Defensive midfield is a major concern heading forward, might Tim Ream or Geoff Cameron be options?

Given our personnel, (quite a few decent CBs and no really good options at outside back), it makes more sense to go to 3 in the back. Put Cameron on the center and flank him with whomever. We have a variety of CB types and we can match them up depending on opponent.

If you want or need straight, traditional US defenders he can use players like Besler and Omar. If he wants better ball control and playing out of the back, players like Brooks and Alvarado. There are other options.

Me, I would prefer an in form Brooks on the left and someone like Evans on the right.

That would allow you to use Yedlin and Fabian as wing backs, which, IMHO they are both more suited for and it gives our attack more flash than making them make runs from the back or, in Yedlin's, case as a midfielder. You also have cover with a guy like Shea or even DMB in a pinch. On the right you can use Chandler, or, if you use a more traditional CB, Evans.

This is the way Chile is playing and they don't use typical CBs either, and they bomb forward when they attack.

To me this is a better option to try than trying to force the use of an inadequate DM.

Klinsi wasn't wrong when he tried this with Jones. he just needs the right player to make it work and IMHO that player is Cameron.

 

I don't like the idea of Ream as a defensive mid. I know he had a few games there for Bolton, but midfield has never been his regular position. He's a back up LB/LCB for me.

Cameron I think could work as a stopgap in CONCACAF qualifying. He has experience there. He's got good speed and long legs. But his positional discipline isn't the best and I think his passing isn't always great.

Personally I wouldn't mind moving away from a dedicated 6. If we play a 4-2-3-1 and play Bradley alongside another 6/8 type guy like Trapp or whoever, I think I'd prefer that over the diamond.

 

It's Cameron's best position. He puts in strong shifts there with his range, ball pressure, sound tackling, quick passes after intercepts, and ability to make a hero run here and there when given space. He's 30. I'd ride with him there for a couple years. Then it'll get interesting if he'll be the best option for the World Cup. He'll be 32, nearly 33. Might not be effective enough athletically to play the position anymore. But he reasonably could be still at or near his peak. Not a lot of mileage and injuries. Jones was arguably our best player at the last WC, was nearly the same age, and played CM. Cameron screams Sanneh in 2002 for me. He's really coming into his own later in his career and probably would like to make up for lost time now that he's getting better opportunities. We don't really need him at CB with Besler, Miazga, Brooks, Hedges, Farrell, Gonzalez, etc. there. Should be able to find a CB pairing more than fine now and later without Cameron.

If Cameron can't make it to 2018 as a CDM, then maybe that's Bradley's spot, which would also help make room for Lletget and Nagbe as a 10 and 8, respectively, in CM. And we could play 3 CB's to compensate, which would open a spot for Cameron, and fits our pool.

Long-term, I'm intrigued by EPB in that position. He's built like a fire hydrant for a footballer already at 18, he's very poised, a solid athlete, good, aggressive tackler, and a solid passer in shorter distances. I think he projects well there and the national team manager might want to try him out without the most obvious options for the future.

Otherwise, I think it's Kitchen. He's a good ball winner in his area and releases pressure quickly. But he's not exactly exciting with his lack of range in movement or passing.

 

I would consider two options going forward. My personal preference is the 4-2-3-1 with a lot of high pressing. Think Klopp Dortmund. We could definitely make this work. Our personnel actually really caters to it. What are our three true weaknesses? Outside back, Defensive mid, and wing play. This offers a solution to all 3.

It caters to the offensive abilities of our outside back since you could play Yedlin, Fabian, and Shea with the intent to overlap and create width from the back rather than the midfield. This would also get rid of the standard 6 and essentially give you two pivot 6/8s. Bradley could pair up with any of Williams/Morales/Jones and play this perfectly. Lastly, the wide attacking mids offer a solution to our poor wing play in the final third. In this case, we could play glorified attacking midfielders and pinch them inside. Nagbe, Bedoya, Lletget, Nguyen, Feilhaber, Finley (and Fabian if you were to move him forward) would all fit in quite nicely.

----------------------------------------------- Dempsey/Altidore/Johannson -----------------------------------------------
----------------------- Nagbe/Lletget ------------- Feilhaber/Nguyen ------------- Bedoya/Finley/Zusi ----------------
--------------------------------- Williams/Morales/Jones -------- Bradley/Mix -------------------------------------------
--- Johnson/Shea -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yedlin/Chandler ---
------------------------------------ Brooks/Besler/Ream ------- Cameron/Gonzo/Miazga -------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------- Howard/Guzan/Hamid --------------------------------------------------

This would also be a mold for the future. Zelalem, Trapp, and Hyndman could play in that 2 deep role. Akale, Pulisic, Rubin, and Gooch would all slot in nicely as any one of the three attacking midfielders.

