Mario Rodriguez

USMNT Roster Options for Klinsmann

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Chris Klute (arms raised). (Photo: USA Today SPORTS)
Chris Klute (arms raised). (Photo: USA Today SPORTS)

 

Making an improved 23-man USMNT roster is much easier than choosing the best Starting XI.

The primary difficulty now is not finding quality American players but rather cutting the pool down to 23 players and deciding how many new players should receive roster spots.

Any national team roster normally contains three goalkeepers, four outside backs, four center backs, 4 defensive midfielders, four attacking midfielders, and four forwards, but frequently players can play more than one position so the amount of players at each position can vary.

At goalkeeper, Tim Howard and Brad Guzan are clearly the best two American goalkeepers (excluding Brad Friedel), and the only decision for Jürgen Klinsmann to make is who the the third goalkeeper should be. Maybe it should be Nick Rimando or some other goalkeeper like Clint Irwin, Dan Kennedy, Tally Hall, Sean Johnson, or Luis Robles, but perhaps Cody Cropper or some other young goalkeeper should receive the third goalkeeper spot.

When selecting center backs, a wise decision would be to have four center backs. The primary center backs to choose from for the USMNT are Geoff Cameron, George John, Omar Gonzalez, Michael Orozco, Michael Parkhurst, Tim Ream, and Matt Besler. These center backs are some of the more experienced center backs that aren’t too slow for or not skilled-enough for international play.

Additionally, there are younger center backs like Shane O’Neill, Andrew Farrell, Amobi Okugo, Gale Agbossoumonde, and Caleb Stanko who are worthy of a look. Assuming John Anthony Brooks plays for the United States, which isn’t definite, he also has to be strongly considered as a front-runner for one of the four spots.

Therefore, at center back, the coaching staff of the USMNT has at least 12 players to look at without doing more extensive scouting of all of the other options.

When choosing four center backs, the final decision comes down to deciding which center backs have the defensive instincts and fundamentals combined with the technical ability and athleticism to realistically be able to compete at the international level.

Outside back is an area of some concern for the United States. Without any exploration of new players, the obvious starting point is to choose from Eric Lichaj, Jonathan Spector, Timothy Chandler, and Fabian Johnson, but then one has to strongly consider new players like Chris Klute, DeAndre Yedlin, and Andrew Farrell. Furthermore, Steve Cherundolo when healthy is still likely the best American outside back.

The United States has several quality defensive midfielders, and Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Geoff Cameron, and Maurice Edu are the first names that come to mind. There are additionally some MLS defensive midfielders like Perry Kitchen, Jared Jeffrey, and Jeremy Hall who need to be looked at.

Without even including Shane O’Neill and Caleb Stanko, who were listed above in the center back section, Jürgen Klinsmann has seven defensive midfielders to choose from for four spots.

Just looking at this list of defensive midfielders, Bradley, Jones, Cameron, and one other player are the obvious choices.

At the very least, Bradley, Jones, Cameron, and Edu are a good starting point unless Klinsmann is willing to pick one of the newer defensive midfielders instead of Edu.

Benji Joya falls in between the realm of the defensive midfielders and the attacking midfielders. Joya is somewhat more of an attacking midfielder than he is a defensive midfielder, even though he has stated that he is a holding midfielder. Joya has also stated that he can play a variety of positions. A young, complete midfielder like Joya is another name that deserves serious consideration for the USMNT because he can bring defensive coverage and excellent passing and attacking skills to the American midfield.

The decisions now are attacking decisions.

For a country that has a reputation for not having very technically-skilled players, the United States has more quality attacking midfielders than it has roster spots. Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan should be obvious choices, and then the team realistically needs to select two playmakers. The obvious group of playmakers to choose from includes Benny Feilhaber, Joe Benny Corona, Mix Diskerud, and Freddy Adu.

While contending that Corona and Diskerud should be the playmakers on the roster is a logical and good decision, both Feilhaber and Adu have demonstrated their ability to perform well against strong opponents in international play.

