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Freddy Adu has proven to be an important player for the success of the United States Men’s National Team at the international level. © Getty Images
People that question whether or not Benny Feilhaber and Freddy Adu have the skill to contribute to the United States Men’s National Team are simply not mindful of the skill-level of the competition at the international level and the skill-level of the United States Men’s National Team in comparison.
Some people, including ex-players and coaches, question whether or not Adu’s or Feilhaber’s club form merits a call-up, but this is merely a different philosophy concerning what criteria should be used for national team selection. Luckily for the United States Men’s National Team, Benny Feilhaber was called into the January camp.
For this writer, nothing is more important than skill, athleticism, and the ability to perform at the international level. With the level of soccer being played in Major League Soccer compared to international soccer, there are just too many variables that come into play to base national team selection, especially to the United States Men’s National Team, based on club playing time and performance with players that are only good enough to play in MLS.
The most important thing to remember about questioning a soccer coach’s selection of certain players over others is that the argument being made is not whether or not certain players have achieved enormous success in life by being paid to play soccer for a living, but rather the question (particularly at the national team level and elite club team level) is whether or not certain players are as good as the competition that they will compete against.
Jürgen Klinsmann’s intentions and selection criteria are anyone’s guess, but the roster selected for the United States Men’s National Team’s January camp and friendly snubbed a sizeable group of Major League Soccer’s best American players.
Klinsmann himself stated that six to eight of the players selected for the January camp were players that would be part of the group used in World Cup qualifying, so the January camp is just as much about strengthening the team used in World Cup qualifying as much as it is about forming a so-called “B Team” to participate in the 2013 Gold Cup.
Based on Klinsmann’s statement that six to eight players will play a role in the upcoming game against Honduras in World Cup qualifying, the logical players that definitely have the ability to make up this group are Benny Feilhaber, Omar Gonzalez, Eddie Johnson, Juan Agudelo, and Mix Diskerud, and all of these players have played for the United States before. Omar Gonzalez once had the unfortunate job of marking Neymar, and he did not seem to be taken off the dribble or outfoxed any more than most defenders that face Neymar, with the exception of the best defenders in the world.
Taking nothing away from the dedication, skill, and practice it takes to be able to become a professional soccer player, there is a big difference between achieving the skill to be able to play in a Major League Soccer game and being able to face off against the best players from Latin America, Africa, and Europe.
Taking Chris Wondolowski as an example, Wondolowski has scored a lot of goals in Major League Soccer, but does he have the speed, quickness, and technical ability to slip past defenders or score goals in international play where the defenders are faster and more-skilled than the majority of defenders in Major League Soccer?
Based on watching him play in Major League Soccer and his performances at the international level, it is quite clear that, while Chris Wondolowski is a professional soccer player, he just is not fast enough, quick enough, or technically-skilled enough to do the same things he does in Major League Soccer against better players.
The United States needs to select the players from MLS who have demonstrated that they have the skill-level and athleticism to play their game once the talent level goes up at the international level. Therefore, it is more important to examine the qualities of MLS players as opposed to calling up the players from the teams that do the best or the players that get the most playing time from their Major League Soccer coaches.
Much has been made of the fact that Klinsmann is creating two rosters in preparation for this summer’s World Cup qualifiers and this summer’s Gold Cup tournament, but many of the United States’ most promising players (many of whom are proven internationally) have been consistently left off recent World qualifying rosters as well as this January camp roster.
Not only is Klinsmann not correcting mistakes on the roster that he considers his best players, but he is also not calling in the players for the less glamorous rosters with the ability to help the United States compete against any international opponent. In the 2011 Gold Cup, the United States struggled to get to the final even with what was a full-strength roster, so what then is there to suggest that the players selected for the Gold Cup can be anything less than athletic and technically-skilled even at the international level?
The then-coach Bob Bradley was at such a loss in the 2011 Gold Cup semifinal that he decided that he had no choice but to insert the most controversial player in American soccer, Freddy Adu. Even to defeat a CONCACAF opponent, the United States needed the combination of Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Juan Agudelo, and Freddy Adu. Bob Bradley seems to have learned his lesson in the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup that the absence of a playmaker or a creative midfielder that could combine with Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, and Clint Dempsey was necessary to unlock the midfields and defenses of top national teams.
