United States Men’s National Team

How to Make the USMNT Truly Competitive

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Clint Dempsey. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Clint Dempsey. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

 

It’s no secret that players such as Neymar, Lionel Messi, Mario Balotelli, Andres Iniesta, Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Philipp Lahm, David Luiz, Paulinho, Thomas Müller, Ramires, and Arturo Vidal are going to be the types of players that the United States Men’s National Team will have to compete against in the 2014 World Cup.

With this in mind, Jürgen Klinsmann needs to only select players for the United States’ World Cup roster who have the tools needed to be competitive against players of that level.

For the most part, Klinsmann has been using many of the players who can play at the necessary level at the 2014 World Cup, but he hasn’t been starting them together. For example, Klinsmann has recently been using Mix Diskerud more and more as a playmaker, which was a needed shakeup to his line-ups, but due to some recent injuries, he hasn’t started Diskerud with Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore yet.

Since Klinsmann is finally beginning to trust a playmaker like Diskerud more, the following Front Six would be the first step in closing the gap with top national teams: 

Jones, Bradley; Donovan, Diskerud, Dempsey; Altidore.

While Klinsmann has plenty of time to also use Joe Corona in the central attacking midfielder role, starting the Front Six listed above offers the USMNT two defensive midfielders who have the skill, athleticism, and pedigree to break up the possession of the opposition and play a major role in facility quality passing and ball movement from the back of the midfield.

Furthermore, using Donovan and Dempsey out wide where they have the freedom to roam around where they see fit allows a playmaker like Diskerud quality attacking players with whom he can combine and to whom he can look to play final balls.

Given Jozy Altidore’s improved technical ability, scoring ability, and overall movement off the ball over time, the United States has a real weapon at the first striker position that can not only score but also draw defenders away from Donovan and Dempsey. With Diskerud deployed as a playmaker, the United States has a more potent attack that has four players who can cause problems for even elite national teams.

The United States still isn’t as good as Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the like, but a Front Six made up of Jones, Bradley, Donovan, Diskerud, Dempsey, and Altidore is a balanced and talented Front Six that no national team would dismiss lightly.

For the time being, that Front Six is at the very least a legitimate group of players who are all capable of playing one-to-two touch soccer against first and second tier national teams. The next thing to consider is the American Back Four.

While Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler have done well in World Cup qualifying, one has to be realistic and concede that center backs like Geoff Cameron and John Anthony Brooks are more equipped to deal with better attackers. Cameron and Brooks give the USMNT a center back pairing where both center backs are not only quick, tall, and strong but both are also technical players who have the defensive instincts and fundamentals to fair better against World Cup attackers.

Brooks is a 20 year old starting Bundesliga center back who has been named to the Bundesliga Team of the Week multiple times, and Cameron is a smooth and graceful player with the technical ability of a midfielder who also brings aggressive and elegant defending.

Besler and Gonzalez are certainly talented center backs, but Cameron and Brooks are not only good defenders but they are soccer players who are quite frankly much closer to Bradley, Jones, Donovan, Diskerud, Dempsey, and Altidore in terms of skill-level.

If the goal is to field 10 field players who are all comfortable with the ball at their feet, then Cameron and Brooks bring this along with their defensive skills to the center of the USMNT’s defense.

The final step to fielding a strong Starting XI is to swap out Brad Evans and DaMarcus Beasley with DeAndre Yedlin and Chris Klute. After almost an entire Major League Soccer season, it’s quite clear that the skill, speed, and defending that Yedlin and Klute are displaying as right and left backs are the types of qualities that the United States will need in the World Cup.

Yedlin used to be thought of as more of an attacking threat than as a quality defender, but over time the quality of his defending has begun to match the quality of his passing and dribbling out of the back. Recently, his defending against the LA Galaxy showed how much he had improved his ability to tackle, dispossess, and mark fast, quick, and skilled attackers.

Klinsmann needs to accept the need for Yedlin or Farrell at right back with Klute as a left back as a change that needs to be made to field a Starting XI where all 10 field players not only excel at their natural positions but where all 10 aren’t weak links from a technical standpoint.

Beating top teams and going deep in the 2014 World Cup will require fielding a Starting XI where all of the players are capable of passing the ball well and not turning over possession too often.

Brazil and company will be better than the United States, but starting Howard, Yedlin or Farrell, Cameron, Brooks, Klute, Jones, Bradley, Donovan, Diskerud, Dempsey, and Altidore is an upgrade in skill and athletic ability to the line-ups that Klinsmann has been fielding, and none of these players are players who haven’t seen heavy minutes at the club level and proven that they have the tools and gifts needed to perform at the international level.

In addition to the starters just listed, the United States will also need 12 substitutes who are able to compete against top competition as well, and this will require selecting several skilled players who didn’t play a major role or any role in World Cup qualifying such as Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, Shane O’Neill, Andrew Farrell, Benji Joya, Juan Agudelo, Aron Jóhannsson, and Terrence Boyd.

The need for all of these players is just a reality that American soccer fans and the American soccer media will have to accept, but more importantly, Jürgen Klinsmann will have to accept it and learn to listen to Tab Ramos’ recommendations more.

