USMNT

Which American Midfielders Are Good Enough For the World Cup?

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Freddy Adu (Photo: AP Photo)
Freddy Adu (Photo: AP Photo)

 

While the American defense has been a problem for the United States Men’s National Team, the midfield has also been an enormous problem because the U.S. hasn’t showcased quality passing and combination play at a level that’s good enough for a deep World Cup run.

Setting the defense to the side for the moment, the American midfield is something that can be examined with some basic math.

Normally, a World Cup roster would have eight or perhaps nine midfielders, with three or four of those players being defensive midfielders. If one accepts that Bradley, Jones, Donovan, Diskerud, and Dempsey should all be on the USMNT roster, then three midfield spots are open.

Any honest evaluation of the United States Men’s National Team’s player pool in the midfield reveals Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Landon Donovan, and Clint Dempsey to be players that are probably just too talented and way too capable of playing well against strong competition to leave off the roster.

Therefore, if one looks to add another defensive midfielder to that list, a player like Kyle Beckerman is too big of a liability from an athletic standpoint to put on a World Cup roster.

Beckerman isn’t just a player who isn’t quite quick enough or fast enough to put on a World Cup roster, but he is a player that is totally overmatched in terms of speed, quickness, and agility to really compete outside of MLS and CONCACAF.

Given this reality, the United States needs an additional defensive midfielder on the roster, and the only options are Maurice Edu, Amobi Okugo, Ricardo Clark, Perry Kitchen, Jared Jeffrey, Will Trapp, or Jeremy Hall.

Of course, Geoff Cameron, who has been listed as a defender, can play the midfield destroyer probably better than any American except Bradley, and Cameron has the defensive skills, the technical ability, and the athleticism to perform at the World Cup.

Additionally, another option would be to list Shane O’Neill as a midfielder, in which case he could play as a defensive midfielder, as a center back, or as an outside back.

O’Neill is probably a better defensive midfielder than all of the options listed above with the exception of Cameron, but selecting Beckerman to represent the United States in a World Cup would be a very unrealistic expectation of his ability to really keep up with the speed of international play.

With this information in mind, selecting Shane O’Neill to be the third defensive midfielder along with Bradley and Jones would likely be the wisest course of action, even if many people view it as a risky or crazy selection. O’Neill proved his worth not only in MLS but also for Tab Ramos’s U-20 side.

Turning to the attacking midfielders, by selecting Dempsey and Donovan, the United States is left with two to three roster spots for attacking midfielders, and Mix Diskerud, Joe Corona, and Benny Feilhaber stand out as players who have clearly shown that they have the tools to play at the international level with players like Bradley, Dempsey, and Donovan.

Whether one looks at Brad Davis, Graham Zusi, or Alejandro Bedoya, any realistic examination of the touch, vision, passing ability, and general playing style and technical ability reveals them to be quite a few levels below Diskerud, Corona, and Feilhaber in terms of their ability to receive and release the ball quickly enough to not be overrun by better national teams.

Based on the number of roster spots in the midfield, by selecting Bradley, Jones, O’Neill, Dempsey, Donovan, Feilhaber, Corona, and Diskerud, the USMNT has eight players who fulfill needed roles.

Players like Bradley, Jones, and O’Neill provide defensive coverage in the midfield and serve as passing outlets for the defenders, and they also are key elements to the midfielders’ ability to pass well and keep possession.

With these players providing quality defending and excellent technical ability directly in front of the defense, the need is then to have attacking midfielders who can foster quality passing that leads to possession and the creation of goal-scoring opportunities.

Dempsey, Donovan, and Corona are all attacking midfielders who can play centrally, out right, or out left, but Donovan and Dempsey are really better suited to line up out wide with lots of freedom to roam or as second strikers with the same freedom.

On the other hand, Corona is also a true playmaker like Diskerud and Feilhaber, and the inclusion of Dempsey, Donovan, Corona, Diskerud, and Feilhaber on the roster gives the USMNT many line-up options in the midfield in front of the defensive midfielders.

Even Feilhaber and Diskerud are capable of playing on the right or on the left because their style of play is predicated on showing for the ball and moving into space wherever they are needed.

Any brand of soccer based on confining attacking midfielders to a specific side of the attacking half or the attacking third eliminates any fluidity or quality to the passing play of the team.

Diskerud, Corona, and Feilhaber are players who allow the United States to field a Front Six where players with excellent technical ability, creativity, and agility can play in front of defensive midfielders like Jones and Bradley who provide a combination of defensive ability, running endurance, and passing ability that the attacking midfielders don’t have.

When it comes time to select midfielders for the USMNT’s World Cup roster, players like O’Neill, Diskerud, Corona, and Feilhaber are needed both as support and as substitutes for players like Bradley, Jones, Dempsey, and Donovan.

Diskerud’s international play in recent months seems to have convinced the American soccer media and the American fan base of his importance as a playmaker, and the play of Feilhaber and Corona for club and country greatly overshadows anything Brad Davis, Graham Zusi, or Alejandro Bedoya have ever done.

Stuart Holden showed just how important a complete midfielder can be for the United States, and young or not, Benji Joya is the only other midfielder in the American player pool who brings Holden’s combination of attacking and defending to the midfield.

While Michael Bradley is often described as a box-to-box midfielder, his attacking ability and creativity aren’t on par with Holden’s or Joya’s, and this is why Joya would be an inspired and needed selection for the 2014 World Cup.

Like it or not, there’s no room for Zusi, Davis, Bedoya, or Kljestan on the USMNT’s World Cup roster because they can’t outplay Diskerud, Corona, Feilhaber, Joya, and O’Neill.

Jozy Altidore, Aron Jóhannsson, and Juan Agudelo will need attacking midfielders and playmakers who can provide them with the service they need to score in the World Cup, and the likes of Davis, Zusi, and Bedoya just don’t match up to the U.S.’ better attacking midfielders that have proven that they can perform at a higher level.

To explain this gap in skill more clearly for the purpose of avoiding any misunderstanding, consider the following:

If Bradley, Dempsey, or Donovan are injured or suspended, the United States will need players like Shane O’Neill, Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud, Benny Feilhaber, and Benji Joya to compete against quality opposition.

On the off chance that Bradley, Dempsey, and Donovan couldn’t play, the U.S. could field a Front Six made up of O’Neill, Joya, Corona, Diskerud, Feilhaber, and Altidore and still be competitive, but the same thing couldn’t be said of fielding Jones, Kljestan, Bedoya, Zusi, Davis, and Altidore.

The collective thinking of the American soccer media and the American fan base is largely a parroting of Jürgen Klinsmann’s own opinions, and the reason that this is so is because many people feel that Klinsmann’s playing resume makes his coaching decisions infallible.

This refusal to question Klinsmann’s selections or to evaluate players based on their physical gifts and skills is probably the root of the problem of the United States’ tendency to underperform as far as the quality of the soccer goes.

Many people use Klinsmann’s win/loss record as evidence of the success of his methods and of his player selections, but consistent winning against better national teams requires improving the United States’ quality of play, and the steady improvement of Bradley, Dempsey, and Altidore has nothing to do with Klinsmann.

The collective skill-level of the players on the national team is directly related to the ability of the United States to begin to consistently challenge and beat better national teams.

