Including Mix Diskerud in the Starting XI

Portugal will not press us nearly as high and we'll have a lot more possession.

In fact, Portugal would love for us to be so comfortable in possession for periods of time, that some of our defenders move up the pitch....

Mix has the most flair of any midfielder we've ever had, but my inclination is that Klinsmann will go for a more conservative lineup. If we need creativity he'll be one of the first off the bench, but I don't think Klinsmann trusts him to do the defensive work needed.

As long as the formation allows for a fair bit of fluidity, including a central midfielder in a wide position doesn't really crowd out the midfield too much. We're essentially playing Jermaine Jones as a "wide" player in this extremely narrow diamond midfield.

same back 4
beckerman - jones
zusi - bradley - bedoya
dempsey

or

jones
zusi bedoya
bradley

dempsey johannson

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Johnson-Cameron-Besler-Beasley
------------Jones
Bedoya ----Bradley----Zusi
------------Demspey
-------------Striker

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That formation would get worked by Portugal. Asking Jones to hold the midfield by himself without at least two partners is madness. It's better if we drop a second CM alongside the dedicated DM rather than asking Jones to hold by himself. Moutinho and Veloso would pass around our midfield with the quickness.

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Asking Jones to hold the midfield by himself without at least two partners is madness.

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What exactly do you consider Bradley in that formation? It isn't like he's going to be pressing way up the pitch and sitting right behind the attackers. It's virtually the same formation they played last game. Jones just takes Beckerman's spot as the holding mid and Zusi brings some attacking ability into the fold, which the US is going to need.

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What exactly do you consider Bradley in that formation?

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So you want to take a dedicated DM off the field and replace him with a wide midfielder when we are facing a team with superior technical talent all over the field, after it was shown we barely have the tactical ability to thwart a team of Ghana's technical ability? Taking off Beckerman and playing Jones there fundamentally changes the nature of the way we would play, since Jones's game is more expansive, which was used to good effect against Ghana.

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It isn't like he's going to be pressing way up the pitch and sitting right behind the attackers.

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If we are playing a diamond midfield, that's exactly what he is supposed to do. The fact that he didn't was because we were being overrun in midfield. Bradley, Beckerman and Jones played extremely narrow, and in effect they played as a bank of three sitting directly in front of the CB's, with Bedoya tracking the runs of the Asamoah.

I'd rather we play Bob-ball against technically superior teams, and grind out chances, which is what we will have to do against both Portugal and Germany if we want to get results.

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I'd rather we play Bob-ball against technically superior teams, and grind out chances, which is what we will have to do against both Portugal and Germany if we want to get results.

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now that we have a win, i agree. a portugal tie is huge for us

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So you want to take a dedicated DM off the field and replace him with a wide midfielder when we are facing a team with superior technical talent all over the field, after it was shown we barely have the tactical ability to thwart a team of Ghana's technical ability?

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This is exactly what I want them to do. If the Ghana game showed us anything it's that the US does not play well when sitting back. The defense held up well, and while Ghana's attackers are very good they aren't on the same level as Portugal's. If the US sits back and allows Portugal to constantly run at them they are going to lose.

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I'd rather we play Bob-ball against technically superior teams, and grind out chances, which is what we will have to do against both Portugal and Germany if we want to get results.

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This is where we disagree. I think the US has looked best when being proactive and attacking, not sitting back any grinding. That's one of the reasons they brought in Klinsmann and let Bradley go was to to try and grow from the grind it out style he liked to play.



ETA: And maybe I'm jot too optimistic that the US can get away with a more attacking mindset now. I just want to see them play a better complete game then they did against Ghana. It was downright ugly outside of a stretches in that game.