 

USMNT: 23 For Brazil (November 2013)

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Clint Dempsey (left) and Jozy Altidore (right). (Photo: AP)
Clint Dempsey (left) and Jozy Altidore (right). (Photo: AP)

 

As with other United States Men’s National Team roster proposals for the World Cup that this writer has made, this month’s addition of “USMNT: 23 For Brazil” is based on using newer and more talented American players as opposed to many of Jürgen Klinsmann’s preferences.

The United States qualified for the 2014 World Cup in first place in CONCACAF under Klinsmann’s watch, but many of the American players used to qualify out of CONCACAF have shown difficulty in keeping up with the speed of play against better national teams from outside of CONCACAF, whereas players like Benji Joya and Shane O’Neill have faced off against Paul Pogba in the U-20 World Cup and done very well.

This writer considers the play of those two players against France and others as proof of an ability to excel against higher-caliber international competition. The USMNT and Klinsmann received a lot of praise for the performance of the United States in World Cup qualifying, but the quality of play on display still falls well below the general quality of play that will be present during the World Cup, which will showcase teams who play quick-passing soccer characterized by advanced technical-ability and excellent athleticism.

Therefore, World Soccer Source disagrees with the general consensus of the American soccer media that Klinsmann is using his best players and fielding the players who can play high-quality soccer that’s good enough to defeat first and second tier national teams in the 2014 World Cup.

Many of the players on World Soccer Source’s list are considered inexperienced and unproven by many American soccer writers, pundits, and fans, but the United States will need the players with the tools to compete against World Cup competition, even if many of these players are inexperienced.

Below is World Soccer Source’s USMNT World Cup roster proposal as of November 2013:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Tim HOWARD (Everton), Brad GUZAN (Aston Villa), Nick RIMANDO (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (7): John Anthony BROOKS (Hertha Berlin), Shane O’NEILL (Colorado Rapids), Gale AGBOSSOUMONDE (Toronto FC), Andrew FARRELL (New England Revolution), Chris KLUTE (Colorado Rapids), DeAndre YEDLIN (Seattle Sounders), Kellyn ACOSTA (FC Dallas)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Michael BRADLEY (Roma), Geoff CAMERON (Stoke City)*, Jermaine JONES (Schalke), Benji JOYA (Santos Laguna), Clint DEMPSEY (Seattle Sounders), Benny FEILHABER (Sporting Kansas City), Joe CORONA (Tijuana), Mix DISKERUD (Rosenborg), Freddy ADU (E.C. Bahia)

STRIKERS (4): Jozy ALTIDORE (Sunderland), Aron JÓHANNSSON (AZ Alkmaar), Juan AGUDELO (New England Revolution/Stoke City), Terrence BOYD (Rapid Wien)

Roster Rationale and Notes:

-Despite the abundance of young and internationally-inexperienced players that give the impression of an experimental and unproven roster, this roster contains the core group of American players who are the backbone of the United States Men’s National Team plus new proven players: Tim Howard, Geoff Cameron, John Anthony Brooks, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, and Aron Jóhannsson.

-This roster also contains Benny Feilhaber, an under 30 and proven World Cup and Confederations Cup playmaker.

-With this group of players, Jürgen Klinsmann could start Howard, Cameron, Brooks, Bradley, Jones, Dempsey, Feilhaber, Altidore, and Jóhannsson, which leaves only the outside back spots as positions with internationally inexperienced starters.

-Given Klinsmann’s reliance on Brad Evans and DaMarcus Beasley as his outside backs, using two new, talented, and athletic outside backs is a necessary risk, if one wishes to call it that. Evans and Beasley have done well in World Cup qualifying, but this writer questions the prudence of banking on Evans and Beasley to either have the speed in Evans’ case or the defensive tools to mark the types of attackers who will be playing in the World Cup.

-Shane O’Neill, Geoff Cameron, and Andrew Farrell can all play as center backs, outside backs, or as defensive midfielders, so while this roster only has seven players listed as defenders, Geoff Cameron is a center back or defensive midfielder who is listed as a midfielder on this roster.

-Chris Klute, DeAndre Yedlin, Kellyn Acosta, and Andrew Farrell can play both right back and left back, which gives the United States Men’s National Team four outside backs who can play on either side of the defense.

-Benji Joya gives the United States a complete midfielder who offers excellent creativity, passing ability, and technical play with better defense than Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber, Mix Diskerud, Joe Corona, and Freddy Adu can provide. Michael Bradley is often called a box-to-box midfielder, but Joya brings a stronger attacking element than Bradley provides, which allows Bradley to play his natural position deeper in the midfield.

-Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud, and Freddy Adu give the roster attacking midfielders who are also true playmakers, and all four players can play in the center, out right, or out left as attacking midfielders.

-Gale Agbossoumonde has seen less playing time in MLS this season than Shane O’Neill, but Agbossoumonde is another center back who brings quality tackling and 1v1 marking, size, strength, speed, agility, good positional sense, calmness on the ball, and smooth technical ability to the center of the defense. Agbossoumonde is inexperienced at the international level, but the United States needs him on the roster for the World Cup. Is it risky? Maybe, but so is using Omar Gonzalez, Clarence Goodson, and Matt Besler against elite attackers.

