Is Jürgen Klinsmann a coaching improvement for the United States Men’s National Team?
Despite being a legendary German striker and a certified soccer great, the answer to that question is, “No.”
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Jürgen Klinsmann has no excuse for keeping Joe Corona as a benchwarmer for the United States Men’s National Team in World Cup qualifiers.
There is no excuse: not his age, not his skill level, not his club form, not the league he plays in, not the position he plays, not his work rate, and not his playing style.
Joe Corona satisfies any criteria that Klinsmann chooses to look at.
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Jürgen Klinsmann omitted a shocking amount of proven and talented players from the May/June United States Men’s National Team roster. Whether it was outside backs, center backs, or attacking players, Klinsmann’s newest roster ignores major weaknesses with the USMNT.
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The United States Men’s National Team roster selected to participate in two friendlies (Belgium and Germany) and three World Cup qualifying games (Jamaica, Panama, Honduras) contains several solid, international-caliber selections, but the roster also fails to correct weaknesses in the balance and technical ability of previous rosters.
Commentary:
Does anyone know what Jürgen Klinsmann is doing?
Does Jürgen Klinsmann know what he is doing?
Everyone has to play with the hand they were dealt, but Jürgen Klinsmann is having trouble fielding a proactive United States Men’s National Team in a country with over 300 million people.
Certainly, the very best soccer players on the planet are from countries other than the United States of America, but Klinsmann isn’t exactly short on quality player options.
Jürgen Klinsmann’s principal argument is two-fold: 1.) people from other countries become better at soccer because of their soccer environment; and 2.) American soccer players need to be indoctrinated into his system of playing one-to-two touch soccer.
One flaw with this argument (among other flaws) is that technically-skilled and athletic players like Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley were born and raised in the United States, and there are lots of Americans who are fairly close to their playing ability.
This contention that Klinsmann needs to slowly get his group of players to slowly embrace a new style is totally illogical because one-to-two touch soccer is not new to American soccer players, so Klinsmann’s job is to merely select the players who can play that way.
A starting line-up has 11 players, and without any deep thought, it’s easy to think up a skilled starting XI that can play one-to-two touch soccer: Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo, Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johnson, Michael Bradley, Joe Corona, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey, Juan Agudelo, and Jozy Altidore.
That starting line-up doesn’t even include Landon Donovan and many other skilled players, so what is Klinsmann doing?
The United States has the players that Klinsmann needs to start having the United States playing an improved brand of soccer, so why is Klinsmann avoiding using so many obvious line-ups?
If Klinsmann starts Tim Howard, one of several right backs, Omar Gonzalez, Geoff Cameron, Fabian Johnson, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore, then he still has two open roster spots to insert some creative attacking midfielders who can fix the element that’s missing from the line-up listed above: possession in the midfield and shots on goal.
Klinsmann can insert Joe Corona and Benny Feilhaber into the starting line-up or he can insert one of them with another striker to partner with Altidore. Additionally, Klinsmann can use Landon Donovan and Freddy Adu.
So, what is Jürgen Klinsmann doing as coach of the United States Men’s National Team?
Why is he watching the same tactical mistakes play out on the field game after game?
Why won’t Klinsmann insert proven creative players into his line-ups, and why won’t he use many of the very talented and athletic new and/or younger players?
The United States Men’s National Team clearly needs either a new national team coach, or it needs some assistant coaches who can improve Jürgen Klinsmann’s ability to scout talent and make rosters and line-ups.
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Jürgen Klinsmann stated that the American players called up to the roster to face Belgium and Germany would likely be the same players who would appear on the Gold Cup roster. This plan seems to be flawed because the performance of players against Belgium and Germany should affect who Klinsmann calls up to the United States Men’s National Team for the 2013 Gold Cup.
In light of the performances of certain players in Major League Soccer and other leagues and the fact that Klinsmann announced that Stuart Holden would be on the Gold Cup roster, World Soccer Source proposes the following 23 players for the United States’ Gold Cup roster:
Player selection is everything for a national team coach. The players a national team calls up is the single most important talking point for evaluating how a national team coach is doing, and the second most important thing is which players are started.
There are only a handful of players who Jürgen Klinsmann has been regularly calling up to the United States Men’s National Team who are vital players.
Only seven players who Klinsmann regularly calls up are vital players for the USMNT, and two of them are goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johnson, Michael Bradley, and Clint Dempsey.
There is lots of room for improvement within the Starting XI, while still keeping the international-caliber players who form the backbone of the squad.
The USMNT Starting XI is solid at goalkeeper (Tim Howard), at left back (Fabian Johnson), at the center back spots (Omar Gonzalez and Geoff Cameron), at the defensive midfielder position (Michael Bradley), and at one attacking midfielder position (Clint Dempsey).
