I do like the 3 at the back. It helps us cover for individual shortcomings among some of the center backs, who are very experienced, by the way. It also does cover for our fullbacks. By making them wingbacks in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, they are also not as exposed by talented wingers on the defensive side. Overall, I really like that system for us going forward. We seemed more solid, despite the occasional lapses.
It also helps Bradley.
Whether planned or not, when they play a diamond midfield with Bradley as the lone holding mid, he plays far too deep.
I have been looking for a positioning map for US-Mexico, similar to what I found for T&T. I would bet anything that it will show that the spacing between Bradley and the centerbacks and Bradley and the other two center-mids is much better.
Bradley is a system guy. He needs to be put in the right places to be effective. He is not effective as a #10, which is how Klinsmann used him (although Klinsmann did not have the benefit of Pulisic). And he is not effective in the Pirlo role because he plays too deep and does not have the vision and pinpoint accuracy that Pirlo does (but who does?). He is most effective, IMO, as part of a tandem playing a dual 6-8 role - as he did with Acosta vs Mexico. For some reason, the Acosta pairing simply worked much better than the Bradley-Jones pairing. I cannot pinpoint why. Perhaps the formation with the extra centerback provides Bradley with the opportunity to get forward more.
Frankly, the posters who have been killing Bradley may watch the game but they don't understand the nuances of the game. If they had criticized him for his positioning in the 4-4-2, that would have been understandable, although not necessarily on Bradley if he had been instructed to play that deep. But there has been no specificity in the criticism. It has simply been: Bradley sucks and shouldn't be out there. Those posters could not be more clueless and wrong.
I know someone argued with me earlier that O'Brien was as good as Pulisic. Wrong. There is nobody who has ever worn the stars and stripes that can hold a candle to Pulisic and his natural abilities.
100% agreed about Yedlin. In the first half, Arriola was not providing any cover. In the second half, Arriola (and Nagbe) did a much better job of tracking back and I though Yedlin was really good.
Think about what happened. 7 changes and we walked out of the Azteca with a draw that, IMO, was deserved. And we did it without a miraculous goaltending effort.