Choosing Feilhaber should be a much easier choice than it appears to be for Klinsmann because Feilhaber has an excellent track record at the international level, and his comfort on the ball, passing ability, set piece taking, and his excellent shooting skills are quite evident.

Nevertheless, Corona and Diskerud have recently shown their ability to bring strong playmaking qualities to the United States, but of all of the playmakers, Feilhaber has the most international experience and the most proven-ability on the international level.

Additionally, the USMNT has wingers like Brek Shea and Joe Gyau in the player pool who can bring speed and skill as well attacking strength out wide.

At striker, the United States actually has more than four capable and effective strikers. The player pool includes Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Terrence Boyd, Eddie Johnson, Herculez Gomez (injured), and the pool has newer strikers like Mario Rodriguez, José Villarreal, Alonso Hernandez, Gyasi Zardes, Teal Bunbury, Aron Jóhannsson, and Tony Taylor.  With the exception of Villarreal, those are all first strikers including Tony Taylor, but a roster normally has four forwards who are not always just first strikers.

The goal is to close the gap with the world’s best national teams, and Jürgen Klinsmann’s roster selections always contain way too many players that are solid at the club level but lacking that next level of skill and athleticism needed to do battle with elites and magicians.

The next step for Jürgen Klinsmann should be to at least call up all of his players with the most proven-ability at the international level, and he also needs to play them together. The starting line-up of proven-players would be something like this formation below:

Tim Howard; Jonathan Spector, Michael Orozco, Maurice Edu, Fabian Johnson; Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley; Landon Donovan, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey; Jozy Altidore.

On the other hand, if the USMNT was willing to use more inexperienced players in the defense to try and improve the level of play of the United States, then perhaps this line-up below would be a good place to start:

Howard; Yedlin, O’Neill, Farrell, Klute; Cameron, Bradley; Donovan, Feilhaber/Corona, Dempsey; Altidore.

 

USMNT: 23 for Brazil (August 2013)

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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.

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS (5): Freddy ADU, Joe Benny CORONA, Clint DEMPSEY, Mix DISKERUD, Benny FEILHABER.

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.

 

USMNT Starting XI Proposal (4-1-2-1-2): Howard; Yedlin, O’Neill, Farrell, Klute; Cameron; Bradley, Joya; Corona; Agudelo, Dempsey.

 

ROSTER ALTERNATES:

FORWARDS: Teal BUNBURY, Alonso HERNANDEZ, Eddie JOHNSON, Tony TAYLOR, José VILLARREAL.

MIDFIELDERS: Landon DONOVAN, Junior FLORES, Luis GIL, Joe GYAU, Jeremy HALL, Perry KITCHEN, Dax MCCARTY, Brek SHEA.

DEFENDERS: Matt BESLER, Omar GONZALEZ, Fabian JOHNSON, Eric LICHAJ, Michael PARKHURST, Jonathan SPECTOR, Caleb STANKO.

GOALKEEPERS: Cody CROPPER, Tally HALL, Bill HAMID, Clint IRWIN, Sean JOHNSON, Dan KENNEDY, Luis ROBLES.

 

 

U-20 World Cup: U.S. improves, ties France

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Daniel Cuevas (20) scored the equalizer and celebrates with Benji Joya (8). (Photo: Jamie McDonald/FIFA/FIFA/Getty Images)
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.

 

FIFA MATCH REPORT AND RECAP:

http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/matches/round=259235/match=300232815/report.html

 

U-20 World Cup: Tab Ramos Improves U.S. XI

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Tab Ramos made several line-up changes. (Photo: ISIphotos.com)
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.

 

U-20 World Cup: Without a midfield destroyer, the U.S. loses to Spain

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Spain's attackers were too much for the United States. (Photo: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
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.

