensive to more offensive and vice versa rather well as needed. he seems to really have the pulse of his team in-game. i dont know the stats but i'd bet a lot of $$ the usa has better second half goal differential than first under jk. im not sure 85 minutes of conservative play is always the best way to play it but at least starting out very defensively leaves the most options open to the coach... the past couple coaches really struggled with this...bradley's teams always got scored on early then had to scrape back into it it seemed like, which doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for strategy. in a tourney, the pressure builds from round to round so the teams that go the farthest usually are not full-throttle desperation mode every minute of every game. they get up early in some games and ride wins out so when they really need to turn it up they have the juice. i hope you are right about what jk will try to do i.e. footballers...though i would argue what he has done is select a lot of guys who are neither "total footballers" NOR physically up to par. Gonzo worries me the most...he gets burned A LOT for an anchor cb. he's just so slow. and he rarely adds anything to the attack. evans actually would fit as a player who qualifies here to me as well. he just isnt experienced enough at right back. he's not a right back. he cant bring whatever 'total football" element he has in his game because he's too much a fish out of water at rb. altidore won me over with his summer but he can be very sloppy with the ball. jones is a big game player, im not really worried about him but i wish we had a more offensively capable guy of his pedigree. i wouldnt write edu off yet. he has been on the field for a surprisingly high percentage of the usa's best results, he just hasnt played in years so im not holding my breath either. i agree he hasnt become the player i thought he would. when i first saw him in mls i thought he was definitely a foreigner lol. ej= good backup fw, bad winger. i hope jk gives a shot to some new guys at cb, lb, rb, lw, and am.
Besler. Omar. Dempsey. Goodson. EJ. Evans. Zusi. Donovan. Beckerman ... pretty safe to say MLS is showing it delivers on the USMNT. But it's cyclical and every player must be realistic about that. Cycle will open up anew after Brazil and then we'll see the next generation get its shot.
There are several advantages from drawing guys from the local league. 1) More time to spend together. Clubs in the national league are more willing (or more pressured into willingness) to release players for the national team, even extended camps. 2) All your players share a similar football culture. There is less variation in-league than across leagues, which means team chemistry can be developed faster. 3) Guys are living with their families in the country. Extra pressure to perform well for the NT: make family proud, avoid shame & public anger. 4) Players are less known to other teams. If your league is not one of the Big4, chances are the other managers and players don't know them too well. All those things can compensate in part for a league that is not at the top. So far it's not a weak league. Is the MLS weak? Not really. Strong? Doubtful, a strong league would be already winning the CONCACAF Champions once in a while. MLS is still significantly weaker than the Liga MX. Around #22 in the world, or so. Is that good enough, so that having half of the field players come from the MLS is not detrimental? We'll find out soon enough. What is JK's secret weapon? It has to be the thing people least expect: the defense. JK may be betting on top notch chemistry for the defense line, with MLSers and players out of position. What if he is right, what if chemistry, in defense, matters more than individual quality? Is Jürgen a footie genius? Camp Strudel promises to be exciting. I think JK is going to explore more into that. All things considered, the Evans-Gonzo-Besler-Beasley line has worked a lot better than any of us would have expected, both in quals and friendlies. There is hope, right?
As we know, results with the current crew have been really strong. It seems that Klinsmann has treated the USMNT like a club team in many ways. Guys are really going to need to be fantastic in camp to unseat the incumbents. Just my opinion. As we know, there WILL be injuries. Just the nature of the thing. So it's good to build up additional depth here. Who will be 2014's Pablo Mastroeni? We shall see.........................
Not "Pablo" in the sense of "coming out of nowhere" in short order to get into the squad and play well at a WC, but imo the player most likely to be "2014's Pablo Mastroeni" will be his original understudy with the Fusion -- Kyle Beckerman. (Or if Beckerman gets injured or dropped, maybe Dax McCarty.) I have visions of a Feilhaber and Beckerman-centered midfield battling to a vital point or 3 versus Portugal and/or Germany to help get the US out of the group and then crafting an impressive round of 16 victory as well. (Not that I wish ill-health or suspensions upon those currently higher up on the midfield depth chart, but I just suspect a veteran "but non-firstXI type" player like Beckerman or Feilhaber, will be a key contributor in 2014. Although I'd certainly love to see some younger players like Diskerud or AJ or Agudelo or Green get into the squad with perhaps significant minutes and impacts like we saw from a few 20 year-olds back at WC2002.)
In the long-time ago world this was very true. A young, hopeful Bruce Arena would assemble his national team for extended training. That was until the mean, old, cynical club coaching Bruce Arena started complaining every time one of his players would be called in.
To be fair, I think Arena only complains about call-ups (extended or otherwise) when MLS is in-season. (Of course the additional question might be is MLS "in-season" at the right times, wrt to the needs of the USMNT.) But for this and previous January time-periods, I don't think too many or any MLS coaches have complaints with players going to extended camps in Carson, or wherever the USMNT wants to gather during MLS's off-season. In fact, I'd assume most MLS coaches would rather have their guys going to a longish US training camp and a few friendlies rather than heading out on some 8-10 week loan to some foreign club ahead of the start of the MLS season.)
Klute, Yedlin, Gil, Agudelo, and O'Neill included Eric Alexander and Michael Harrington call ups are a bit surprising for me. I was hoping to see a few new CBs get a shot.
Holy crap! JKs best Jan. Camp roster yet.. a lot of quality there. Magee, Agudelo, Klute, Yedlin, Gil, Feilhaber. Really good roster
No idea how Alexander made this roster. Decent player for the Red Bulls this year, had some AMAZING moments, but woefully inconsistent.
Sheanon Williams and Ricardo Clark is the biggest snubs for me. Why does Sean Franklin never even get called into a camp? I've always thought he was better than Michael Harrington.
How exciting for FC Dallas! The exposed Dax McCarty to the expansion draft, as they were satisfied Eric Alexander could fill the role. Then they traded Alexander for Jeremy Hall of all people. Now they're both USMNT callups, while the biggest hole on the FCD roster is in the center of midfield. Great............