Even before the unfortunate injury to Stuart Holden, World Soccer Source backed Benji Joya for the United States Men’s National Team because he is a complete midfielder who brings all of the qualities that the U.S. needs in the midfield.
Players like Joe Benny Corona and Mix Diskerud are playmakers who can play at any attacking midfield position, but Joya is a midfielder who actually plays the box-to-box midfielder role because he is strong defensively and he has the vision, technical ability, and creativity to also be a major protagonist in the attack.
Many people believe Joya is not inexperienced enough to be on the USMNT, but the reality is that the team needs a box-to-box midfielder who brings strong defense, excellent skill on the ball, good athleticism, and a big game mentality.
Joya is a skilled passer whether he is playing quick passes in tight space or whether he is playing longer passes to switch the point of the attack, and Joya has the all-important ability to play final balls that set up goals. Joya’s technical ability and advanced passing skills shouldn’t be overlooked, and his ability to play in La Liga MX as a teenager show that his skill-level was good enough to skip college soccer and MLS.
With players like Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, and Jermaine Jones being more defensive midfielders than attacking midfielders, Joya is an actual box-to-box midfielder who can help to connect the deeper-lying defensive midfielders to players like Donovan, Corona, and Dempsey.
Many observers have debated whether or not Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones are midfield destroyers or box-to-box midfielders, and the answer isn’t totally clear.
On the other hand, Joya would be a useful addition to the national team, who deserves a roster spot due to his qualities and his ability to deliver a high-level of play against top opponents if Michael Bradley or Jermaine Jones is unavailable.
At present, Klinsmann’s formation of choice is to use Bradley and Jones or Cameron and Bradley, but there’s no good reason why a formation where Cameron plays as a midfield destroyer and Bradley and Joya play in front of him as box-to-box midfielders wouldn’t give the USMNT quality passing and strong midfield defense at the same time.
Even before Joya played well against Paul Pogba and France in the U-20 World Cup, he had already demonstrated that he had the tools that a midfielder needs at the international level to be successful. As opposed to just being a midfielder who can defend and pass the ball well-enough for international soccer, Joya’s ability to play final balls and the quality of his passes proves him to be a midfielder with an advanced ability to bring creativity and one-to-two touch soccer to the midfield.
Going forward, the USMNT will need midfielders like Benji Joya who are true box-to-box midfielders that can not only help the U.S. to play strong midfield defense but that can also help to keep possession in the midfield and look to break down the opposition with quality passing.
Playing Stuart Holden and Mix Diskerud as the box-to-box midfielder partner for a midfield destroyer was always a stretch, but Joya actually plays this position.
There’s nothing to say that the USMNT can’t play a diamond midfield formation with Geoff Cameron as a midfield destroyer, Michael Bradley and Benji Joya as the box-to-box midfielders, and Joe Benny Corona as the tip of the diamond as a playmaker.
Maybe Benji Joya shouldn’t start for the United States until he get s few caps under his belt, but he definitely would be a useful player to include on a 23-man roster because of the qualities he brings and because he isn’t fazed by famous opponents or big games.
The USMNT needs Joya more than it needs Kyle Beckerman or Graham Zusi because the United States already has excellent defensive midfielders and excellent attacking midfielders.
As far as box-to-box midfielders go, it’s very likely that Joya is better at playing final balls than Michael Bradley and that Michael Bradley is better defensively than Benji Joya, and, assuming Geoff Cameron is playing the midfield destroyer role, a combination of two box-to-box midfielders who excel at different aspects of the game could bring some needed balance to the USMNT.
The World Soccer Source 23-Man USMNT 2014 World Cup Roster Proposal
(August 2013 Edition)
COMMENT:
This 23-man USMNT Roster Proposal is less conservative than other projections and predictions that you will find from other writers and websites.
The purpose of not just going with the current group of Jürgen Klinsmann regulars who are doing a good job at staying on top of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying table is not to purposely propose a group of inexperienced and young players for the sake of creating controversy.