Therefore, many of Klinsmann’s Starting XI selections are correct, but it’s the other starters and the rest of the roster that need changing.
On the other hand, many of Klinsmann’s roster selections aren’t better than other options available to Klinsmann, and still others are international-caliber players who are on the roster but go unused.
In the defense, the USMNT benefits from players like Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, and Fabian Johnson, but why does the USMNT need Justin Morrow, Matt Besler, Tony Beltran, DaMarcus Beasley (listed as a midfielder), and Clarence Goodson?
That’s five defenders out of eight whose technical-ability or ability to keep up with international attackers is a big question mark.
Klinsmann made a bold decision when he started Gonzalez against Honduras, and now he needs to make another one and put Gale Agbossoumonde on the roster as one of the USMNT’s center back options.
In the midfield, why do players like Kyle Beckerman, Sacha Kljestan, Danny Williams, José Torres, and Brad Davis receive call-ups when the end result is always the same: poor passing and no scoring chances created? To be fair to Kljestan, he doesn’t even get the chance to play when Klinsmann calls him up.
Why do Beckerman, Kljestan, Williams, Torres, and Davis not deserve call-ups?
Beckerman doesn’t have the requisite quickness to display his technical-ability (which is sound) in faster international games.
Kljestan is a fundmentally-sound professional who plays well in Europe, but his technical ability is way below Joe Corona, Benny Feilhaber, and Freddy Adu. Feilhaber has a history of outperforming Kljestan in international play.
Williams has never demonstrated he has the ability to play anywhere close to Michael Bradley’s or Jermaine Jones’ ability on the international level.
Torres has featured for the United States many times without demonstrating an ability to improve the passing ability of the American midfield, nor has he really produced any final balls.
Torres is also entirely one-footed, and this is the problem with Davis as well. When compared to Feilhaber, Torres and Davis are repeatedly thoroughly outplayed by Feilhaber.
Joe Corona has the ability to improve the United States, but Klinsmann simply refuses to play him. No one plays well against major São Paulo clubs in the Copa Libertadores as an attacking midfielder if he doesn’t have excellent technical ability.
As the public scrutiny and pressure builds, Klinsmann will have to justify how his roster selections and his starting line-up selections are producing the quality of soccer needed to not only qualify for the World Cup but just to improve the play of the United States.
The United States needs a shake-up in the midfield more so than at striker because Jozy Altidore, Herculez Gomez, Terrence Boyd, and Eddie Johnson are all international-caliber strikers. Juan Agudelo’s skill, aggressive and creative style of play, and his athleticism warrant a roster spot, but the primary problem is the connection between the midfield and the attack.
Jürgen Klinsmann would be wise to keep much of the backbone of his starting line-ups, but he should insert some better players (Joe Corona and Benny Feilhaber) to play with that backbone. He should also fill the rest of the roster with international-caliber players who can be used as substitutes or even started, if they showed that they could improve the United States’ play.
Comment:
It’s time for Jürgen Klinsmann to roll up the yoga mats and lead from the front.
Klinsmann has never even attempted to field line-ups to play the type of proactive soccer he promised.
Tab Ramos now seems more like the right person to coach the United States Men’s National Team.
The reason for hiring Klinsmann was to hire a coach who would be more willing to call up and play the types of players who could raise the quality of the United States Men’s National Team’s play. Instead, the United States got a more defensive coach than Bob Bradley.
Putting players on the field who can play at Clint Dempsey’s, Michael Bradley’s, Geoff Cameron’s, and Benny Feilhaber’s level will require change, lots of change.
The players listed above aren’t satisfied with trying to merely put in a good showing against top national teams; they want to quickly move the ball around the field and win.
How far are Jürgen Klinsmann and his staff willing to go to use players who can play one-to-two touch soccer with the world’s best?
Klinsmann and company will have to call up a new type of USMNT roster and actually use the players with all the tools and gifts to improve the USMNT, but many of them are considered “raw,” “inexperienced,” “unproven,” and “too young” for many Americans.
The coaching staff of the United States Men’s National Team needs to make changes and call up the following players for international play:
Despite criticism of the quality of Major League Soccer, there have always been talented American players in MLS who have been able to perform and excel at the international level. Here are several American MLS players who the USMNT can use and why they need to be used by Jürgen Klinsmann:
Juan Agudelo
The U.S. Men’s National Team is simply not good enough to not need strikers of Juan Agudelo’s technical ability, fearlessness, nose for goal, and creativity—not to mention that all of these playing qualities are found in a quick, tall, fast, and strong athlete.
Juan Agudelo is way too skilled and athletic to not play for a team like the United States which not only struggles to score goals or produce a technically-advanced style of play but that also is regarded by national teams and people from around the world as a physically-fit but somewhat technically weak national squad.
