SAN JOSE, Calif. – Where we will we see Michael Bradley line up?
It’s the question we hear ahead of seemingly every US national team game, and everyone has different answers.
One of the more popular arguments is that Bradley is best as a No. 6 – a deeper-lying midfielder who shields the defense and is go-to guy in connecting the backline and the players further up the field.
But that is not the position where US head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has most often deployed Bradley – until now. Bradley has lined up as the No. 6 in the US’s two most recent tune-up friendlies, wins against Ecuador and Bolivia, and drew high praise against Bolivia in particular, where he served as the fulcrum for a rampant US team in a 4-0 victory.
Although it is a virtual lock that Bradley and his 115 caps of international experience will be on the lineup card when the US open the Copa América Centenario on Friday night, his performance in the No. 6 role in recent wins is not necessarily a guarantee that he’ll play that role against Colombia (9:30 pm ET, FS1).
“It depends on opponents, it depends how people play against us and who they are,” Klinsmann told reporters on Tuesday evening, when asked how Bradley was doing in his deeper role. “I think if other teams – like has happened now in two games – play a similar formation, then he’s not challenged into one-against-one situations when they maybe have a traditional playmaker, a No. 10 or something like that.
“The key for him always is, if he’s playing a 6 or an 8, I always ask him to stagger a little bit higher to receive the ball and don’t receive the ball from your center backs in the same line. I think he can play either role, there’s absolutely no problem. If he’s in a good spirit, if he’s full of energy, then he’s a difference-maker.”
Klinsmann reminded the media after the Bolivia victory that the puzzle he faces in putting together the USMNT lineup is different than the one Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney faces when figuring out where to play Bradley on the club side.
For his part, Bradley noted that the switching between various roles in the center of the park has been part and parcel of his career – whether that has been in MLS, throughout his various stops in Europe, or with the US national team.
“I think when you look back over the course of my career, one of the things that has been a positive for me and for any team that I’ve ever been on, is that I can play in slightly different ways in the midfield without it changing what I’m all about,” he told reporters ahead of the USMNT’s training session at Avaya Stadium on Wednesday morning. “The main part of stepping on the field, being ready to take responsibility and do everything I can to help the team be successful, that part never changes. Then it’s up to the coaches to decide how that fits best.”
