Being and RSL fan I watched the diamond being played for a while now, and I our outside backs need to watch more tape. In a way the whole team has things they need to work on if they are going to pull the diamond off. However, according to Jurgen the formation is kind of a combination of the diamond and a 4-4-2. Jurgen says that we should have a flat midfield defensively, and a diamond going forward. One thing that makes the diamond work for RSL (most of the time), is the team’s familiarity with the system, which allows for players to interchange positions. There is a lot of shifting in a diamond.
Obviously, Timmy Chandler didn’t have a very good game outside of his cross that bounced through to Dempsey. Chandler was badly positioned a few times, and he gave away the ball in a very embarrassing way to practically gift Turkey a goal. Personally, I hope we see a little bit of DeMarcus Beasley to see how he does comparatively. I thought Yedlin, generally, did fine. I like Brad Davis in the lineup. Julian Green had one or two good moments, and about 10 bad moments. Like Klinsmann, I can see the potential, and I hope having him in the lineup doesn’t end up coming back to haunt us later. I think Jermain Jones tried to do too much with his passing, and Beckerman did a good job with his passing. However, I was impressed by Jones’ defensive intensity and determination to hustle and make plays. I think Jozy fouled the Turkey keeper. If the play had happened the other way around US fans would have been screaming for a foul. On his one-on-one with the keeper I think he should have done better to lift the ball a little and get the ball over the keeper’s foot. He did shoot it with his left foot, which I hope isn’t a too much of a sign of a limited scoring ability with his left for that opponents will exploit. We have to be clinical with our chances in Brazil.
I would be interested to see, at least for experiments sake at one point in the next two games, Diskerud at the top of the diamond and Bradley at the bottom with Davis and Zusi on the wings. If Diskerud is a #10 then that is the best position for him. Bradley can still make plays as long as the team is committed to filling his void when he makes a run forward as he should do. The US always looks great when he runs at pace to take the space in front of him. That is how the second goal came about. Bradley has everything you need in a defensive midfielder, and this combination would be very interesting to see for its potential offensive strength. Late in a game I might even take out the D-mid instead of a winger/shuttler to put in Diskerud, so he is in the middle of the park where he is more effective. I don’t really see Diskerud as a winger. However, Diskerud does worry me a bit. I only remember seeing him come into a game late when games are generally more wide open, and opposing defenders are fatigued. It would be interesting to see how he would do from the outset.
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