It’s no secret that Argentina are heavily favored not only for this semifinal game, but for the whole tournament. With players such as Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, Nicholas Otamendi, and the list goes on with this star-studded line-up. The US on the other hand has good players, but nowhere near the quality of Argentina. The South American giants are coming off massive victories against Bolivia, Panama, and most recently Venezuela. These aren’t world class teams they are crushing, but they also beat defending champs Chile 2-1 in the first match day. For the US to beat Argentina they will need to completely overhaul their play, especially with suspensions to Bobby Wood and Jermaine Jones last game.
International tournaments are naturally low-scoring compared to club competition. International games must be played on a game to game basis, meaning a tie is often enough to move through in many situations, while losing is a severe detriment. After the group stage this is even more obvious. In some situations teams succeed without winning several games in a row because they hold on to a tie and take it to penalties, where it is a crapshoot and anyone can come out on top. For the USA this should be the strategy, especially since in the Copa America games only last 90 minutes, and go straight to penalties, skipping extra time.
In the quarterfinals, Peru frustrated Colombia all the way to penalties in a 0-0 draw. Colombia was no doubt favorites but Peru did what they needed to do to advance. Their strategy when losing the ball was foul, get men back, and defend with numbers. Italy has been making a living off of this play style in international tournaments for some time now. This year in Euro’s they completely befuddled a strong Belgium team by breaking up counter attacks through fouls and then defending as a unit. For many fans this is seen as a bit of a dirty, uninspired tactic. Man United under Louis Van Gaal played similar for the first part of the last season.The first thought is defending and attack second. He received criticism for his dull play-style, despite the fact his team did not lose often. In club competition draws aren’t exactly as useful as in international, however, and in the Copa, relying heavily on defense should be a tactic to be considered.
Lets look at Peru and Italy for a second. Italy played a 3-5-2 against Belgium, with their wingbacks thinking defend first, then when we gain possession, push upfield. Meanwhile Daniele De Rossi sat in front of the 3 defenders and along with Marco Parolo, broke up any potential counter attacks. Having 7 men behind the ball at any given time will give even the weakest of teams a chance to defend on the counter, especially when they can foul and get everyone back when needed. Peru on the other hand played a 4-1-4-1, with the single defensive midfielder sitting deep, and preventing passes into the forwards feet, which made life for Carlos Bacca very difficult as the sole striker for Colombia. At times Peru seemed to be playing a 5-4-1 because the defensive midfielder, Miguel Trauco, would track deep and become a 3rd central defender.
For the USA, the Italy set up would probably be more successful. By adding a 3rd central defender, the US could allow DeAndre Yedlin and Fabian Johnson to play in more attacking roles. Yedlin has been a liability at times, conceding a penalty to Colombia, and receiving a red card against Paraguay.
This setup would put less defensive responsibilities on Yedlin and Johnson, but more for Michael Bradley and Kyle Beckerman, who will likely play in the absence of Jermaine Jones. Matt Besler has already shown he can step up, putting in a great performance against Ecuador. Instead of replacing Wood with a forward, the US should keep Besler in a 3-5-2, with Gyasi Zardes and Clint Dempsey as forwards.
It would be suicide for the US to play the same possession style that they have utilized in every game thus far. It would behoove Jurgen Klinnsman to play more direct tonight against Argentina. The more they possess the more USA runs the risk of giving up a counter attack.
Chile is a team that is likely considered stronger than the United States. The Chileans attempted to posses against Argentina and were punished twice on give aways where Argentina hit on the counter.
This should be a good example of how not to play against Argentina. Chile did, however get 1 goal against their rivals, off a set piece which pulled goalkeeper Sergio Romero from goal, who has been shaky when coming off his line. Set pieces will be key for the US. It will be their best chance to score, and good delivery will be important if they want to get a goal from this game.
These strategies will cause a dull game that will only make more Americans turn away from soccer, touting it as a boring game. But in the end playing beautiful soccer is not what is important. Winning is always important, however. Should the US change their tactics ahead of this game they will have a chance, even against a team as strong as Argentina. But if they play how they have up to this point they will no doubt find it difficult, especially should they concede the first goal.
