Blame the title on the day job, but there are several questions about the USMNT lineup that need answering. These two games won’t completely solve the equation, but at least we are going to get some valuable data again. Despite not having a full strength roster, the team isn’t missing too many pieces that would be in a first choice 23.
By my reckoning, the possible/probable inclusions from MLS would be: Jordan Morris, Jozy Altidore, Gyasi Zardes, Aaron Long, Matt Turner, and maybe Jackson Yuiell. There are a few young guys that have an outside shot, but those are the six that are most realistic.
So while you can’t exactly get all the information one would want from a full roster…you can get some. What are the important targets for Berhalter and co. to assess in the coming week?
Figure out the Fullback Configuration
Sergino Dest, Reggie Cannon, and Antonee Robinson are the best three fullbacks in the pool at the moment. What’s the best deployment of those resources though? Seeing Dest at right back and Robinson at left back then comparing that to Cannon at right back while Dest is on the left is a necessity.
How much better is the team defensively with the Cannon/Dest pairing? Is the team so improved by a naturally left-footed attacking left back that it’s worth the defensive downgrade (Is Robinson even a defensive downgrade?)? I want to see this tested out against Wales, especially. No offense to Panama, but if Robinson cuts them up and then doesn’t play against Wales – I don’t think we will have learned much.
Does Berhalter trust Adams at the #6?
Since Berhalter (19 games) has taken over here are the players he has played at the #6 position:
- 1/28/19 vs Panama: Bradley
- 2/2/19 vs Costa Rica: Trapp
- 3/22/19 vs Ecuador: Trapp
- 3/27/19 vs Chile: Bradley
- 6/6/19 vs Jamaica: Trapp/Yueill (this was that weird 3-4-3 game)
- 6/9/19 vs Venezuela: Trapp
- 6/19/19 vs Guyana: Bradley
- 6/23/19 vs T&T: Bradley
- 6/27/19 vs Panama: Trapp
- 7/1/19 vs Curacao: Bradley
- 7/4/19 vs Jamaica: Bradley
- 7/8/19 vs Mexico: Bradley
- 9/7/19 vs Mexico: Trapp
- 9/11/19 vs Uruguay: Yueill
- 10/12/19 vs Cuba: Yueill
- 10/16/19 vs Canada: Bradley
- 11/16/19 vs Canada: Yuiell
- 11/20/19 vs Cuba: Yueill
- 2/1/20 vs Costa Rica: Yueill
That breaks down to 8 starts for Bradley, 6 starts for Yueill, and 6 starts for Trapp. Those are his guys at the position, but we are about to see a new one for the first time. Tyler Adams, Johnny (Soccer) Cardoso, and Owen Otasowie are the candidates. Otasowie doesn’t seem realistic to get more than a couple minutes towards the end of a game and Johnny Soccer has never been in camp with Berhalter.
By my logic, that means Adams is the new starter at defensive midfield for the next 10 years. He’s playing a positional game under Nagelsmann at Leipzig and his passing is more than good enough. Especially given the upgrade he is defensively compared to the three guys that had been manning the spot.
I’m excited to see what Johnny can do, but it’s going to have to be pretty dang impressive to make moving Adams to an #8 role make any sort of sense.
Is the Defensive Change Permanent?
In Berhalter’s first 17 games in charge, the US played in a bend-but-don’t-break style 4-4-2 when they were out of possession. And to be honest, it mostly worked from a goals allowed perspective. The USMNT gave up 14 goals in those 17 matches and that comes out to about .8 goals allowed per game. Not terrible. (Atletico Madrid allowed .7 last season for reference)
The problem was that the team didn’t create many turnovers to help the attack. Breaking down a set defense is hard and that’s most of what his team was seeing. Jurgen Klopp has the famous quote, “No playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter pressing situation.” If the US can get guys like Pulisic and Reyna into space on a counter – good things will happen much more often.
I’m hoping to see situations like this created in the coming matches:
The RCB Question
Who should start next to Brooks? The answer to that question has mostly been Aaron Long. However, if Chris Richards is ready…we might have our center back pairing through the 2022 World Cup. Long is an excellent athletic defender, but he’s iffy with the ball. Richards appears to have a chance to be at least as good defensively with much more upside in possession.
Bayern seems to believe he’s almost ready for their first team. If he’s that close to playing for the best team in the world, then it’s a good bet that he’s ready to play for the USMNT.
Is Sargent Ready to Carry the Load?
*Edit* Guess we aren’t going to get any info on this one
Werder Bremen is better defensively this season, but they have still looked mostly incompetent in the attack. Rashica is back now so at least we can look forward to him dribbling all over the place and taking wild shots while Josh provides a distraction for him. 😑
Sargent has looked better, but he’s not exactly being put in a position to shine. He often plays wide and hasn’t had a myriad of chances. Will improved service on a better team (that feels odd to type) lead to him putting away goals? He sure looked like he had “the finishing gene” coming up through the youth teams, but it’s gone dormant at Werder.
If he doesn’t show well and Gioacchini or Soto look good…the striker position starts looking even more muddy.
Who Starts?
Here’s my guess:
Llanez has already played that spot for Berhalter and given Pulisic’s injury situation it’s the most likely scenario imo. The Musah inclusion is a little crazy, but one of Musah, Ledezma, Cardoso, or Otasowie has to start. Given that Musah is starting for Valencia and Cardoso is coming off a hamstring injury…it makes sense, right? You might see Miazga instead of Richards, but everything else basically picks itself.
There’s no possible lineup the USMNT could put out there that I will not be extremely interested in watching. Heady times, my friends.
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