-This writer made including Freddy Adu on the roster a priority due to Adu’s ability to break down opposing defenses and put opposing players on their heels. Adu is a very skilled playmaker that the United States would be wise to include on its roster if only for the sole purpose of having a game-changer if a must-win game was looking like defeat was inevitable. One pass or one play could be the difference between being knocked out of the World Cup or living to fight another day.

-The roster contains an appropriate balance of all of the types of players needed on a World Cup roster, and several of them play more than one position. A close examination of the roster will show that every position is several players deep.

–With this group of players, Klinsmann could start the following Starting XI in the first game of the 2014 World Cup:

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

 

Four USMNT Strikers For the World Cup

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

Jürgen Klinsmann and the United States Men’s National Team have four complete first strikers going into the 2014 World Cup.

Jozy Altidore is the number one striker option right now, but Aron Jóhannsson is equally as skilled from a technical standpoint, if not more so. Additionally, Juan Agudelo and Terrence Boyd are very technically-gifted, fast, tall, and aggressive first strikers who are ready to face high-caliber international competition at the World Cup.

While Eddie Johnson and Herculez Gomez are quality options who are also international-quality strikers, Altidore, Jóhannsson, Agudelo, and Boyd are the best four American first strikers according to World Soccer Source.

The competition at the World Cup is daunting. Teams like Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, France (if they qualify), and others are stocked full of world-class players, but the United States can take comfort in the fact that Altidore, Jóhannsson, Agudelo, and Boyd are capable first strikers who can score on elite national teams. Every one of those American strikers is technically-advanced and fast, and every one stands above 6 feet.

The Best USMNT XI has yet to be determined, but taking the four strikers listed above to the World Cup gives the United States the firepower to score, if those strikers receive quality service and final balls.

Four USMNT Strikers for the 2o14 World Cup in Brazil:

Jozy ALTIDORE (Sunderland)

Jozy Altidore is a beast of a first striker who has cultivated a more polished set of technical skills inside of a strong, tall, and athletic physique. Altidore brings two-footed skill, size, speed, and a growing ability to do real damage against better opponents.

Aron JÓHANNSSON (AZ Alkmaar)

Aron Jóhannsson is a textbook for footwork, touch, ball striking techniques, finishing, and movement off the ball. Quick, fast, and aggressive in his pursuit of the back of the net, Jóhannsson is a clinical striker who plays with elegance and imagination.

Juan AGUDELO (New England Revolution/Stoke City)

Of all the American strikers, Juan Agudelo is the most inventive risk taker who doesn’t hesitate to attempt to outfox and best defenders and goalkeepers. The United States cannot leave a striker with his invention and technical ability off the World Cup roster, especially given the fact that he also brings excellent speed and strength inside of a 6’2” frame. Agudelo is known for his creativity and refined technical-ability, but Agudelo is a big and athletic striker who will make World Cup defenders expend a ton of energy containing and marking him. Agudelo is a gifted goal-scorer who doesn’t need any extra motivation to aggressively attack the goal with skill, and Agudelo looks to create space for himself to score, which helps to open up games that have stalemated.

Terrence BOYD (Rapid Wien)

Of all the American strikers, Terrence Boyd is the most aggressive of the bunch, and he plays with no respect for his opponents. Agudelo and Jóhannsson may or may not be more technically-skilled than Boyd, but Boyd is a very technically-skilled striker who is the tallest and fastest of the bunch. Boyd plays with real fire, and the United States will need a complete striker like Boyd if it wants to have strikers who can really compete against top national teams and score on them. Boyd has everything: skill with both feet and his head, good finishing, speed, quickness, a tall frame, and excellent movement off the ball.

Outlook:

When the 2014 World Cup rolls around, Jürgen Klinsmann and the USMNT would be wise to put Altidore, Jóhannsson, Agudelo, and Boyd on the roster as the four strikers. Other names have been tossed around in the American media as the best American strikers, but all four of the strikers listed above are complete strikers who can score against even the best national teams. While none of these strikers is an unstoppable goal machine, each of them is unfazed by elite defenders for the most part.

Other American Strikers to Watch:

Mario RODRIGUEZ

Herculez GOMEZ

Eddie JOHNSON

Gyasi ZARDES

José VILLARREAL (second striker)

Alonso HERNANDEZ (second striker or attacking midfielder)

 

The USMNT Has Outside Back Options

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Chris Klute (right) might be the best American left back. (Photo: Eamon Queeny / The Columbus Dispatch)
Chris Klute (right) might be the best American left back. (Photo: Eamon Queeny / The Columbus Dispatch)

 

The United States Men’s National Team and Jürgen Klinsmann have plenty of outside back options available to them with the 2014 World Cup coming up next summer.

Due to the fact that Jonathan Spector and Eric Lichaj are proven-performers at the international level and the club level in England, it remains a mystery why Klinsmann has insisted on stubbornly declaring that Brad Evans and DaMarcus Beasley are his best right back and left back options respectively, especially since both players are less-proven and playing out of position.

There’s a widespread belief that both players have done well against CONCACAF competition and deserve recognition for holding their own at positions that neither player are naturally suited to play, but there is also widespread concern that Klinsmann is leaving the United States’ defense vulnerable out wide.