On the contrary, the purpose is that this group of players below represents a sincere attempt to not just survive the group stage but to give young, talented, and athletic players the chance to try and raise the level of play of the USMNT.
For example, Gyasi Zardes and Mario Rodriguez are on the list over Eddie Johnson, which will seem almost comical to many people.
The reason that this writer selected Zardes and Rodriguez, despite the excellent combination of skill and overall athleticism of Johnson, is that this writer believes that these two young and internationally inexperienced players, if they happen to play for whatever reason over starters like Juan Agudelo or Terrence Boyd, will relentlessly attack the goal no matter the opponent more so than Johnson will.
It’s important to remember that Rodriguez is highly-regarded by Tab Ramos, and Rodriguez plays in Germany. Additionally, Zardes is widely-considered an extremely talented striker in MLS circles, and Zardes seemed to have no problem playing against Real Madrid yesterday who were fielding a strong line-up, including Casemiro at the defensive midfielder role.
Here is the roster proposal:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad GUZAN, Tim HOWARD, Nick RIMANDO.
CENTER BACKS (4): Gale AGBOSSOUMONDE, Andrew FARRELL, Shane O’NEILL, Michael OROZCO FISCAL.
OUTSIDE BACKS (3): Chris KLUTE, Kofi SARKODIE, DeAndre YEDLIN.
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS (3): Michael BRADLEY, Geoff CAMERON, Benji JOYA.
FORWARDS (5): Juan AGUDELO, Jozy ALTIDORE, Terrence BOYD, Mario RODRIGUEZ, Gyasi ZARDES.
NOTES:
-There are 7 defenders as opposed to 8 because Geoff Cameron plays center back as well as both outside back positions.
-Michael Orozco, Geoff Cameron, Andrew Farrell, Shane O’Neill can all play as outside backs and as defensive midfielders.
-Geoff Cameron is as much of a center back as he is a defensive midfielder.
-Benji Joya is a box-to-box midfielder listed with the defensive midfielders.
-Freddy Adu and Benny Feilhaber are on this roster proposal. Both of these players are highly-valued by World Soccer Source for their proven-ability and record of performing and making a positive impact at the international level regardless of the opponent. Many Americans and non-Americans consider these two players to be inconsistent and lazy playmakers with a poor attitude, but World Soccer Source considers them to be invaluable midfielders for the USMNT due to their ability to bring creative and quality passing and attacking play to a national team that lacks these qualities.
The best athlete in the history of American sports said over and over again that failure was the key to his success. That athlete was Michael Jordan.
American soccer has more potential for success right now than at any time in the entire history of soccer in the United States. The key to success is actually fielding unproven players at the international level who have demonstrated the potential ability and the athleticism to be competitive with elite soccer nations.
A vast majority of the coaches in the United States including Jürgen Klinsmann are afraid to risk losing by playing starting line-ups made up of several internationally unproven players in meaningful games, but there is a way to accomplish this without jeopardizing qualification for the 2014 World Cup.
The solution is quite simple: use a Starting XI made up of proven players and fill the remaining roster spots with new but talented players in addition to players who are too good to exclude.
After the Gold Cup, the USMNT could start the follow starting line-up without taking any more risks than usual:
Tim Howard; Jonathan Spector, Maurice Edu, Geoff Cameron, Eric Lichaj; Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones; Landon Donovan, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey; Jozy Altidore.
The Starting XI listed above isn’t really a risky line-up by any means, as all of those players have ample experience playing international soccer at a respectable level.
If the whole world considers the United States Men’s National Team to be a team with just a few technically-skilled players, then why not use friendlies to field new players who have demonstrated the ability to offer an improvement over many of the players Jürgen Klinsmann has been using?
The sort of undertaking described above is considered risky by many, but couldn’t it also be considered risky not to attempt to strengthen areas where the USMNT is weak?
Beginning to improve the caliber of players fielded by the United States isn’t a question of teaching experienced players to play differently, but it is a question of actually starting promising players who could do very poorly in their first game or games.
