Playing beautiful soccer in Toronto, Jozy Altidore returns healthy to the USMNT for two vital qualifiers.
Neil W. Blackmon
The US Men’s National Team begins another ambitious, and perhaps fateful, summer this weekend when they travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to play Venezuela. The match will serve as the lone tune-up for the United States ahead of two vital World Cup qualifiers, against Trinidad and Tobago June 8th in Denver and against Mexico at the famed Azteca June 11th. The US face Venezuela at the tail end of a week-long training camp and prior to the official opening of the FIFA sanctioned international window on June 5th.
The US chose this week to hold a training camp and play a game in Salt Lake City- elevation 4,500 feet- as a way to prepare for two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, each to be played at altitude. Bruce Arena discussed preparing for the trip to Estadio Azteca, which sits at an altitude of 7,200 feet, with Sunil Gulati and US Soccer officials as early as January, according to multiple sources. And while Denver has been good to the US Men generally, the choice of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, made in April, for the Trinidad and Tobago home qualifier, was at least partially because Arena wanted the Americans to have as much match experience and fitness at altitude as possible ahead of their game at Azteca.
Arena’s second tenure began in March with promise: a four-point return from two qualifiers that lifted the Americans out of despair and last place in the Hexagonal. The feat was all the more impressive given the Americans accomplished it without several of their regulars. But qualification is far from secure. The US sit in fourth position through four matches, good enough on goal differential to best Honduras and qualify for a playoff if qualifying ended today, which of course, it doesn’t. That’s an improvement, but the US are hardly out of danger, especially given the two-game set that approaches.
The first match against Trinidad and Tobago is basically a must win, and it is against a side that are playing good soccer. Trinidad and Tobago features one of the most dangerous and hot players in MLS in Kevin Molino, as well as perhaps the league’s most underrated player, Joevin Jones. The Soca Warriors sit last and have never won on US soil, but they deserved better against El Tri in March and can steal a point, which would be a fiasco for the Americans chances of qualifying without a playoff.
The second match comes at the cauldron that is Estadio Azteca, on a pitch where, to borrow from former LSU football coach Les Miles, “opponent’s dreams go to die.” The Americans have never won at Azteca in qualifying, and have led only once, briefly, in 2009, after this brilliant goal (at 25 seconds) sequence featuring Landon Donovan and a before-the-car-accident version of Charlie Davies.
Mexico didn’t lose a single competitive match in the building until 2001, and for many years, were basically invincible at home, with the heat, smog, humidity, endless noise and altitude combining to a witches’ brew for opponents: think a SEC football stadium at night after a long Saturday of tailgating, but 7,000 feet in the air and with barb wire, batteries and urine bags. ‘
Still, El Tri aren’t necessarily invincible in the building these days. A massive and necessary renovation in 2015 made the building more modern and attractive, but reduced capacity from 100,000+ to 87,000. And Mexico only won one match in the building in the 2014 Hex, drawing three and losing, in unthinkable come from behind fashion, to Honduras. There was even talk of rotating home qualifiers moving forward, an idea the FMF has not abandoned, but not yet implemented.
Aware that victory can be attained in Mexico, and admittedly interested in what that would mean for his legacy as a manager, Bruce Arena is going for it, preparing his team at altitude with a camp and then a friendly against a Venezuela side themselves accustomed to playing at altitude in the many storied octagons of CONMEBOL qualifying.
The US are expected to gain three points from two games. But with perhaps the best American roster ever assembled- or certainly the best since the early 2000s- why not go for more?
The traditional TYAC preview then. Usuals. Then particulars.
Series: Fifth Meeting. The United States lead, 3-0-1. It’s worth noting that the Americans have never lost to Venezuela, and have won every meeting in the United States. That said, the two sides did play a thrilling 3-3 draw at the 1993 Copa America in Ecuador. And the last time the two teams played? 2012, when Ricardo Clark scored the winning goal, Jermaine Jones wore the captain’s armband for the first time and Bill Hamid registered a clean sheet in his first start for the senior team.
Weather: Hot. Upper 80s at kick and cooling as the evening goes on. By the second half, it should be reasonably temperate, with crisper nighttime mountain air settling in after a long day in the sun. But it won’t be easy at the start, and the heat, after a long week of training, pushes the Fabian Johnson Misery Index to an 8 (Just ask the guy, y’all. He doesn’t like hot weather.)