Based on previous international play, there is nothing to suggest that Kyle Beckerman, Brad Davis, Chris Wondolowski, and Alejandro Bedoya can beat opponents that Michael Bradley, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, and Clint Dempsey struggled to beat.
On the other hand, players like Dax McCarty and Zach Loyd performed well against Chile when Chile was using players from Chile’s best teams (some of whom were Copa Libertadores teams). Additional players like Perry Kitchen have demonstrated that they have the technical ability and the athleticism to play international soccer.
If Klinsmann is in fact making two separate rosters for this summer’s tournaments, then his team he is grooming to play in the 2013 Gold Cup might be more of a C Team, rather than a B Team. If Dax McCarty, Zach Loyd, George John, Perry Kitchen, Kofi Sarkodie, Zarek Valentin, Ugo Ihemelu, Kenny Cooper, and Freddy Adu were not selected, then Jürgen Klinsmann needed to select players better than the ones he selected for the January camp, as many of his recent selections have a track record of not having the skill or athleticism to play international soccer.
The players that are definitely not athletic enough or skilled enough to play international soccer are A.J. DeLaGarza, Jeff Parke, Brad Davis, Kyle Beckerman, Brad Evans, and Chris Wondolowski.
The only names that Klinsmann definitely got right for the January camp were Benny Feilhaber, Mix Diskerud, Omar Gonzalez, Juan Agudelo, and Eddie Johnson.
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I don’t care who you pick, but who do thing was a better coach for the United States Klinsmann or Bradley?
I would think you would pick Bradley because he gave Adu a chance in the Gold Cup and he called up Cooper, McCarty, Ihemelu, Loyd, and George John and Fielhaber and even Agudelo all players you seem to like for the USMNT. He aslo figured out not to call up players like Beckerman and Parke and Evans and DeLaGarza.
I DON’T CARE WHO YOU PICK just wanted to make that clear.
Bob Bradley seemed to field rosters that played better against good teams. He wasn’t perfect. He did always play two defensive midfielders, but that was probably to cover for the center backs. Geoff Cameron wasn’t in the mix back then, and maybe he should have been. Bob Bradley did seem better at using better players and making adjustments. Bob Bradley frequently did not make adjustments soon enough, but Klinsmann appears to be slower at making the adjustments. Even excluding players that Klinsmann has not really used much, I find it odd that Klinsmann has never played Jones, Bradley, Dempsey, one of the playmakers, Boyd, and Agudelo.
I think that a Edu-Cameron-Jones back 3 would be interesting to see. Not that I want that backline in WCQ or a even friendly against a high level international team.
i aslo think the USMNT was looking for a reason to fire Bradley like they had options waiting; I could be wrong.
5-2 loss vs. Mexico in a Gold Cup is better 2-1 loss to Jamaica in a important WCQ. I think Bradley was right about to get the USMNT to a new level he was about call in Corona but it was cancelled because of his firing. Adu would have probably break back into the team as super sub or a starter. No doubt Klinsmann being German kinda helped add depth in Williams a good player for depth and Johnson is a great left-back(who needs to find a new club), and Boyd who is a special talent adds much needed depth at the striker postion but Bradley i think would have found these players just as quickly. Every time Boyd gets called up and they interview him; he is just happy to be even called up and Williams and Johnson would have contacted FIFA about switching. Since one of major their priorities one to play at the international level. He found Chandler for the game vs Argentina, and tried get him for the Gold Cup, but Chandler declined . Boyd would have been Bob Bradley’s perfect striker, he is similar to Jozy Altidore who almost was great for the USMNT with Bob Bradley was he lack effort and no drive which is one of Boyd’s best qualities. Bradley called up a unproven Agudelo and looked how that worked out, and Klinsmann has only called him like once which earned him a draw. Lichaj and Spector are okay at LB and when Johnson and Castillo go down with injuries that aren’t even close to be called up that game vs. Italy, when Spector came in and he was just a ball magnet getting in the way of the Italian players shots. It was one of the best recent efforts besides Cameron I have seen by a USMNT defender. I like Parkhurst but i think Spector and Lichaj are way better at RB, CB(Only Spector), and LB than Parkhurst is.
