What’s Left For Jurgen Klinsmann To Do As World Cup Qualifying Looms

With questions still to answer and three friendlies to answer them, Kevin McCauley and I sat down to talk about what the U.S. team in a two-part chat. Part one touched upon players and positions, while this part two gets into formations, roles and what the team needs to do to make the three friendlies a success.

Ryan: So 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 (or their 4-3-2-1 and 4-4-1-1 variations), which is it? If the roster release is any indication (and take it with the smallest grain of salt possible), Donovan and Dempsey are both forwards so that, plus the glut of central midfielders, leads us to believe 4-3-3. That formation gives the team width, which it has lacked, and it allows for a better midfield probably. The problem is that it takes Dempsey out of the number 10 role and is there anything dumber than that right now?

June 8 isn’t too far away, though. These next three friendlies, beginning on Saturday against Scotland, are the final tune ups for a U.S. team that has high expectations under Klinsmann. With kinks still to be ironed out and a team that continues to have its questions, Kevin McCauley and I sat down to chat about what to expect and look for from the U.S. going into these next three friendlies. Here is part one of the two-part chat.

Ryan: Jurgen Klinsmann has largely written off both wins and losses thus far in his tenure as part of the “process” as he builds towards World Cup qualifiers. Now, with just three friendlies left before World Cup qualifying starts, what are the final parts to the “process” that he needs to figure out?