Analysis | Three tactical quandaries facing the USMNT at Copa América (2024)

Following the Americans’ bumpy but ultimately successful defense of their Concacaf Nations League title in March, this special staging of South America’s esteemed championship — shifted to the United States and expanded to include six teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean — arrives amid impassioned debate over Berhalter’s coaching bona fides. A deep run would entrench him as the man to steer the United States through 2026, and an early exit would heap on pressure for a change while there’s still time to right the ship.

Although the U.S. team that opens the tournament against Bolivia on Sunday night in Arlington, Tex., will bear a striking resemblance to the youthful squad Berhalter guided through the last World Cup, injuries, changes in form and an evolving player pool have left the coach with several tactical questions to solve this summer. Here are three worth monitoring:

Say what you will about Sergiño Dest’s troublesome temper, which yielded a pair of inexcusable red cards in U.S. matches last year, but the 23-year-old right back boasts a blend of attacking flair and defensive stability that the United States will sorely miss this summer as he recovers from a torn ACL.

In a roundtable interview with Washington Post writers and editors last month, Berhalter floated myriad options for replacing Dest: turning to Joe Scally or Shaq Moore as a like-for-like swap; using winger Tim Weah as a wing back or attacking fullback; shifting Weston McKennie or Yunus Musah from central midfield to right back; or converting a natural center back such as Miles Robinson, Cameron Carter-Vickers or Mark McKenzie into a stay-at-home right back.

Yet Berhalter tried only that first option in tuneup friendlies against Colombia and Brazil, rolling with Scally for 175 minutes and giving Moore the last five. And Scally, a 21-year-old starter for German club Borussia Mönchengladbach, looked the part: He was a bright spot in the 5-1 loss to Colombia, keeping Luis Díaz off the scoreboard and exuding confidence on the ball, then gamely helped contain Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior in the 1-1 draw with Brazil.

The knock on Scally is that he lacks the attacking menace Dest brings to the table. While Scally enjoyed career bests in assists, passing percentage, tackles and clearances for Mönchengladbach this past season, he posted career lows in such attacking metrics as shot-creating actions and successful take-ons (per the stats website FBRef.com).

Despite entertaining the idea of a formation change, Berhalter stuck with his usual 4-3-3 alignment in the recent friendlies. But Weah plays as a right wing back for Italian power Juventus, so a 3-4-1-2 or 5-3-2 formation that drops the 24-year-old from the forward line to a wing back role can’t be ruled out if Scally isn’t providing enough offensive punch.

“When you look at the teams in the semifinals of the last World Cup, none of them played with a back five,” Berhalter said. “But it doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. Inter Milan is very successful playing with a back five. So it could be done, and I think it adds a wrinkle to the team that is helpful.”

If the cupboard is looking a bit bare at right back, then the U.S. midfield is an embarrassment of riches. After the complementary trio of Tyler Adams, Musah and McKennie established itself as Berhalter’s midfield of choice at the World Cup, a slew of game-changing performances from Gio Reyna threw a wrench into that ironclad alignment.

Even as Reyna struggled for minutes last season — first with German parent club Borussia Dortmund, then on loan to England’s Nottingham Forest — his 6.5 shot-creating actions per match easily outpaced all the other players on the U.S. roster in their respective club campaigns. After Berhalter wielded the 21-year-old as more of a free-roaming playmaker in the two-legged Nations League quarterfinal against Trinidad and Tobago in November (the No. 10 role), the coach leaned on Reyna for more defensive duties and deep-lying distribution in March’s semifinal and final (as one of two No. 8s in front of a defensive No. 6).

“With Gio, I wouldn’t specifically say number 10 for him because I think he’s more than that,” Berhalter said. “I would say 6, 8, 10 — he can do a lot of different roles. So the one important thing about him is he’s secure on the ball, and he can get his teammates involved in the game. So we look at him as a guy that can play a little bit deeper.”

Assuming Adams, the U.S. captain, remains limited after an injury-plagued season with English side Bournemouth, Berhalter will have a decision to make about who fills that No. 6 role at the base of the midfield. Johnny Cardoso is the obvious replacement after settling into the starting lineup with Spanish club Real Betis. Yet the United States has also found success by omitting a traditional defensive midfielder and asking Musah to split those responsibilities with McKennie.

Cardoso brings more defensive steel than AC Milan’s Musah. Over a similar number of minutes in their respective leagues last season, Cardoso vastly outpaced Musah in tackles, interceptions and aerial duels won. But Musah notched nearly five times as many progressive carries, illustrating an uncanny ability to slip out of trouble and advance the ball on the dribble. If the United States is up against a less-imposing foe, that kind of proactive profile could prove tempting.

Folarin Balogun’s commitment to the program a year ago — turning down England and Nigeria — seemed to settle the striker debate. Then the Arsenal alum struggled in his first season with French club Monaco, posting just seven goals in 29 Ligue 1 appearances. Josh Sargent and Haji Wright, meanwhile, lit up the English Championship — netting 16 goals apiece for Norwich City and Coventry City, respectively. Ricardo Pepi also developed into an effective weapon for Dutch champion PSV Eindhoven, scoring seven times off the bench.

Balogun, however, still has the highest ceiling. The 22-year-old striker has the finishing touch to net buckets of goals — he scored 21 times in Ligue 1 for Reims a year ago, after all — and the fluid movement to combine and interchange with the Americans’ dynamic wingers. Consider the U.S. goal against Colombia: When the right winger Weah collected the ball on the left flank early in the second half, Balogun identified the vacant space on the right, drifted wide, collected a pass from Weah and set up the strike with an expertly timed give-and-go.

Still, it’s worth noting that Balogun struggled in the air this season — winning just 20 percent of his aerial duels — and lost his scoring touch for long stretches. Should Sargent recover from his lingering ankle injury, the 24-year-old is worth considering as an all-around threat who offers mobility, work rate and physicality. Wright, who Berhalter has indicated may play more as a winger this tournament, is the group’s most effective striker running at defenders and winning balls in the air. And Pepi wields sly movement and clever finishing as the best pure poacher of the bunch.

“It’s just another example of a position where you feel really comfortable that you have options,” Berhalter said. “The onus is on them to perform, and they know if they don’t perform, it’s going to be challenging to get on the field — and that just drives competition.”