Any realistic examination of the types of attackers that the United States will face in the 2014 World Cup reveals the real danger of starting two players at outside back who are not really outside backs.

Klinsmann has a wealth of options at outside back, and many of his best options are players who are experienced outside backs with international experience. Additionally, there is the issue of the group of new MLS players who have demonstrated that they have the tools to be international-caliber outside backs.

The real mystery is why Klinsmann feels that using Evans and Beasley out of position is a better option than starting professional outside backs.

The coach of the United States Men’s National Team has been refusing to use outside backs that are paid to play the position at the club level for a living.

Even excluding new MLS outside backs like Chris Klute, DeAndre Yedlin, and Andrew Farrell, who are actually professional outside backs, Klinsmann has decided that both Jonathan Spector and Eric Lichaj don’t deserve any call ups to the national team, despite the fact that both players have a documented history of performing well for the United States and a wealth of experience in the English Premier League.

Klinsmann’s outside back selections have been a topic of discussion and debate for a long time now, and even if Klinsmann wants to start Evans and Beasley, there is no explanation for not putting Spector and Lichaj on the roster to fill the other two outside back roster spots.

Anyway that one chooses to look at this coaching situation, there is no way to counter the argument that Klinsmann has not put four natural outside backs on his rosters.

While Klinsmann can support the argument that Chris Klute, DeAndre Yedlin, Andrew Farrell, and Kofi Sarkodie are inexperienced at the international level, he can’t support his stance that Spector and Lichaj are somehow less qualified to start as the outside backs than Evans and Beasley.

Spector in particular has performed well against Spain, Brazil, and a whole list of other top national teams, and Spector is under 30 years old. Lichaj too has performed well for the United States, even if he doesn’t have the same experience against elite national teams.

If Klinsmann views Fabian Johnson as more of a winger now as opposed to an outside back, Timothy Chandler, Fabian Johnson, Eric Lichaj, and Jonathan Spector are still all professional outside backs who have proven that they have the speed and skill along with the defensive skills to be the United States’ outside backs.

The track record of Spector, Johnson, Chandler, and Lichaj along with Klinsmann’s insistence on not making them his four outside backs really calls into question Klinsmann’s decision-making.

Consistently calling up the outside backs listed above was really only the first step that Klinsmann had to make in selecting his outside backs because he also needed to use some of the friendlies over the last few months to get a good look at the new outside backs like Klute, Yedlin, and Farrell.

At this point, there is no real evidence that Brad Evans and DaMarcus Beasley are more equipped to deal with better attackers than Spector, Lichaj, Chandler, Johnson, Klute, Yedlin, and Farrell because Evans and Beasley have only held their own against fairly weak competition.

Klute, Yedlin, and Farrell may be inexperienced but each of them has the technical and defensive skills along with the athleticism to stand a better chance of performing against the better competition in the World Cup. All three outside backs are skilled on the ball with both feet and extremely fast, and Klute and Farrell in particular have demonstrated very good defensive fundamentals and instincts.

Given the amount of playing time that Klute, Yedlin, and Farrell have seen as well as the quality of their performances for an entire season, all three of these outside backs have earned the chance to prove that they can outplay Evans and Beasley as outside backs.

Despite the fact that Chandler has cast doubts on how interested he is in really playing for the United States, certainly Spector, Lichaj, and Johnson should have all been a fixture on the U.S. rosters over the last two years.

Without a lot of games before next summer’s World Cup, there is a real possibility that Klinsmann will simply insist on freezing Spector, Lichaj, Klute, Yedlin, Farrell, and Sarkodie out of the United States Men’s National Team.

If this is the case, then the United States may very well not even put proven-players like Spector and Lichaj on the World Cup roster as outside back options, which essentially means that Klinsmann will be banking on using make-shift substitutes should his already make-shift outside backs be injured or suspended.

Klinsmann’s roster selections at outside back have been a problem, and from an American perspective, player selection at outside back is a major cause for concern going into the 2014 World Cup.

 

Player Profile: Mix Diskerud, American Playmaker

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Mix Diskerud. (Photo: Reuters)
Mix Diskerud. (Photo: Reuters)

Mix Diskerud is a creative attacking midfielder and true playmaker who has oddly been described as some sort of box-to-box midfielder like Michael Bradley who forms the more attacking half of a two-man defensive midfield.

Even Michael Bradley is a defensive midfielder who uses his ability to run tirelessly to showcase his excellent technical ability and defending, but Bradley is still a defensive midfielder.

Diskerud, on the other hand, is a playmaker who has a different skill-set and playing style than Bradley, but some in the American soccer media and some in the American fan base continue to view Diskerud as a sort of box-to-box midfielder who should be used as a defensive midfield partner for a midfield destroyer.

Starting line-ups should be based on building the formation around the best players at the coach’s disposal, as opposed to just forcing a player like Diskerud to slot into a role that Bradley played. A different roster requires changes to be made to the Starting XI and sometimes to the formation used.

Diskerud is best used as a central attacking midfielder playing directly behind one or two strikers where he can use his vision, his technical ability, and his passing to set up goals and orchestrate the attack. As a playmaker, he is certainly capable of scoring, but using Diskerud like Brazil uses Paulinho or Ramires is really forcing a square peg into a round hole.

