J Hutcherson writes of 5 things he learned about the US team in Chicago this past weekend-
United States National Team coach Bob Bradley not only switched up the roster on Saturday night at Chicago's Soldier Field, he also changed the formation and the tactics. What can we take from the 2-2 draw with Poland? Here are my choices for the top five, as always in no particular order.
The Formation
Let's keep things somewhat simple and refer to US coach Bob Bradley's take of a 4231 as a European-style single forward setup. That way we don't get bogged down in trying to tease out the intricacies of the new-look United States formation on display Saturday night at Soldier Field.
Full stop, US coach Bob Bradley deserves a lot of credit for trying something new. He used a European-based squad to audition a European formation, and regardless of how it worked in practice his theory was sound. Like we talked about last week, the standards and practices at the highest level of international soccer are changing and the US needs to make sure they're not left behind. Doggedly sticking to a 442 as it becomes antiquated serves no one well.
That said, you have to figure out how to play it. The US had their moments highlighting the upsides, but there were also glimpses of why and how it goes wrong. Crowding coming out of midfield, ball watching while trying to establish positional play, and a general lack of sync especially in the defensive third.
Every one of these improve with time and experience. Single forward sets aren't easy, especially for players used to strike partnerships.
For a US forward pool that isn't known for producing the bulk of the goals at international level, it's even more difficult. A lot is put on any forward pressed into the loan striker role, and Jozy Altidore deserves a lot of credit. After all, he's the one currently in the position where this formation fails or succeeds.
The Striker Role
If you're going to play a loan striker set, you can't be depending on that player to track back. When Altidore wasn't ahead of the central midfielders or playing wide, the US attack suffered. That's not a criticism of Altidore. He's an intelligent enough player to know when he's needed in support. It's a problem with a setup that requires a lot of the midfield in support of the loan striker.
Tracking back almost always takes away options. That was evident throughout Saturday night's game. It's not enough just to have the attack working on occasion in a single forward setup. It needs to be a disincentive for the opposition.
A striker playing a support role to try and trigger his offense is fine if there's another attacking option. The US wasn't showing multiple dimensions to its attack with Altidore behind his midfielders. Instead, they were demonstrating a lack of options, bogging down the flow of the attack, and ultimately defeating the idea of a single forward formation.
Jermaine Jones
Credit the newest member of the US National Team. His vision on the ball was the difference on one goal and he was responsible for several quality looks for the US attack. Yes, he was also the one who lost the ball in the sequence that led to Poland's second equalizer but that's simply not typical.
He's a player that offers that hard to find combination of bravado and vision. Regardless of how Bradley aligns the midfielders, he looks like someone who will find a way to factor. All things considered, a strong debut.
Positions
It's easy enough to point at Maurice Edu as a center back and wonder why that's beneficial. The real trick is figuring out how two defensive midfielders should function along with the players to fill those roles. This is part of a process, so there's not an easy answer over the first 90 minutes.
Timing
Read in as much as you want to Bradley's choice to switch formations now, but the hope should be that this isn't a one off. Yes, there's a very good argument that too many changes cancel out the benefits short and long term.
After all, the formation changes that seemed to free up the US attack also created defensive issues. Still, there's time for a new-look US to take shape before the next set of games that count. Bradley has picked a good starting spot, and there's another 90 minutes to work out problems in game situations on Tuesday.
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