Dillon Powers embodies the type of two-way midfielder that Jürgen Klinsmann has been calling for.
Klinsmann preaches proactive soccer where his midfielders recover possession and keep possession, and this is exactly what Powers does.
Powers attacks and defends with a high work rate, and he has a level of technical ability and vision that the National Team needs more of.
Amongst American footballers, only Benji Joya, who is younger and looking to improve his club situation, plays like Powers.
Powers’ facility at playing centrally or wide or in more defensive or more attacking roles makes him a player that can be useful to the National Team precisely because of this ability to play where he’s needed, in addition to the qualities that he brings to the squad.
With Michael Bradley playing best as a defensive midfielder or as a central midfielder of the box-to-box variety, Powers could partner with Bradley to play either role or Powers could play a more attacking midfielder role as he does with Colorado.
He can be deployed centrally or out wide in the line of three attacking midfielders, and he even plays as a second striker. Unlike some other MLS midfielders that Klinsmann has used, Powers has a more complete skill-set that doesn’t limit him to only hitting crosses.
The goal for American soccer is to have more players that can play with skill and speed at the international level against top national teams, and someone like Powers is simply too talented and too qualified to be routinely ignored from even consideration by Klinsmann and his coaching staff.
Given Powers skill-set and consistent performances at the club level, United States Men’s National Team coaches in the past would have used Powers one to two years ago with the national team, but Klinsmann’s reasons for selecting or not selecting players to represent the USA have never really been clear.
Anyone familiar with MLS would recognize Powers as not only a complete midfielder, but also one who has stood out in the league against players with much more experience than him.
On more elite national teams, there might be multiple players of Powers level, but given the problems the United States has had keeping possession and displaying a high level of technical skill, it’s hard to justify keeping him off the National Team.
Powers stands out for how impactful and technical he is all over the field both in the recovering of the ball and in the attack. The Rapids midfielder is all over the field positively impacting the game, and he’s scored some impressive goals that display his skill and willingness to play aggressively.
He’s too good to leave off the National Team.
Klinsmann’s snubbing of so many qualified MLS players like Powers has to be something of a running joke with American players and coaches in MLS.