By: COLIN REESE
The USMNT Back Four that Jürgen Klinsmann has in his mind is anyone’s guess. It was Brad Evans, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, and DaMarcus Beasley, but Klinsmann looks to be changing his mind.
Klinsmann has given indications that either Geoff Cameron or John Brooks could replace Omar Gonzalez, and the coach of the United States is also likely to start Fabian Johnson at left back or right back, especially given his preference to start Alejandro Bedoya/Graham Zusi, Clint Dempsey, and Landon Donovan as the line of three attacking midfielders.
The United States seems to be getting DeAndre Yedlin ready for the World Cup since he played in the last two USA friendlies in the United States. Tony Beltran started over Yedlin in the game against Mexico, but this was probably to give Beltran one last look before inching closer to putting the young Yedlin on the World Cup roster.
An argument can be made that perhaps DeAndre Yedlin, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, and Fabian Johnson may be the Back Four that is currently the frontrunner for use in the 2014 World Cup.
Michael Orozco has been a consistent call-up by Klinsmann, and Klinsmann was angered by Puebla’s refusal to release Orozco for the recent Mexico friendly on April 2, 2014, so Orozco seems to be in Klinsmann’s plans.
If this information is combined with Klinsmann’s comments after the Mexico game about having Cameron and Brooks as center back options, perhaps the current top four American center backs for Klinsmann are Besler, Cameron, Orozco, and Brooks.
This would effectively remove Clarence Goodson or Omar Gonzalez from the current USA roster, unless Klinsmann is counting Cameron as one of his four outside backs, which would keep Goodson on the roster.
There is a real possibility that Klinsmann would only call up seven defenders because Cameron plays as an outside back and as a center back, not to mention as a defensive midfielder.
The USA Back Four appears to still be in a state of flux, as it should, given the importance of calling up the best defenders available for the World Cup.
Hypothetically, it’s possible that Brad Evans has lost his right back spot on the 23-man roster, but, on the other hand, Klinsmann will be calling up a 30-man provisional World Cup roster.
At this point perhaps, Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, and Fabian Johnson are the only three roster locks of the seven or eight American defender spots.
If this is the case, then Orozco, Brooks, and Yedlin could likely be three more defenders that bring the total to six defenders on the USMNT roster in Klinsmann’s mind. This leaves room for two more spots which could be occupied by Michael Parkhurst and DaMarcus Beasley.
Therefore, the current eight USMNT defenders in Klinsmann’s mind could be:
Matt BESLER, Geoff CAMERON, Michael OROZCO, John BROOKS, Fabian JOHNSON, DaMarcus BEASLEY, Michael PARKHURST, DeAndre YEDLIN.
With this group, Cameron, Orozco, and Johnson can play multiple defensive positions, as Cameron and Orozco can play as center backs and outside backs, and Fabian Johnson plays as a left back or right back, in addition to being a winger.
It will be interesting to see who makes the 30-man USA provisional roster in May, if it is in fact 30 players, and perhaps new faces like Chris Klute, Shane O’Neill, Chris Schuler, and Greg Garza will make that 30-man list.
These players are perhaps more likely than Farrell being included (despite his various qualities and form) because Klute, O’Neill, and Schuler were all included on the January camp roster, except Schuler had to back out in order to have surgery to remove bone spurs on his ankle.
Garza’s performances for Tijuana (a team that rotates a few of its players to rest them for various competitions) are too good to ignore, despite never featuring for Klinsmann. Garza isn’t a player that can be dismissed as inexperienced or not ready for internatonal play because such comments would just be totally off base due to the league and competitions that he performs well in at a position where the United States is weak.
Internationally-inexperienced or not, Klute, O’Neill, and Schuler have displayed too much defensive quality and technical skill to not be strongly considered for a national team with a poor defense outside of Tim Howard and Geoff Cameron.
The USA’s defense is truly poor by the standards that will be needed in one of the World Cup’s Groups of Death. The most talented American defenders with consistently good club performances have to be seriously considered and tested during the May camp.
Schuler is older than O’Neill and Klute and more experienced, and Schuler brings a combination of excellent defending, size, speed, two-footed skill, and quickness of foot. All of these qualities are too important to dismiss because of a 26-year-old player’s lack of national team caps. His qualities and club experience outweigh any reservations about lack of international experience.
World Soccer Source’s conclusion is no matter what Jürgen Klinsmann decides, a Back Four comprised of DeAndre Yedlin, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, and Fabian Johnson would not only be talented and solid but also within the realm of possibility for Klinsmann.
The USA Back Four could very well be Yedlin, Cameron, Besler, and Johnson, and that group is qualified in World Soccer Source’s opinion. Maybe there are many combinations of defenders that need to be tried, but that Back Four is international-caliber and without any poor defenders, slow players, or players lacking technical skill.
Again, here are Klinsmann’s possible eight frontrunners for defensive roster spots:
Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, Michael Orozco, John Brooks, Fabian Johnson, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Parkhurst, DeAndre Yedlin.
– Clarence Goodson might be ahead of John Brooks for Klinsmann.
Here are the eight World Soccer Source Preferred USA defenders:
Geoff Cameron, Michael Orozco, Chris Schuler, Shane O’Neill, Fabian Johnson/Greg Garza, DeAndre Yedlin, Chris Klute, Andrew Farrell.
-Greg Garza has an argument to make here for one of the outside back spots.