The United States men’s national team tied England on Friday, grabbing another point in a game that the US stood tall against the European powerhouse. It was another game for the Americans where they created good chances but lacked the finishing touch to grab a goal, but a tie against England is not a bad result by any measure. With the result on Friday, the USA would have to win against Iran to advance to the knockout stages of the World Cup. The game against England featured a similar lineup, but former Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter opted to make some formational changes throughout the game to try and catch the English by surprise.
Starting out in a 4-4-2
Although the lineup submitted to the media stated that the USA were going to line up in a 4-3-3 as usual, the Americans came out in a 4-4-2.
Tim Weah and and Haji Wright lined up as the two strikers up top with Christian Pulisic at left midfielder and Weston McKennie on the right. Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah held down the middle in their natural central midfield position. There are a few reasons for this change, and it ended up paying off for the USMNT.
The first reason was that the US wanted to apply pressure to the England center backs but allow them to play the ball out of the back. Wright and Weah would step up and apply a resisted press to Harry Maguire and John Stones, not going all out in press but keeping contain and creeping forward while players behind them find marks. This would force Maguire and Stones to play a perfect pass to build from the back.
While the forwards pressed, McKennie and Pulisic would step up and mark the fullbacks to cut off any opportunity to quickly get the ball wide. Adams and Musah would mark any split midfielders, and even Sergino Dest and Antonee Robinson would step and mark as well.
This would leave England with the choice either to try to quickly combine in the middle and risk getting turned over by the US midfielders, or they could go long through the air to Harry Kane’s feet and build off of that. England did get a few opportunities in behind when the US stepped up high, but the 4-4-2 worked out well in the first half generating chances for the Americans. In USMNT fashion though, the final finishing touch wasn’t there.
Changing into a 4-3-3 in the second half
Soccer is a physical chess match. To win games you have to have skill, but you also have to be smart. It’s no secret that Gregg Berhalter has a friendly relationship with England coach Gareth Southgate, so Berhalter had to change up some things to keep Southgate on his toes and give the US the best chance to win. So in the second half the Americans came back out in their normal 4-3-3 that they usually start games with.
With this change, there was also an offensive change as well. The space that McKennie and Pulisic occupied in the first half was now vacated due to the formation change, so as a result Dest and Robinson pushed up higher on offense to give the US more options going forward.
The pattern of play also was more consistent with the 4-3-3 than with the 4-4-2. The US repeatedly found success attacking down the flanks and then either cutting inside or crossing the ball. The only problem that they have had is the finishing touch. No matter how many good crosses or final balls the US played in, the finishing touch is lacking.
If the United States want to advance to the Round of 16, they have to scores multiple goals in the next game against Iran. The Iranians will prove a tough test for the US if the Americans do not come out and capitalize on their chances.
Slightly adjusted style of play
If anyone knows Gregg Berhalter best, it’s Crew fans. This performance by the US though was not the typical style of Berhalter-ball that they are accustomed to seeing.
Typically, a Berhalter coached team will emphasize keeping the ball, passing side to side and waiting for the other team to make a mistake. This passive possession was not what the former Crew head coach employed against England. Instead, the USMNT played more on the counter when England was pressuring them.
Make no mistake, the US still were content to keep possession at times where they were controlling the game, but it was a more aggressive and higher tempo style of possession where they were advancing the ball up the pitch instead of waiting for England to make a mistake.
Both keeping possession and playing on the break worked well for the US, as the Americans created some good chances going forward, but the opening goal still eluded them. They will look to pick up where they left off against Iran, and hopefully bag a few goals along the way.
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