ONE OF THE MORE CONFOUNDING decisions made by United States men’s national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann over the past two years has been his continued insistence on using 24-year-old Mix Diskerud as a holding midfielder.

The choice is particularly frustrating considering that throughout his entire career with the U.S., Diskerud has demonstrated time and again his quality and creativity in the attacking third.

Here are all of Diskerud’s goals and assists for the United States. 

 Diskerud first emerged with the U.S. back in 2010 under former coach Bob Bradley and earned his first cap in an away friendly that November against South Africa.

In that appearance, Diskerud—having just turned 20—came on as a 79^th-minute substitute and made an immedaiate impact. With the game tied 0-0, Diskerud found himself in the box surrounded by four defenders. And in a moment in which many players, even veterans, would have panicked, the young American showed his composure, worked open a small angle, and fed Juan Agudelo for the game-winning goal five minutes from time.

However, over the next two years, Diskerud would only appear twice more for the U.S. Then, in an away friendly against Russia in 2012—and now playing under Klinsmann—Diskerud was again the difference-maker off the bench. This time coming into the match as an 87th-minute substitute, with almost no time to work and the Americans down 2-1, Diskerud scored his first international goal in the 93rd minute to help the U.S. claim a 2-2 draw.

Despite once again demonstrating his value to the American attack, Diskerud continued to struggle for opportunities with the national team until eight months later in the 2013 Gold Cup. And it was in that tournament that Klinsmann first starting using Diskerud in the holding role.

Prior to the Gold Cup that summer—shockingly—Diskerud had only earned three minutes of playing time in Klinsmann’s first two years in charge. He had seemingly not done enough to impress Klinsmann with the coach even publicly stating that Diskerud wasn’t “robust” or “physical” enough for the international game.

The Americans eventually won the Gold Cup, and Diskerud’s performances that summer earned him more call-ups in the months to come, including the all-important World Cup qualifier against Mexico in September. That night in Columbus, Diskerud once again didn’t start. Instead, he was relegated to the bench and left hoping for a possible opportunity to impact the game as a substitute.

Finally, in the 76th minute, Klinsmann put Diskerud in for Eddie Johnson with the U.S. up 1-0 and looking to close out the match. Two minutes later, Diskerud beat a defender in the box, laid the ball across the face of the net to Landon Donovan, and the U.S. went up 2-0.

The win that night, by the iconic “Dos a Cero” scoreline, qualified the U.S. for the 2014 World Cup. And while Diskerud would make the 23-man roster that traveled to Brazil the next summer, he wouldn’t play a single minute in the tournament despite the team’s struggles to find any sort of offensive rhythm.

Since last summer, Diskerud has become a more integral part of the squad, scoring a goal against Ecuador in Donovan’s farewell game last October, picking up tallies against Ireland and Germany in away friendlies, and providing a nice assist to Jozy Altidore in January against Chile.

But in this summer’s Gold Cup, with the U.S. offense again struggling to find any sort of flow, Klinsmann continued to push Diskerud into a defensive role—when the coach bothered to use him at all.

In the Gold Cup, Diskerud only played twice in six games and only started one match. In both appearances, he played as the No. 6 behind Michael Bradley, who featured in the more advanced midfield role.

Diskerud plays well with Bradley and helps produce results in Europe...but sits on bench in Gold Cup. #USAvJAM

— Marcus Anthony Caba (@M_Caba86) July 22, 2015

Hey, Klinsmann. Switch Bradley and Diskerud.

— Matt Barnes (@BattMarnes) October 15, 2014

The positioning of Bradley—who absent a handful of friendlies has never looked completely comfortable playing higher up the field—is also troubling. After all, Bradley was indispensable for years as the American No. 6 and Kyle Beckerman’s showing this summer in the holding role was clearly inadequate.

Over his tenure, Klinsmann has often seemed to make problems more complex than they need to be, dismaying fans and pundits alike by lining up his players out of position. In this case, the solution seems simple—push Diskerud up, drop Bradley, and get the best of out of both players’ natural abilities.

John D. Halloran is an American Soccer Now columnist. Follow him on Twitter.