While Bradley’s running and his technical ability certainly make using him as a box-to-box midfielder possible, Diskerud doesn’t bring the same amount of recovery defense and strong tackling that Bradley brings.

Wherever Diskerud is lining up on paper, his playing style and strength is as a creative midfielder who helps to facilitate smooth passing in the midfield and who constantly looks to set up goals. He has a strong track record of performing well for the United States, and he has a tendency to improve the passing and attacking threat of the United States, which was most recently seen in the United States’ win over Mexico in World Cup qualifying.

As the coach of the United States Men’s National Team, Jürgen Klinsmann should be starting Diskerud as a playmaker, especially if Diskerud is the only playmaker called up to a given roster.

Some United States rosters include Joe Corona and Mix Diskerud, but if Klinsmann is calling up only one or the other than whichever one is called up needs to start.

Diskerud has demonstrated whenever he plays for the USMNT that he provides a level of creativity and passing ability that Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Landon Donovan don’t have. All of those players are excellent technically, but none of them has the same vision or ability to play final balls.

If Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, Altidore, and Jóhannsson are likely starters for the United States, then Diskerud needs to be deployed as a playmaker whenever he is on the roster, unless Klinsmann elects to use a different playmaker.

As a player, Diskerud isn’t some sort of substitute for Bradley, but rather he is a playmaker who brings a different skill-set to the national team and whose game is built around creative one-to-two touch passing that unlocks defenses. Diskerud also poses more of a scoring threat than Bradley, which makes it important to play him in a more advanced role.

Diskerud is one of the only international-caliber American playmakers in the player pool along with the likes of Benny Feilhaber, Joe Benny Corona, Freddy Adu, and Benji Joya, and if Diskerud is the only one on any given roster, then a Front Six made up of Bradley, Donovan, Diskerud, Dempsey, Altidore, and Jóhannsson would be the best way to effectively use Diskerud to bring out the most in the other players listed in the Front Six.

 

American Soccer Must Embrace Change

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Kevin-Prince Boateng celebrates after scoring on the United States in the 2010 World Cup. (Photo: AP Photo)
Kevin-Prince Boateng celebrates after scoring on the United States in the 2010 World Cup. (Photo: AP Photo)

 

Some American soccer fans need to embrace the concept of change for the sake of improvement because this collective mentality puts pressure on The United States Soccer Federation, The United States Men’s National Team, Jürgen Klinsmann, and Major League Soccer to have higher standards.

There’s no denying the growth of soccer in the United States or the increase in talented American players, but The United States Soccer Federation is going overboard with its level of celebration and almost propaganda during World Cup qualifying.

One thing in particular that was disconcerting was the shirt that Jürgen Klinsmann was wearing that had “Qualified” written across the front of it after the U.S. qualified for the World Cup.

While the players, fans, and coaches celebration after the United States had qualified for the World Cup was understandable and definitely appropriate, that t-shirt was Jürgen Klinsmann essentially going overboard with his bragging about the United States qualifying for the World Cup in the weakest soccer region in the world.

Celebration and congratulations were in order, but Klinsmann’s publicity stunts like the “Qualified” t-shirt, the fist pumps after beating weak teams, and walking down to the field before the 2013 Gold Cup Final was over look slightly ridiculous when he has so much work to do in order to strengthen the United States Men’s National Team at several positions to close the gap with better national teams.

The coach of the United States has continued to refuse to address or correct the issues with the weaknesses at the outside back positions and the failure to incorporate a playmaker to balance out his two-man defensive midfield.

He has also not evaluated enough center backs to really know who the best American center backs are. There are some real concerns with the ability of Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, and Clarence Goodson to handle better attackers.

When the United States beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, John Anthony Brooks and Geoff Cameron were starting at center back, so there’s no way to know how Gonzalez and Besler would have done.

The counter-argument to this is of course that the U.S. beat Germany’s B Team when Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez were starting, but anyone watching that game could see that Germany was clearly not trying very hard until the U.S. went up 4-1, at which time Germany quickly scored two goals in a matter of minutes without any difficulty.

The problems with the United States Men’s National Team are not with the player pool, but U.S. Soccer and American soccer fans need to acknowledge that the sort of line-ups that Klinsmann uses and the lack of balance and/or talent in his rosters in certain areas will be a major problem in the 2014 World Cup.

It is a time to celebrate the growth of American soccer and the influx of young and talented players, but the rosters and line-ups that Klinsmann has been using will not get the job done in Brazil against top national teams.

Klinsmann himself has said that the 23-man roster that he uses in the World Cup will look different than the 23-man roster than he is currently using, but he has also shown a tendency to not really mean what he says.

Now is the time for Klinsmann to incorporate the new players that are needed to bolster the roster, and even if he doesn’t start them in the final two World Cup qualifiers, then he still needs to have them among the 12 non-starters on the roster.

The recent snubbing of Chris Klute and Shane O’Neill from MLS’ 24 Under 24 rankings, the ranking of Juan Agudelo way down at the sixth position on the list, or the ranking of José Villarreal at 11th show that even many of the employees of MLS are not adept at judging talent, and this recent list demonstrates a larger problem with the inability of some Americans to recognize talent and to recognize the need to support players with a level of skill that is closer to the skill-level of other national teams, in order to beat the better national teams.

