An ambitious and unlikely lineup, to be sure, but why not shoot for the moon in the last friendly and see if you can capture lightning in a bottle? Last night's XI looked old and unimaginative in attack, utterly incapable of keeping possession and even less capable of making that possession count. In introducing Wood, Nage, and Pulisic to the starting lineup, you can maximize the strengths of your most talented players. Wood is clearly the best forward on this roster. It is a shame to bench Dempsey, but it's also becoming painfully obvious that his time as a lock starter is nearing an end. He struggles as the point of attack in a 4-3-3, and without a big target striker to play next to, may be wasted in a 4-4-2. He would likely play well as a second striker/AM, but Nagbe is clearly better at attacking mid, and I would like to give Zardes one last chance at his preferred position, rather than shunting him out on a wing. I would expect this 4-4-2 to be flexible, with Nagbe tucking in behind the forwards in possession and Wood, Zardes, and Pulisic moving creatively into space up front and out wide. Kitchen offers a younger and possibly better Beckerman alternative. Bradley gets to play a deeper lying role, making late runs into the box and controlling the tempo from the middle of the park. A shame that Fabian is wasted at LB, but he should be given plenty of opportunity to use his attacking skills. Cameron and Brooks can provide a composed pairing with decent distribution skills from the back. Yedlin will hopefully continue his recent form. Guzan is my starter for the Copa.
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Dom
almost 10 years
An ambitious and unlikely lineup, to be sure, but why not shoot for the moon in the last friendly and see if you can capture lightning in a bottle? Last night's XI looked old and unimaginative in attack, utterly incapable of keeping possession and even less capable of making that possession count. In introducing Wood, Nage, and Pulisic to the starting lineup, you can maximize the strengths of your most talented players. Wood is clearly the best forward on this roster. It is a shame to bench Dempsey, but it's also becoming painfully obvious that his time as a lock starter is nearing an end. He struggles as the point of attack in a 4-3-3, and without a big target striker to play next to, may be wasted in a 4-4-2. He would likely play well as a second striker/AM, but Nagbe is clearly better at attacking mid, and I would like to give Zardes one last chance at his preferred position, rather than shunting him out on a wing. I would expect this 4-4-2 to be flexible, with Nagbe tucking in behind the forwards in possession and Wood, Zardes, and Pulisic moving creatively into space up front and out wide. Kitchen offers a younger and possibly better Beckerman alternative. Bradley gets to play a deeper lying role, making late runs into the box and controlling the tempo from the middle of the park. A shame that Fabian is wasted at LB, but he should be given plenty of opportunity to use his attacking skills. Cameron and Brooks can provide a composed pairing with decent distribution skills from the back. Yedlin will hopefully continue his recent form. Guzan is my starter for the Copa.