The Best USMNT 23 (July 2014)

 

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

 

By: COLIN REESE

 

In my previous post, I proposed a 23-man USMNT roster made up of lots of players that the United States should call up to take stock of the talent pool, but this different roster seeks to include the best and most proven players along with the new talents that appear ready right now.

 

Fabian Johnson is listed as an attacking midfielder even though he is also a right and left back, and Geoff Cameron is listed as a center back even though he is also a defensive midfielder and an outside back. Maurice Edu is listed as a defensive midfielder, but he has certainly shown that he is a capable and effective center back.

 

Mix Diskerud is not included for now, despite being the victim of seeing no minutes in the 2014 World Cup for no logical reason. I consider Diskerud to be a gifted and experienced playmaker that has proven himself on multiple occasions on the international level against strong competition. Diskerud was unjustly the victim of not enough roster space.

 

Likewise, Aron Jóhannsson isn’t included despite not getting a fair shot at the 2014 World Cup, but now it appears that he might have been injured during the United States’ run in the tournament.

 

Jóhannsson has shown his ability and effectiveness on the club and international level, but this writer placed a higher premium on Juan Agudelo’s combination of skill, size, and speed as well as Terrence Boyd’s ability to play as a target striker like Altidore.

 

Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley aren’t included either although a strong argument can be made that both should be on this list. They deserve to be on the list, but I leaned toward the potential upside of letting younger players like Joe Corona, Shane O’Neill, Benji Joya, Chris Klute, and Kellyn Acosta use their youth and skill to hopefully bring the type of proactive soccer that Jürgen Klinsmann claims that he is looking to bring to the United States Men’s National Team.

 

The roster below contains four center backs and four outside backs, and the roster also contains defensive midfielders of the stay-at-home variety and those of the box-to-box variety. Most of the defensive midfielders can play either role. The roster also contains both wings and central attacking midfielders along with players that play both positions. Finally, this roster contains three Number 9s along with players like Clint Dempsey and Julian Green that can play a variety of forward and attacking midfielder roles.

 

Below is this writer’s opinion of the Best Current USA 23 as of July 2014, and the players are divided into their relevant categories in what this writer feels is a balanced line-up:

 

GOALKEEPERS: Tim HOWARD, Brad GUZAN, Cody CROPPER

 

CENTER BACKS: Geoff CAMERON, Matt BESLER, John Anthony BROOKS, Shane O’NEILL

 

OUTSIDE BACKS: DeAndre YEDLIN, Chris KLUTE, Kellyn ACOSTA, Andrew FARRELL

-Fabian Johnson is listed below as an attacking midfielder despite excelling as a right and left back.

 

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES, Maurice EDU

 

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: Joe CORONA, Fabian JOHNSON, Benny FEILHABER, Julian GREEN, Benji JOYA

 

FORWARDS: Clint DEMPSEY, Jozy ALTIDORE, Juan AGUDELO, Terrence BOYD

 

 

 

What is the Best USA XI from this roster?

HOWARD; YEDLIN, BROOKS, BESLER, KLUTE; CAMERON, BRADLEY; CORONA, FEILHABER, DEMPSEY; AGUDELO.

-Both Brooks and Besler are left-footed, but if a starting line-up can have two right-footed center backs, then why can’t it have two left-footed center backs? Brooks has proven to be very two-footed, and starting Brooks and Besler at center back allows Cameron to play as the stay-at-home defensive midfielder.

-Jones isn’t listed as a starter despite his superior play to Bradley in the World Cup because the Cameron-Bradley partnership gives the two-man defensive midfield more defined roles. Futhermore, the often attacking role that Jones played in the World Cup can be taken up by Corona, Feilhaber, Dempsey, and Agudelo.