 

The Best 50 American Soccer Players (June 2013)

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Clint Dempsey will be the best American soccer player for years to come. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Clint Dempsey will be the best American soccer player for years to come. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

 

The Best 50 American Soccer Players (June 2013 Edition)

 

World Soccer Source contends that the list of players included in “The ASN 100” produced by the excellent website, American Soccer Now, displays an unrealistic estimation of the skill-level of many of the players included on their list in comparison to the types of international competition that the United States Men’s National Team faces.

Valuing Major League Soccer statistics over the touch, technique, movement off the ball, athleticism, vision, and fundamentals of players in Major League Soccer or elsewhere can only tell one so much.

Once the United States faces better opponents, players without the technical qualities seen more in better soccer nations will be thoroughly outmatched on the field

American Soccer Now won’t rank players based on their technical ability and their ability to play high-level soccer against strong competition, as is the case with American Soccer Now’s high ranking of Graham Zusi compared to the visibly-superior Joe Corona, who is not only more skilled, but who performs well consistently against better Latin American competition.

While all of the players included on American Soccer Now’s list should be applauded as solid professionals, the overall make-up of ASN’s list places a low premium on technical ability and ranks many of the United States’ best players way too low.

For example, Freddy Adu was ranked 73rd by ASN in last month’s list after being signed by one of the two major Salvador, Brazil clubs, Bahia, in the Brasileirão.

In short, The ASN Top 100 and the people responsible for making it support the use of less-skilled players who don’t put the United States in a position to beat first and second-tier national teams.

 

*THE WORLD SOCCER SOURCE LIST IS NOT A LIST OF THE MOST SKILLED PLAYERS RANKED IN ORDER. THESE RANKINGS ARE BASED ON A COMBINATION OF FACTORS: SKILL, CLUB FORM, PROVEN INTERNATIONAL ABILITY, THE LEAGUE PLAYED IN, AND CURRENT INTERNATIONAL FORM.

 

Caveats:

-Every player, coach, fan, writer, commentator, analyst, etc has a different idea of what “best” means in terms of ranking soccer players.

-Some people want a player’s club or international form at the moment the rankings are done to be the most important factor.

-Other people believe the league played in is the most important indicator of a player’s skill and form.

-And, still other people contend that skill is the most important factor, with the obvious requirement that the player has actually demonstrated skill against real competition.

-Still others try to balance both skill, the league played in, and current form when evaluating players.

-This list attempts to balance skill, current form, and the league played in.

-World Soccer Source advocates actually calling up certain players to the national team over certain players who are ranked higher on this list. For instance, Hercúlez Gómez is ranked higher than both Mario Rodriguez and José Villarreal, but World Soccer Source believes the four USMNT strikers on the roster should be: Juan Agudelo, Terrence Boyd, Mario Rodríguez, and José Villarreal.

 

Zinedine Zidane had this to say about how to determine what “best” really meant:

 

 

 

The Best 50 American Soccer Players (June 2013)

 

1. Clint DEMPSEY (Tottenham)

2. Michael BRADLEY (Roma)

3. Landon DONOVAN (LA Galaxy)

4. Tim HOWARD (Everton)

5. Benny FEILHABER (Sporting Kansas City)

 

6. Jermaine JONES (Schalke)

7. Geoff CAMERON (Stoke City)

8. Fabian JOHNSON (Hoffenheim)

9. Joe CORONA (Tijuana)

10. Freddy ADU (Bahia)

 

11. Steve CHERUNDOLO (Hannover)

12. Juan AGUDELO (New England Revolution)

13. Terrence BOYD (Rapid Wien)

14. Jozy ALTIDORE (AZ Alkmaar)

15. Benji JOYA (Santos Laguna)

 

16. Hérculez GÓMEZ (Santos Laguna)

17. Brad GUZAN (Aston Villa)

18. Jonathan SPECTOR (Birmingham City)

19. Mix DISKERUD (Rosenborg)

20. Brek SHEA (Stoke City)

 

21.  Eric LICHAJ (Contract not renewed by Aston Villa)

22. Omar GONZALEZ (LA Galaxy)

23. Eddie JOHNSON (Seattle Sounders)

24. DeAndre YEDLIN (Seattle Sounders)

25. Edgar CASTILLO (Tijuana)

 