Really great, detailed comments. Thanks for commenting on the players and coaching decisions. Really nice to get comments where people actually discuss the team, players, coach, and games. I like Spector too. I think he’s always done well (as far as I can remember) against national teams with truly great players. I think people dismiss Spector as being soft and weak because of his friendly appearance (as opposed to the more intense looks of Dempsey and Bradley), but he’s a good player with the requisite skill and quickness for international play. He has no real problems playing international soccer. Anyone that’s a defender is bound to get beaten just because defenders have no one behind them except for the keeper, but Spector has always done well to the best of my knowledge.
Many of the players who I think are quality players, other people do not rate. At the same time, an equal amount of people seem to rate Adu, Feilhaber, and company as highly as I do.
At the very least, I’d like to see Klinsmann field Bradley, Jones, Corona, Dempsey, Boyd, and Agudelo as the front 6, if he’s unwilling to use only one defensive midfielder and if he’s unwilling to give someone like Adu a greater role. A great first step would be to put a better center back with Cameron and to play a playmaker behind Agudelo and Boyd.
Thanks again for your intelligent comments about specific players and games.
I don’t rate Feilhaber that high but not low. But I rate Adu way higher than Feilhaber. Adu is seems to be headed back in the right direction and Feilhaber seems to just be stuck. He did not really impress me during last January Camp, but his world cup was amazing.
For the second centerback situation, I don’t really trust Gonzalez for some reason; he did deserved a call-up though. I rather have Besler or George John. I was really shocked Sapong and Loyd or even Kitchen did not make the January Camp. Sapong had a good season he has the size, the strengthen, and the speed. Loyd kinda had a good january camp last year and reminds me of MLS Lichaj, he finds a way to cross in a ball at any cost and good with both feet. Kitchen had a mediocre U-23 and had a great club season. I really liked the Davis call-up I know he slow, but he is great a set pieces and makes smart passes with good ball control. I would have like to see Sarkodie or Williams, but I really don’t know anything about Beltran or Morrow. Beitashour i think he is a good Jan. Camp RB.
The Buddle thing just confused me completely, He had great goal vs. Slovenia, but that’s his only highlight in like 2 years.
I would like to see Davis and Feilhaber take the corners in the friendly and I love to threat from a free kick: Davis and Feilhaber over the ball I would not want to be the goalie who has to deal with that. Then throw in Diskerud that’s a great triple threat. If Davis or Feilhaber aren’t playing, and Jones is invited we all know he will shoot from anywhere and with any power from last year.
The Goalie situation I think Sean Johnson a little more than Hamid, and Johnson had the better year and Klinsmann seems to like him more.
Sorry about all to ranting only two people, besides the soccer team, at my whole school know what “USMNT” even stands for.
Good overview of all the various selection choices and omissions. Center back will be an interesting contest this year. Cameron had an overall look and quality to his game and how he moved that caught my eye the first time I saw him, and it will be interesting to see not only who Klinsmann chooses to start with him but also who else might be better than the center back partner that Klinsmann picks. Due to the fact that they simply haven’t played internationally very much or at all really, it’s hard to see how Gonzalez, John, and others will do at center back. As I’ve written before, I have no problem with Jones playing center back until there is another center back like Cameron, and it seems like there are way too many soccer players out there to not have someone close to Cameron’s ability and athleticism.
Based on what I’ve seen since the arrival of Clint Dempsey, it seems that new American soccer players sort of pop up out of nowhere and end up helping players like Bradley and Dempsey to have quality teammates. One thing that I find puzzling is that this camp seems to have mutually exclusive goals. On the one hand, it’s supposed to be the best MLS and Scandinavian-based players competing with one another for six to eight spots for qualifying, but, on the other hand, it seems like many of these players are the third-string set of 23 players as opposed to the second-string. Any team is supposed to have a back-up for all 11 starting positions or a different type of player who plays the same position as well as two back-up keepers. This group seems to mostly be players who are not the second-best player at their position, so how then can they fair well in the Gold Cup? Klinsmann should call up the best players at his disposal and see which six to eight should be on the World Cup qualifying roster, and the others should be put in the Gold Cup category.
There’s also the argument to be made that the U.S. should be playing most of their best players in the Gold Cup anyway just to improve the overall skill-level and cohesion of the U.S.
When I said “I dont care who you pick” i meant I won’t argue with you.
LOL. Thanks for clarifying. It took a few reads to see what you were saying. Thanks for clearing it up. I figured it out after a while, but thanks for explaining what you meant.