On the bright side, the United States is really close to closing the gap with better national teams with the exception of teams like Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, etc, but changes will have to be made to get closer to those teams.

With roughly one year until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, there is plenty of time to season better players and strengthen weaknesses.

 

Depth Chart: USMNT Attacking Midfielders

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Clint Dempsey (8). (Photo: ISIPhotos.com)
Clint Dempsey (8). (Photo: ISIPhotos.com)

 

All playmakers are attacking midfielders, but not all attacking midfielders are playmakers.

For this reason, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan were not listed in World Soccer Source’s article entitled “Depth Chart: USMNT Playmakers.”

Playmakers are rare, and the best two American soccer players, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, are not playmakers. Attacking midfielders can be playmakers, wingers, or players like Neymar who has no clear positional name. Frequently the very best players in the world are hard to classify with a single positional name.

 

USMNT Depth Chart: Attacking Midfielders

 

1.) Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders)

Many journalists and fans consider Landon Donovan to be better than Clint Dempsey and the best American soccer player ever, but World Soccer Source disputes this. Clint Dempsey has shown a level of technical-ability, trickery, killer instinct, physical and mental toughness, and a competitive spirit above those of Landon Donovan.

Some people think Clint Dempsey is better, and some people think Landon Donovan is better. The most important thing is that both players can start together on either side of a playmaker and work together to win.

Clint Dempsey scored goals on a consistent basis in the English Premier League for seven years, and Landon Donovan has played basically his entire career in MLS. Dempsey outplayed Donovan in the 2006 World Cup and in the 2010 World Cup where Donovan scored one goal thanks to a tap in off a rebound, which Dempsey forced, and Donovan scored a penalty kick and one ruthless point blank head shot, which was his one notable goal from the 2006 and the 2010 World Cups.

The Texan is a more technically-skilled player than Donovan, and Dempsey shows a greater ability to disrupt the defensive cohesion of top national teams.

If you were to compile the individual highlights and goals of both players, Dempsey’s would be much more impressive. But more important than the highlights or the trickery, is the combination of fire, skill, toughness, and irreverence that Dempsey brings to all of his games.

Whereas Donovan sometimes puts on a disappearing act in games, Dempsey shows absolutely no respect for his adversaries, and this makes him more of a threat and more of a cold-blooded assassin against elite national teams.

The USMNT needs both Donovan and Dempsey playing together and combining with one another, but this writer views Clint Dempsey as the better player with a better track record against higher-level competition on the club and international level.

Dempsey’s left-footed upper 90 wonder strike scored against Germany in a friendly after losing Lukas Podolski with a Cruyff turn, his chipped golazo against Juventus (without Gigi Buffon playing), and his goal scored against Gigi Buffon in a friendly against Italy in 2012 are just a view examples of the Clint Dempsey Supremacy over Landon Donovan.

 

 

2.) Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)

Landon Donovan is without question the very first American soccer player who was born and raised in the United States who demonstrated an enormous boost in the skill-level of American soccer players.

Donovan excels at using his speed and both feet to beat defenders off the dribble and play one-to-two touch passing. Donovan is the all-time goal-scoring leader and assist leader for the USMNT, but he enjoyed a four year head start on Clint Dempsey who was playing in obscurity, despite being just one year younger.

For this writer, Donovan has never shown the same technical-ability and big-game mentality as Clint Dempsey, but no one can deny Donovan’s achievements or abilities.

It’s a shame that Donovan didn’t elect to make more of an attempt to play his club soccer in Europe, as opposed to playing in MLS. People can say that he helped developed the league, but that wasn’t his responsibility. Playing in Europe for 10 years would have made Donovan an even better player than he is today.

Despite all of this, Donovan and Dempsey aren’t mutually exclusive, and they shouldn’t be competitors on the national team, as the Unites States needs both of them starting.

As the poster child for American soccer, there can be no doubting that Landon Donovan’s four year head start caused Clint Dempsey to be unjustly underrated and underappreciated by American soccer fans who worshipped Landon Donovan for being the first world-class American soccer player.

 

3.) Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City)

Benny Feilhaber was heavily discussed in the article entitled “Depth Chart: USMNT Playmakers,” but nevertheless Feilhaber has been the attacking midfielder other than Dempsey and Donovan who demonstrated the greatest ability to play one-to-two touch soccer against top national teams, and he still is one of the most technically-skilled American soccer players.

Whenever you see highlights of the United States performing its best against the best national teams since 2007, you will see Benny Feilhaber who proved to be a needed midfield piece to Bob Bradley’s midfields which almost always started two defensive midfielders in the middle with Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey out wide.

There’s nothing to suggest that Benny Feilhaber’s abilities and athleticism have dropped over the last few years under Klinsmann’s tenure as head coach of the national team.

 

4.) Freddy Adu (E.C. Bahia)

Freddy Adu remains one of the only American attacking midfielders who can truly put even top players on their heels, and Adu possesses a combination of 1v1 abilities and quickness that Donovan and Dempsey do not have. Additionally, Adu’s passing and vision are well above those of Dempsey and Donovan.