26. Perry KITCHEN (DC United)

27. Joe GYAU (St. Pauli on loan from Hoffenheim) 

28. Mario RODRIGUEZ (FC Kaiserslautern)

29. José VILLARREAL (LA Galaxy)

30. Stuart HOLDEN (Bolton)

 

31. Tony TAYLOR (Released by Estoril Praia)

32. Gale AGBOSSOUMONDE (Toronto FC)

33. Chris KLUTE (Colorado Rapids)

34. Teal BUNBURY (Sporting KC)

35. Kenny COOPER (FC Dallas)

 

36. Sacha KLJESTAN (Anderlecht)

37. George JOHN (FC Dallas) 

38. Andrew FARRELL (New England Revolution)

39. Alonso HERNANDEZ (Monterrey)

40. Daniel CUEVAS (Santos Laguna)

 

41. Shane O’NEILL (Colorado Rapids)

42. Kofi SARKODIE (Houston Dynamo)

43. Lee NGUYEN (New England Revolution)

44. Zach LOYD (FC Dallas)

45. Jeremy HALL (Toronto FC)

 

46. Lamar NEAGLE (Seattle Sounders)

 47. Caleb STANKO (Freiburg)

48. London WOODBERRY (FC Dallas)

49. Junior FLORES (Contracted by Borussia Dortmund)

50. Corey BAIRD 

Real Change for Klinsmann’s USMNT

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Freddy Adu (Source: Esporte Clube Bahia)
Freddy Adu (Source: Esporte Clube Bahia)

 

Real Change:

After seeing Jürgen Klinsmann add Brad Evans and Corey Ashe (both solid professionals) to the United States Men’s National Team roster, it would appear that there is something terribly wrong with how Jürgen Klinsmann and his assistants are selecting players for national team duty because there are certainly better players than Evans and Ashe available to the USMNT, not to mention the less than stellar roster selected in general.

At this point, Jürgen Klinsmann should poach all of the best players off the Under-20 World Cup roster and the U-23 Olympic qualifying roster and put them on the full United States Men’s National Team.

This would be real change.

Many of the USMNT regulars are excellent international-caliber players who the United States needs, but these top players like Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Geoff Cameron are surrounded by too many players who are well below their skill level.

The United States needs to surround many of its best regular starters with new or younger players, many of whom Klinsmann keeps with the U-23 and U-20 squads.

Americans want to see the United States play better and win, and Americans want the national team to be considered skilled by other countries.

Fielding players who can improve the level of the United States’ play is fairly easy to do, but there’s no guarantee that the changes will instantly or consistently produce victories.

This is how the United States can implement some meaningful changes, and every proposal is followed by a more conservative and already proven option:

-Start DeAndre Yedlin at right back because his combination of technical skill, speed, attacking qualities, and defensive qualities makes him a modern outside back. Yedlin will make mistakes. Accept it. Timothy Chandler makes mistakes too. At least play Jonathan Spector or Eric Lichaj at right back if Timothy Chandler and Steve Cherundolo are unavailable.

-Start Gale Agbossoumonde at center back with Geoff Cameron. Agbossoumonde will make mistakes. Cameron made a mistake in the World Cup qualifier against Honduras, but he’s still a talented and athletic center back and the best American center back. If the USMNT’s coaching staff isn’t ready to use Agbossoumonde, they should at least make sure that both Omar Gonzalez and Geoff Cameron are starting as the center backs instead of using Gonzalez and Matt Besler.

-Start Michael Bradley and Benji Joya as a line of two central midfielders with Joya having total freedom to go wherever he wants on the field. If this option is too bold for the USMNT, then start Stuart Holden next to Michael Bradley.

