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Glam it up zombie style

First Posted: 6/3/2014 NEW YORK &#8212; When the U.S. soccer team talks strategy, it sounds a bit like people picking lottery numbers or the start of a keno game: 4-4-2. 4-2-3-1. 4-3-3.
Two weeks before the Americans&#8217; World Cup opener, they&#8217;re still tinkering with their formation.
&#8220;There&#8217;s no such thing as a best system,&#8221; U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the whole team, how it shapes up and how it works as an entire unit, how it attacks collectively and how it defends collectively.&#8221;
After replacing Bob Bradley as the Americans&#8217; coach in July 2011, Klinsmann most often used a 4-2-3-1 formation: four defenders with two defensive midfielders in front of them. Higher up the field were three advanced midfielders supporting a lone forward.
Jozy Altidore usually was the striker when Klinsmann had his full player pool available, and Clint Dempsey was in the central attacking midfield role or advanced to a withdrawn forward.
But Klinsmann switched to a 4-4-2 for last month&#8217;s exhibition against Mexico with a diamond midfield that pushed midfielder Michael Bradley into an attacking position and moved Dempsey closer to goal, where he could link better with Altidore.
&#8220;It&#8217;s important to mix it up,&#8221; Dempsey said. &#8220;In the past, maybe I was more withdrawn at times. I&#8217;m trying to also be up there and be next to him in terms of just not having him be the only guy that&#8217;s up top.&#8221;
Bradley scored the opener in the 2-2 tie against Mexico and assisted on a goal by Chris Wondolowski, who started on a day Altidore remained with Sunderland in England.
In Sunday&#8217;s 2-1 exhibition win over Turkey, Bradley set up Fabian Johnson&#8217;s goal with a brilliant chip on a one-two exchange. Dempsey scored the second goal when a defender failed to clear a cross by left back Timmy Chandler.
But with Bradley farther up the field and Jermaine Jones alone in front of the defense, Turkey had a half-dozen good scoring chances in the first half. Klinsmann then told Bradley to drop back into a flat four midfield alongside Kyle Beckerman in the second half. Still, Bradley had to get higher when the Americans attacked, and a heat map shows he ran constantly between the penalty areas.
&#8220;My role? Is in the center of the field, in the center of the midfield,&#8221; Bradley said. &#8220;I try to do as much as possible to help the team, whether it&#8217;s scoring goals, setting up goals, winning tackles, intercepting balls. I try to have as big an impact on the game as possible. I think when you look around the world now, midfielders who can do everything are so important for their team, so that&#8217;s what I try to do.&#8221;
The U.S. has just two more big tests before leaving for Brazil: an exhibition against Nigeria on Saturday at Jacksonville, Florida, followed by a scrimmage against Belgium on June 12. The Americans open on June 16 against Ghana &#8212; which eliminated the U.S. from the last two World Cups &#8212; then play Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo six days later. The Americans close the first round against three-time champion Germany.

Americans still tinkering with formations