Listen baby....I know I said I'd post more frequently.....I know.....I know....I KNOW.....Well what the hell do you want me to do? Is it so bad that I want to get into a good college? Well thanks for the vote of confidence, glad you're not the Dean of Admissions at UNC...Oh, don't cry...you know I didn't mean it....Listen, I've got another tactical analysis for you and I think you'll really enjoy this one.......I know I said that last time - that was different! I was young and stupid!......That was the day I started this blog?......whoops.....Well here you go!
Bradley's 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1/4-3-3/4-2-1-3?
It seems that Bob Bradley has a new found interest in a five-man midfield, one that a lot of fans felt came a bit too late.....like 45 minutes too late.....three times....Either way, there is a wealth of midfield talent to take advantage of and I spent a lot of time trying to find a way to utilize it, and by that I mean I've been looking at various other tactically based soccer sites that happened to have been offering an analysis on any of the USA's matches and compiling them to find a possible solution to this incredibly happy problem. The main thing I noticed against Slovenia, Algeria, Ghana, Poland, and Colombia had to be the interesting role of Benny Feilhaber and Stuart Holden. They were said to have played on the wings in a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1, yet there were times when they were deep in the central midfield, just in front of Bradley and Edu/Jones. The USA's penalty against Ghana started on a sequence when Benny Feilhaber made a pass from the center of the park into Donovan, who flicked onto Dempsey before he was taken down in the box. The USA's first goal against Poland started when Holden came inside from the left, combining with Bradley and Jones respectively before the latter played a fantastic ball to spring Altidore. There was even a sequence against Colombia in which Holden found himself smack in the middle of the park and started scurrying back to his conventional wide right role when he realized the USA's passing was going to end up needing an outlet in that spot. Another telling moment happened in the Ghana game, this time with the USA out of possession. Feilhaber, Bradley, and Edu all three team stripped a Ghanaian player in the middle of the park who had dwelt to long on the ball. In short the USA switched to a 4-3-3/4-2-1-3ish shape with one of their wide players drifting between the right and central midfield. This kind of allowed Dempsey, and indeed Donovan to drift around the attack without losing the numbers battle in the middle. Moreover, Dempsey and Donovan were given permission to stay higher up the field out of possession, with the more defensively apt trio of Bradley, Edu, and Feilhaber covering for them in the World Cup.
I think the general set up of having Holden, Bradley, and Jones cover all the ground and do the yeoman's work while the slowly-but-surely-aging attacking midfielders Donovan and Dempsey push higher up makes sense. It allows Holden to play wide and put in his trade mark crosses, while also coming inside to play the box-to-box/linking role he seems to do well in for Bolton. Donovan can play his favored left midfield role, while Dempsey is in a role his club frequently puts him in, occasionally moving wide right on defense to maybe pin back the fullbacks the same way Charlie Davies did against Sergio Ramos. Essentially, it's a central trio that's right-of-centre shuttling across the pitch.
Bradley's 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1/4-3-3/4-2-1-3?
It seems that Bob Bradley has a new found interest in a five-man midfield, one that a lot of fans felt came a bit too late.....like 45 minutes too late.....three times....Either way, there is a wealth of midfield talent to take advantage of and I spent a lot of time trying to find a way to utilize it, and by that I mean I've been looking at various other tactically based soccer sites that happened to have been offering an analysis on any of the USA's matches and compiling them to find a possible solution to this incredibly happy problem. The main thing I noticed against Slovenia, Algeria, Ghana, Poland, and Colombia had to be the interesting role of Benny Feilhaber and Stuart Holden. They were said to have played on the wings in a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1, yet there were times when they were deep in the central midfield, just in front of Bradley and Edu/Jones. The USA's penalty against Ghana started on a sequence when Benny Feilhaber made a pass from the center of the park into Donovan, who flicked onto Dempsey before he was taken down in the box. The USA's first goal against Poland started when Holden came inside from the left, combining with Bradley and Jones respectively before the latter played a fantastic ball to spring Altidore. There was even a sequence against Colombia in which Holden found himself smack in the middle of the park and started scurrying back to his conventional wide right role when he realized the USA's passing was going to end up needing an outlet in that spot. Another telling moment happened in the Ghana game, this time with the USA out of possession. Feilhaber, Bradley, and Edu all three team stripped a Ghanaian player in the middle of the park who had dwelt to long on the ball. In short the USA switched to a 4-3-3/4-2-1-3ish shape with one of their wide players drifting between the right and central midfield. This kind of allowed Dempsey, and indeed Donovan to drift around the attack without losing the numbers battle in the middle. Moreover, Dempsey and Donovan were given permission to stay higher up the field out of possession, with the more defensively apt trio of Bradley, Edu, and Feilhaber covering for them in the World Cup.
I think the general set up of having Holden, Bradley, and Jones cover all the ground and do the yeoman's work while the slowly-but-surely-aging attacking midfielders Donovan and Dempsey push higher up makes sense. It allows Holden to play wide and put in his trade mark crosses, while also coming inside to play the box-to-box/linking role he seems to do well in for Bolton. Donovan can play his favored left midfield role, while Dempsey is in a role his club frequently puts him in, occasionally moving wide right on defense to maybe pin back the fullbacks the same way Charlie Davies did against Sergio Ramos. Essentially, it's a central trio that's right-of-centre shuttling across the pitch.
Edit: Check out the cheap visual image at the top.