If you were to ask a cross section of American soccer journalists who they thought should be the midfielders on the roster, you would likely find that the responses were consistent with whichever players Klinsmann had most recently called up to the national team.

Therefore, the collective thinking is probably that Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Graham Zusi, Mix Diskerud, and Fabian Johnson should be the USMNT’s midfielders, but Beckerman and Zusi can be immediately removed from the roster in favor of Corona and O’Neill, Okugo, Kitchen, or Edu.

The problem with the collective thinking is that if Bradley, Donovan, or Dempsey is unavailable for a game, then the national team is without viable substitutes.

By putting Feilhaber, Corona, and Diskerud on the roster, you ensure that those three players are available to allow the United States to pass well and create scoring chances.

While the collective thinking is that Bradley, Jones, Beckerman, Dempsey, Donovan, Zusi, Diskerud, and F. Johnson should be the USMNT’s midfielders, World Soccer Source believes that Bradley, Jones, O’Neill, Joya, Dempsey, Donovan, Corona, Feilhaber, and Diskerud represent a group of players who have the tools necessary to compete in the World Cup.

The decision is yours, but there isn’t any real evidence that Zusi and Beckerman can outperform talented and proven players like Corona, Feilhaber, Joya, or O’Neill against higher-level competition.

Then, there’s always Freddy Adu who has shown the ability to open up games and create scoring chances against top competition. Not a bad option to put on the roster given the lack of technical ability and creativity on the United States Men’s National Team.

Can Graham Zusi and Alejandro Bedoya really outplay Freddy Adu? The evidence says they can’t.

The good thing about Adu is that he can be listed as a forward in place of Terrence Boyd, which gives the USMNT four forwards: Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Aron Jóhannsson, and Freddy Adu.

This group of players leaves 10 rosters spots open for seven defenders and three goalkeepers, and O’Neill and Cameron triple as center backs, as defensive midfielders, and as outside backs.

 

The USMNT Should Try a 3-5-2

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Clint Dempsey (Photo: AP)
Clint Dempsey (Photo: AP)

 

Using a 3-5-2 formation would give Jürgen Klinsmann and the United States Men’s National Team the ability to improve the American defense by taking advantage of the skill-set of new MLS defenders like Andrew Farrell, Chris Klute, and DeAndre Yedlin.

Due to the fact that Andrew Farrell is a center back or defensive midfielder playing as a right back, he is the perfect type of defender to use in a line of three center backs along with Geoff Cameron and Michael Orozco. In this system, Yedlin and Klute would play as the right and left wingbacks.

This formation not only improves the United States’ defense, but it also improves the potency of the American attack as the defense would be the offense and the offense would be the defense.

Cameron, Farrell, and Orozco are all valued for their quickness, skill on the ball, and their defending, and those three center backs with Michael Bradley playing in front of them as a defensive midfielder would make for a defense that’s difficult to penetrate with speed or skill and also a defense that facilitates American ball possession.

A defensive set-up compromised of three or five defenders depending on how one wishes to look at it often leads people to classify it as being overly-defensive, but Cameron, Farrell, Orozco, Yedlin, and Klute are all known for their technical ability and speed.

Starting all five of these defenders fosters a playing style based on not only working the ball out of the back with passing and some dribbling, but it also fosters a playing style where the passing is quick and incisive, as opposed to simply working the ball around in the back without penetrating the pressing of the opposition.

The key to using three center backs and two wingbacks is making sure that the rest of the line-up contains players who can keep possession, attack the opposition, create scoring opportunities, and have players who can put the ball in the back of the net.

With Bradley lining up in front of the three center backs and with Joe Corona and Benny Feilhaber also playing in the center of the midfield, the USMNT would have the players on the field to pass and attack well.

Excluding Tim Howard who would obviously be in goal, the final two pieces of this set-up are Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey, who would provide a focal point to the attack and cold-blooded goal-scorers.

Altidore and Dempsey are obviously quite different in how they play and what positions they play, but a second striker paired with a first striker is a great recipe for attacking strength and goal-scoring ability, especially with midfielders like Bradley, Corona, and Feilhaber behind them who can all keep possession, provide quick passing and creativity, and play final balls.

It also shouldn’t be lost on American soccer fans that both Corona and Feilhaber have demonstrated their willingness to look to score and the ability to score difficult and exciting goals.

The 3-5-2 discussed in this article would be a new look for the USMNT and perhaps too much of a change for some people, but tactically it’s a sound concept using skilled and athletic players based on using a system that isn’t new to world football. The system combines attacking based on possession plus width, and the system also deploys a balance of defending and attacking.

With a 3-5-2, the defense is the offense, and the offense is the defense; the reason why this is true is because the defenders absorb pressure from the opposition and counter-attack, and the attackers unsettle the opposition’s defenders with quick technical play and urgency to recover possession when it’s lost.

For a national team like the USMNT that so many people consider to be a team based on running and will power, a line-up with technically-skilled and fast defenders playing with skilled attacking players would be a way to change the culture of the United States Men’s National Team.

This USMNT 3-5-2 would look like this:

HOWARD; CAMERON, FARRELL, OROZCO; YEDLIN, CORONA, BRADLEY, FEILHABER, KLUTE; ALTIDORE, DEMPSEY

In short, this Starting XI is comprised of a goalkeeper, three center backs, two wing backs, a defensive midfielder, two attacker midfielders who are playmakers, a second striker/attacking midfielder, and a first striker. The Starting XI has strong, technically-skilled center backs and a defensive midfielder down the middle, two electric wing backs who are quality defenders, three attacking midfielders with excellent creativity and skill on the ball, and a first striker that combines freakish athleticism and size with refined technical ability and lethal finishing.

 

An Updated USMNT Player Pool

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Joe Benny Corona (Photo: Club Tijuana)
Joe Benny Corona (Photo: Club Tijuana)

 

With Jürgen Klinsmann’s January Camp for the United States Men’s National Team approaching, there are a number of American players from Major League Soccer or other leagues that need to be evaluated and incorporated into the national team.

The number of international-caliber American players is increasing, and they need to be added to the USMNT for the United States to continue to improve as a soccer nation.

While a small number of the best United States internationals are quite frankly players who weren’t a product of American soccer, they nevertheless qualify for American citizenship.

In addition to these players, there are a number of American products like Benji Joya, Joe Corona, Juan Agudelo, Shane O’Neill, Chris Klute, DeAndre Yedlin, Kofi Sarkodie, Kellyn Acosta, and Andrew Farrell that need to be added to the roster now.