George John
* From a previous World Soccer Source article found here .
For several years now, it’s been unclear why Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, and George John weren’t all incorporated into the USMNT and steadily given more playing time. It took Klinsmann about five or six months to even call Cameron and Gonzalez into a USMNT camp, but Klinsmann essentially totally ignores John besides all of the praise of his play from players, coaches, scouts, and foreign clubs. The Greek national team has even expressed interest in having John play for them. Like Cameron and Gonzalez, John is technically-skilled with the ball while also being a strong defender, and he has a level of athleticism above players like Clarence Goodson and Carlos Bocanegra. Matt Besler of Sporting Kansas City has been used by Klinsmann, but John is visibly more talented than Besler who is largely one-footed.
Perry Kitchen
The U.S. Men’s National Team needs Perry Kitchen. If Michael Bradley were ever injured or suspended (like in the 2009 Confederations Cup Final when Brazil scored three second half goals), then the United States would only have Jermaine Jones as a technically-skilled defensive midfielder to replace Bradley. While Edu is a much better player than many Americans give him credit for, Kitchen is a player who can bring the U.S. another effective defensive midfielder with advanced two-footed skill on the ball, and there is room for Kitchen on a 23 man roster. Kitchen’s ability to play center back along with his comfort on the ball make him a player that is needed in a balanced USMNT roster with skilled replacements at every position.
Benny Feilhaber
Benny Feilhaber (along with Freddy Adu) is the only American playmaker who has ever demonstrated with the national team that he has the ability to bring the technical ability needed to not only play at Michael Bradley’s, Clint Dempsey’s, and Landon Donovan’s level, but also to bring the vision and passing ability to break down defenses in a way that the other three midfielders listed above can’t. Once a player consistently performs well for the USMNT for six years even against the most elite competition in international soccer (and he’s under 30 years old), there really is not a good excuse for not including a player like Feilhaber on the roster, unless you have better playmakers who are improving the U.S.’ passing and setting up goals. The USMNT does not.
Gale Agbossoumonde
Agbossoumonde has everything you could want in a center back: defensive instincts, skill on the ball, speed, controlled tackling, strong heading ability, lateral quickness, and calmness. Agbossoumonde is young, but he is way too talented and athletically gifted to ignore. Now playing in MLS at 21 years old, Agbossoumonde has demonstrated in a string of starts that he deserves to be strongly considered for the upcoming friendlies, World Cup qualifying, and the Gold Cup. It’s important to give Agbossoumonde his first USMNT cap, so that he can serve the American defense for years to come.
Andrew Farrell
Andrew Farrell’s versatility, skill, speed, and strength is needed on a USMNT with a history of poor defensive performances. The sooner players like Farrell are incorporated into the national team, the sooner the players without the skill and athleticism to be effective defenders against elite attackers will be phased out of the U.S. Men’s National Team.
Amobi Okugo
Amobi Okugo now plays as a center back after being converted from a defensive midfielder, but he can certainly play both. Okugo certainly is the type of player the USMNT needs: a fast, technically-skilled, two-footed, quick, tall, and defensively strong center back. Okugo continues to improve as a center back, and his style of play based on skill plus athleticism is a major upgrade from many of the American center backs in the past who simply headed balls out of the back or cleared the ball 50 yards downfield. Okugo can help prevent the United States from being in the situation it was in against Mexico where the United States needed Maurice Edu at center back and defensive midfielder at the same time (instead Klinsmann had to use both Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu as defensive midfielders to protect Matt Besler at center back).
Chris Klute
Chris Klute has all of the technical and physical tools to perform well at the international level. Klute as an outside back brings a strong combination of attacking and defensive skill. Whether Klute is just included in a USMNT camp to be looked at more closely or put on the roster for the upcoming friendlies or even considered for the Gold Cup or World Cup qualifying, American soccer fans should keep an eye on Chris Klute. There is often talk of putting certain MLS players on the USMNT, but their technical abilty and athleticism doesn’t translate to the international level. Klute just might be a sleeper who has all of the tools and gifts to play international soccer.
José Villarreal
José Villarreal is exactly what the United States Men’s National Team needs: a creative, quick, aggressive, and technically-skilled striker. Villarreall has garnered a lot of attention for his play in MLS, in Under-20 World Cup qualifying, and his play in the CONCACAF Champions League. If one watches Villarreal closely in games for the LA Galaxy and reviews his highlights, it becomes clear why he’s knocking on the door of the USMNT roster; he’s probably ready to play for the USMNT right now.
