USA-France: 4 Things to Watch For

Well, another international break is upon us. And with it comes another opportunity for the Yanks to finally get things moving in the Jurgen Klinsmann era, having underwhelmed us to date.

The match against France tomorrow will be just the third time in which the US and Les Bleus have met; they played two friendlies (each hosting one) in 1979 with France winning by a combined score of 9-0. The Yanks have been back in France since, albeit with a similar lack of success, crashing out of the 1998 World Cup in dead last and getting knocked out of the 2003 Confederations Cup after scoring just 1 goal in three group stage matches.

Let's actually take a quick rundown of the Yanks' ineptitude on French soil:

• In nine matches, the US has been shutout six times, never scoring more than a single goal in the other games.  Two of those matches came in the '98 World Cup, while another two came in '03 Confederations Cup.
• Only Brian McBride ('98 World Cup v. Iran), DaMarcus Beasley ('03 Confederations Cup v. Turkey), and Andy Straden (Who? '24 Summer Olympics v. Estonia) have scored goals for the USMNT on French soil.
• The US went 0-0-3 at the '98 World Cup, scoring just one goal, only to follow that up with one goal and a record of 0-1-2 at the '03 Confederations Cup.
• Their one match against France in France ended 3-0 in favor of the hosts.

Needless to say, history- the little that there is- will not be in the Yanks' favor tomorrow as they take the field at Stade de France. Recent form isn't exactly going their way either, with just two goals scored in the five matches of the Klinsmann era thus far and plenty of middling play.

Will they buck both trends tomorrow and put together a strong performance, perhaps even coming away with a positive result? Only time will tell. But I'll be watching for the following things tomorrow, and I have a feeling they very well may determine the final result.


The Center Back Pairing:

Will Klinsmann trot out Michael Orozco Fiscal again, throwing him in the deep end against an opponent far superior to the ones he's faced in his recent appearances?  If so, will he be able to handle the challenge, or will he be overwhelmed and ineffective?  With some very talented attackers (Benzema, Ribery, etc.) getting thrown forward, Orozco Fiscal wouldn't have room for error.

While I'm sure a fair share of USMNT fans hope Orozco Fiscal isn't in the starting XI, I'm not convinced it's an impossibility.  Oguchi Onyewu missed Sporting's last match due to a minor groin issue, and though I haven't heard anything out of USMNT camp to suggest that he's unavailable, there's always the chance that that problem flairs up once again.  At that point, does Klinsmann favor a like-for-like substitution, bringing in Clarence Goodson, or does he go with Orozco Fiscal in hopes of improving distribution out of the back?

Ultimately, having seen the success that Onyewu and Bocanegra had as a tandem during the last break, I think Klinsmann will go back to that veteran pairing tomorrow (assuming Gooch is healthy).  They both might not be the most fleet of foot, but both showed during the last break that they can make up for that with wise positioning, strong tackling, and great reading of the game (and let's not kid ourselves, Gooch can still cover some ground, even if it's not quite as fast as someone like Orozco Fiscal).  Will that experience and ability be enough to keep France at bay?

If Orozco Fiscal starts (which, given the speed that France can put forward and Klinsmann's affinity for MOF's game, would not come as a huge surprise), expect Laurent Blanc's men to go after him early and often.  It will be interesting to see, particularly in light of his struggles against Honduras in which he made several near-costly mistakes (pun intended) in the defensive half, if Orozco Fiscal can manage the situation, or if his shortcomings get exposed by a talented opponent.


The Defensive Midfielder(s?):

Perhaps most important to the center back discussion is what's happening in front of the back four, namely at the defensive midfielder role.  Against Belgium, the best of the USMNT's opponents during the Klinsmann era, the Yanks were taken advantage of time and time again in the midfield, as Maurice Edu was tasked with covering a substantial area by himself.  Would France do as Belgium did and wreak havoc in their attacking half by exploiting the gaps left in front of the back four by the lack of two deeper sitting center mids?

