The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) played lifeless and overly defensive against England last Thursday and got housed 3-0. It was a goleada, which by definition usually requires a three-goal deficit.
When the USMNT plays Italy, the top priority has to be attacking more, and the next priority has to be passing and moving and keeping possession.
Some of David Sarachan’s lineup selections were questionable: most notably Will Trapp starting over Tyler Adams, Julian Green starting over Sebastian Lletget, and DeAndre Yedlin starting over Reggie Cannon. So, Sarachan got 8 of his 11 selections right, but three wrong selections is one or two too many.
Against Italy, the U.S. would be wise to start Lletget, Adams, and Cannon, but the players need to play with more urgency and more effort. All three of those players are direct and aggressive, and their inclusion should change the dynamic of the U.S.
If the U.S. trots out a midfield of Kellyn Acosta, Adams, and Lletget, then the team has a chance of having more possession and being more dangerous, but Italy is a soccer giant with great players.
The poor effort the U.S. displayed against England makes any real analysis of the game difficult. With the U.S. dogging it and sitting back, there isn’t much more to analyze about the performance.
Regardless of what many observers claim, the talent pool of American players is deeper and the technical ability and athleticism of the players in general is higher than in the past. So, the U.S. attack of Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, and Bobby Wood is fully capable of being dangerous and effective against even the best opponents. In fact, all three players play in Europe in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
The England game appears to be an aberration from previous recent USMNT games where the team and the players played and looked much better against good teams, even if they didn’t win.
Here is World Soccer Source’s preferred lineup against Italy: Guzan; Cannon, Miazga, Long, Villafaña; Adams, Acosta, Lletget; Pulisic, Wood, Weah.