Here are some of the players who should be considered for the USMNT’s January Camp (including players who will not be available due to their club schedules):

GOALKEEPERS: Tim HOWARD, Brad GUZAN, Nick RIMANDO, Clint IRWIN, Luis ROBLES, Dan KENNEDY, Tally HALL, Bill HAMID, Sean JOHNSON

CENTER BACKS: Geoff CAMERON, John Anthony BROOKS, Shane O’NEILL, Michael OROZCO, Andrew FARRELL, Gale AGBOSSOUMONDE, Maurice EDU, Omar GONZALEZ, Matt BESLER, Amobi OKUGO, George JOHN

OUTSIDE BACKS: Chris KLUTE, Andrew FARRELL, DeAndre YEDLIN, Eric LICHAJ, Jonathan SPECTOR, Steve CHERUNDOLO, Timothy CHANDLER, Fabian JOHNSON, Edgar CASTILLO, Kofi SARKODIE, Kellyn ACOSTA

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES, Perry KITCHEN, Jared JEFFREY, Amobi OKUGO, Dax MCCARTY, Ricardo CLARK, Maurice EDU, Will TRAPP, Jeremy HALL

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: Clint DEMPSEY, Landon DONOVAN, Benny FEILHABER, Mix DISKERUD, Joe CORONA, Benji JOYA, Freddy ADU, Paul ARRIOLA, Brek SHEA, Junior FLORES, Joe GYAU, Luis GIL, Daniel CUEVAS, Dillon POWERS, Alejandro BEDOYA, Sacha KLJESTAN

FORWARDS: Jozy ALTIDORE, Aron JÓHANNSSON, Juan AGUDELO, Terrence BOYD, Mario RODRIGUEZ, Alonso HERNANDEZ, José VILLARREAL, Herculez GOMEZ, Tony TAYLOR, Gyasi ZARDES, Eddie JOHNSON

 

The Top USMNT Options By Position:

GOALKEEPERS: HOWARD, GUZAN, IRWIN, ROBLES

CENTER BACKS: CAMERON, BROOKS, O’NEILL, FARRELL, AGBOSSOUMONDE

OUTSIDE BACKS: LICHAJ, KLUTE, YEDLIN, SARKODIE, ACOSTA, SPECTOR

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: BRADLEY, JONES, OKUGO, KITCHEN, JEFFREY, EDU, CLARK

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: DEMPSEY, DONOVAN, FEILHABER, CORONA, DISKERUD, JOYA, ADU, HERNANDEZ, F. JOHNSON, VILLARREAL, SHEA, ARRIOLA

STRIKERS: ALTIDORE, AGUDELO, JÓHANNSSON, BOYD, RODRIGUEZ, ZARDES

 

A USMNT Roster Overhaul

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Joe Benny Corona. (Photo: MexSport)
Joe Benny Corona. (Photo: MexSport)

 

The previous article on World Soccer Source focused on how Jürgen Klinsmann can easily make some basic changes to drastically improve the United States Men’s National Team by only using proven USMNT players, but this article focuses on major changes that the United States could make as soon as possible.

The coach of the USMNT is halfway to selecting a 23-man roster where every player is technically-skilled, athletic, and equipped to play his designated position or positions, but Klinsmann’s recent selections to face Scotland and Austria, including his decision to not replace the injured Clint Dempsey or Fabian Johnson, raise further questions about Klinsmann’s ability to select balanced and talented rosters that will be able to compete at the 2014 World Cup.

Many of Klinsmann’s selections are among the best American soccer players, but too many of his roster spots go to players without the gifts and tools to play international soccer.

Likewise, many of the Starting XIs include the best player at many positions, but too many Starting XI spots are occupied by players like Graham Zusi, Brad Evans, DaMarcus Beasley, or Alejandro Bedoya who aren’t quite as talented as other options.

Looking at Klinsmann’s USMNT rosters since about March, many of the regular selections are deserving and talented players who fully-deserve their call-up, but frequently almost half of the roster is occupied by players who aren’t as skilled and athletic as other American options.

Klinsmann’s almost total refusal to select or play Benny Feilhaber, the most proven and arguably the most talented American playmaker, looks personal, and it’s an omission that’s hard to justify, especially for the coach of a national team that isn’t known for its technical ability.

Below is a list of 11 quality players who one could argue have been more or less regulars on Klinsmann’s rosters in recent months, which means that the remaining 12 roster spots could be filled by more talented and athletic players than the players who frequently appear on Klinsmann’s rosters

Here are the good roster choices that Klinsmann has been making:

GOALKEEPERS: Tim HOWARD, Brad GUZAN

CENTER BACKS: Geoff CAMERON

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: CLINT DEMPSEY, Landon DONOVAN, Mix DISKERUD

STRIKERS: Jozy ALTIDORE, Aron JÓHANNSSON, Terrence BOYD

 

Looking at the 11 players listed above, the United States Men’s National Team needs to do a better job of filling the remaining 12 roster spots, and World Soccer Source believes the following players would be stronger roster selections than many of the players that Klinsmann has favored:

GOALKEEPERS: Clint IRWIN

CENTER BACKS: John Anthony BROOKS, Shane O’NEILL, Andrew FARRELL

OUTSIDE BACKS: Chris KLUTE, DeAndre YEDLIN

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: Amobi OKUGO

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: Benny FEILHABER, Joe CORONA, Benji JOYA, Freddy ADU

STRIKERS: Juan AGUDELO

 

Taking these two lists into account, here is a more talented roster than a typical Klinsmann USMNT roster:

GOALKEEPERS- Tim HOWARD, Brad GUZAN, Clint IRWIN

CENTER BACKS- Geoff CAMERON, John Anthony BROOKS, Shane O’NEILL, Andrew FARRELL

OUTSIDE BACKS- Chris KLUTE, DeAndre YEDLIN, (Andrew FARRELL)

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS- Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES, Amobi OKUGO, (Geoff CAMERON)

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS- CLINT DEMPSEY, Landon DONOVAN, Mix DISKERUD, Benny FEILHABER, Joe CORONA, Benji JOYA, Freddy ADU

STRIKERS- Jozy ALTIDORE, Aron JÓHANNSSON, Juan AGUDELO, Terrence BOYD

A close examination of this roster proposal shows that many of Klinsmann’s preferred starters are included, minus the United States’ Back Four, which is quite weak by any real international standard.

The roster above contains three goalkeepers, five center backs (including Amobi Okugo), five outside backs (including Andrew Farrell, Geoff Cameron, and Shane O’Neill), six defensive midfielders (including Geoff Cameron, Shane O’Neill, and Andrew Farrell), seven attacking midfielders, and four first strikers.

These numbers in the explanation in the preceding paragraph add up to more than 23 players because it contains some players who are listed at more than one position.

In short, this roster eliminates Klinsmann regulars like Graham Zusi, Omar Gonzalez, Alejandro Bedoya, Brad Evans, DaMarcus Beasley, and Matt Besler, from the roster for more talented and athletic players who are better equipped to play high-level international soccer, even if they are young and somewhat inexperienced at the international level.

Many people seem to be satisfied with the United States Men’s National Team status quo, but World Soccer Source believes that many of the players used or frequently called up by Klinsmann are talented professionals, albeit not as talented as other options.

The core of the USMNT under Klinsmann is solid enough with players like Howard, Bradley, Jones, Dempsey, and Altidore, but the goal of the United States needs to be to fill the rest of the Starting XI with players who are as skilled and athletic or about as skilled and athletic as the core group of starters.

Fielding a USMNT Starting XI where every player is playing his natural position and every player has the technical ability and the requisite level of athleticism to compete against top national teams is something that Klinsmann hasn’t done.

Starting Graham Zusi over Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, and Landon Donovan is inexcusable for an ex-player of Klinsmann’s ability.