On the other hand, maybe they’d do well.
The first step in this process is easy because the first step is deciding which players among the players that Klinsmann has been starting in World Cup qualifying absolutely have to start, and this list of names is short.
Tim Howard or Brad Guzan have to start. Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey have to start, but who else absolutely has to start? Maybe Landon Donovan has to start too.
Looking at that list, that list includes five names for four starting spots leaving seven Starting XI spots up for grabs. Starting line-up space for seven open spots leaves the door open for a lot of possibilities.
Looking at right back, DeAndre Yedlin of the Seattle Sounders seems like a risk worth taking, given his performances in MLS and in the U-20 World Cup, not to mention the two-way threat he poses. Yedlin has speed that’s close to Chris Klute’s speed, and using them as the outside backs would certainly improve the U.S.’ ability to attack and defend out wide.
Moving to center back, Geoff Cameron has demonstrated that he has a level of athleticism and skill, not to mention size, that has never really been given a chance to partner with a center back of similar qualities.
Why can’t Gale Agbossoumonde, Andrew Farrell, or Shane O’Neill be given a shot to start with Cameron? What’s the real argument against that?
Is there any proof that Omar Gonzalez or Matt Besler can outplay Agbossoumonde, Farrell, or O’Neill in an international game when they are partnered with Cameron? Those are all good MLS players, so trying them out should be something that the USMNT’s coaching staff and American soccer writers are interested in seeing.
None of those three players have been given the chance to show how they can perform compared to Besler and Gonzalez, but Besler was started against Mexico in Estadio Azteca in a World Cup qualifier with essentially no significant international experience. Besler and Gonzalez have done well, but have they really proven that they are the best?
At left back, Chris Klute hasn’t been given the chance to show how he can do compared to DaMarcus Beasley and Fabian Johnson. Beasley and Johnson aren’t even really left backs. Klute actually is a two-way left back, and he’s a very fast and skilled two-way left back who uses both feet.
If Americans really want to see better soccer, where’s the backing for at least using a friendly to field a backline of Yedlin, Agbossoumonde, Cameron, and Klute with Howard as the goalkeeper? Certainly, the United States has never fielded a back four with that degree of speed and technical ability.
There doesn’t appear to be any real risk, particularly in a friendly. The U.S. might lose, but the U.S. might lose anyway. Klinsmann’s World Cup qualifying rosters and line-ups have been completely make-shift and experimental anyway.
All of the players listed above are players who are garnering attention from the American soccer media and American soccer fans. None of those players are soccer players taken off the street; those are all well-known professional players.
One of the arguments that Klinsmann’s methods have been working is the USMNT’s victory over Italy.
The U.S. played Italy in a friendly, only to have Mario Balotelli, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, and Daniele De Rossi not start. The USMNT can’t really say that it beat Italy convincingly, if Balotelli wasn’t playing. Cesare Prandelli and Italy clearly felt like they didn’t need to use their best players against the U.S. because, if Italy lost, everyone would know Italy didn’t use its best players.
Certainly, Clint Dempsey played well against Italy, but Americans already knew that Dempsey could perform well against elite opponents.
Rather than not taking any risks in friendlies, the USMNT would be better served to see how much potential it could show if a bunch of young, athletic, and skilled defenders were allowed to play with a slightly older Geoff Cameron who too hasn’t really been given a fair chance to play with an adequate center back partner.
Assuming Michael Bradley is playing as a defensive midfielder and Landon Donovan is out on the right wing, why not start Freddy Adu or Joe Corona as a central attacking midfielder with Clint Dempsey out left? This group of players has been used before with success, at least with Adu playing with Dempsey and Donovan. Whereas, Corona hasn’t really been given the chance to play with Dempsey yet.
With the players mentioned above, there are only a few line-up choices left to make for the purpose of this experiment.