If Beckerman starts, will he be able to rekindle the form that made him so effective v. Mexico, or will he get caught defensively and be forced to foul as he did against Honduras?  Would Maurice Edu be able to turn in a stronger performance going both ways than what he did against Belgium?  Could Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, or Danny Williams be played deeper instead, giving the Yanks a new look?

And, the thing I'm most curious to see: will Klinsmann play with two defensive midfielders to ease the defensive burden on the back four and the defensive mids both defensively and in distribution?  Against Belgium, the Yanks found success once Kyle Beckerman was brought on to shoulder some of the load next to Maurice Edu, settling things down offensively and closing spaces defensively.  Though Klinsmann favored the 4-1-3-2 during the last break, could we see some tactical flexibility that sees him instead employ something closer to a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-2-1-1 given the opponent?

Regardless of who the center backs are, the defensive midfielder (or midfielders) will have to be sharp to help balance possession and stifle French attacks before they reach the final third.  I would guess that Beckerman will get the start, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one of several other names there instead.


The Final Third:

Let's face it: the US attack has been more or less abysmal under Jurgen Klinsmann, save for maybe 80 combined minutes.  With just two goals in 450 minutes of play, we've had to endure our fair share of frustrating and/or yawn-inducing jaunts forward, as the Yanks seem to be lacking a little bit of everything in the final third.

Clint Dempsey added some life against Honduras, but poor finishing meant just a single goal.  But then things regressed against Ecuador, with little bite or creativity in the attacking end.  Is it tactical?  Is it just players not executing well enough?  Is it simply an indication of our lack of forward depth (paging Herculez Gomez...)?  Or could it be that the US need a certain LA Galaxy star to run most effectively?  In reality, the answer isn't limited to just one of those things.

But the Yanks can quiet some grumbling and renew the faith with an offensive performance much more stirring than anything we've seen since the final 30 minutes against Mexico in August.  Klinsmann was brought in to bring attacking soccer, right?  Let's see it.  The Yanks don't necessarily have to produce a ton of goals, but let's see a marked improvement.

A big factor will be the play of the forwards, naturally.  Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey got a good run together during the last break, so perhaps they'll have improved chemistry in their third go-around.  They'll need quality service, though, meaning strong flank play from Timmy Chandler, Brek Shea, Steve Cherundolo, and whoever lines up wide right.

France will be missing Patrice Evra and Eric Abidal, so their back line may be a little more vulnerable than normal. We'll see if the Yanks can take advantage.


Absorb Pressure or Go at Them?

We've all heard the old cliche before: the best defense is a good offense. One might theorize that heavy pressure down the wings from Brek Shea and Timmy Chandler would help pin back one side of the French attack, for instance. Will Klinsmann try to stay on the front foot and thus help his defense, playing a higher back line and pressuring high up the field with the forwards? Or will he play things more conservatively and keep Chandler and Cherundolo a little closer to home, knowing full well how dangerous France can be going forward?

If the Yanks do opt for a bend-don't-break strategy, the above discussion of the defensive midfielder and center backs will be all the more relevant. Is there a right way to approach this? For Klinsmann, it may simply be a matter of philosophy, with the desire to go forward trumping a more reserved approach.

But sometimes the opponent dictates the execution of tactics. As Mike Tyson once said, "Everyone has a plan 'til they get punched in the mouth."

---

To wrap up, my previous point about improvement in the final third can be expanded into a broader statement: in general, US fans will want to see improvement, and a fairly substantial one at that, in all facets.  It's understood that friendly results are not hugely important (though one must not forget that FIFA rankings do come into play from time to time for tournament seeding); people simply want to see that the US is moving in the right direction as World Cup qualification draws near.

To date, that has not happened.  And it's a bit disconcerting for many (using social media as a rough judge of popular sentiment).  But a strong outing against France followed by a good showing against Slovenia would go a long way towards quelling some of those fears as we head into 2012.

---

The match kicks off at 3 PM ET and will be shown on ESPN2, ESPN3.com, and Univision.