Likewise, starting outside backs like Brad Evans and DaMarcus Beasley who aren’t even outside backs over a host of other players that not only are better but that also play outside back at the club level won’t work in the World Cup.

As the 2014 World Cup approaches, Jürgen Klinsmann would be wise to keep selecting players like Howard, Guzan, Cameron, Bradley, Jones, Dempsey, Donovan, Diskerud, Altidore, Jóhannsson, and Boyd, but the rest of the roster needs to be changed and improved.

The USMNT has a strong skeleton of a team, but there are too many weak links and too many players who aren’t international caliber. Klinsmann’s selections have made little sense because many of the better MLS players are being omitted for less skilled MLS players, and many of the best American players plying their trade outside of the United States are being snubbed.

Klinsmann claims that he wants players who can play technical soccer, but he frequently omits many of the most technical American players like Feilhaber, Corona, and Agudelo.

Furthermore, Klinsmann claims that he wants to start the attack from the very back, but the whole crop of better new MLS defenders have been given zero chances to play for the United States even in friendlies.

Finally, Klinsmann claims that he wants players playing in better leagues than MLS, but players like Joe Corona have been kept on the bench or left off the roster by Klinsmann, even when they were excelling and seeing heavy club minutes.

There is a disconnect between what Klinsmann says that he wants and what he actually does. There’s never been any evidence that Klinsmann is capable of fielding a Starting XI made up of technically-skilled and athletic players at every position.

As any American soccer fan knows, Klinsmann has never started Bradley, Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore at the same time, and he’s never started them with a playmaker.

Ex-USMNT coach, Bob Bradley, quickly recognized the need to start those four players together against top national teams, and he also discovered the benefit of starting a playmaker with them in order to orchestrate the attack and help to facilitate possession and one-to-two touch passing.

Klinsmann seems to have never even learned this much, and he hasn’t raised the quality of play of the USMNT because of his refusal to at least start Bradley, Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore together.

Klinsmann’s talk of improving the play of the United States seems to have been an empty promise without even an attempt to field enough technically-skilled players together. Starting Howard, Bradley, Jones, Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore is a great start, but Klinsmann needs to select five more players who can play at those other starters’ level.

If Klinsmann were to start Howard, Farrell, Cameron, Brooks, Klute, Bradley, Jones, Donovan, Diskerud, Dempsey, and Altidore, then he would be well on his way to making real progress.

 

The Recipe for USMNT Success

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Benny Feilhaber. (Photo: Reuters)
Benny Feilhaber. (Photo: Reuters)

 

Jürgen Klinsmann can easily improve the United States Men’s National Team before the 2014 World Cup. It is within his power.

Amidst all the talk of time running out before the World Cup, Klinsmann does have an excellent core group of players, a large amount of video evidence of new talents, reports from scouts, and prior knowledge of the skill-level of several American players that he has either somewhat or totally frozen out of his rosters.

Many improvements wouldn’t require much risk or radical changes, but there is a strong argument to be made that many new American talents have a lot to offer toward the improvement of the United States.

World Soccer Source has been very critical of Jürgen Klinsmann because he was an outstanding German striker with 11 World Cup goals, but he has not taken all of that skill and experience to field balanced and effective starting line-ups that can play one-to-two touch soccer against top national teams or even mediocre national teams.

Klinsmann received a lot of praise for his win record as the coach of the United States, but the quality of the soccer was poor by international standards, which means that Klinsmann’s typical rosters and line-ups won’t do well in the 2014 World Cup because Tim Howard, Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Aron Jóhannsson, and Jozy Altidore can’t pick up the slack for the four other players in the Starting XI.

People should expect someone of Klinsmann’s background to not select players without the technical ability or the athleticism to produce quality and effective soccer against strong competition.

If Bob Bradley was able to field line-ups like the ones that performed well in the later rounds of the 2009 Confederations Cup and at the World Cup, then an ex-player of Klinsmann’s level should be even better at fielding players who can play top national teams straight up with the ability to win.

Looking at the players in the American player pool, Klinsmann can improve his rosters and line-ups either by calling in the right combination of players that he has favored using or by selecting new players who in one way or another demonstrated what they are capable of.

For all of the voices claiming that new outside backs in MLS like Chris Klute, DeAndre Yedlin, and Andrew Farrell aren’t ready despite the fact that all three of those players are 20 or older, Eric Lichaj really is an outside back option that Klinsmann has taken too long to call up to the national team.

Even a small change such as starting Eric Lichaj at right back and Fabian Johnson at left back is a big improvement over Brad Evans and DaMarcus Beasley.

Klinsmann’s insistence on claiming that Evans and Beasley are his first-choice outside backs for the World Cup really is quite ridiculous, considering the fact that Klinsmann has natural outside backs that are not only visibly better but that are professionals who are paid to play as outside backs at the club level.

The United States and Klinsmann really do have a very strong core group of starters who would greatly benefit from some real adjustments being made to the starting line-up, and it’s important to look at that core group of players and see which other players can help them to perform their best by being added to the starting line-up.

Therefore, Klinsmann’s work before the 2014 World Cup involves simply starting a balanced starting line-up made up of many of the players that he has already used, and it also involves filling the rest of the roster with capable, if not equally as skilled substitutes.

By examining the core group of essentially world-class (albeit not super elite) players, it becomes clear that the United States has a team build on strong pillars in the defense, in the midfield, and in the attack.

Tim Howard or Brad Guzan, Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore, and Aron Jóhannsson do make for a line-up where seven of the eleven starting line-up spots are occupied by players who have proven that they can compete and excel against top national teams.

This reality in and of itself makes for a United States Men’s National Team that is one in which the primary task is to fill the rest of the roster with players at the remaining positions who can perform at a level that is equal to or close enough to the level of the players listed above.

While no one in the pool is going to be better than Clint Dempsey as far as technical ability, the insertion of a playmaker into the Starting XI will allow Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey to play their natural roles.

Simply by inserting Mix Diskerud, Benny Feilhaber, or Joe Corona into the Front Six as a playmaker makes for a balanced and effective Front Six made up of Bradley, Donovan, Feilhaber or Diskerud or Corona, Dempsey, Altidore, and Jóhannsson.

Klinsmann has never even bothered to field something as obvious as that combination of players, which is odd considering how simple it would be to field a Front Six with a defensive midfielder, two free-roaming attacking midfielders out wide, a playmaker in the middle of the park behind the strikers, and two center forwards.

Certainly, one doesn’t need to be a World Cup winner or the scorer of 11 World Cup goals for Germany to field a Front Six where a defensive midfielder plays as an anchor and orchestrator behind three attacking midfielders (including a playmaker) and two first strikers.

Whatever Klinsmann’s excuse is for not fielding the type of line-up that most of the world’s best club and national teams use, it is quite shocking from an ex-player of Klinsmann’s ability.

At times, Klinsmann has been close to fielding a legit Starting XI, but there always appears to be one or two fatal flaws whether they be the failure to start a playmaker to link the defensive midfielders to the attack or the failure to start natural outside backs or the failure to start center backs with not only the speed but the skill to compete against better international attackers.

While the coach of the United States has made a lot of mistakes as far as his player selections or his Starting XIs, drastically improving these problems before the World Cup is something that Klinsmann has within his power to fix.

