Now you are just spinning in the rabbit hole. First you said "Bradley is best as a deeper lying mid that picks and chooses his attacking runs. Like he played at Roma." The fact is that MB90 primarily played as one of 2 attacking CMs in Roma's 4-3-3. Now you are creating a "most attacking midfielder" category. What does that even mean for the CMs in a flat 4-4-2 that we have been playing in 3 of the 4 WCQ's to date? Where should MB90 play when we play a flat 4-4-2? That is a very simple question.
I don't think Bradley's good at pressing, nor is he very effective. Every time Bradley does press, the opposition passes right around him to an open player. When he forces the pass, he typically doesn't follow the player nor anticipate the next pass. He just casually drops. He doesn't press as a unit. The team itself presses very inconsistently. We did have somewhat of a press in Columbus. We were at home against Guatemala. I would hope so.
As commented on by the media, he pressed extremely well at Roma when used as one of the 8/10s. He also played well when used as a dmid. From the tip of a diamond, he pressed well at Switzerland. He also did an excellent job at dmid at Roma. In conventional footballing terms, dmid was his best position at Roma. He lacked the red zone nous needed to be truly comfortable in one of Roma's 8/10 roles. As was the case in the Switzerland and 2nd Guat matches, MB was finding himself in places we'd much rather a forward or true amid occupy. The tradeoff in using MB in an advanced position is the clinical goal creation one expects of attackers in the types of positions he occupies. For the US this trade-off is worth it. Roma had Kevin Strootman, et al.
USA pressed well v Guatemala and created 2 goals off pressing. First goal starting at 11:18. and the 4th goal starting at 1:46:00. Both good examples of pressing to create a scoring chance. ...and in both cases it I think it was Dempsey applying the high-line press (it's hard to tell in the first goal). In the first goal he closes down the GK, making the GK pass quicker then he probably wanted to, and in the 4th goal he intercepts the pass with Jozy and Pulisic both in the vicinity pressing and attacking.
"Private Mikey". Pejoratives can tell us a lot about the people who use them. Number of times Bradley has been asked to be creative focal in his life after moving to Germany, prior to meeting Jurgen Klinsmann - 0 Number of times Klinsmann has asked Bradley to be the creative focal of the attack since 2014 - every freakin time
Total red-herring. Intentionally so to obscure the fact that you don't want to admit that Klinsmann was asking Bradley to both A) be the creative focal for our attack, B) run his lungs out and play box to box. He asked for the impossible, and then folks like you blamed him for not achieving the impossible.
No excuses from, he sucks as the creative focal of our attack. Why don't we turn our attention to the man who made him the creative focal of an attack for the first time in his career?
Btw, this isn't just Bradley Number of times Yedlin played Right Wing prior to Klinsmann - 0 Number of times Mixx asked to be primary protector of the backline prior to Klinsmann - 0
You appear to not have watched our NT over the last few years as anyone who has would notice Private Mikey is collecting in and occupying many of the same areas he always has. People seem to see our lineups before a match and think Bradley's occupying a pure 10 role. He's not, far from it.
Post-WC, when Dempsey wasn't in the team, MB was used some as the creative fulcrum at the tip of a diamond. The team did well, but a flat central midfield sans Dempsey in the team would suit the talent a bit better.
I was thinking that the old 4-4-2 played flat might fit the people JK is likely to be playing. If Dempsey up for it like he was in Cbus then he should start on go as long as he can, and then bring some really fast guy on to take his place for the last half hour.
Even with Obafemi Martins carrying Deuce's water last year, it was plain to see he could no longer dominate the off-forward position as he did in years passed. My solution was to phase him out and transition back to a flat 442. JK seemed indecisive when he picked both the flat 442 and Dempsey. If JK wants to persist with the player then a center forward role in either a 433 or a diamond with a wing-forward would be the best option. Either option would Bradley in the amid role pressing high.
Unless you can provide a link where Klinsmann asked Bradley to "be the creative focal for our attack", I will have to conclude that you are flat out lying.
"The role that he ideally plays for me as a coach is an advanced role on the field, where he gets close the opponents' 18-yard-box, gets into the 18 yards -- maybe scores the goals, maybe plays the decisive ball -- and has these building moments and connects the dots higher up the field," Klinsmann said on Wednesday in an interview with Fox Sports He's certainly implying just that. This is a comment found in an ESPN article post World Cup.
That's basically what he did at Heerenveen albeit from deeper positions. And he did likewise at Milan from an 8/10 position. I don't think JK is tasking the role with dictating the game or anything that a 'real' ten would do.
Klinsmann hasn't just employed Bradley as the CAM; he's made him Zidane. He's supposed to be the metronome, the 10, a holding mid and regista. If it were as simple as saying Bradley's the CAM, that would be a gift -- there are ways that might work (the mentioned 4-3-3).
In Holland Bradley played from the 5th most attacking position in a 4-1-3-2 Y, with conservative fullbacks. He was called on to do little orchestrating or creating. He would get the ball and play quickly and simply, looking to hit one of the wingers in space ahead of him or play a long outlet to one of the STs. Then when a break was on he would rush forward to be a trailing option for any crosses or knockdowns. He wasn't someone who started in high positions and checked back to the ball then faced up his opponent, he did pick apart defenses in the final third. He kept the play in front of him and burst forward when the break was on. He did not connect the dots higher up the field, he helped start breakouts from deep by playing simply and at tempo and then finished chances that fell to him.