Yangel Herrera, the Manchester City product turning heads with NYCFC, is at the U20 World Cup, and among the reasons Venezuela have hope for the future.
What to Watch for From Venezuela: A team that isn’t very good, but for once, one that can look to the future with hope. Help is on the way, next cycle, thanks to an extraordinarily talented U20 team led by future stars such as Adalberto Penaranda, Yeferson Soteldo and Ronaldo Pena and Manchester City product Yangel Herrera.
Venezuela have waited a long time for a “golden generation,” with soccer historically taking a backseat to baseball, which remains wildly popular in the country. Indeed, Venezuelan children admire Johan Santana and Miguel Cabrera the way the children of Brazil revere Neymar and Marcelo. And yet things are looking up.
The lone country on their continent to never qualify for the World Cup, La Vinotinto have a side in the U20 World Cup quarterfinals (they’ll play the United States, in case you’ve slept through the tournament), and last summer, they drew Mexico and upset perennial CONMEBOL power Uruguay en route to a surprise appearance in the Copa America quarterfinals.
Still, the Venezuelans haven’t been able to translate a strong long-term outlook into present day results. They are last in CONMEBOL qualifying, collecting only one win in fourteen matches, and are already eliminated from advancing to Russia 2018.
The growth of the game is surprising, given that the country has improved despite internal political strife, one of the world’s worst murder rates and an economic crisis so severe the country recently hit 1,000% inflation. The country’s President, Nicholas Maduro, is largely viewed as a ruthless autocrat and the recent sale of “hunger bonds” to Goldman Sachs has generated mass protest in Venezuela and given the friendly, and the Sunday morning World Cup quarterfinal, more noticeable political undertones.
As for the senior team, they still aren’t very good. Rafael Dudamel earned a good deal of goodwill in his home country by leading the side to the Copa Quarterfinals last summer, shortly after taking the job. The Venezuelans, unfortunately, have won little since, though they did score this absurd goal in a surprise draw with Argentina last Labor Day (no, really, look at Sergio Romero’s face!)
Dudamel prefers to play a flat 4-4-2, with a dual destroyer midfield anchored by Alejandro Guerra, who plays in Brazil for middling Palmeiras, and, in the absence of captain Tomás Eduardo Rincón, who will be at the Champions League Final Saturday with Juventus, Francisco Flores, who, is well, not anywhere near the player Rincon is. Dudamel will occasionally play a 4-5-1 on the road, in which case Rómulo Otero is the third central midfielder, and he is a very capable player off the dribble, an adept passer and sneaky fast. He also plays in Brazil, for Atletico Mineiro.
Most Dudamel’s preferred back four is present, with Wilker Angel the only notable absence. The likely starters are all 26 or younger, led by the extremely talented Malaga CB Mikel Villanueva, who will be every bit as good as anyone the US face in the qualifiers that follow. The fullbacks, Alexander Gonzalez and Rolf Feltscher, also play in Spain, albeit in the Segunda Division.
American fans will recognize forward Salomón Rondón as the club’s star, and they should. The West Brom forward is a strong blend of physicality and speed and has scored at a prolific rate for his country, netting 27 times in 71 appearances at all levels. He is traditionally paired with Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez, but the MLS Designated Player was injured in a qualifying match in March and is still recovering.
Venezuela make their mark with defensive effort, organization and hard-tackling: they won more tackles in their group stage at last summer’s Copa America than all three other nations (Mexico, Uruguay and Jamaica) and conceded only one goal. They are content to counterattack with Rondon’s blend of strength and pace and have just enough skill through the center of the pitch to speed you up in transition. There is little reason to believe they’ll try anything different Saturday evening.
Fresh off a contract extension at Monchengladbach, Fabian Johnson is fit and ready to help the USA.
What to Watch for from The United States:
We will go three questions, which should cover each position ahead of a rather predictable back four of Brooks, Cameron, anyone at left back and DeAndre Yedlin.
First and probably foremost, where does Christian Pulisic line up for the United States?
Second, we should probably explore the central midfield pairing first. Saturday night will either be the first match in the post “Bradley/Jermaine Jones” midfield era, or it will be the first of a three-game respite, with the 35-year-old Jones on the shelf with an injury. Who starts in the center of the park?