At the very least, Klinsmann can start Tim Howard or Brad Guzan in goal, Eric Lichaj and Fabian Johnson as outside backs, Geoff Cameron and John Anthony Brooks as center backs, Michael Bradley as a defensive midfielder, Landon Donovan, Mix Diskerud, and Clint Dempsey as a line of three attacking midfielders, and Jozy Altidore and Aron Jóhannsson as center forwards.

Klinsmann can easily do that and improve the performances of the United States, and he can do it without starting any players who he is tossing into the deep end with no experience or proven ability. Neither Lichaj, Brooks, or Diskerud are players without the ability or the experience to play on soccer’s biggest stage.

With the Starting XI above as a first step to improving the United States Men’s National Team before the 2014 World Cup, Klinsmann can proceed to decide who else should be on his rosters and perhaps who else might make for better starters than the players listed above.

Nevertheless, raising the quality of play of the United States quickly is not something that would require any outrageous risks to be taken or any drastic measures to be made, but new or different players should be evaluated and fielded in friendlies as well as camps to truly decide who really has the ability to perform and compete at the international level.

When it truly comes down to fielding a competent Starting XI, Klinsmann could simply start Howard, Lichaj, Cameron, Brooks, Johnson, Bradley, Donovan, Feilhaber, Dempsey, Altidore, and Jóhannsson, and he could be sure that all of those players have the ability and the experience to play quality soccer as a group and produce effective soccer.

 

Who Should the USMNT Start vs. Scotland?

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Aron Jóhannsson (Photo: AZ Alkmaar)
Aron Jóhannsson (Photo: AZ Alkmaar)

 

When the United States Men’s National Team faces off against Scotland later this week, there is a possibility that Eric Lichaj, an American outcast under Jürgen Klinsmann, will be given the start at right back, even though Brad Evans has been the favored right back under Klinsmann.

Conventional wisdom would seem to indicate that Tim Howard will start in goal, but there is a very remote possibility that Sean Johnson or Bill Hamid could start in goal.

Looking over the center back options, Geoff Cameron and John Anthony Brooks will likely start together, but it’s possible that Omar Gonzalez will pair with one or the other instead.

Given the fact that Fabian Johnson is listed as a midfielder on the USMNT roster, it’s unclear whether or not DaMarcus Beasley or Fabian Johnson will start at left back. Beasley has been the preferred choice under Klinsmann in recent months, but maybe Klinsmann would like to get another look at Johnson at left back with Brooks and Cameron at center back.

Therefore, a possible starting Back Four against Scotland could be Lichaj (right back), Cameron (center back), Brooks (center back), and Johnson (left back).

Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones are Klinsmann’s preferred two-man defensive midfielder partnership, but perhaps Klinsmann will just start Bradley as the lone defensive midfielder to make room for both Jozy Altidore and Aron Jóhannsson to start at striker.

The most likely scenario would be for both Bradley and Jones to start as defensive midfielders with Jóhannsson being placed somewhere in the line of three attacking midfielders in front of the two-man defensive midfield.

Clint Dempsey is likely a lock in the starting line-up, as he should be, but where Dempsey will be deployed in the midfield is unclear. Dempsey could start out left, out right, or in the center.

As the line of three attacking midfielders (assuming Klinsmann uses this formation), Clint Dempsey, Mix Diskerud, and Alejandro Bedoya or Brek Shea is a possible option.

Unless Klinsmann wants to give another striker the start, Jozy Altidore will likely be starting as the lone striker.

Taking all of this into account, it’s possibly that the following USMNT Starting XI will take the field against Scotland:

Tim HOWARD; Eric LICHAJ, Geoff CAMERON, John Anthony BROOKS, Fabian JOHNSON; Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES; Aron JÓHANNSSON, Mix DISKERUD, Clint DEMPSEY; Jozy ALTIDORE.

 

Predicting the Starting XI that Jürgen Klinsmann will select is difficult to do, but World Soccer Source would like to see the following Starting XI:

Tim HOWARD; Eric LICHAJ, Geoff CAMERON, John Anthony BROOKS, Fabian JOHNSON; Michael BRADLEY; Brek SHEA, Mix DISKERUD, Clint DEMPSEY; Jozy ALTIDORE, Aron JÓHANNSSON.

The World Soccer Source USMNT Starting XI uses only one defensive midfielder (Bradley), in order to have both Altidore and Jóhannsson starting as center forwards, and the World Soccer Source Starting XI includes Shea, in order to deploy an aggressive winger who has a history of attacking opposing defenses with gusto.

This writer’s proposed Starting XI includes two-way outside backs, complete central midfielders, a defensive midfielder with excellent technical ability, a line of three attacking midfielders including a playmaker, and two first strikers who are excellent goal-scorers.

 

Reaction: USMNT November 2013 Roster

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Terrence Boyd. (Photo: MexSport)
Terrence Boyd. (Photo: MexSport)

 

Like all United States Men’s National Team rosters under Jürgen Klinsmann, the 2013 November roster for friendlies against Scotland and Austria showcased a roster devoid of balance, devoid of enough new and improved American talent, an inadequate list of defenders, and a lack of a sufficient amount of creative midfielders and natural playmakers.

Calling up talented players like Eric Lichaj, Geoff Cameron, John Anthony Brooks, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Mix Diskerud, Jozy Altidore, Aron Jóhannsson, and Terrence Boyd may be praiseworthy and a great sign from an American perspective, but these players can hardly fire on all cylinders when the best left back on the roster (Fabian Johnson) and the best right back on the roster (Eric Lichaj) are likely not going to start as the right and left backs.

Nevertheless, Klinsmann’s USMNT roster has the potential to field this strong, balanced, and effective Starting XI (even if the chance to introduce and test new American talents was wasted):

Tim Howard; Eric Lichaj, Geoff Cameron, John Anthony Brooks, Fabian Johnson; Michael Bradley; Brek Shea, Mix Diskerud, Clint Dempsey; Jozy Altidore, Aron Jóhannsson.

Despite the ability to field a strong Starting XI, these friendlies needed to be used to strengthen weaknesses within the USMNT and bring in new, talented players that the United States will desperately need in the 2014 World Cup.

 

Here are the Positives, the Negatives, and the Neither Positive Nor Negative of the most recent USMNT roster:

The Positives:

Mix DISKERUD

Eric LICHAJ

Clint DEMPSEY

Aron JÓHANNSSON

Terrence BOYD

John Anthony BROOKS

Geoff CAMERON

Jozy ALTIDORE

Tim HOWARD

Diskerud is an excellent true playmaker that has been showing just how effective he is at orchestrating the attack and playing final balls, and he has also been showing just how important a playmaker can be for the USMNT.

Brooks and Cameron give the U.S. another chance to field two complete center backs who not only bring excellent defending and athleticism but also great technical ability.

Whether or not critics want to mock Dempsey for not scoring very many goals during his return to MLS, he remains the best American soccer player and one of the keys to beating top national teams.

Altidore, Jóhannsson, and Boyd are all international-caliber strikers that bring everything to the striker position that one could ask for. Seeing all three of these strikers on the roster is a great sign, but Juan Agudelo received an inexcusable snub from the roster, while a pedestrian striker by international standards like Chris Wondolowski made the roster.