Does the U.S. use another defensive midfielder or perhaps a box-to-box midfielder with Bradley, or should the U.S. start two forwards? If the USMNT plays another midfielder with Bradley, is there any reason not to let Benji Joya start with Bradley?
Furthermore, who should the U.S. start at striker?
Jozy Altidore has improved greatly over the past two seasons in Holland, and the players listed above provide him with the service he needs to score goals.
On the other hand, if Altidore has already proven himself by scoring so many goals in Holland as well as showing that he can score for the U.S. when provided with service, shouldn’t the USMNT see how Juan Agudelo or Terrence Boyd can play with the players listed above?
Lots of questions. Few answers.
It’s time to start answering some of those questions, and the way to answer those questions is to start the following Starting XI:
Benji Joya has the Clint Dempsey mentality. It’s a winner’s mentality that is a combination of irreverence for opponents with a strong sense of humility off the field.
Joya is a different type of player than Dempsey, but Joya is an excellent talent who is more of a box-to-box midfielder compared to Dempsey, who is a second striker.
Joya plays one-to-two touch soccer. He tackles well. He’s not intimidated by opponents, even Paul Pogba, and he’s cool under pressure.
Big games are Joya’s favorite type of games, and he has the skill to start for the United States Men’s National Team in the 2014 World Cup, should the United States qualify.
For people who were so adverse to using a trequartista, enganche, meia-armador, or central attacking midfielder (all the same thing), Joya provides that sort of vision, creativity, passing ability, and style, while being an aggressive defender who tracks back on defense and times his tackles well.
The USMNT needs a player like Joya who offers Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, and Clint Dempsey a skilled passer and attacker who also helps to win back possession in the midfield and break up the passing of the opposition.
Even without international experience for the United States Men’s National Team, Benji Joya is a game day player who has shown strong signs that he is a complete midfielder unfazed by tough opponents or hostile crowds.
Once Joya played well against Paul Pogba, it’s hard to argue that he needs more experience. Joya even tried to put Pogba in a head lock in a recent U-20 World Cup game against France, and Pogba knew not to react.
Fighting for no reason shouldn’t be applauded in soccer, but Joya doesn’t do that.
But, Joya has shown that he is willing to mix it up with anyone just like Clint Dempsey shows almost every game.
However one chooses to look at Joya’s level of experience, Joya is an intense player who won’t be intimidated and psyched out by famous and talented opponents, and Joya’s skill and athleticism is matched by his mental toughness.
The USMNT needs more players like Benji Joya, and Jürgen Klinsmann will have to begin to incorporate Joya into his rosters, if he hopes to compete against the world’s best national teams, when they are at full-strength.
Clint Dempsey (left) and Jozy Altidore (right). (Photo: AP)
For several months, this writer has proposed fielding a United States Men’s National Team XI made up of some of the U-20 players with the best USMNT players, even the ones Klinsmann refuses to use.
What would this look like? It would look like Benji Joya, DeAndre Yedlin, Shane O’Neill, Caleb Stanko, Mario Rodriguez, José Villarreal, Alonso Hernandez, Juan Agudelo, Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, and even Freddy Adu being given a real shot.
The caliber of the passing hasn’t been good enough, and there haven’t been enough shots on goal.
So, just how good are Klinsmann’s starting line-ups?
Skipping quickly past the goalkeeper position, either Tim Howard or Brad Guzan are proven international and EPL keepers who serve the United States well.
Who plays right back? Well, Steve Cherundolo is certainly a seasoned Bundesliga and USMNT veteran who nobody really ever doubted in the past. Now, he’s a little older, and he asked for time off this summer. Additionally, some observers feel as if he’s lost a step.
Jonathan Spector is a capable player with strong technical ability, experience, and respectable athleticism for an international player. He’s by no means slow, and he isn’t very old. Spector performed well against Spain and Brazil in the 2009, and that’s something that he can continue to point to for a long time.
A bolder choice is tossing DeAndre Yedlin into the deep end with the full USMNT at right back where he gives the United States a modern outside back blessed with speed, attacking inclinations, comfort on the ball, and fairly aggressive defensive tendencies.