Third and finally, does Bruce Arena modify the role Clint Dempsey plays for the United States moving forward? Does he modify it at altitude? Do we see Dempsey at all in a friendly Saturday night? Put differently, what is the optimal forward pairing for the US?
In answering the first question, Arena has two basic options, both of which create a cascade effect on Arena’s other roster choices. Put differently, Pulisic is the straw that will stir the American drink.
First, Arena could deploy Pulisic as a number ten, inside and underneath the forwards in a modified diamond. This would essentially leave Michael Bradley as a deep central midfielder, and open the door for Darlington Nagbe and Fabian Johnson to start on flanks.
This is a good time to note the importance of where you deploy Pulisic. It defines the role Fabian Johnson plays, in many ways. The idea of Fabian Johnson, who is just as content hugging a sideline as he is incutting into the channels, coupled with a Pulisic ten is as dream a chance-creating scenario as the Americans have had in ages. But logic also says Nagbe should start. So where do you play them both?
There’s a logical argument that if Nagbe starts on a flank, he would be on the left, which would push Fabian Johnson back to left back.
I’m not sure that’s true: there’s really no reason why Johnson can’t start on either wing, and the reality is that he’s more effective as a midfielder. Johnson has also repeatedly emphasized that it is difficult to leave Europe, arrive at a pop-up camp, and play fullback- and while this isn’t a fly in and play camp situation, the vital qualifiers in October will be, and moving forward under Arena, it would be nice if the Monchengladbach star had a defined role with the national team. Johnson’s more comfortable when he knows what his role and what is being asked of him.
Further, when Johnson is locked in as an attacker, he can do remarkable things, like the piece of skill here that landed him on the Bundesliga “Goal of the Year” nominee list:
Ett anfall blir inte så mycket vackrare än såhär.. pic.twitter.com/1htp6aqAzO
— Eurosport Sverige (@EurosportSE) March 4, 2017
I’ve heard fair arguments that Johnson hasn’t shown out in a US shirt as often as maybe he should for a player of his caliber. Remember this was a consistent criticism of Clint Dempsey, at least until the 2009 Confederations Cup. Johnson, now 29, still has time to be very influential in a US shirt. Some of it is entirely about role. He has been a loyal and good solider, filling in where Jurgen Klinsmann had need, and giving the US a player that could be relied on to carry the ball out of the back in traffic. With Nagbe now wholly in the fold, the US have two such players, a luxury that they’ve lacked since Steve Cherundolo took the field with Claudio Reyna. Arena should find a role for him- whether it’s left back or left or right wing- and commit to it. The uncertainty hurts the USMNT.
An alternative play for Pulisic is to deploy him wide. I don’t think this is what Arena will do but it is, intelligently, how Jurgen Klinsmann broke the wunderkind into the team. The thinking here is Arena will deploy Pulisic the way he used Landon Donovan, where the idea is to find him space and let him create, and give him just enough help on either side to keep defenses from keying. This is a harder strategy if he is wide, even if Pulisic is comfortable doing it given where he played most the year for Dortmund.
The other issue with a wide deployment is it likely removes one of Nagbe or Johnson from either the starting lineup or the midfield, largely because the US would probably want a tracker opposite Pulisic’s flank, if only to do the chasing on one side to allow Bradley to shade and provide cover on the other.
If there’s a weakness to Christian Pulisic’s game at present, at least that I see—and I’m not nearly as smart as other folks that write about this sport, so feel free to add critiques- it’s that he is sometimes lost from a positional standpoint. I don’t mean “lost” in the “I’m not sure what my role is” sense, but rather in the “sometimes he tracks too deep,” and “sometimes he doesn’t track enough” sense. When Pulisic is sucked out of position, it neuters his strength, which is that he is an absolutely mesmerizing player running at defenders and making quick and decisive passes in the channels on the counter. The US should limit his defensive responsibilities internationally, and in CONCACAF, quite frankly, they have that luxury.
Michael Bradley will start for the United States. But who will be his midfield partner?
Question two centered on the US central midfield pairing, but it is, regardless of whether folks believe it fair, really about who plays with Michael Bradley. The American captain is going to start He’s an invaluable leader, a strong diagonal passer, and still a terrific positional defender, even if he doesn’t put in as many tackles as he did at 22.
