Bob Bradley and the Yanks

After watching the United States take on the Netherlands, Bob Bradley has some  issues with the Yanks. There were some positive moments in the game, but I don't know if Bradley is willing to change his coaching philosophy because of them.

The negatives are that if we do not have our A-team healthy and match fit, the United States is probably not going to make it past the group stage. We just don't have the depth on the roster that can comfortably fill some spots in the top 11. The good news is most should be ready with the big question mark on Charlie Davies return. If Charlie cannot make it back, it could be very hard for us to score. My solution would be to place Clint Dempsey up top along with Jozy Altidore, and have Brian Ching on the bench. The yanks (and Bob Bradley) like to play a 4-5-1, which I cannot stand. I fear this is what Bradley will use unless Davies can return, because it fits right into Bob Bradley's bunker mentality. Don't let them score, and pray the one good chance we get in 90 minutes will go in the back of the net. Unfortunately, while our defense isn't horrible, it can't stop many teams outside of CONCACAF for the entire match.

There were some positives coming from the game vs the Dutch. When the U.S. was down 0-2, with about 15 minutes left to play, we actually started to go on the offensive. When we did, we had the #3 team in the World playing on their heels and backpedaling. We would score one goal, and had two other fantastic opportunities. The U.S. could have won the game in the last 15 minutes. If we played like that for the entire 90 minutes, winning would have been within our grasp. We can play good offensive soccer against ANY team in the world, and the Confederations Cup proved that against Egypt and Brazil.

Unfortunately, attacking is not in Bob Bradley's philosophy, and he probably wants to use the 4-5-1, the exact formation Bruce Arena used in 2006, and it did not get us into the round of 16. If Charlie Davies can play, we will use the 4-4-2, which gives me much more hope this team will play with some offense in their mind. The United States is very dangerous on the attack, and if they can play like that before and during the World Cup, I like our chances making the quarter-finals, which is not an easy task.

Christian N.
Christian is a Philadelphia native, and political and sports columnist for several newspapers across North America. He is also a Philadelphia Union Season Ticket Holder and can be followed on Twitter and his Website.