Yedlin is thought of as primarily an attacking threat, but he has certainly demonstrated an ability to tackle well, force attackers wide, and track down opposing players. The advantage of using Yedlin is that he puts the opposition on its heels when he marauds down the sideline, which breaks the defensive shape of the opposition and sucks opposing players toward the sideline, which frees up Yedlin’s teammates.
Who should be the two American center backs is really up for debate, and until all of the relevant parties are allowed to step into the ring, no one is really going to know which American center backs or defensive midfielders can take the center of the American defense to the next level.
Are Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler better than Carlos Bocanegra, Clarence Goodson, and Oguchi Onyewu? Definitely yes.
Are Gonzalez and Besler better than Jay DeMerit? Probably not.
DeMerit was baptized by fire and performed well in two major FIFA tournaments against truly elite attackers. DeMerit didn’t just survive when the famous players were coming at him, he showed that he was an American center back that was too good to be victimized by elite forwards.
With that being said, Jürgen Klinsmann owes American fans and himself the opportunity to get to see the list of 10 or so center backs being tossed into the shark tank.
Center back is a difficult position primarily because faster and better players are sprinting at center backs while center backs are backpedaling; at any moment, the opposition can play balls through or over center backs or simply decide to dribble past them with a full head of steam.
It’s easy to say that center backs are mistake prone or too easily beaten. It’s hard to stop someone sprinting at a center back when the center back has his back to goal.
Gonzalez and Besler? Cameron and Gonzalez? Cameron and Besler? Shane O’Neill and Besler? Cameron and Shane O’Neill? George John and Maurice Edu? The list of possibilities goes on as several center backs like Amobi Okugo, Gale Agbossoumonde, Caleb Stanko, and Andrew Farrell (amongst others) weren’t even mentioned in the options above.
Taking a look at Agbossoumonde and Farrell together at center back in a friendly would be a very bold move that could prove to bring better skill, defense, and athleticism to the center of the American defense.
Should Fabian Johnson play as a left back where he can attack and bring better skill to the left side of the defense?
Should a brand new MLS player like Chris Klute be allowed to suit up for a friendly or tested in camp?
Should right backs with the ability to play as left backs be used?
These are all legitimate questions, which Klinsmann hasn’t posed or tried to answer through testing, with the exception of frequently using Johnson at left back.
Despite Klinsmann’s makeshift line-ups, one thing is for certain: the United States Men’s National Team has a better and more athletic pool of players than ever before.
Will they get a chance to show what they can do? Will they be giving a fair shot?
The front six offers a lot more certainly.
Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore are starting as a box-to-box/defensive midfielder, roaming attacking midfielder or second striker, and first striker, respectively; this fact leaves three open spots.
Will Trapp isn’t beating Jermaine Jones or Geoff Cameron out for the defensive midfielder spot any time soon, and Perry Kitchen hasn’t even been given the chance to show how well he would do against someone like Brazil, if Jones or Cameron were unavailable.
Can Jeremy Hall or Amobi Okugo outperform Maurice Edu? Who knows?
The U.S. has other midfield destroyers as well, but no one from Tab Ramos’ U-20 U.S. side (except maybe Stanko in the future) is taking the misunderstood number 6 role, which requires a lot of comfort on the ball, speed, defensive skill, and elegant passing ability.
Two spots remain to be discussed, and these two spots have been Jürgen Klinsmann’s clearest display of being a poor tactician.
The ability to appreciate creative passing skills in a player who is willing to try passes that might not slip through the defense and the need of the first and second strikers to have a playmaker who is inventive, smooth, instinctual, and a risk taker is a connection that Klinsmann either refuses to try to address or a connection that he refuses to accept.
Either way, Klinsmann has been unwilling to even test out the best playmaker options at his disposal and pick one. Klinsmann’s standards for playmakers are high, but he has never proven that his assessment of Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, Freddy Adu, Mix Diskerud, or anyone else is correct. He needs to prove it.
