Written by Pauly Kwestel at Bloguin
Over the past two years, United States manager Jurgen Klinsmann has spent nearly every match trying to find the right formation to maximize the abilities of all the members of the USMNT. What Klinsmann is searching for, is a formation that allows the USMNT’s best players to all play together at the best of their abilities.
Prior to the 2014 World Cup, Klinsmann planned on playing a simple 4-4-2 formation with a diamond midfield. That plan however was scrapped after one game when Jozy Altidore went down injured, and the team shifted to a 4-2-3-1 with Clint Dempsey as the lone striker.
Since the 2014 World Cup, Klinsmann has used almost a years worth of friendlies to throw nearly every formation against the wall to see what sticks. In the past year, we’ve seen the USMNT play the 4-4-2 diamond, a flat 4-4-2, a 4-3-1-2, the 4-2-3-1, and even a few matches with a back three in a 3-5-2.
I have two questions regarding this: why is Jurgen Klinsmann so adamant on using two strikers and has he ever heard of a 4-3-3?
As I stated above, what the US is looking for is a formation that allows all their best players to be on the field in a place that maximizes their ability. For example, the United States’ two best central midfielders are Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley. Their third best central midfielder, but their best holding midfielder, is Kyle Beckerman. Playing Bradley and Jones together in a flat 4-4-2 was done under both Bob Bradley and Jurgen Klinsmann and has been a disaster nearly every time. The way to get the best out of both players has been to have Kyle Beckerman on the field sitting behind them and being the guy to protect the back four.
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