There’s a reason that teams continue to sign Freddy Adu. Say what you want about Freddy Adu and his club playing time, but he was signed by Benfica, where he actually played and scored goals, and he was signed by the famous Brazilian club, Bahia, where he has done his best to continue to fight for a spot in the game-day rosters and in the starting line-ups.

No one gets to even sit on the bench for Bahia or Benfica, if they aren’t good, and claiming that American soccer and the USMNT doesn’t need a player like that is perhaps rating the United States Men’s National Team too highly.

 

Conclusion:

Selecting four attacking midfielders among Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Benny Feilhaber, Freddy Adu, Joe Benny Corona, Mix Diskerud, and several others is a tough decision, and Jürgen Klinsmann doesn’t seem to particularly rate several of these players (most notably Benny Feilhaber and Freddy Adu).

Selecting a 23-man roster for the World Cup will require factoring in which players can play more than one position, but for this writer, Alejandro Bedoya, José Torres, Brad Davis, and Graham Zusi have never demonstrated the same still-level as players like Benny Feilhaber, Freddy Adu, Mix Diskerud, and Joe Benny Corona.

There aren’t any real wingers among the four players highlighted in this article, except for Landon Donovan, and the reason for this is because the width in the attack can come from the outside backs.

 

Depth Chart: USMNT Defensive Midfielders

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Depth Chart: USMNT Defensive Midfielders

 

1.) Michael Bradley (Roma)

Michael Bradley has been the best American defensive midfielder and one of the very best American players since he started playing for the national team in 2007. Even a few years ago, Michael Bradley had already totally eclipsed Claudio Reyna in terms of skill, athleticism, club form, and international performances, despite Reyna’s inclusion in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Best XI list.

Even with the United States’ total lack of a defensive midfielder of his level at the time that he started playing for the national team, Bradley still had critics who claimed that he was only a starter because his father, Bob Bradley, was the coach of the national team.

Bradley’s play beginning in 2007 with the U-20 World Cup and before really disproved these criticisms. The American has seen consistent success in the Eredivisie, the Bundesliga, and Serie A, and playing for such a famous club side like AS Roma, which is noted for its attacking and technical play, is a true testament to the player’s abilities.

Recently, there has been a growing belief in the American soccer media and in the American fan base that Bradley is some sort of attacking midfielder, but this belief is inaccurate. Bradley is a defensive midfielder whose technical ability and capacity to cover so much territory make people think that the term, “defensive midfielder,” some how implies that Bradley merely provides defensive coverage in front of the defense back four.

Bradley is a defensive midfielder who can play as a midfield destroyer or as a box-to-box midfielder, but Bradley is needed to marshall and control the American midfield from the back where he can go forward and involve himself wherever he sees fit.

If the United States Men’s National Team were to use one defensive midfielder, Michael Bradley could play that role or he could play either type of defensive midfield role if the United States were to play two defensive midfielders, as it usually does.

 

2.) Geoff Cameron (Stoke City)

Geoff Cameron doesn’t venture as far up field as Jermaine Jones when he is playing as a midfield destroyer for the United States, and Cameron seems to be better at maintaining possession and completing more of his passes compared to Jermaine Jones at the international level. Cameron is also a cleaner tackler than Jones, and Cameron’s tackles and defense result in fewer cards than Jones.

It’s possible that Jones plays less disciplined for the United States than he does for Schalke because he feels the need to contribute more to the attack than he does for Schalke, and this desire to attack and storm downfield frequently leaves the American defense exposed.

Cameron partners better with Michael Bradley than Jones does, but Cameron, unlike Bradley and Jones, is more suited to just play as a destroyer, as opposed to playing as a box-to-box midfielder as well.

Nevertheless, Cameron has shown a real ability to break up the passing off the opposition, protect the defensive back four, serve as a passing outlet for the defenders, and start the attack from the back. The technical ability, size, athleticism, and versatile skill-set of Cameron should continue to serve the United States well.

 

3.) Jermaine Jones (Schalke)

Jermaine Jones is a proven Champions League and Bundesliga defensive midfielder who plays less disciplined for the United States Men’s National Team when he isn’t playing with players like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, and Geoff Cameron who he respects as talented footballers.

Jones’ technical ability, physique, and athleticism are there for all to see, but he likely doesn’t show the same high-level of form for the national team as he shows for Schalke due to a desire to involve himself more in the attack when he plays for the United States.

There can be no denying Jones’ technical ability and endurance, and any misplaced passes or losses of possession are probably due to being overly eager to force things and stamp his attacking imprint on the game.

Unlike Cameron and Bradley, Jones is a more ruthless tackler who often is reckless and dangerous in the ferocity with which he tackles opposing players. For this reason and his tendency to force his way into the attack with the national team, Jones is ranked below Cameron, but Jones’ technical ability is equal to or higher than Cameron’s.

 

4.) Perry Kitchen (DC United)

Perry Kitchen is rather inexperienced at the international level for the United States, but he has played for the United States Men’s National Team and done well. Kitchen is a young, talented defensive midfielder with good size and strength, and he is a more athletic and smoother version of Kyle Beckerman whose speed and athleticism hold him back against better opponents.