He needs to allow a playmaker to play with Cameron/Jones, Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, and Altidore, and he needs to evaluate all of the options at his disposal.
With Cameron or Jones playing with Bradley and Dempsey and Donovan combining with Altidore to help him to attack the goal, Klinsmann doesn’t have a good excuse to not try out playmakers who link the more defensive midfielders with Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore.
Until he tries it out, he can’t support his tactics. Klinsmann needs to try something. He is entitled to not use his archenemies (Feilhaber and Adu) to whom he has nothing to teach , but he could at least play a line of three attacking midfielders Donovan, Corona, and Dempsey behind Altidore with Cameron and Bradley playing deep.
That’s fair.
That’s tactically sound.
Based on how Benji Joya has played in the U-20 World Cup and in CONCACAF U-20 World Cup qualifying, Joya would be a very useful midfielder to begin to incorporate into the USMNT.
Joya brings skill, calm passing, defensive qualities, good athleticism, and intensity. He’s a complete midfielder that offers Bradley, Cameron, Jones, and Dempsey a player who can play at their level and help the team to produce better soccer.
Perhaps the best performance ever for the USMNT under Klinsmann was the game against Panama in which Klinsmann had players close to fulfilling the 1 through 11 numbering system: Tim Howard 1, Brad Evans 2, Omar Gonzalez 3, Matt Besler 4, DaMarcus Beasley 5, Geoff Cameron 6, Fabian Johnson 7, Michael Bradley 8, Jozy Altidore 9, Eddie Johnson 9, Clint Dempsey 11. No number 10 or anything close to it.
Even Joe Corona, an actual number 10 who proved himself in the Copa Libertadores, was on the bench for several qualifiers before and after the Panama game when the U.S. was passing poorly. Corona’s cameo against Panama was essentially a public insult from Klinsmann that said, “It means nothing to me that you start for a good Liga MX team that went deep into the Copa Libertadores, and I don’t care that you proved yourself twice against Corinthians.”
Looking at the starting line-up against Panama, the right back and left back were questionable as legitimate options against better teams. Eddie Johnson was oddly used as a right midfield winger. Clint Dempsey was used as a 10.
The reason the line-up worked was because Cameron, Bradley, Fabian Johnson, Dempsey, Eddie Johnson, and Altidore all had the skill-level, playing style, and athleticism to display a higher caliber of passing play despite the rather bizarre formation with a striker like Eddie Johnson as a right winger and Dempsey as a playmaker .
Daniel Cuevas (20) scored the equalizer and celebrates with Benji Joya (8). (Photo: Jamie McDonald/FIFA/FIFA/Getty Images)
In the United States’ second U-20 World Cup game, Javan Torre started again at center back and the more highly-rated center back, Caleb Stanko, was benched despite outplaying Torre in the first game, and the United States tied France 1-1.
Torre may or not be one of the two best center back options at Ramos’ disposal, but he did fairly well against France.
Perhaps if M’Baye Niang were playing as a first striker for France, the combination of Niang and midfield extraordinaire Paul Pogba would have spelled a horror show for the United States’ defense.
As it was, Pogba displayed his usual effortless play even with Will Trapp and Benji Joya putting pressure on him.
Pogba wasn’t fazed or neutralized, but Joya showed his ability to play against elite players. This was a good barometer to prove to any of Joya’s doubters that he has the ability to play with the United States Men’s National Team.
In addition to Pogba, French striker, Yaya Sanogo (amongst others) was a handful for U.S. center back, Shane O’Neill, who was luckily available for this game, unlike the first World Cup match.
The U.S. had an equal share of possession against Spain, but against France, the U.S. saw far less possession. Unlike in the game against Spain, Will Trapp did a better job of tackling and playing deeper which is his job playing as somewhat of a midfield destroyer with the number 6 jersey.
On the other hand, Joya who was again used as a box-to-box midfielder played as well or better than he played against Spain.