Klinsmann finally called up Eric Lichaj to the USMNT, and he remains one of the only legit American outside backs who can compete against skilled and fast international competition.

 

The Negatives:

Chris WONDOLOWSKI

DaMarcus BEASLEY

Brad EVANS

Bill HAMID

Sean JOHNSON

 

These players are listed as negatives because these are four wasted roster spots that could have gone to Juan Agudelo, Chris Klute, Andrew Farrell, and DeAndre Yedlin. While two of these spots are goalkeepers, two different goalkeepers could have been fit onto the roster in place of two of the players listed below under “Neither Positive Nor Negative.”

While the jury is still out on Bill Hamid and Sean Johnson, certainly Wondolowski, Beasley, and Evans aren’t good enough, athletic enough, or both at the positions where Jürgen Klinsmann uses them to be within a nautical mile of the United States Men’s National Team.

 

Neither Positive Nor Negative:

Fabian JOHNSON

Brek SHEA

Alejandro BEDOYA

Sacha KLJESTAN

Michael OROZCO

Eddie JOHNSON

These players aren’t liabilities or poor players, but one can certainly question their inclusion.

Fabian Johnson plays either as a left back or in Clint Dempsey’s position as a left attacking midfielder, and unless Klinsmann is going to start Fabian Johnson at left back, then his inclusion on the roster for a friendly serves no real purpose.

Nevertheless, Johnson is an excellent player, but these friendlies needed to be used to test out more of the new players rather than test out a Bundesliga starter. No one starts in the Bundesliga who isn’t technically-skilled and athletic.

Brek Shea is a talented winger who disrupts defenses, puts opposing players on their heels, and who generally has a positive effect on games. Shea is skilled, aggressive, fast, strong, and tall, and he is certainly one of the new American talents.

With all of that being said, doesn’t the USMNT need to be giving Joe Corona more caps in order to improve the quality of the U.S.’ passing and give more playing time to players who can orchestrate the attack? Didn’t Klinsmann say that club form mattered?

Alejandro Bedoya is another player who is clearly skilled, but is he as skilled as Benny Feilhaber who facilitates one-to-two touch passing and who creates goals? Probably not.

Feilhaber is a proven-performer and playmaker at the highest level, and a national team roster with only one true playmaker (Mix Diskerud) shows a clear disregard for the importance of players who facilitate quality passing and who play final balls.

Sacha Kljestan is a Champions League player, but other defensive midfielders and other attacking midfielders are either more defensively effective or more technically-skilled than he is. Kljestan plays in Europe, but he isn’t among the eight best American midfielders.

Benji Joya is a 20 year old who hasn’t seen many club minutes, but anyone who saw Benji Joya play against Paul Pogba and who saw him play with the Tab Ramos’ U.S. U-20s knows that Joya is a visibly more skilled and effective player than Kljestan who is a bit of an awkward runner who doesn’t contribute enough on the defensive or attacking end for the United States on the international level.

Klinsmann would have been wiser to get a look at Amobi Okugo, Perry Kitchen, Jared Jeffrey, or Benji Joya because these players are either defensive midfielders or box-to-box midfielders who have all the tools to improve the United States Men’s National Team and do a better job of filling in for Michael Bradley than Kljestan can.

Despite the many critics who view Michael Orozco has some sort of subpar player or USMNT embarrassment, Orozco is nevertheless a quick, technically-skilled, defensively-sound, and aggressive center back who has been playing and starting in the Mexican top flight for years and who excels at the international level. Orozco can also play as a right back or in a three center back system.

 

Jürgen Klinsmann called up this USMNT roster for the November friendlies:

GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard, Sean Johnson, Bill Hamid

CENTER BACKS: Geoff Cameron, John Anthony Brooks, Omar Gonzalez, Michael Orozco

OUTSIDE BACKS: Eric Lichaj, Brad Evans (not an outside back), DaMarcus Beasley (not an outside back)

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: Clint Dempsey, Mix Diskerud, Sacha Kljestan, Fabian Johnson, Alejandro Bedoya, Brek Shea;

STRIKERS: Jozy Altidore, Aron Jóhannsson, Terrence Boyd, Eddie Johnson, Chris Wondolowski.

The Official U.S. Soccer Roster Release:

http://www.ussoccer.com/news/mens-national-team/2013/11/131111-roster-rel-scot-aust.aspx

http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/us-men/latest-roster/131111-sco-aut-friendlies.aspx

 

WORLD SOCCER SOURCE believes that Jürgen Klinsmann should have called up this USMNT roster:

GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard, Clint Irwin, Luis Robles

CENTER BACKS: Geoff Cameron (also a defensive midfielder and outside back), John Anthony Brooks, Shane O’Neill (also a defensive midfielder and outside back)

OUTSIDE BACKS: Andrew Farrell (also a center back; right back and left back), Chris Klute (right and left back), DeAndre Yedlin (right and left back), Kellyn Acosta (right and left back)/Kofi Sarkodie (right and left back) (currently in the MLS Playoffs)

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley, Amobi Okugo (also a center back), Perry Kitchen (also a center back)

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber (in the playoffs), Joe Benny Corona, Mix Diskerud, Benji Joya (also a box-to-box midfielder), Freddy Adu (reported to be in search of a new club at the conclusion of the Brasileirão)

STRIKERS: Jozy Altidore, Aron Jóhannsson, Juan Agudelo, Terrence Boyd.

 

CONCLUSION:

The roster spots for Chris Wondolowski, Brad Evans, DaMarcus Beasley, Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, Alejandro Bedoya, Fabian Johnson, Eddie Johnson, Michael Orozco, and Brek Shea should have gone to Juan Agudelo, Andrew Farrell, DeAndre Yedlin, Chris Klute, Chris Irwin, Luis Robles, Joe Corona, Shane O’Neill, Benny Feilhaber, Freddy Adu, and Benji Joya.

All in all, this Klinsmann roster is a roster full of good players, but there are too many omissions to consider this to be any progress in the United States’ and Jürgen Klinsmann’s quest to close the gap with top national teams.

Without adequate outside backs and without enough creative midfielders with playmaking abilities, the United States will remain a national team with too many weaknesses to play top national teams straight up in a contest of talent and athleticism.

For a coach who claims to want one-to-two touch soccer and players that can compete at the highest level, too many of these players are players who are good but not good enough to compete when the talent of the competition goes up.

 

The Freddy Adu Greek Tragedy

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Freddy Adu's time with Bahia may be coming to a close. (Photo: E.C. Bahia)
Freddy Adu’s time with Bahia may be coming to a close. (Photo: E.C. Bahia)

 

Two things are clear about Freddy Adu: 1.) his technical skill-set, passing, and 1v1 abilities are very rare for an American (even if he is from Ghana); and 2.) Adu has been sold or loaned from club to club where he often saw lots of coaching changes.

Adu isn’t free of some flaws in his game, and these will be discussed later in this article.

In the recent takedown piece from LANCE!NET, the writer of the article, Igor Sigueira, (writing from Rio de Janeiro) wrote that the reason that Adu was not going to have his contract renewed was “technical deficiency,” but no coach was quoted as saying that.