-Start Joe Corona, Freddy Adu, and Clint Dempsey as a line of three attacking midfielders in front of Michael Bradley and Benji Joya (with the understanding that Joya is not playing as a defensive midfielder). If the USMNT thinks Freddy Adu is still adjusting to playing in Brazil, then certainly a proven player like Benny Feilhaber deserves a start. Klinsmann should at least be willing to start him, especially since Bradley, four defenders, and a goalkeeper will be behind him.

-Start Juan Agudelo at striker now despite Jozy Altidore’s improved technical skill and record-breaking goal total for an American playing in Europe because Juan Agudelo is better and more aggressive than Jozy Altidore. Juan Agudelo will create more scoring chances and score more goals, and Agudelo will draw defenders toward him, which will free up space for other American players to move into. If the USMNT coaching staff thinks Altidore’s form dictates that he starts, then they should make sure to put creative midfielders behind him in the system outlined above.

-In addition to this starting line-up, the United States needs to fill the remaining roster spots with capable players who have the skill and athleticism to play international soccer now despite the elements in the American soccer community who want to see more experience before letting the newer players play.

-Andrew Farrell and Shane O’Neill should be the two back up center backs, or, at the very least; Omar Gonzalez and George John should be the back up center backs if the U.S. starts Agbossoumonde with Cameron.

-Kofi Sarkodie and Chris Klute should be the back-up right and left backs, respectively. If not, then Jonathan Spector and Eric Lichaj should be the back up outside backs, if Yedlin and Fabian Johnson are starting.

-Jermaine Jones and Perry Kitchen should be the additional defensive midfielders on the roster.

-The remaining midfield roster spot should be occupied by Benny Feilhaber.

-Finally, the other three striker spots on the roster should be given to Mario Rodriguez, Terrence Boyd, and José Villarreal.

Note: All of the changes proposed above by and large were followed by “safer” and more conservative options for the USMNT. Even if the bolder options are just that, too bold, then the proven USMNT internationals should be used as opposed to Klinsmann makeshift rosters and starting line-ups.

Embrace and accept risks and know that the U.S. has other quality player options besides those proposed above:

Americans and non-Americans alike can debate about which players should be on the roster, and many of the players above could be replaced by other players who are also worthy of roster spots. The United States’ talent pool now exceeds the amount of roster spots available.

For instance, Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore, Omar Gonzalez, George John, Eddie Johnson, Herculez Gomez, Jonathan Spector, Steve Cherundolo, Brek Shea, Mix Diskerud, Joe Gyau, and Caleb Stanko all deserve roster spots.

Even players like Junior Flores and Corey Baird should be players the USMNT’s coaching staff is considering to call into a full national team camp just for the purpose of seeing how far along they are in their development.

Some coach of the United States is going to have to be willing to make the types of changes and bold decisions outlined in the previous section and let the United States play the world’s best national teams straight up.

Merely surviving against top national teams isn’t progress, and nobody around the world cares if the United States runs a lot and just plays good team defense.

Other national team coaches will be impressed with the teamwork and heart, but these same coaches will still see the U.S. is missing the elements to consistently win against top national teams.

Bold decisions aren’t new to the USMNT. Bruce Arena started 20 year olds in the 2002 World Cup.

The United States might lose when it plays new or younger players, but the United States has been barely tying teams or winning under Klinsmann.

With changes, at least the United States will play better and be in the position to win.

People will respect a United States Men’s National Team like the one proposed above, and a team like the one proposed above can win.

The United States already doesn’t beat the world’s best national teams when the other teams are fielding their full strength national teams because Clint Dempsey doesn’t have enough attacking support, and Michael Bradley doesn’t have enough support in the midfield to establish good passing combination play with his teammates.

Tim Howard, Geoff Cameron, Michael Bradley, and Clint Dempsey deserve to have technically-skilled and athletic teammates, even if the new additions are inexperienced in international soccer.

Using a squad like the one proposed above is no different than Bruce Arena starting Landon Donovan against Portugal in the 2002 World Cup, and it’s no different than Bruce Arena starting Clint Dempsey against Italy in the 2006 World Cup because Dempsey had never faced competition like Italy before.