Joya and Trapp did a good job of putting pressure on France’s midfield even though all of France’s players were tall, elite athletes who passed effortlessly and seemed to easily enjoy the lion’s share of possession.
But, the United States did pass well and combine well with each other, and the U.S. didn’t look outmatched, as the U.S. was able to advance forward with good team passing.
One of the most striking aspects of the game was how physically imposing and graceful almost all of the French players were, and despite this, the United States still was able to play with France and attack and defend them.
With one loss and one tie so far in the U-20 World Cup, the U.S.’ U-20 team has displayed a good level of soccer that technically looks better than the United States Men’s National Team as a whole, and the quality of play occurred against a fast and technically-skilled Spanish team and a French squad that was equally skilled but athletically far superior to Spain.
The size, skill, and athleticism of France was remarkable, but the U.S.’ players like O’Neill and Joya seemed unfazed by it.
Frankly, France’s U-20 squad looked unbeatable when the game started.
Based on how many goals Spain scored on the U.S., this French squad right after kickoff looked like they were going to dominate the United States, and they did dominate possession.
Despite the 59% to 41% possession difference, the U.S.’ front six were able to string passes together playing one-to-two touch soccer and get into the final third, and the defense was able to somewhat contain France.
This signals an improvement for American soccer.
Looking at the state of American soccer in general, it would appear that many of the U.S.’ U-20 players are ready to play alongside players like Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Tim Howard, Jermaine Jones, Geoff Cameron, Fabian Johnson, Benny Feilhaber, Juan Agudelo, Freddy Adu, Joe Corona, and Jozy Altidore.
Some combination of the best players from the U-20 team combined with the USMNT players listed above indicates an improvement in the overall technical ability of the United States.
One important thing to remember about the U-20 World Cup is that Brazil and Argentina didn’t qualify for it, which seems to indicate that their players of this age group are already being incorporated into their main national teams.
The United States and Jürgen Klinsmann would be wise to incorporate some of these players like DeAndre Yedlin, Benji Joya, Luis Gil, Shane O’Neill, Mario Rodriguez, Alonso Hernandez, and José Villarreal into the USMNT for the Gold Cup or for upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Tab Ramos made several line-up changes. (Photo: ISIphotos.com)
Unlike Jürgen Klinsmann, the United States’ U-20 coach Tab Ramos’ roster and line-up selections make sense. The criticism from the American soccer media before and after the first U-20 World Cup game for the United States was the exclusion of some Major League Soccer players and the inclusion of Javan Torre in the starting line-up.
Ramos’ line-ups have been balanced, and, by and large, strong at every position. Against France, Ramos used four capable defenders playing their natural positions, three different kinds of midfielders, and three strikers up top who brought different qualities.
Ramos used two modern outside backs in DeAndre Yedlin and Juan Pablo Ocegueda, which is an improvement over Klinsmann’s use of players out of position at outside back. Ramos also used two center backs who combined speed, skill, and sufficient size to compete against France.
Will Trapp was used as a defensive midfielder, but he doesn’t seem to possess anything remotely close to the speed, size, skill, or physicality of Michael Bradley. Trapp did make several key tackles against France, which was an improvement over his performance against Spain, but the line-up was basically without a midfield destroyer.
Trapp’s parter along with Luis Gil was Benji Joya, and Joya is the real deal. Joya is underrated by many in the American soccer media who seem to feel that Joya was responsible for covering the same amount of defensive duties as Trapp despite the fact that Joya wears the number 8 jersey for a reason instead of Trapp’s number 6 jersey.
Tab Ramos deploys Luis Gil as a playmaker, and this is a position that Klinsmann simply refuses to use on his United States Men’s National Team. Gil is good at playing final balls, helping the U.S. to maintain possession, and scoring goals, and he was used behind a trident of strikers.
This trident of strikers was a change in tactics from the formation used against Spain, and using Mario Rodriguez, José Villarreal, and Alonso Hernandez as strikers allowed the U.S. to try to stretch the French backline in addition to pressuring them when France had possession.