The article itself was entitled “Bahia is going to release Freddy Adu who adds another failure to his career,” which implies that the purpose of the article was to trash Adu.

http://www.lancenet.com.br/minuto/Bahia-dispensar-Freddy-Adu-carreira_0_1025297465.html

In fact, the quote from the technical director stated that they felt that other players were better than Adu, and this is different than saying that someone doesn’t have the requisite technical ability to play in Brazil. Nevertheless, many articles emerged in the United States saying that Bahia would not be renewing Adu’s contract because of a lack of technical ability, which is simply not what any member of Bahia was quoted as saying in the article.

This was the belief of the writer of the article, Igor Siqueira. While Siqueira is entitled to draw the conclusion that the comments about Adu implied that the technical director or “director of soccer”, Anderson Barros, felt Adu didn’t have the required skill-level, no one at Bahia was quoted in the LANCE!NET article as saying that Adu’s problem was a lack of the needed technical ability.

In fact the exact quote was this:

“Ele não joga porque entendemos que outros são superiores e aí ele não teve tantas oportunidades assim. Vai acabar o contrato e o Adu vai seguir a vida dele. Vai ficar livre para procurar outro clube.” This quote means: “He doesn’t play because we know (literally, understand) that others are superior and so he didn’t have many opportunities due to that. His contract is going to end and he’s going to continue on with his life. He’ll be free to look for another club.”

Turning to Adu’s reputation in the United States, the reason why Freddy Adu has so many critics is that he displays a prolific skill-set for an American soccer player, which rightly makes people have very high expectations of him. Expecting a lot from a player of his technical quality and quickness is fair, but there is a double-standard applied to Adu that other American players aren’t subjected to.

In many ways, Clint Dempsey is also the subject of a lot of criticism and cheap shots from American soccer writers, pundits, and fans. Dempsey is frequently openly disrespected by the American media, despite his outstanding club and international resume for an American soccer player, and it should be said that playing for seven seasons in the English Premier League and scoring as many goals as he did as a midfielder is a great achievement for any player.

Dempsey and Adu are similar in their willingness to try tricks or low percentage passes or flicks that most American soccer players aren’t willing to try, so when these flashes of imagination fail, the critics pounce.

Unlike Adu, Dempsey has a very consistent and impressive club resume in terms of goals, performances, and playing time, but Adu deserves a certain level of respect for playing for Benfica and Bahia.

Whatever you think of Freddy Adu, not many Americans or soccer players of any nationality would have been signed by Benfica or a Brazilian club in the Brasileirão, and that’s a testament to his skill-level.

While Clint Dempsey disproved the belief that soccer players born and raised in the United States couldn’t play creative, skillful, and world-class soccer, Freddy Adu’s early childhood spent in Ghana playing pickup soccer or whatever you wish to call it has to be given much of the credit for his playing style and ability.

Nevertheless, Freddy Adu lived in the United States as long or longer than he lived in Ghana, and he was able to further cultivate his touch, tricks, vision, passing ability, and shooting in the United States.

Adu’s quick and inventive passing combined with his trickery and scoring ability make him a rare commodity among American soccer players, but he does have a few areas of his game that need to be improved.

As Adu looks to play one-to-two touch soccer based on passing and moving with creative play, he frequently appeared to get frustrated with his former teammates in MLS’ inability to quickly receive and release passes, in addition to their failure to make runs into the pockets of space where he played passes for them.

Given this problem of playing with many players in the United States who were unable to play up to his level, the thing Freddy Adu needs to do if he comes back to MLS is to continue to make runs, show for the ball, and display lots of movement off the ball, even when his teammates aren’t playing the more advanced style of soccer that he plays.

Adu must continue to make runs and demand the ball whether or not his teammates are passing and moving in order to facilitate a superior brand of play.

One thing that was apparent with the Philadelphia Union was that Adu would frequently play first time passes into space for his teammates after they passed to him, and they just didn’t continue their runs or even see the space available to them.

The frequency with which scenarios such as the one described above occurred caused Adu to be frustrated, and they caused him to frequently begin to start running less or become less active off the ball after his teammates were struggling to play a more advanced school of soccer.

Recently with Bahia, Adu saw many coaching changes, and the current coach, Cristóvão Borges, either didn’t rate Adu or he saw Adu as a less important bench player than players of other positions. In short, Cristóvão made a point of frequently using most of his bench spots for players who weren’t attacking midfielders.

Ivan Dias Marques of CORREIO described Cristóvão (as he’s known in Brazil) as a defensive-minded coach, and many of the professional reporters and journalists in Salvador such as Ivan Dias Marques, Pedro Sento Sé, Miro Palma, and Felipe Santana took to Twitter on several occasions to voice their belief that Adu deserved more playing time based on their evaluations of him in person at practices.

With Bahia’s games basically only available in the United States via streaming with poor video quality, it’s difficult to really draw any strong conclusions about Adu’s play in Brazil since he rarely played, and his coach didn’t rate him. Coaches frequently have their favorites, and maybe Cristóvão had a justifiable reason for not playing Adu.

Even Adu’s critics and detractors are quick to concede that Adu has the talent and the quickness to play at a high level and for the United States, but many critics don’t value Adu’s creativity and technical-ability very much because they view him as a player that doesn’t play enough defense or that doesn’t show enough running and movement off the ball.

World Soccer Source views Adu as a special talent that has the ability to excel even against elite competition, but World Soccer Source also concedes that fair or not, Adu might need to display some more movement off the ball and a greater urgency to stamp his imprint on games when his teammates aren’t passing and moving in a fashion that he feels is the correct way to play soccer.

The United States Men’s National Team has other playmakers such as Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, and Mix Diskerud, but Adu is too talented to close the book on.

Either Freddy Adu himself or his next coach should make a point of encouraging Adu to show more movement and urgency in games with disorganized passing and lots of long balls. Additionally, Adu like all players has areas of his game that could use some improvement.

For the most part, Adu knows when to dribble, when to pass, and when to look to shoot, but certainly any player could benefit from a thorough evaluation of their play, in order to correct any weaknesses in their play.

Based on Freddy Adu’s play with Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore, in addition to Joe Corona, Juan Agudelo, and Mix Diskerud, it would appear that Adu is certainly a player who performs well and thrives with players of their technical ability and playing style, but some coach or trainer would be wise to maximize Adu’s abilities by improving any areas of his game that are causing him to not see enough playing time or to garner so much criticism, even if he receives equally as much praise from supporters.

The United States is experiencing the deepest player pool in its history, but Freddy Adu is still a special talent who can be very useful to Jürgen Klinsmann, the USMNT, and MLS if those people and entities learn how to take his talents and improve them. After all, the job of a coach is to teach and improve players, as well as offering constructive criticism and observations.

Real change comes from the player himself, but much of the criticism of Freddy Adu is excessive especially when clearly inferior players such as Brad Davis, Kyle Beckerman, Graham Zusi, Sacha Kljestan, and José Torres are playing for or being call up to the USMNT with some frequency.

All of those players are respectable professional players who have done well in their careers, but as long as players such as Freddy Adu, Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, and Mix Diskerud are all not seeing significant minutes with the full-strength USMNT on a consistent basis, there is a systemic problem with Klinsmann’s USMNT that goes deeper than freezing out Adu: an undervaluing of creative midfielders who are natural playmakers.

