The long overdue and frank discussion about the US Midfield 2018-2022

-----Mckennie----
Adams-----Delgado

4-3-3 or 3-5-2. Mckennie playing above Adams and Delgado.

I think Parks will surpass Delgado. If we get a more creative midfielder to break through like Taitiague/Carleton, push Mckennie back and take out Delgado.

I don't see a good 6 in our pool, so play 3 centrally and 2 of which need a high work rate.

 

Since we failed to qualify, this conversation has been ever-present. It is in no way overdue.

 

Predicting Parks as having a role is premature.

At this point, our best midfield is probably something like Saief-Adams-WM-CP

 

Well, he certainly "discovered" America in the sense that neither he nor his people were aware of it before it he found it.

 

Hmm...Trapp...not sure. I'll need to see more of him against higher level competition.

I'm optimistic for Parks to have a role, but I think among our youth players, Sargent is the closest to a sure thing, given our lack of depth at striker.

 

Sargent and Weah is mouth-watering for sure. Then Wood can have a role off the bench. And it will be interesting how Novok develops. But personally I have no hope for Rubin.

 

---------------------Sargent------
-----------Pulisic------------Gooch---
---Saief---McKennie--Bradley---Yedlin
-----------Besler--Miazga--CCV--
---------------------Guzan-----

McKennie(6'1") and Bradley(6'1") make for an imposing pair who covers immense amounts of ground. Each has an excellent passing range.

 

Bradley has tremendous soft-spots in his game, including tackling, dribbling, and short-passing. His athleticism is also on the wane. In my team, he has no future.

 

Could be, but I think it's worth a trot out to see. That is if Parks continues to develop as mentioned elsewhere.

 

Sargent has just dominated the international youth ranks in a way we haven't seen for a long time. And unlike Adu, he's actually a youth player

 

He just needs the right partner in midfield. He didn't have that over the last four years. Maybe McKennie or Adams (or both) could bring out the best in him.

 

Bradley needs the "right partner" in the sense his partner must be capable of covering up his flaws. Jermaine Jones played much better than him last World Cup.

 

You forgot the eyeroll emoji.

 

Who was his partner in 2010 when Bradley actually played well who was so special? Rico Clark? The truth is that Bradley started a dramatic decline right about the time he injured his foot in warmups against Mexico and left Europe for MLS.

 

He's not a 10, like Klinsy wanted. He's not a 6 either, as Arena forced him into. He's not an 8, as he's a bit older now. He just needs a good partner around him, and we haven't found it yet. Blame it on the other central midfielders. We saw them have plenty of opportunities in the Gold Cup. They stunk. Thankfully MB was brought back in to win the championship. Nobody else has proven capable.

 

Warmups in Costa Rica. Bradley and Jones clicked very well in the Copa Centenario. MB did well at Azteca when paired with an in-form Acosta. He can't be held responsible for Arena's cooky lineup decisions at T&T. Most importantly, MB is still one of the top center mids in the program.

 

Spot on.

This guy captained a side that has no business in the WC to almost qualifying, if not for a bad break in the other games.

Poor partners are responsible for poor midfield performances, not MB.

LOL at "still one of"...guy is head and shoulders above any PLAYER, much less MFer. McKennie can barely get 45 mins as a SUB!