The United States Mens National Team has seen better days in recent years. After missing out on the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, they needed a change. After appointing Gregg Berhalter, former US player and manager in the MLS, the team’s fortunes have been trending upwards. The 2018 disappointment meant major change was needed, and since then, the United States has seen a tremendous emergence in young players who are attracting Europe’s biggest clubs.
Christian Pulisic, currently at Chelsea, has been pegged by the media as the United States golden boy due to his massive transfer to the Premier League. He was the first to shatter the perhaps negative perception of American players in Europe. Now, American youth all over the continent has emerged. Sergio Dest, Weston McKennie, and Gio Reyna are three high profile names that are all under the age of 22. Dest recently signed for FC Barcelona; McKennie recently signed for Juventus, and Reyna is enjoying a fruitful partnership with Norwegian phenom Erling Haaland at Borussia Dortmund.
Any American seeing these players breaking through at the world’s biggest clubs has something to be excited about. However, just because a nation has terrific players doesnt always mean they will gel well together. Part of the challenge of international football is finding a system that works for players who are prone to informational overload. It is difficult for players to change their style of play for their international manager while still performing week in and week out for their club.
Berhalter has the challenge and privilege of bringing these exciting, attacking-minded players to the top of world football. The road to the 2022 World Cup will be long and tiring, but in recent weeks, the American manager has been experimenting with his squad to find tactics that will pay dividends. This tactical analysis and scout report will examine the attacking tactics of the United States in their recent 0-0 draw with Wales. Despite the lack of goals, the American’s were fantastic in their execution of complex attacking tactics.
Lineup
The US started in a 4-3-3 formation in Wales. The key to this formation is the balance in the midfield. Berhalter achieves this balance by starting McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Yunus Musah in the middle. Musah has the dynamic ability to play in the middle or out wide, allowing the manager to implement more complex tactics. Upfront, youngster Komrad de la Fuente and Reyna occupied the wings. The defense included Dest and Antonee Robinson, who would push forward constantly throughout the match.
Front Three
The first interesting tactic that the US implemented was their movement up front. While most tacticians would utilise wingers in a 4-3-3 to get in behind, Berhalter had other ideas. He knew that with Reyna in the team, it would allow for the dynamic play that had the potential to be successful. At Dortmund, he has scored once and assisted three times in seven matches while playing just behind Haaland in the center forward role. At the Bundesliga team, Reyna does extremely well getting on the ball in the middle of the pitch, and this is something that Berhalter incorporated into his sides attacking tactics. While there is a lot to unpack in these tactics, we will only focus on the front three movements in this section of the analysis.