Honorable Mention:
Zach Loyd
Kofi Sarkodie
DeAndre Yedlin
Dax McCarty
Jeremy Hall
EDIT: DeAndre Yedlin belongs on the USMNT now. His combination of attacking skill and bravado combined with his speed and defensive tenacity and timing makes him a modern outside back who the USMNT sorely needs.
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© Colin Reese
Fielding a line-up that is strong defensively and offensively is only Jürgen Klinsmann’s first step in having a United States Men’s National Team that will be truly respected around the world as a team capable of beating top national teams.
For now, the United States, which means Klinsmann, needs to start a group of players with the ability to win in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
Setting aside the laundry list of players frozen out of the United States Men’s National Team by Jürgen Klinsmann, the coach of the United States is now two starting line-up changes away from proactive soccer: Landon Donovan and Benny Feilhaber.
Klinsmann likes to use Tim Howard, Timothy Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Geoff Cameron, Fabian Johnson, Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore, and all of those players can produce the type of one-to-two touch soccer that breeds victories.
Despite the loss to Honduras, that starting XI fielded by Klinsmann was really close to being a strong and balanced line-up.
Even though the starting line-up used to face Honduras was close to being a balanced and talented starting XI, every Klinsmann line-up has the same fatal flaw of not including the personnel needed to attack and maintain possession.
On the one hand, Klinsmann has sometimes been close to fielding balanced and talented line-ups, but, on the other hand, his failure to include the right mixture of defensive and attacking midfielders has allowed teams like Honduras and numerous others before them to pass the United States Men’s National Team off the park and create scoring chances.
Even though some of the players listed above are open to debate, none of them are liabilities or inexperienced players.
Specifically, Jozy Altidore has received a lot of criticism for his lack of shots on goal and goals scored for the USMNT, but the types of goals he has scored in Holland as well as his goal-scoring rate there indicate that the primary reason for the United States’ lack of scoring is really a lack of final balls and skilled passing.
Klinsmann certainly has made a lot of decisions worthy of criticism and questioning, but like World Soccer Source has discussed before, the starting line-up chosen to face Honduras was almost a totally balanced and essentially full strength line-up.
Feilhaber and Donovan were particularly singled out above as deserving of a starting spot for the United States because they can strengthen the U.S.’ weaknesses with proven skill-sets at the international level.
If Bradley and Jones are played deep as defensive midfielders and pseudo-box-to-box midfielders with Donovan, Feilhaber, and Dempsey in front of them from right to left, then the United States has five midfielders who can maintain possession, regain possession, and ensure that Altidore receives adequate service up top.
Adding Donovan and Feilhaber to the starting line-up used in the loss to Honduras means that Danny Williams and Eddie Johnson would be relegated to the bench.
The essential thing to remember about the line-up proposed is that while it uses 11 skilled, proven, and athletic players, it can be adjusted during the game if the roster also includes people with the skill and athleticism to play if a change is needed for whatever reason.
There’s no reason to think the United States doesn’t have the personnel to start playing better in World Cup qualifying, but Klinsmann’s continued refusal to make any sort of tactical changes to the players used in the midfield and up top is a reason for concern.
Donovan and Feilhaber correct this primary flaw with Klinsmann’s tactics.
Donovan brings technical ability, speed, experience, assists, and goals, and Feilhaber provides the creativity to be the missing passing link between players like Jones and Bradley and attackers like Dempsey, Donovan, and Altidore.
Additionally, Feilhaber’s passing and movement of the ball put the American midfield in a passing rhythm (a favorite Klinsmann term) where he improves the passing and scoring threat of the team.
More technically-skilled players used at the same time produce a more attractive and effective style of play where all of the players can combine with each other and play off each other.
Donovan allows Dempsey and Altidore to have another elite player to combine with in the final third and elsewhere, and Feilhaber brings the vision and passing ability to break down defenses (and the ability to also score himself).
As in the past, Klinsmann needs to keep using the skilled and effective players he does use, but he needs to incorporate Donovan and Feilhaber to form a cohesive United States Men’s National Team that can defend, maintain possession, and create scoring chances.
His current line-ups never do all three of those things in the same game, and they almost never create a reasonable amount of scoring chances.
Tactics and style of play are entirely dependent on the skill level and the athleticism of the players started and used, and the United States Men’s National Team can no longer afford to use players who don’t have the ability to play with a high level of technical skill even when the speed of play and the quality of the opponents increase.
The line-up proposed here is a balanced line-up made up of proven players who all fulfill certain roles to form a cohesive unit.
The United States not only needs substitutes for every one of these players but also players on the roster to allow Klinsmann to alter his formations and tactics depending on the opponent.
Proposed Starting XI That Should Satisfy Klinsmann’s Requirements For Now: Howard; Chandler, Gonzalez, Cameron, Johnson; Bradley, Jones; Donovan, Feilhaber, Dempsey; Altidore