In reply to: So.... I did not like the Arena hire posted by blarneygreen
He rolled out a team that as individuals all function well through the center and had them push the ball right up the middle at an overwhelmed Honduras back line. The players looked more confident, relaxed, and sure of themselves than I've seen in a long time.
Personally, I think having Nagbe receiving the ball from Bradley early and often has been good for both of them, and hopefully we'll see more of that against Panama. Bradley has gotten the yips in the USMNT kit, and is no longer the field general he was expected to be. The less opportunities for him to make mistakes the better.
I really didn't want Arena, but there's no questioning his gameday abilities. As long as his appointment doesn't hamstring the future of USA soccer I'm fine with him leading the team to Russia.
I'm not sure that I saw any real kind of adjustment with respect to Bedoya (or Ledgett) and Nagbe.
For some reason Honduras didn't sit back as expected and went with a higher line in the back. That allowed for Altidore or Dempsey to alternate dropping back and defend a bit more. Because Honduras had more possession than expected, the two wide midfielders did drop back more making the diamond kind of play like a 4-3-3 with a very narrow 3 up top. Anyway, the effect is as you described (less isolation of Bradley), but I just didn't see it as anything Arena did. It was more on how Honduras chose to attack from the outset. And that played into our hands because our players are generally better on the ball. Especially Pulisic, who is really becoming world class.
Anyway, I think we're screwed with Jones back. He's not disciplined enough to keep our shape in the back. And I agree that Bradley will suffer immensely. At some point Bradley decided that he was going to be a tika taka #6. He rarely dribbles and simply looks to quickly pass the ball to an open space in the midfield. It's really sad to watch. He was once a class player. And while he still covers a decent amount of ground on defense, he seldom offers anything on offense - and he's always at risk for a bad give away.