Surveying the player pool, Kitchen is an obvious name to be on the short list for defensive midfielders on the national team, and it is still yet to be seen how Kitchen compares to Maurice Edu and Ricardo Clark on the international level.

Edu and Clark are certainly more athletic than Kitchen (who is much faster and more athletic than Beckerman), but more international games are needed to evaluate whether or not Kitchen is better skill-wise than both Edu and Clark.

 

Other Defensive Midfielders to Watch: Jared Jeffrey and Will Trapp

 

Depth Chart: USMNT Left Backs

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USMNT Depth Chart: Left Backs

Left Back was an enormous problem for the United States Men’s National Team before Jürgen Klinsmann took over as head coach because normally a right-footed right back had been used as a left back, and under Klinsmann, Fabian Johnson was the preferred left back until recently.

Now, DaMarcus Beasley has been the preferred left back even though he is a left winger, and Fabian Johnson has been deployed as a left winger recently, which seems to suit his playing style better.

Despite starting as a left back for Hoffenheim, Fabian Johnson seems to lack the natural tendency to aggressively mark and tackle as a left back. Johnson’s excellent overall technical ability and athleticism mask the fact that his tackling and overall defensive fundamentals not might be not as good as the United States needs to get to the next level.

Certainly, Fabian Johnson knows how to force attackers out wide, chase attackers down, and dribble and pass out of the back, but it always seems like a more aggressive defender is needed to play left back.

Fabian Johnson would be an excellent choice to use as a left wing back if the United States were to use three center backs, but Chris Klute is looking like the only known player in the entire pool who can bring the needed combination of strong and clean defending, excellent athleticism, and attacking ability from the left back position.

With all of that being said, here is World Soccer Source’s depth chart of American left backs:

 

1.) Chris Klute (Colorado Rapids)

Chris Klute is a two-way left back and an excellent tackler and 1v1 marker with exceptional athleticism in a tall lean frame.

Klute is remarkably fast (even by international soccer standards), and Klute runs a 4.3 40-yard dash time. Just for comparison, Bo Jackson ran a 4.12, and Deion Sanders ran a 4.2.

While Klute is known for his speed, he excels at tracking down attackers and tackling them without fouling them. He uses his great vertical leap to clear out crosses and passes played over the top of the defense, and he is good at clearing balls out of the danger zone, if there isn’t the time or space to dribble or pass the ball out of the back.

Klute uses his dribbling and speed as a weapon to disrupt defenses when he makes his frequent marauding runs down the left sideline, and he can cross with either foot or cut inside toward the middle of the field to play passes or shoot with either foot.

In short, Klute is the most complete American left back on the radar screen, but he is inexperienced at the international level. The best thing Jürgen Klinsmann can do is to let him start games to start gaining experience and go through the process of learning from mistakes before the 2014 World Cup.

 

2.) Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim)

Fabian Johnson was discussed above in the introductory section. Johnson is a Bundesliga left back who is a more gifted soccer player and attacker than he is a gifted defender. Johnson has likely been made a left back because of his left foot.

For a national team that lacks left backs, Johnson is a fairly safe choice to be entrusted with the left back position because he possesses the skill-level and athleticism to not be victimized or easily dispossessed by top national teams. Nevertheless, Johnson is not a particular aggressive or noteworthy tackler or 1v1 defender.

 

3.) Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City) & Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest)

These two players are essentially a tie, and so together they are ranked as third, due to the lack of left backs in the American player pool.

Jonathan Spector and Eric Lichaj are lumped together because they are two right backs who can play as left backs, and both players are more experienced international and club defenders that DeAndre Yedlin and Andrew Farrell listed below.

Yedlin and Farrell might be better, but Spector and Lichaj are outside backs who are experienced in the English Premier League and at the international level; Spector is the more experienced and proven of the two.

When selecting four outside backs, the United States will likely have to pick two or three outside backs who are right backs but who can play as left backs.

 

4.) DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders) & Andrew Farrell (New England Revolution)

Like Lichaj and Spector, both Yedlin and Farrell are listed together, but they are given the unscientific collective ranking of fourth.

World Soccer Source ranked two players at third and two players at fourth, in order to form two groups of more-experienced and less-experienced players.When using right backs as left backs, it’s difficult to distinguish two similar players who have a somewhat equal level of skill and experience.

Yedlin and Farrell were discussed in detail in World Soccer Source’s article about the depth chart at right back.  Both players are young, modern, two-way outside backs who can attack and defend equally-well. Both players are exceptionally fast, and both players are very technically-skilled.

Along with Klute, they are a new crop of American outside backs who seem to have more of the tools to be legitimate international-caliber outside backs who can perform against top national teams. All three players lack international experience, and it will be interesting to see how they compare to one another on the international-level.

It’s hard to imagine that all three wouldn’t be incorporated into the United States Men’s National Team now that the U.S. has qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

On a side note, it would be interesting to see who the fastest of the three young outside backs is, but Klute looks to be the fastest.

 

*Another Outside Back to Watch: Kellyn Acosta 

 

Conclusion:

The United States Men’s National Team has the option of calling up Chris Klute and Fabian Johnson to play as left backs, and the likely best option for four outside backs in total on a roster is to call up Klute, Johnson, Yedlin, and Spector, with Farrell being listed as a center back.