USMNT Player Profiles

An idea has been bouncing around my head for a while and it was catalyzed this week when I watched a couple episodes of Brian Kleiban’s YouTube series about the US U20 team. His ideas about the type of players he’d choose made me think even a little bit more on how Berhalter has set up the national team.

He wants to play possession soccer, but he doesn’t seem to have a full team of those players available to him (or possibly select players that can). That’s not really the point here though. What I want to try to do is describe the player profile of each position in Berhalter’s team.

The profiles have changed over time (RB/CM hybrid, anyone?), but these are my best guesses as of right now, based on watching every game the US has played under Berhalter pretty darn carefully.

One interesting twist is that this is a national team, not a club team. When club managers have a player profile in mind they can just go buy a player that fits that ideal. In a national team, the coach has to fit the profiles of his best players into the team the best way he can. That can sometimes mean leaving more talented players out or changing the team around once a player has progressed to such a high level that it doesn’t make sense to wedge them into a set profile. *cough* Tyler Adams *cough*

Goalkeeper

This is an easy one. Gregg wants a keeper that is comfortable with the ball at his feet and can distribute in a way that lets the team maintain possession of the ball. This quality is so important to him that I think Sean Johnson is the backup (it might still be Guzan) to Steffen despite being a worse shot-stopping keeper than several other options in the pool.

Left Back

Left back is a tougher one. Tim Ream has been Berhalter’s most frequent choice at left back since he took over. Ream played the whole Gold Cup at left back and was in for the “must win” home game against Canada in the Nations League.

Based on that the profile would be: defensive minded, not attacking, comfortable with the ball, plus passer. Ream often stayed back as part of the back three in the team’s 3-2-2-3 attacking setup. This type of player will help your team keep the ball and play the style of soccer we are aiming to play.

HOWEVER, Sergino Dest has played there and the best possible team we can put on the field may very well involve Dest at left back. He doesn’t fit that mold at all. On top of that, Antonee Robinson may well have gotten a shot in that position before his heart condition was discovered. Neither of those guys fits that profile at all. This one is a little up in the air right now imo.

Right Back

The first few times the USMNT played under Berhalter this was the rb/cm position that appeared to be designed to get another midfielder onto the field in a spot where the US didn’t have great options. Since then however, Reggie Cannon has grown into a very solid player and Sergino Dest broke through at Ajax and decided to rep the good ol’ US of A.

Right back might be the deepest position on the team at the moment. The players currently available there have made the first profile obsolete. Right back is now a place for a fast attacker that can also defend. This player needs to get forward to occupy opposing left backs and stretch them wide to open space for attackers between the LB and LCB. Intelligence is also key here in that the right back also switches with the right wing and/or the right sided #8 during attacking movements.

Right Center Back

I think this is a function of the player pool, but this position goes to an athletic defender. Aaron Long has been the starter here and his job is to defend, plain and simple. His physical gifts as a defender enable him to clean up mistakes, wipe out counterattacks, single cover forwards, etc. He’s not great with the ball, but Berhalter isn’t asking him to be. This profile is why I expect Miles Robinson to be the next man up in this position. Maybe even the starter by 2022.

Left Center Back

This is the distributor. Left center back will be manned by John Brooks or Tim Ream unless someone comes out of nowhere. Both of those guys are good defenders, but what really sets them apart is their passing and comfort on the ball. Their job is to distribute and help get the team into attacking moves. The US desperately needs some young guys with this profile to start breaking through (Otasowie, McKenzie, Sepulveda?).

Defensive Midfielder

This may be the most interesting position on the field for the USMNT. Thus far, it’s been manned by Michael Bradley, Wil Trapp, and Jackson Yueill. This position has been the quarterback of the team. The “controlling mid” sets the tempo by keeping the ball moving and also needs to be able to quickly switch play to take advantage of defenders being drawn to one side of the field. Ideally, this player also is able to play penetrating passes to players in pockets of space between the lines, or exploiting gaps in the opposition’s defense.

Ball winning, defensive coverage, and athleticism have not been important parts of this profile to date. I’m hopeful that Tyler Adams can add some of those things to the mix while still possessing most of the traits of a Yueill or a Bradley. As with all things, time will tell.

Right 8

This position has required a player that can both attack and defend. In possession, he is frequently found in the right half space between the lines of midfield and defense. An ability to see and play a killer pass is highly desirable for a player in this position based on their location on the field. Intelligence again is key, since positional interchanges happen with the right wing and right back frequently.

In defense this player drops back to be side by side with the #6. As such, a good engine and defensive ability are traits that hopefully are in evidence. The player in this position has a lot demanded of him.

Left 8/10

The mythical #10 position for Berhalter’s team. Defensive responsibilities are less for this position than on the right (or at least further up the field) even though the player is found in the same parts of the field in attack. Positional switches are less, but possibly more important since this player is going to be interchanging with Pulisic when the team is at full strength. That being the case, this player needs to be comfortable on the left wing as well as operating in the pocket in front of the defense.

Left Wing

CP’s spot. The left wing obviously needs to stretch the right back wide to attempt to open gaps in the defense, but this position also has the freedom to drift in centrally. I think this position is intentionally a little less well defined. Berhalter has mentioned multiple times that a player like Christian needs to be free to do the things that make him special. I think this spot is set up to allow him some freedom. Defensively, the player filling this position needs to be able to press effectively and position himself well to cut off passing lanes.

Right Wing

Sort of the mirror image of left wing, but with more complications. Since the right back gets forward more this player needs to be better defensively and also more aware of positional interchanges. This is probably why Jordan Morris has done well in this position. He may not be the best technical player we’ve got, but he’s a good defender and a horse running out there.

Forward

Jozy is the perfect player for this position. I think he’s the prototype for the profile Gregg has in mind. He’s big with good enough touch that the ball can be played up to him and he can flick balls on or pass them off to teammates. He’s also more than capable of dropping into the midfield to help connect play while drawing center backs out. Unfortunately, he’s also never healthy. There are forwards coming up that fit parts of this profile, but not as completely as Altidore.

Can You Hide a Player or Two?

The question in my mind is can you effectively play possession soccer with a player or two in your lineup that doesn’t exactly fit the possession profile? For example, if I was putting players into Gregg’s system for a game we had to win tomorrow it would look like this:

In that lineup I’d say Robinson and McKennie (maybe Cannon? I’m not sure on that one yet) are the weak links as far as keeping possession goes. However, their other traits are so valuable I’d argue that it’s worth keeping them in the team. I don’t know how detrimental to possession having them in there is though. Can you still effectively keep the ball and play attractive attacking soccer? Berhalter must think so given his lineup choices. I can’t wait until we get to watch again and see for ourselves.

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