My Preferred Lineup Against Honduras
The second installment of the Bruce Arena era gets underway on Friday night, with the United States Men's National Team playing its first competitive match since the firing of Jurgen Klinsmann in November.
On paper, Honduras is the second-weakest team left in the Hexagonal (only Trinidad and Tobago rate lower), so it's a good opportunity for the Stars-and-Stripes to finally pick up some points after humiliating losses to Mexico and Costa Rica.
Working with Arena's selected squad, I came up with what I consider to be an ideal team for the match in San Jose:
In goal, Tim Howard is a no-brainer. He's the most experienced, most accomplished goalkeeper, and at 38(!) is still the best option when he's in form and healthy, which he has been recently for Colorado.
A back five allows the U.S. to deploy more central defenders, the position where the pool is arguably the deepest, and a trio of Tim Ream, Omar Gonzalez, and John Brooks offers a mix of physical presence and technical skill. In the absence of the team's two best fullbacks -- DeAndre Yedlin and Fabian Johnson, both ruled out with injuries -- a back three assumes some of the defensive duties of the fullbacks, allowing Graham Zusi and Jorge Villafana to push forward and provide width for a narrow midfield.
In that midfield, Michael Bradley is given a defensively-minded box-to-box role, arguably his best, with defenders on his wings and at his back, and two creative options in front of him to do the ball work. Christian Pulisic and Darlington Nagbe will be a pair of roaming playmakers. Both are capable of playing wide or inside, but they also offer different styles: Nagbe excels at a probing, passing role behind the forwards while Pulisic is far more willing to attempt to beat defenders on the dribble or dart forward to make runs.
Up front, Jozy Altidore and Jordan Morris provide a solid mix of physical attributes while offering a potent scoring threat. Too often, coaches and fans have seen Altidore's physical strength and assumed him to be a traditional "number nine," fighting for headballs with center backs. But he's always been much more comfortable operating in a quicker, more dynamic system with support. Working with Morris and Pulisic -- both players willing to run at defenses and capable of creating space -- could be a really effective situation for him.
Of course, this is still a Bruce Arena team. Expect to see DaMarcus Beasley and Clint Dempsey starting in a 4-4-2 and a parked bus after the U.S. takes a 1-0 lead on an own goal.
On paper, Honduras is the second-weakest team left in the Hexagonal (only Trinidad and Tobago rate lower), so it's a good opportunity for the Stars-and-Stripes to finally pick up some points after humiliating losses to Mexico and Costa Rica.
Working with Arena's selected squad, I came up with what I consider to be an ideal team for the match in San Jose:
In goal, Tim Howard is a no-brainer. He's the most experienced, most accomplished goalkeeper, and at 38(!) is still the best option when he's in form and healthy, which he has been recently for Colorado.
A back five allows the U.S. to deploy more central defenders, the position where the pool is arguably the deepest, and a trio of Tim Ream, Omar Gonzalez, and John Brooks offers a mix of physical presence and technical skill. In the absence of the team's two best fullbacks -- DeAndre Yedlin and Fabian Johnson, both ruled out with injuries -- a back three assumes some of the defensive duties of the fullbacks, allowing Graham Zusi and Jorge Villafana to push forward and provide width for a narrow midfield.
In that midfield, Michael Bradley is given a defensively-minded box-to-box role, arguably his best, with defenders on his wings and at his back, and two creative options in front of him to do the ball work. Christian Pulisic and Darlington Nagbe will be a pair of roaming playmakers. Both are capable of playing wide or inside, but they also offer different styles: Nagbe excels at a probing, passing role behind the forwards while Pulisic is far more willing to attempt to beat defenders on the dribble or dart forward to make runs.
Up front, Jozy Altidore and Jordan Morris provide a solid mix of physical attributes while offering a potent scoring threat. Too often, coaches and fans have seen Altidore's physical strength and assumed him to be a traditional "number nine," fighting for headballs with center backs. But he's always been much more comfortable operating in a quicker, more dynamic system with support. Working with Morris and Pulisic -- both players willing to run at defenses and capable of creating space -- could be a really effective situation for him.
Of course, this is still a Bruce Arena team. Expect to see DaMarcus Beasley and Clint Dempsey starting in a 4-4-2 and a parked bus after the U.S. takes a 1-0 lead on an own goal.
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