My second suggestion would be the 3-5-2 for much of the same reasons that were mentioned previously.

------------------------------- Dempsey/Rubin/Morris ------- Altidore/Johannson/Wood ------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------- Nagbe/Feilhaber/Nguyen --------------------------------------------------
-- Johnson/Shea ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yedlin/Bedoya --
------------------------------- Williams/Morales/Jones ---------- Bradley/Mix --------------------------------------------
------------------------- Brooks/Ream ---------- Cameron/Besler ------------ Gonzo/Miazga ----------------------------
------------------------------------------------- Howard/Guzan/Hamid ------------------------------------------------------

Regardless, we don't have a good true 6 in the pool (Dax McCarty is honestly the best) and there aren't any great CDM prospects either. I think we need to find a way to get our best XI on the field in positions that suit them to succeed and these are two of the ways I see it possible.

 

Well, I remember him looking pretty good in the couple of caps he earned at the beginning of the year. They were only friendlies, but it seemed to me he did at least well enough to earn another look.

 

Cameron and Bradley as the CM pairing. Don't overcomplicate things. Trapp can be the first back up at both positions. Kitchen as the fourth CM, playing the destroyer role, at times when its needed. McCarty's a good 5th CM, can fill both the 6 and 8 roles, as can Morales who'd be 6th on my CM depth chart. Thats about it, I really wouldn't consider anyone else at that position right now. Acosta and Powers for camp cupcake as well.

 

In my opinion, this is the formation that I would mostly use:

-------------FW----------FW---------------
------LAM----------------------RAM------
---------------------CM-----------------------
LWB---------------CDM---------------RWB
---------------CB--------------CB--------------

In other words, the center defensive midfielder plays very deep, allowing the wingbacks to get further in the attack.

With the deceptive depth at center back, Brooks, Alvarado, Miazga, Besler, Gonzalez, Orozco, and Hedges; and when you look at our fullback options, most are suited as wingbacks instead of outside defenders; thus, I would put Cameron as #1 in that CDM spot, with Bradley above him.

After Cameron, the options would be:
Williams
Morales
Kitchen
Trapp

We could technically still rely on Polster, McCarty, and even Beckerman and a few others to fill that gap.

That's decent depth. The problem is that Klinsmann refuses to play the options that he does have. Hell, I'm honestly surprised he hasn't called in Brian Maisonneuve to play the position for us.

 

Its pretty unacceptable that Mix Diskerud is getting call ups and Trapp isn't, but Columbus isn't on National TV every week so Klinsmann probably knows very little about Trapp.

 

Totally agree with this. I don't know why he hasn't been used there more often, my guess is because he doesn't play club ball there. Great range defensively, wins headers well, has pretty soft feet and a good long pass. He does make some bone headed plays from time to time though. Still I think he might be the best option we currently have there.

 

I'd prefer to work the attackers backwards rather than the defenders forward. The US lacks skill at every position. There's no reason to add to that problem further. (and, yes, Klinsmann is fairly stright peg-for-peg type)

 

I'd build around a 4-2-3-1 going forward. The dual 6's/8's would come from: Bradley, Williams, Kitchen, and McCarty for the next 12 months. I'd give Trapp some looks starting after the Copa thingy.

Core XI through Summer of 2016:

----------------------Altidore----------------------
FabianJ------------Nagbe----------------Bedoya
-------------Williams----Bradley------------
Ream---------Besler-----Cameron------Yedlin

 

I don't think 'may.' Definitely.

 

Not sure if Ream or Cameron would be the guy to fill the role, but the US has consistently shown an inability to close down the other team from the top of the box to the center circle without a dedicated #6. And yeah, Beckerman's not going to be able to do the job in Russia, so someone will need to step up.

 

Makes me wonder if JK even has MLS Live. He doesn't seem to care much about MLS

 

Wouldn't be at all surprising. The guy uses his assistants to scout and communicate with players in Europe, and he's letting Gregg Berhalter's kid brother do the rest of his job.

Joyriding helicopters over Orange County can be time consuming.

 

Defensive midfield should be one of the least of the team's concern's given the availability of Jones, Cameron, and Williams. Kitchen and McCarty can also play the position.

Williams would have to be used as a destroyer, but the others can be used as deep-lying playmakers.

