By: COLIN REESE
Unless there are injuries before the start of the 2014 World Cup, the USA’s World Cup roster is officially down to a final list of 23 players.
The United States’ roster is a balanced roster in terms of the amount of players selected for each position. Jürgen Klinsmann selected three goalkeepers, four outside backs, four center backs, three defensive midfielders, six attacking midfielders, and three strikers.
Going into further detail, Klinsmann selected two left-footed center backs, two right-footed center backs, two right backs, and two left backs. Furthermore, Klinsmann selected four wingers, and three first strikers. Clint Dempsey is basically an attacker that doesn’t fall into a rigid category, and Mix Diskerud can be firmly classified as a playmaker or a central attacking midfielder.
At the very least, Klinsmann’s roster, unlike most of his others, basically included a first and second choice option for each of the starting positions in his 4-2-3-1 formation.
Below is the USA World Cup roster broken down by position:
GOALKEEPERS: Tim HOWARD, Brad GUZAN, Nick RIMANDO
CENTER BACKS: Geoff CAMERON, Matt BESLER, Omar GONZALEZ, John Anthony BROOKS
RIGHT BACKS: Timothy CHANDLER, DeAndre YEDLIN
– Chandler also plays left back
LEFT BACKS: Fabian JOHNSON, DaMarcus BEASLEY
– Johnson also plays right back
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES, Kyle BECKERMAN
ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: Mix DISKERUD, Alejandro BEDOYA, Graham ZUSI, Julian GREEN, Brad DAVIS
FORWARDS: Clint DEMPSEY, Jozy ALTIDORE, Aron JÓHANNSSON, Chris WONDOLOWSKI
-Of the forward group, Clint Dempsey is really a second striker or withdrawn striker or support striker or shadow striker – whichever term you wish to use. The other three forwards are out-and-out strikers a.k.a. first strikers
The First-Choice USA Starting XI is likely:
Tim Howard; Timothy Chandler, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, Fabian Johnson; Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley; Alejandro Bedoya, Clint Dempsey, Julian Green; Jozy Altidore.
*For this writer, it seems likely that Julian Green was selected to the final roster to start at left wing in place of Landon Donovan whose exclusion from the roster overshadowed the rest of the roster inclusions and omissions.
Roster Snubs
Landon Donovan, Joe Corona, Maurice Edu, and Terrence Boyd were the biggest snubs on the USA World Cup roster.
Both Corona and Donovan were more deserving of roster spots than both Davis and Green due to their skill and experience, and Corona who was playing as a left wing, right wing, or central attacking midfielder in La Liga MX is also on a better run of form than both Davis and Green.
Donovan’s omission is hard to justify in a country like the United States where technical ability and experience playing and performing well against elite soccer stars are in short supply, but this is the situation in which Dempsey and Bradley find themselves.
Regardless of what Klinsmann claimed, Donovan was in fact in direct competition with both Brad Davis and Julian Green who both made the roster in what can only be described as widespread disapproval across both the English-language and Spanish-language media in the United States. Donovan is a winger or a second striker, and Green plays both of these positions and Davis plays as a left midfielder.
Like Donovan, Joe Corona’s omission in favor of both Brad Davis and Julian Green is hard for Klinsmann to justify, but this story was overshadowed by the exclusion of Donovan, which eliminated the USA’s ability to start a midfield consisting of Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Landon Donovan at the same time.
It’s possible that Mix Diskerud and Joe Corona were competing for just one roster spot, but Corona’s ability to play on both wings or as a central attacking midfielder would have made both players useful inclusions on a roster in desperate need of technical ability, creativity, and a willingness to look to score goals and set up goals, along with the ability to do so.
In other roster battles, Klinsmann selected Kyle Beckerman over Maurice Edu, and he selected John Anthony Brooks over Clarence Goodson. Timothy Chandler and DeAndre Yedlin were chosen over Brad Evans and Michael Parkhurst, and Chris Wondolowski was selected over Terrence Boyd.
Boyd is a much deadlier, more athletic, and more physically-imposing striker than Wondolowski, and contending that Wondolowski’s style of play and sub-par athleticism for a professional soccer player translate to World Cup soccer is a big stretch.
Reviewing the Likely USA Starting XI:
HOWARD; CHANDLER, CAMERON, BESLER, JOHNSON; JONES, BRADLEY; BEDOYA, DEMPSEY, GREEN; ALTIDORE.
Since Klinsmann has been using Dempsey in the middle of the line of three attacking midfielders in what is really a second striker role, Dempsey is likely to play there in the World Cup as well.
With the inclusion of Green on the World Cup roster along with the exclusion of both Donovan and Corona, it might be the case that Klinsmann plans to toss Green into the deep end and start him at left wing in the World Cup.
At right wing, predicting whether Bedoya will start over Zusi is a toss up, but Bedoya is a faster and more skilled player that has been playing in Ligue 1, as opposed to MLS.
Given the players on the 23-man roster, the remaining starting spots listed above seem fairly predictable and straight forward.
Below is a diagram of the Likely USA XI:
If it were up to me, given the 23 players selected, the USA XI would be:
Howard; Yedlin, Cameron, Besler, Johnson; Jones, Bradley; Green, Diskerud, Dempsey; Altidore.