BY: MATT CARLSON
Do you remember Pixy Stix? I don’t even know if they sell them anymore, but when I was a kid it was like crack to us. I used to get a little tremor just hearing the Good Humor man’s bells jingling on a summer day. If you don’t know, Pixy Stix were thin paper tubes filled with a powder of sugar and artificial fruit flavor. Their only real failing was that the tube would clog when it got wet, an indictment of the engineering department at Pixy Stix, Inc., who somehow forgot that the whole idea of Pixy Stix was for kids to put the tubes in their mouths. Anyway, every kid who ever ate Pixy Stix, at some point got a hankering for Kool-Aid when there wasn’t any around. Faced with this dilemma, every kid gets the idea to pour Pixy Stix into a cup of water to make homemade Kool-Aid. Recently, I think Bob Bradley has been trying to make Kool-Aid out of Pixy Stix and water.
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On paper, Pixy Stix and water ought to work. It’s sugar, artificial flavor and water. I’m no chemist, but isn’t that Kool-Aid? Sadly, Pixy Stix and water did not taste like Kool-Aid. If you fiddled with the ratios enough, it wasn’t too bad, but it still wasn’t as good as Kool-Aid. If it never occurred to you to try this when you were a kid, you just weren’t using your brain. In the same way, with the talent the USMNT has at midfield, Bob Bradley would not be doing his job if he did not try to find out if a formation with five midfielders could work. In most of the Friendlies since the start of the World Cup cycle, Bradley has tried to get five midfielders onto the field at the same time (Argentina: 4-5-1; Chile: 4-2-3-1; Poland: 4-5-1/4-4-1-1; Colombia: 4-3-3/4-5-1). Despite looking good on paper, the formations have been largely unsuccessful.
I have written before that I don’t think a five man midfield works for the current USMNT, so I won’t go into great detail here. However, I did want to briefly address one thing I have heard a lot after these Friendlies. The ineffectiveness of the five midfielder formations, is not, I repeat, not just because of one player. This is a team issue. To run any kind of formation with five midfielders in it, I think you need a legitimate target man, two fast and skilled wingers, a central midfield playmaker, defenders who can play possession and attack down the wings, players with good one-touch passing skills, and the discipline to stay in the formation. The current USMNT does not have all of these elements. This is not a slight on the USMNT players. In fact, I think this is the most talented USMNT in my lifetime. However, the five man midfield formations are not suited to the current USMNT’s strengths. On the other hand, the 4-4-2 puts the current USMNT players in a better position to be successful given their skill set. The improved play shown by the team after the change to the 4-4-2 formation in the second half of these Friendlies is evidence of that.
Still, even when the USMNT plays the 4-4-2, all is not perfect. As seen in the Paraguay match last night, the USMNT will often dominate possession, but have difficulty unlocking the defense in the final third of the field to get that goal. I believe this is because the USMNT does not have a creative playmaker in the central midfield -- someone who can complete passes, split the defense, who has vision, who has control, who can maintain possession, who is calm with the ball, and who can create chances for his teammates. We haven't had one since Claudio Reyna. So, the big question for me is why isn’t the USMNT actively trying to identify its #10 as it starts this new World Cup cycle?While I applaud Bradley for trying new formations, I was hoping to see him hold open auditions for the #10 spot during these Friendlies. I know Benny Feilhaber was injured for the Argentina and Paraguay Friendlies, but I wanted to see him, JoseTorres, and yes, I’m going to say it, Jonathan Spector, given a look in the #10 role during these past six games. I know you can easily make a case against all of these guys. Feilhaber’s play has been up and down and he has not continued on the upward trajectory I thought he was on after the 2007 Gold Cup. Torres’ play for the USMNT and Pachuca in the past is also open to valid criticism. Spector? He’s in here because there are so few candidates and no stone should go unturned in the search. (Also, Spector apparently can play every position, we just didn’t know it. I heard he is now playing keeper for West Ham’s reserve team.) I know that Feilhaber, Torres and Spector aren't world class #10’s. I also understand that Edu/Jones/Bradley/Holden may be head-to-head better players than these three. However, to be a good team, you do not need to get the eleven best players together, you need to get the eleven players who play the best together. I believe that having an average #10 on the field would be better for this USMNT than having another good defensive midfielder out there.
Now, as part of the open auditions, I would want the #10 candidates to be given lots of rope. While Feilhaber and Torres have had some chances in the past, I think Bradley gave them the hook too quickly and it affected their play. In my opinion, you are not going to get a player's best if he thinks he's going to get yanked every time he makes a mistake. That makes them play tentatively instead of with confidence, and you need loads of confidence to be an effective #10. In future Friendlies, I would like Bradley just to hand any #10 candidates the keys to the car and tells them, "Go do your thing, I'm not taking you out for anything. Complete 5% of your passes? No problem! Get repeatedly caught in possession in our end? No sweat! Make a no-look, backheel pass that nutmegs Tim Howard for an own goal? Great! The only way you’re coming out is for an injury or a red card.” I would start with Benny “No Air” Feilhaber and go on down the list until someone shows they can handle the job better than anyone else.
What the USMNT has accomplished is fairly remarkable, in my opinion. Without a #10, the USMNT has become a team that dominates in CONCACAF, is an automatic qualifier for the World Cup, and can even hang in matches against elite national teams from time to time. The USMNT has now progressed to a point where the next level for it is to become one of the elite itself. If you look at the elite national teams, they all have a #10 and I believe now is the time for the USMNT to go about finding its #10. Until a legitimate #10 comes along, though, expect Bob Bradley to keep working hard to mix the Pixy Stix and water the best that he can.