To me, Bradley’s presence is likely another argument for a diamond, at least at home, with Nagbe pinched alongside a tracker like Ale Bedoya. This would limit Bradley’s attacking responsibilities and allow him to pass out of the scrum, which is one of the situational areas he still excels.
If Arena opts for a more traditional deployment, things become more interesting, with Bradley perhaps playing more advanced ahead of a number six, like Dax McCarty, or perhaps out of a double pivot, with Kellyn Acosta, who is a player we all should want to see on the field soon.
Again, the deployment of Pulisic unlocks the key here—if Pulisic is high and central—the US will either go diamond or play with a lone forward. The latter, given the reality that every forward in the US pool is better with help, is unlikely.
Speaking of forwards, if we know they all play better with help, then the idea should probably be to play 4-4-2, which isn’t sexy but has consistently delivered the Americans best attacking soccer this cycle.
Two Americans have scored goals consistently in a US shirt this cycle: Clint Dempsey and Bobby Wood. Come qualifying time in Denver, that’s my starting pairing, no matter how well Jozy Altidore has played in the past year and no matter how well Steve Davis defends him in this Four Four Two article. But Saturday night is a friendly, which probably means an Altidore start and an Altidore brace. And it should mean a night off for Clint Dempsey, who is as useful as his fresh legs allow him to be these days.
Rondon ended a five month scoring drought for West Brom in May. He’s been prolific for country regardless.
Venezuela Player to Watch: Salomón Rondón, West Bromwich Albion.
It wasn’t the easiest year at West Brom for the powerful 27 year old forward. He netted a hat trick against Bob Bradley’s Swansea in December, starting a string of poor losses that sealed the US manager’s fate, and then promptly didn’t score again until the calendar turned to May. Tony Pulis praised him nonetheless, and for good reason—it’s rare to be among the club leader in goals (8) when you don’t score for five months.
Rondon has downplayed rumors he’ll return to Russia, where he was influential on quality Zenit St. Petersburg sides before moving to England, but with Tony Pulis’s future uncertain, it is difficult to say what the future holds for the forward at West Brom.
For Venezuela, he’ll hope to stay fit and in form well into next cycle, when his country will have a genuine chance to qualify for their first World Cup. At his best, Rondon is technical, strong, and underrated aerially (7 goals since arriving in England), and he’s as good if not better than any forward the US will play in the next ten days, save Chicharito.
US Player to Watch: Kellyn Acosta, FC Dallas
This kid is a brilliant soccer player.
Asked to play left back, as if to prove the enigmatic Jurgen Klinsmann’s theorem that anyone can, he did, and did so well enough on multiple occasions that head US scout- and notable eye for talent-Thomas Rongen professed “he could play there internationally and be outstanding if he committed to the position.”
Asked to guide a team missing its superstar out of the late elimination rounds of the CONCACAF Champions League, Acosta was the best player on the pitch from either side over two legs, menacing Pachuca in a more advanced attacking role and scoring on this stunning free kick:
GOAL Dallas, Kellyn ACOSTA No. 23 | @FCDallas @Tuzos #SCCL #SoyAficionado https://t.co/VTYS1Kjp62
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) March 16, 2017
Acosta has continued his tremendous play with Dallas in the absence of star Mauro Diaz, who has just returned from an Achilles injury, and the 21-year-old has improved as a passer and an off-ball runner in so doing. If the US have not ever fully recovered from the retirement internationally of Claudio Reyna and the injury-shortened careers of Stu Holden and John O’Brien before him, Acosta may be, even if it was unlikely years ago, the latest and most effective answer. And should Arena deploy a 4-4-2 that features a wider Christian Pulisic, Acosta would seem an effective high central mid, able to maintain the defensive integrity Jermaine Jones couldn’t but nearly as capable a passer, and, judging from his free kick heroics above, an effective ball striker and goal scorer.
I don’t know if Bruce will play him. But he probably should, sooner rather than later.
Prediction: USA 2, Venezuela 0. A brace for Jozy Altidore, and a sunny outlook as the Yanks head to Denver.
Neil W. Blackmon is Co-Founder of The Yanks Are Coming. Follow him on Twitter @nwblackmon and email him at neil@yanksarecoming.com.