USMNT: How Tyler Adams absence forces Gregg Berhalter’s hand

Tyler Adams will miss this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup through injury. Here is how his absence must force USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter’s hand.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup commences this weekend. For Gregg Berhalter, it will be his first competitive tournament as the head of the U.S. Men’s National Team. He is in the big leagues now.

Hired in the winter, Berhalter’s tenure had been going swimmingly up until the summer. A promising January camp, good results against the likes of Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama. The beginnings of a system and plan that the players were on board, something that is a far cry from the hapless management of Jurgen Klinsmann. Things were on the up.

And then he took his team into the warm-up matches for the Gold Cup. First Jamaica. Surely an easy win? No. A 1-0 humiliation against a bunch of USL players. Then Venezuela, a tougher task, but one that the USMNT wilted against, falling 3-0 in pitiful fashion.

The news was already looking bleak for Berhalter. Then it got worse. On Tuesday, it was announced that Tyler Adams would drop out of the 23-man Gold Cup squad with a groin problem. He was injured for the latter part of the Bundesliga season but returned in the DFB Pokal final so it was thought he would be okay to return to the team. Obviously, that is now no longer the case.

Adams is a key player in Berhalter’s system — he would be in any system, such is his quality. While the losses to Jamaica and Venezuela were troubling, the hope was that Adams return to the team alongside players like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie would substantially improve the team. Berhalter, then, has some decisions to make.

In Adams’ place, the former Columbus Crew head coach turned to Reggie Cannon. Speaking this week, Berhalter highlighted the differences between the two players:

"“Tyler has a unique skill set. He has versatility, he can play inside, he can play wide, he’s a top talent. Reggie has a different skill set. He’s more vertical, he has speed, the crossing, he’s more of a dynamic defender.”"

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These contrasting skill sets are critical to what Berhalter wants to do. Adams’ ability to play centrally and out wide makes him the perfect candidate to execute the hybrid right-back role in Berhalter’s 4-3-3, in which he plays as an orthodox right-back in the defensive phase but then moves into central areas when the USMNT have safe possession, providing a numerical advantage in the midfield to help control the game. It is an intricate role that demands a very specific type of player. Adams is that type of player, but the USMNT do not have another.

Nick Lima, the presumed back-up, is a capable defender but is not good enough in possession to play in midfield. Cannon is a powerhouse but would struggle with the nuance that the Berhalter system requires. And so, Adams’ absence forces his head coach’s hand somewhat.

Perhaps the best course of action is to revert to a more traditional 4-3-3 with a traditional right-back who is tasked with overlapping the winger, not moving centrally, when in possession. That would put Tim Ream in a spot of bother, a centre-back playing at left-back who would now be asked to contribute offensively, but it is a compromise that Berhalter might be better making than forcing an uncomfortable and unprepared player into an unfamiliar role.

Whether you liked the hybrid right-back role or not, that is what Berhalter was planning. And Adams was perfect for it. Now he is not there, and Berhalter’s hand is being forced as a result.