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Relying on Brian

April 28th, 2006 | By: Daryl | 8 Comments »

With Bruce revealing that he will more than likely run a 4-5-1 formation, it seems he’ll be relying heavily on Brian McBride. The Fulham forward’s strength in the air and ability to hold up the ball are key ingredients to any one-up-front game plan.

So the obvious question is: what if McBride gets injured? Could any of the other strikers (Twellman, Johnson, Wolff, Ching) fill McBride’s boots or would it require a complete tactical rethink?

Tags: Brian McBride, USA

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Comments

By The Blog Goes On 04.28 - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | April 28th, 2006 at 10:05 am

[...] The life of Brian. Are they relying too much on McBride? (USA Blog) [...]

Posted from United States

By Evan | April 28th, 2006 at 10:36 am

God, please not Ching.

Any formation with a single striker would have Donovan as essentially a deep-lying forward, but Donovan and McBride is a different story that Donovan and Twellman. I think they’d have to go 4-4-2 without McBride.

Posted from United States

By Razzle | April 28th, 2006 at 11:12 am

I can’t imagine a team relying on Brian McBride for goal scoring alone. Let’s see statistics:

Brian McBride:
Plays for Fulham which is ranked 15/20 in the EPL right now
USA record: played 81, scored 26 goals
Fulham record: played 35, scored 10

His scoring record is consistent across club and country resting at about 33%. Thats no-where near the 50% that some of the best out there depend on. Soccer doesnt officially record “assists” so we can’t say how good he is on the field. But 33% … and relying on him to be the only goal scorer, heck we’re in trouble. And what if he is injured? I think we’re in for a tough world cup.

Posted from United States

By daryl | April 28th, 2006 at 11:22 am

It’s not so much that he’s the main goal-scorer, it’s more that he’s the strategic key to a 4-5-1 formation. One up front requires a certain type of player. McBride can do it but I’m not convinced anyone else can.

If the single forward isn’t great in the air, or doesn’t hold the ball up well then possession is lost too easily to make 4-5-1 worthwhile.

Posted from United States

By daryl | April 28th, 2006 at 11:25 am

That’s an interesting point Evan.

I’m no Ching fan but physically speaking he’s the most logical replacement for McBride.

Posted from United States

By Chuck | April 28th, 2006 at 2:44 pm

Any EPL watchers out there?

How does BMB fare when Fulham employs a 4-5-1?

I’ve read elsewhere that he struggled…

Posted from United States

By spinachdip | April 29th, 2006 at 2:16 am

Just to support Darryl’s point that a lone striker does NOT mean there’s only one scoring option, 4-5-1 is either a 4-2-2-1-1 or 4-3-2-1, which means there are more attack-minded players than a 4-4-2 with a diamond or flat midfield.

Yes, McBride is the primary threat but he would by no means be the only threat. Rather, you’d have Donovan, Beasley and (probably) Dempsey making runs and playing off McBride.

Posted from United States

By bryan | October 31st, 2006 at 4:10 pm

so seu fa espero q vc comtinua onrrano o nosso pais pois nos somos vencedores!

Posted from Brazil