Jurgen Klinsmann had a tough task in the 2016 Copa America Centenario semifinals against Argentina. Facing the prospect of reaching the tournament’s final for the first time in the USMNT history, Klinsmann was drawn against Lionel Messi and, to make matters worse, he didn’t have three regular starters as Alejandro Bedoya, Jermaine Jones and Bobby Wood were all suspended.
Considering the absences, Klinsmann decided to shake things up in the starting XI. After playing most of the tournament with a 4-3-3 system, the German tactician decided to play with a 4-4-2 in an attempt to crowd the midfield, while playing Clint Dempsey and Chris Wondolowski on offense.
The result? Argentina won 4-0 and advanced to the Copa America final. The USMNT looked badly outplayed, and it seemed they didn’t have answers to fight back after the first goal from Ezequiel Lavezzi before the fifth minute. Lionel Messi added the second goal with a spectacular free kick, and Gonzalo Higuaín added a brace in the second half to close things out.
Much of the merit needs to go to Argentina, as they played a performance that was pretty close to perfection, but the USMNT committed a fair share of mistakes as well. Some players weren’t able to perform as expected (most notably John Brooks and Dempsey), but the majority of the problems started off the pitch with Klinsmann’s tactical idea. Honestly, I have no idea what he was thinking.
Aside from changing the tactic to the 4-4-2 as mentioned above, Klinsmann wasn’t able to replace the absences of Bedoya and Jones. Kyle Beckerman proved he’s not ready to compete at a high level since Ever Banega had a field day against him, and Graham Zusi looked notoriously uncomfortable as a right midfielder, playing roughly 30 yards back from the area where he’s most effective.
Speaking of ineffectiveness, Dempsey was a ghost against the Argentinian defensive line. Dempsey played him as a second striker looking to link up the midfield and the attack, but he barely touched the ball. He didn’t have support from Chris Wondolowski on offense either, and no one can understand why Wondo got the nod over – for instance – Christian Pulisic or Darlington Nagbe. The San Jose Earthquakes’ striker was pretty poor, and he failed to perform at the biggest stage for the USMNT, just like he did against Belgium in the 2014 World Cup.
Like I said above, Argentina was likely to win the game anyway since they were the stronger side by a wide margin. But the USMNT was pretty bad, and Klinsmann’s decisions didn’t help, either. It seems the German tactician is still not ready to lead the US to the promised land against the top teams in the world.