 

I think the issue is that most of our defensive mids would play better in a pairing, but JK seems to want to play the other way. We consistently have a front five set up generally like this:

FW Altidore
SS/AMF Dempsey
LMF ----- AMF Bradley ----- RMF​

Dempsey seems to have the most license, drifting from forward to supporting striker to attacking mid, even venturing out to the wings at times. But if you have five guys committed like that and a four man back line, that leaves only one defensive midfielder.

Williams is best when he can play DMF but still bomb forward to collect loose balls at the top of the box to fire in from range. He is fine for the position, but needs someone along side him who can be more stay-at-home. Bradley and Jones both play similar to that when they are in a deep lying position.

In recent years, Beckerman has been very apt at actually staying home defensively, but he's past it. Maybe putting Cameron there. I admit I haven't seen enough of Kitchen or Trapp to know if they are better in the more defensive role or bombing forward. But if JK is committed to Bradley as an attacking 10 (and 8, and 6 simultaneously) then I really feel tactically he needs two defensive mids, and one of them needs to be a staunch defender.

The problem is he feels Dempsey has to be on the pitch, and he would have to sacrifice someone at the front (likely that rover position Clint plays) to play a pentagon midfield with Bradley at the point, funneling up to the striker and running onto held balls in the attack.

Again, this comes down to tactics, which seems to be Klinsmann's greatest failing. His CDMs fail because he constantly puts them in the position to fail. They fail because they don't have support, and they fail because we commit players up front without committing to a tactical plan that involves aggressive attacking. Honestly, the only way Jurgen's tactical plans would work is if FIFA would allow him to play with 12 on the pitch. Even then it might not be enough.

 

Jones is old and has rarely been deployed as a dedicated 6 for us. Williams is a possibility though has been underwhelming in his caps so far. Kitchen and McCarty are also possibilities but are untested at the international level. Klinsmann has used Cameron in CM in the past but I don't think he has since the Belgium game.

So I disagree with you. I do think it's an area of concern. And if not concern then at least uncertainty. The sooner Klinsmann ditches Jones and Beckerman to test other options the better.

 

Jone is still far more athletic than Beckerman ever was.

Williams as an '8' or as a destroyer has been excellent. He struggles when tasked with a deep-lying playmaker's role as he lacks the first touch.

Kitchen was good in his cameo. Claiming 'x' player is untested while we are at his juncture of the cycle is fairly facile. Kitchen and McCarty are among the best deep mids in the league. Give them the games.

Cameron has excelled as a deep-mid for the team and done so against the likes of Belgium. So, he is obviously an option.

There are plenty of possibilities. If Klinsmann dislikes the options he can switch to a flat midfield. He needs to do something besides playing Beckerman.

 

I agree that there are options and that we should test them, but until they are tested I'm not really sure how good of options they are.

I do not believe Jones has the positional discipline to be our 6. He roams too much.

And Williams I don't think has been excellent for us. He played well against Jamaica in a qualifier a few years ago but other than that has been pretty underwhelming. I'd be fine with him and Morales getting more looks though anyway.

 

'Solid' would probably be a better descriptor of Williams's play for the team. In any event, defensive midfield is only a problem if JK persists with Beckerman.

Forward would make for a more realistic area of concern.

 

In a typical 352- the "outside" backs are CB/outside fullback hyrbids. They have to be able to play centrally, be strong in the air and be able to cover most attacking players wide. Cameron is perfect for a RB in the 352. The rest are hard to figure. Alvarado might be a good fit. Evans.. who is now playing some CB might work actually. You don't generally want traditional outside backs for that position...

Ream is probably the best fit for the LB.. I would be interested to see Brooks and Besler at it.. both are fairly mobile but you never think of them as outside/CB hybrids.

The hardest position is the dmid. It needs to play as a typical dmid but also be able to regularly fit in that back four. I think this is why we experimented with the 3 5 2 with Jones. If you're trying to lengthen his international career, trying him as the #6 in a 352 is not a bad idea. Cameron aslo best suits this role.

So I love the idea of a 3 5 2 but I don't know if we have the right players. We do have more CBs than outside backs but I don't know if we have the right type of CBs. It would be an interesting exerpiment but I think trying it out would get howls about "experimentation" from here to Australia right now.

 

Don't agree at all. Yedlin and Fabian would be excellent wing backs in 3-5-2. So would Chandler, with DMB and maybe Shea backing up Fab on the left.

You want guys why can defend but also get forward into the attack. Guys like Ream, Cameron, Brooks, Alvarado, etc are much better at one of the 3 CB roles. The one hybrid would be Evans who can motor up and down when necessary but is more of a stay at home type. I would use him as the right sided CB with Cameron in the middle with Brooks probably on the right.

If necessary you can add another attacking mid late 0r even forward in the game, shift Evans wide and play with 4 in the back.