Spain’s attackers were too much for the United States. (Photo: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
Despite being on the receiving end of a 4-1 goleada by Spain’s Under -20 national team in its opening game of the U-20 World Cup, in many ways, the United States’ Under-20 national team displayed better passing and overall skill on the ball than the so-called “senior” United States Men’s National Team.
The main problem for Tab Ramos’ U-20 American side was the lack of a real defensive midfielder to cut down on the space Spain had in front of the American defense to run at them and break them down with passes and dribbling.
Some of Ramos’s roster selections raised eyebrows (Javan Torre, Daniel Garcia, and maybe Alonso Hernandez), and the main scapegoat for the U.S.’ loss was Javan Torre. Nevertheless, Spain’s strikers Gerard Deulofeu and Jesé Rodriguez are extremely talented strikers who attack with speed, technique, and trickery.
There were several examples of both of Spain’s strikers being given too much space to score, but Spain’s second goal scored by Deulofeu was probably unstoppable.
Javan Torre stayed close to Deulofeu to almost entirely block any clear angle to score, but Deulofeu put so much inside of the foot bend on the ball that he was able to strike the ball wide of Torre and American goalkeeper, Cody Cropper, and still find the back of the net despite Cropper doing a full lay out dive, which had the angle to the far post blocked.
American soccer fans might have to accept that particular goal as a moment of individual skill, unlike the first Spanish goal which was a combination of individual skill on the pass and DeAndre Yedlin leaving Jesé Rodríguez with too much space to volley a goal from close range with the inside of his foot.
Likely, the real root of the problem lies with the two American center backs being in the position where Spain had space in front of them to either sprint at them or play passes through or over them.
However one looks at it, the American defense was too easily beaten on four occasions, but the United States did play an open game with Spain, in which the U.S. showed good team passing and a good display of comfort on the ball.
American midfielders Benji Joya and Luis Gil displayed the ability to play on Spain’s level, but Will Trapp had a quiet game, in which he appeared to not provide enough defensive coverage deep in the American midfield. Joya was often dropping deep to receive the ball and then advancing up field, which allowed Spain to have a big hole to exploit in front of the American defense.
In the upcoming game against France, the U.S. has the displeasure of having to face off against perhaps the best defensive and box-to-box midfielder in the world: Paul Pogba.
Given the fact that Pogba is not only the best player in the entire tournament but one of the best midfielders in the world for any age group, it’s particularly unfortunate that the United States is weak at the defensive midfielder position.
Against Pogba, Tab Ramos will have to make an adjustment to his line-up to try to attempt to somewhat neutralize Pogba (which won’t be possible), and this adjustment will likely be starting Shane O’Neill and someone else at center back with Caleb Stanko at the midfield destroyer role.
While the passing and skill level of the United States was encouraging and genuinely high quality, the defense delivered by Will Trapp and the American back four was poor. Either the American back four was left helpless by Trapp, or they were guilty of being two easily beaten.
Perhaps starting Stanko with a center back besides Torre would have put the United States in the position to better handle Spain’s attacking forays even with the hole deep in the American midfield, or maybe Spain’s strikers were just too good.
In the wake of a three-goal loss to Spain, the United States has plenty of strong attacking and midfield options, but these skilled midfielders and forwards need to not be made irrelevant due to a hole deep in the American midfield or a weak center back tandem.
The silver lining to the game was an excellent left-footed upper 90 golazo scored by American playmaker Luis Gil after he freed himself to shoot with a Cruyff. Gil’s overall play, near assist for Alonso Hernandez, as well as Gil’s goal provided more evidence that Jürgen Klinsmann has playmaker options for his USMNT.
In a way, the area where the USMNT is very strong, defensive midfield, and the area where they are weak, the attacking portion of the midfield, is the opposite of the U-20 U.S. national team.
Against France, Tab Ramos needs to play Stanko as a midfield destroyer, so that the U-20’s technical ability and attacking skill aren’t wasted.
