The United States men’s national team will take on Christian Eriksen, Kasper Schmeichel and Denmark on Wednesday, and Jurgen Klinsmann surprised some with his roster invitations for this international break.
Klinsmann calls the match against Denmark “a good benchmark” for his club, and he mentioned a great deal of his defenders in describing the set-up. It won’t be a surprise to see him go 3-5-2 again on Wednesday, but a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 are also quite possible given his pool of talent.
Let’s work through all three options, assuming Klinsmann will opt for veteran Nick Rimando in net over Cody Cropper or William Yarbrough.
EDIT: Clint Dempsey was injured in USMNT training and has returned to Seattle. He was listed as a striker with Altidore in all three below formations.
3-5-2
Rimando
Brooks---Ream---Alvarado
Yedlin---Bedoya---Bradley---Morales---Shea
Altidore---Johannsson
The take: Denmark is a disciplined side, but one that doesn’t have of a heck of a lot of explosiveness. That’s something a 3-man back line can handle relatively well. Eriksen is a dynamite playmaker and Nicklas Bendtner has a load of international goals but has been in poor form for Wolfsburg, scoring just a pair of goals since coming over from Arsenal in January.
4-4-2
Rimando
Chandler---Brooks---Ream---Shea
Yedlin---Bradley---Bedoya---Johnson
Altidore---Rubin
The take: Maybe Klinsmann would like a look at Shea on the left side of a flat back four, and he’s spoken well about Fabian Johnson as a left-wing type player. That said, he’s also called Johnson one of the best right backs at the World Cup this summer, which is a bit of a leap (though he was very good). Keeping Bedoya inside as an attacking mid would be interesting, in how he would combine with Dempsey.
4-3-3
Rimando
Yedlin---Brooks---Ream---Shea
Bedoya---Bradley---Johnson
Zardes---Altidore---Green
The take: Klinsmann goes back to the three-man forward unit, and gives Julian Green a boost playing in front of Johnson.
What do you think is most likely?
