USMNT: Feckless 4-4-2 Falls Flat in Penultimate World Cup Qualifier

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: October 12, 2013

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The U.S. Men's National Team fielded a 4-4-2 starting formation Friday against the Jamaicans in Kansas City. Fortunately for the Nats' chances in next summer's World Cup, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann's team demonstrated why the 4-4-2 formation is a tar-pit dinosaur and the 4-2-3-1 is the evolution of feathers.

Former USMNT members, or at least the talking heads on ESPN's World Cup coverage, who lived in the age of the long-ball-to-two-forwards are forever going on about the glories of the 4-4-2 system. Here is what Alexi Lalas had to say from the live pregame "studio" set: 

Absolutely fascinating tonight what Jurgen Klinsmann is doing, a much more attacking type of lineup. Yes, it's a 4-4-2, but its a 4-4-2 with Jermaine Jones playing right in front of that back four, and then Mix Diskerud being the man right up there...Right now this is a 4-4-2 and we've seen the U.S. in the past, in the middle of a game or at halftime, change to a 4-4-2 and be much more attacking. We'll see how it goes right from the beginning of the whistle.

Two claims, two perfect examples of confirmation bias.

No, Alexi, we haven't seen the U.S. change to a 4-4-2 at halftime or any other point in a game. And no, Mr. Lalas, the 4-4-2 is not a "more attacking" option.

The studio bobble heads were correct that the U.S. did indeed line up and deploy in a classic 4-4-2 for the first 70 minutes against the Jamaicans. After that ham-footed 70 minutes, perhaps we can now drive a stake in the heart of this bizarre fascination with Klinsmann using the 4-4-2.



 

When Is Two Not More Than One?

In the classic 4-4-2 system, including the diamond-midfield variant adopted by the U.S, the two forwards are supposed to receive the ball and work in tandem to generate offense. Perhaps people assume that the 4-4-2 is "more attacking" than the 4-2-3-1 because it labels two forwards instead of on...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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