 

The Arrival of Andrew Farrell

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Throughout this Major League Soccer season, Andrew Farrell earned praise for his two-way effectiveness as a right back for the New England Revolution.

The New England Revolution were knocked out of the MLS Playoffs last night, but Farrell has raised his game to a new level.

Amidst all of the just praise for DeAndre Yedlin, Andrew Farrell has truly cemented his status as an outstanding American talent who lived up to his hype and exceeded it.

Farrell is technically a center back, but Farrell not only embraced the right back role, but he also developed into an international-caliber outside back.

He used his skill on the ball and his blazing speed to burst through the opposition with forays downfield and also to hunt down attackers on the defensive end.

Even more so than in all of his quality and impressive performances throughout the regular reason, Farrell raised his game to a new level in the MLS Playoffs where he showed how well he could shut down attackers and how much he could impose his will on the game in the attack and in the defense.

While American defenders like Geoff Cameron, Chris Klute, Shane O’Neill, and DeAndre Yedlin have also shown this quality, Farrell showed a real ability to dribble and pass out of trouble deep in the heart of his own defense, as opposed to just sending clearances 50 yards downfield.

Farrell certainly knows when to just send a ball way out of the defense or play a ball out of bounds, but the combination of being able to dribble and pass out of the back combined with the instinct to know when to send a ball out of the danger area is something Jürgen Klinsmann and the United States Men’s National Team can use.

World Soccer Source covered Chris Klute extensively this season in addition to highlighting the excellent qualities in DeAndre Yedlin’s game as a right back, but Andrew Farrell is equally as worthy of praise as Klute and Yedlin.

Yedlin and Klute will both be upgrades at the outside back positions for the United States, but Andrew Farrell is a monster who combines an intimidating combination of strength, size, and speed with a cultivated technical skill-set that makes him too good to leave off the the USMNT anymore.

When Klinsmann was watching Matt Besler, Graham Zusi, Benny Feilhaber, and Juan Agudelo last night, there’s no way that he didn’t notice the impressive play of Andrew Farrell who is certainly someone who was being monitored and scouted anyway.

At the conclusion of Andrew Farrell’s rookie season in MLS, it’s safe to say that Farrell is for real and that he can certainly excel at the international level and outside of MLS.

Andrew Farrell is a freak of nature and his rookie season was a tour de force that displayed great attacking and skill on the ball along with strong defending and tackling without recklessness

 

The USMNT Has Plenty of Good Defenders

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Gale Agbossoumonde. (Source: Toronto F.C.)
Gale Agbossoumonde. (Source: Toronto F.C.)

 

With the caveat that the United States Men’s National Team is clearly not as good as Germany, Brazil, Spain, Italy, France, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Nigeria, and the like, the United States does actually have too many good players than it can fit on its national team.

While everyone knows the United States has plenty of excellent goalkeepers, the United States actually has more qualified defenders than it has roster spots. At center back, the United States has Geoff Cameron, John Anthony Brooks, Shane O’Neill, Michael Orozco, George John, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, Maurice Edu, Gale Agbossoumonde, Andrew Farrell, Amobi Okugo, and Caleb Stanko, and that’s more than four talented center backs.

This writer considers Cameron, O’Neill, and Brooks to be better than Gonzalez and Besler, but Gonzalez and Besler are much better than many of the center backs who played for the United States in the past, with the exception of Eddie Pope and Jay DeMerit. Besler is somewhat one-footed, but he can certainly use his weaker right foot; Besler is also deceptively fast.

Gonzalez has been criticized for making some mistakes, but that’s the nature of the beast when you are the last line of defense. Gonzalez has shown his technical ability, his aerial ability, his ability to time his tackles well, and a good baseline of athleticism. Gonzalez might not have as much lateral quickness as Cameron, but Gonzalez isn’t a lumbering mastodon.

Gonzalez and Besler are good center backs, but they very likely aren’t the best.

Brooks’ club resume and his outing against Bosnia and Herzegovina showed that he was likely a level above both Gonzalez and Besler, and Brooks does wish to play for the United States, even though Germany might strongly consider him an option for the near future.

Klinsmann didn’t cap-tie Brooks in a recent World Cup qualifier when he had the chance, and that was likely a big mistake.

As for the other center backs, Orozco has shown a level of defensive timing and positional sense along with speed and technical ability that was clearly international-caliber, and Edu put in a performance against Mexico in Estadio Azteca with Cameron that showed that Edu was also capable of marking forwards like Chicharito while also possessing the requisite technical ability to play at the international-level.

Edu occasionally plays some hospital balls, but his fundamentals are still respectable by international standards, plus his athleticism is a huge asset against the better attackers of the world.

Agbossoumonde is inexperienced at the international-level, but he has shown that he has the tools needed to be an international-caliber center back. Agbossoumonde’s technical ability, defending, physical gifts, and athleticism have also received enough praise from a variety of respected coaches in American soccer to consider him to be a legitimate option for the USMNT.

Finally, Amobi Okugo and Caleb Stanko have impressed enough people and displayed enough talent at the club and international level to be considered potential options for the United States either as defensive midfielders or as center backs.

The outside back positions have correctly been identified as a weakness by this writer and basically everyone writing about American soccer, not to mention all of the fans and neutral observers, but the United States does have outside backs.

Timothy Chandler and Fabian Johnson, both German-Americans, are obviously legitimate outside backs at the international level, and Jonathan Spector and Eric Lichaj have shown that they too have all the qualities needed to play well at the club and international level.

Support for some of the new MLS outside backs like Chris Klute, DeAndre Yedlin, and Andrew Farrel has picked up steam over the course of this MLS season, and each of them is arguably better than the other outside back options because not only are they technically-skilled two-way outside backs, but their athleticism eclipses that of all the other options mentioned above.

Furthermore, Kofi Sarkodie, Zach Loyd, Edgar Castillo, Kellyn Acosta, and several other outside backs from the youth ranks or in MLS have shown enough defensive skill and technical ability to make them at least worthy of being seriously considered, and Castillo has recently shown an improved ability to tackle, mark, and use both feet.

Therefore, the United States doesn’t have too many defenders, but there are a lot of defenders mentioned in this article that deserve to been put in a situation where they can been evaluated by the USMNT’s coaching staff when they are in the same training camp, so that the coaching staff can see how they compare to one another.

Shane O’Neill, John Anthony Brooks, Michael Orozco, and Gale Agbossoumonde deserve the chance to try and beat out Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez, and Andrew Farrell, Chris Klute, and DeAndre Yedlin deserve the chance to try and beat out Brad Evans, DaMarcus Beasley, Edgar Castillo, and Fabian Johnson.

Jürgen Klinsmann owes it to the fans and to the United States Soccer Federation to prove that his defenders are better than the newer defenders who have clearly shown that they just might be better than Klinsmann’s normal picks.

If there is a real contest, then Cameron, Brooks, O’Neill, Agbossoumonde, Farrell, Klute, Acosta, and Yedlin will likely at least beat out Besler, Gonzalez, Goodson, Evans, and Beasley.