The US national team takes on England (and Wayne Rooney!) on Wednesday afternoon (3 pm ET | ESPN2, UniMás, UDN). The USMNT still doesn’t have a full-time head coach. In light of that, I’d like to see them try a few new things. I don’t want them to throw random stuff at a wall and hope it sticks. Rather, these are calculated adjustments that could provide data points for the new coach. Since we don’t have someone in charge that’s building toward his vision right now, it’s a good opportunity to assess new options:
1) Aaron Long, or any solid passing center back, at left back
Aaron Long (right) has made his name for club and country in the middle of defense. | USA Today Images
All of this links together, so bear with me. First, we don’t exactly have a lockdown starter at left back. I get that it’s not ideal to move a player to a new position, but it’s not like we have a huge opportunity cost here. And although Aaron Long hasn’t played any left back for the Red Bulls in the last two years, he has some of the skill set required to play the position; he’s a good 1v1 defender, he has the speed to track pacy wingers through the channel, and he’s comfortable passing from the back under duress (even though the Red Bulls don’t ask him to do it often).
Jorge Villafana is the only true left back on the roster now that Antonee Robinson had to withdraw due to injury. We know what Villafana can do. Villafana should have a place and future with the team (I really like Villafana as a player; he’s one of our most comfortable players in possession). The nice thing about the Timbers defender is that he puts in predictable, consistent performances.
We don’t need predictable at the moment; maybe in a year when we have to win, we will want predictable. But now is the time to see how good we can be. And I realize that a conservative left back doesn’t scream progress, but you need to think of it in terms of the unit as a whole...
2) A fluid, rotating midfield three
Tyler Adams (left) and Wil Trapp (right) represent two important pieces of the US midfield puzzle. | USA Today Images
A conservative, non-meandering left back would provide more cover and allow for more aggressive play from the center mids. Of the nine options at center mid, only one (Wil Trapp) is a disciplined, stay-at-home player. The others prefer to play higher up the field and chase and press.
Similar to the point about Villafana, we know what Trapp offers.* We don’t really know what a midfield of Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, and Sebastian Lletget (or Marky Delgado or Kellyn Acosta or...you’ll see) could do? They are all aggressive, energetic, ball hunters who like to pass and move in possession rather than progress the ball to the next attacking player.
There wouldn’t be a single player designated to always protect the space in front of the back four; the defensive scheme would focus on pressure on the ball and pushing toward pockets on the field. If the midfielders get to the person on the ball quickly enough, the area in front of the defenders isn’t as vulnerable.
It’s the best system to fit our most talented players. Here’s what McKennie recently told ESPN.com’s Jeff Carlisle:
"I think we're both [McKennie and Adams] eager to press," said McKennie. "We both like pressing and we both have a good set of lungs — we can definitely run for a while. I think that's one the things we talk about when we do talk about going into games and game plans. We know we like to press, we know what kind of style we like to play. We're normally good together on the field. Whenever one guy goes up, the other has the other guy's back. I think we definitely compliment each other."
There isn’t a ton of precedent for teams playing without a designated deep midfielder. Liverpool’s 2018 team would probably be the best example, with Jordan Henderson, James Milner, and Georginio Wijnaldum all assuming similar duties. Henderson rarely stayed perched in the middle, but rather went where the pressing took him. It worked well enough to get Liverpool to the Champions League Final.
*FWIW, this point would change if Berhalter was in charge of the team for this game and could give Trapp his Crew SC-type instructions, but Trapp hasn’t looked up to the level in Dave Sarachan’s system.
3) Christian Pulisic as a second forward/attacking mid
Pulisic may wear No. 10, but is he actually a "No. 10"? | USA Today Images
I had been diabolically against using Pulisic as a central player until yesterday. All of Pulisic’s strengths — running at players, making passes at full speed, closing players down — work better wide. All his weaknesses — receiving the ball tight spaces, connecting possession-oriented passes, getting the ball on the half-turn to face defenders — would be exploited in the middle. The idea that Pulisic should fill the “missing No. 10” problem actually makes me boil inside. But then Matt Doyle made an interesting point:
He doesn’t need to play as a 10. What position does Miguel Almiron play? And Antoine Griezmann for France? Or Landon Donovan at points in his USMNT career?
They act as central wingers (a term I also used to hate but have since warmed to). They played like wingers but from a central starting point. Almiron’s main job for Atlanta isn’t to dictate possession or play through balls that bisect packed defenses. He gets on the ball and goes as fast as possible straight through the heart of the defense. Tata Martino doesn’t ask him to play like Juan Roman Riquelme. He asks him to play like Almiron, but central.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Pulisic do that. Pulisic as a 10? Bad idea. Pulisic as an Almiron-like attacking mid? I’m listening.
And it works with the high-pressing, fluid center mid structure mentioned in #2. If we are going to play an up-tempo, Liverpool-esque game, then we don’t need someone to “pull the strings” from the attacking mid position. We need someone to press well and then get the ball and go. Again, it only works if part of the all-pieces-fit-together plan.
I’m not wedded to the idea — especially if Berhalter gets the job and implements his possession philosophy — but it’s worth a shot this week.