Bruce Arena didn’t start Clint Dempsey in the first game of the 2006 World Cup against the Czech Republic, and the United States was thoroughly dominated.

Players will make mistakes, and there’s no way for a club or national soccer team to eliminate the possibility of mistakes being made by its players, even if world-class and experienced players are used.

Elite and world-class players make mistakes too, some times, big mistakes.

Proposed 23-Man USMNT Roster: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Luis Robles; Geoff Cameron, Gale Agbossoumonde, Andrew Farrell, Shane O’Neill; DeAndre Yedlin, Kofi Sarkodie, Fabian Johnson, Chris Klute; Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Perry Kitchen; Clint Dempsey, Joe Corona, Benji Joya, Benny Feilhaber, Freddy Adu; Juan Agudelo, Terrence Boyd, Mario Rodríguez, José Villarreal.

 

Proposed Starting XI: Tim Howard; DeAndre Yedlin, Gale Agbossoumonde, Geoff Cameron, Fabian Johnson; Michael Bradley, Benji Joya; Joe Corona, Freddy Adu, Clint Dempsey; Juan Agudelo.

 

A 23-Man USMNT Roster For Proactive Soccer

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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:

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USMNT: The Best 40 American Soccer Players (May 2013)

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© Colin Reese

Freddy Adu (Source: Esporte Clube Bahia)
Freddy Adu (Source: Esporte Clube Bahia)

 

 USMNT: The Best 40 American Soccer Players (May 2013)

*This list is a counter argument to the ASN Top 100 put out by the website, American Soccer Now, on a monthly basis, except for April. The next ASN Top 100 comes out in May.

*Jürgen Klinsmann doesn’t use many of these players on the USMNT, and that has caused some less than stellar USMNT performances.

 

1. Clint DEMPSEY (Tottenham)

2. Michael BRADLEY (Roma)

3. Landon DONOVAN (LA Galaxy)

4. Freddy ADU (E.C. Bahia)

5. Benny FEILHABER (Sporting Kansas City)

 

6. Joe CORONA (Tijuana)

7. Mix DISKERUD (Rosenborg)

8. Juan AGUDELO (Chivas USA)

9. Terrence BOYD (Rapid Wien)

10. Geoff CAMERON (Stoke City)

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23 players for the USMNT Gold Cup roster

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Reasoning Behing the Roster Proposal:

Who knows which players Jürgen Klinsmann will put on the Gold Cup roster for the United States Men’s National Team?

Maybe, the roster will include some of the best players the United States has, or maybe none of the European-based players will be there.

Maybe MLS players who are vital to their teams’ success will be passed over for players from the national team youth ranks.

Will Freddy Adu be dragged up from Brazil or won’t he? Does Klinsmann even want Adu on the team for the Gold Cup?

Who knows?

Will Benny Feilhaber and Joe Corona play a bigger role in World Cup qualifying and thus be passed over for Gold Cup duty?

Who knows?

There is a gap between what Klinsmann says he will do and what he actually does. Trying to really predict what he will do is next to impossible.

Below is one person’s opinion of a 23-man roster of mostly non-European-based players with the skill and physical gifts to play high-quality, attractive, and effective soccer that leads to victories:

Goalkeepers:

Sean JOHNSON

Bill HAMID

Cody CROPPER

 

Center Backs: 

Gale AGBOSSOUMONDE

Andrew FARRELL

Caleb STANKO

George JOHN

 

Outside Backs:

Jonathan SPECTOR

Eric LICHAJ

Chris KLUTE

Kofi SARKODIE

*POSSIBLE OPTION: DeAndre Yedlin

 

Defensive and Box-to-Box Midfielders:

Perry KITCHEN

Amobi OKUGO

Dax MCCARTY

Benji JOYA

 

Attacking Midfielders 

Benny FEILHABER

Joe CORONA

Freddy ADU

Joe GYAU

 

Strikers: 

Juan AGUDELO

Terrence BOYD

Mario RODRIGUEZ

Tony TAYLOR