2015 Gold Cup: Three Things to Watch for

The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup begins tonight with the USMNT taking on Honduras in Frisco, Texas (9:30 p.m. EDT, FS1). The U.S. follows that with a game Friday night vs. Haiti and then concludes Group A play Monday night vs. Panama, which it beat in the 2013 final.

On an important/excitement scale, let’s give the 2015 tournament, from an American perspective, a 6.5. At stake is an automatic place in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. If the U.S. wins the Gold Cup, it is automatically in by virtue of winning the Cup in 2013. If the team falls short of a repeat, it’ll play the 2015 winner in a one-off playoff to determine who heads to Russia two summers from now.

Although it’s not the World Cup or as intriguing — on paper — as next year’s long-rumored Copa America 100th anniversary edition to be staged on U.S. soil, there are few things worth keeping an eye on as we head toward the July 26 final in Philadelphia.

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Are Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore players for both the present and future?

Jurgen Klinsmann has become slightly more consistent and predictable with his lineups, so for the group stage of the Gold Cup, Dempsey and Altidore should get more run in front of goal.

Altidore, who missed a penalty vs. Guatemala last week, remains as confounding as ever. When he’s on form and scoring, as we saw during the summer of 2013, Altidore looks like a dynamic game-changer. When he’s off his game, you wonder how he’s managed 27 international goals. Such is the life of a striker.

There is more competition with the likes of Juan Agudelo, Jordan Morris and Bobby Wood waiting in the wings. Last summer when Altidore pulled his hamstring at the World Cup, the U.S. didn’t have a viable Plan B or a like-for-like replacement. Although 2018 is still a ways away, it appears Klinsmann is trying to ensure the U.S. won’t be short-handed at forward again.

The Omar Gonzalez/John Brooks defensive partnership: A year ago it appeared as if the MLS-based Matt Besler/Omar Gonzalez pairing would be in place for a couple years. Besler’s form fell off, while World Cup hero Brooks emerged. Gonzalez and Brooks typify the split-squad nature of the U.S. team at the moment, with an MLS-based teams and European-based teams used throughout 2015 in friendlies depending on location. Last Friday’s win vs. Guatemala was the first time the Gonzalez/Brooks pairing was used by Jurgen Klinsmann in the center of defense.

Ventura Alvarado, only 22 with six caps, has played with both Brooks and Gonzalez so there’s a chance he could get into the mix as well.

Call it wishful thinking, but it would be nice if someone in the U.S. backline emerged as a consistent threat on set pieces in the vein of former captain Carlos Bocanegra, who finished with 14 goals in 110 caps. That’s good enough for 12th all-time in the U.S. record books. Brooks, as we should remember, did score vs. Ghana at the World Cup last year. Although he’s 6-foot-5 and has been capped 26 times, Gonzalez hasn’t scored for the U.S.

Does a Michael Bradley/Mix Diskerud midfield produce steady offensive flow?

Let’s work under the assumption that Bradley, the newly appointed captain, is the team’s “best” player. Bradley, who’ll garner his 100th cap tonight, can play capably anywhere in the midfield. Using him as a shield in front of the back four takes away his best element — getting forward with runs on the edge of the area and key passes in the final third. Bradley isn’t that metronome, Barcelona-style creator who is going to string a million passes together, but when he gets a little time to find a teammate good things tend to happen.

Is Diskerud the best player to pair him with in the middle of the field with an eye on 2018, assuming Klinsmann uses a standard 4-4-2 formation? They pair combine for a goal vs. Germany last month in a friendly. Bear in mind Kyle Beckerman is 33. Jermaine Jones is injured and 33 himself. Emerson Hyndman could be an option eventually but he’s only 19. Danny Williams didn’t make the cut for the Gold Cup, while Klinsmann seems to like Alejandro Bedoya and Graham Zusi in wider positions. That means Diskerud should get the bulk of the minutes early on.

With NYCFC this season, Diskerud has completed 80 percent of his passes, creating 16 chances. In the early stages of the tournament, with the U.S. a heavy favorite his defensive duties will revolve around maintaining possession and not losing the ball to create counter attacks for the opponent as opposed to darting around and trying to intercept balls or make tackles. A year ago, Diskerud was the only outfield player who didn’t feature at the World Cup. At the Gold Cup he’ll have ample chance to sink or swim. If Diskerud struggles, it opens up a chance for Alfredo Morales, unless Klinsmann juggles the roster for the knockout stages.