The U.S. Men’s National Team is in desperate need of skillful and fast attacking players that can create more scoring chances and score goals. Ethan Finlay of the Columbus Crew is such a player, and it’s not a stretch to view him as a deserving starter for the National Team.
Although he plays as a wing in MLS, Finlay can play any attacking role other than as a traditional No. 9. He brings the ability to play the final ball, the ability to take defenders off the dribble, and the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. Finlay’s skill with both feet makes him even more deserving of a call-up.
Both Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey came onto the U.S. Men’s National Team more or less as wide attacking midfielders, but they were much more versatile players than this. In the same way, Finlay isn’t just a wing to stick into a certain formation, but he is the type of versatile attacking player that the National Team has had too few of.
In addition to the technical and physical requirements required to play international soccer, Finlay has also shown the mentality of a player always looking to win and take the game to the opposition. This is the omnipresent buzzword “proactive.”
When Finlay and the MLS All-Stars played Tottenham this summer, MLS actually had more famous players, but Tottenham was a strong English Premier League side looking to not lose to an American club team. Finlay treated this game as an opportunity to impress when a bigger international audience was watching.
The Columbus Crew attacking midfielder is an interesting prospect for the U.S. National Team because he fits into the starting lineup regardless of the formation. If a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, or 4-4-2 is used, then Finlay can be used out right or left as a midfielder or as a forward. He also seems to fit the billing for a second striker where he can use his combination of speed, playmaking ability, and scoring ability to partner with a No. 9. His 1v1 skills would be particularly maximized in this role, just as they would on the wing.
World Soccer Source has backed Dillon Powers and Sebastian Lletget for the U.S. National Team, and now Finlay is the next new talent that deserves National Team backing.
With Lletget and Finlay, the United States has two starters that can play out wide or in more central attacking roles, and these two players suggest that the overall talent level of the National Team is improving. More young players like Bradford Jamieson IV are making their case for the National Team, but Finlay has already made a convincing case.
In a country where the coaches and fans are hesitant about using new or young players even in friendlies, many of the best American talents are being told to wait their turn without a very good reason.
Excluding Finlay from the next friendlies cannot be justified based on talent or form, and his omission from the next USA roster would be another worrying sign from coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
If Clint Dempsey is started up top with Jozy Altidore, then Ethan Finlay and Sebastian Lletget can be started as the right and left midfielders. If the United States elects to use a 4-3-3 formation, then Finlay can start in the attacking trident as the right wing. Either way, Finlay’s current form and attacking qualities are simply too good to leave off the National Team.
The U.S. Men’s National Team is not good enough to omit players like Finlay. If there were two players that made him surplus to requirements, then that would be different.
On a final note, Finlay has a few x-factors like trickery and quickness that can lead to a more dangerous and unpredictable American attack, and one of the worst qualities that the National Team has is its boring, grind-out-a-draw predictability.
When people associate your National Team primarily with effort and not skill, then there is a real need to spice things up.