The Best 50 American Soccer Players (June 2013)

 

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

 

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.

 

Is Jürgen Klinsmann a coaching improvement for the USMNT?

 

 

Jürgen Klinsmann. © Koichi Kamoshida / Getty Images
Jürgen Klinsmann. © Koichi Kamoshida / Getty Images

 

Is Jürgen Klinsmann a coaching improvement for the United States Men’s National Team?

 

Despite being a legendary German striker and a certified soccer great, the answer to that question is, “No.”

Read more

A 23-Man USMNT Roster For Proactive Soccer

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:

Read more

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)

Read more

What’s wrong with American soccer and the USMNT?

 

 

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)

There is a disconnect between what the people making the roster, formation, and line-up decisions for the United States Men’s National Team say they want and what they actually do.

Even if they don’t have 11 players to start together who have the technical ability of Brazil, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Argentina, Uruguay, etc, Klinsmann and his staff can still select the most technically-skilled players at their disposal.

Klinsmann and company cannot just keep claiming that it’s a process; the process would be taking the very best technically-skilled players and improving how each of them play and how they play together.

This writer has written about these topics extensively, but Paul Gardner of Soccer America called Klinsmann out in a major publication and Andrés Cantor called Klinsmann out in an episode of The Best Soccer Show from over a year ago.

http://www.socceramerica.com/article/50972/klinsmann-the-salesman-prolongs-problem.html

http://nasn.tv/2012/andres-cantor-on-the-best-soccer-show/

Many American pundits, ex-USMNT players, and soccer writers continue to question even the attempt to play one-to-two touch soccer or use more skilled players, as opposed to criticizing Klinsmann for not even trying to do what he said he wanted to do.

They actually have a problem with even using newer and more talented players in friendlies to improve the quality of the United States Men’s National Team play because they write off the newer and better players as inexperienced and raw.

Even using Benny Feilhaber as a playmaker in a World Cup qualifier wouldn’t be the risky use of an unproven player because he’s proven at essentially the highest levels of international soccer.

Joe Corona, Terrence Boyd, Juan Agudelo, Benji Joya, and Gale Agbossoumonde all receive these “raw and inexperienced” tags from the media and many fans, never mind the fact that all of these players, except Agbossoumonde, have proven that they can perform on the international level.

Let some American pundits tell you about how set pieces are so important and how the United States Men’s National Team needs to play like Americans, but there is only one correct way to play soccer; everyone around the world knows it.

Even non-soccer fans in the United States see the Brazils, Spains, and Italys of the world working the ball around the field by stringing passes together, as they try to get into scoring positions.

Getting to the root of the problem, the primary problem with American soccer and the United States Men’s National Team is that Americans, the United States Soccer Federation, and Jürgen Klinsmann don’t place a high enough premium on technical ability, even though they claim that they do.

Any style of soccer not based on refined technical ability, movement off the ball, and the mastery of fundamentals like using both feet or playing recovery defense isn’t real soccer that will lead to wins against elite national teams.

Klinsmann can claim that he wants to implement a philosophy of a style of one-to-two touch soccer that’s proactive, but this claim cannot be taken seriously as long as a player like Kyle Beckerman is selected to be on a critical World Cup qualifying roster over Perry Kitchen.

Kitchen is faster and more technically skilled. If Klinsmann wants to play proactively then someone like Beckerman cannot be selected over Kitchen who has the skill on the ball plus the physical gifts to compete against better and faster opponents, which Beckerman cannot do.

Even Clint Dempsey is frequently unfairly made one of the scapegoats of the media and the fans for the United States Men’s National Team’s lack of offensive production and quality passing. No one comments that Dempsey has only one striker to combine with and no other attacking midfielders to help him keep possession and attack.

A great example of the continued complaints about Clint Dempsey was the wave of complaints about Dempsey being made captain of the United States.

Recently, Clint Dempsey was made captain of the United States Men’s National Team, and the American soccer media, rather than praising Dempsey, was quick to complain that Dempsey was made captain instead of Michael Bradley.

The American soccer media complained like a Greek chorus that Dempsey didn’t care about the United States Men’s National Team as much as himself and that he wasn’t a vocal leader, despite the fact that Dempsey gives 100% in every game, tries to take the game the to the U.S.’ opponents, and has no problem mixing it up and getting in the faces of opponents who other American players are intimidated by.

Despite the unfounded character attacks on Clint Dempsey, the American media actually complained that the player with the most skill and the greatest proven ability to perform against high level competition was chosen as the leader.

On the other hand, a more serious publication, The Wall Street Journal, ran an article about Clint Dempsey after the 2009 Confederations Cup Final praising Dempsey’s play and effort and proclaiming Dempsey the new leader of the USMNT.

If the American soccer media and fan base is going to call Clint Dempsey lazy and selfish while also questioning his ability to lead the team, then what will they say about other American players, and how much does the American soccer media really know?

If Americans say this stuff about Dempsey, how will they ever be convinced to pressure Jürgen Klinsmann into playing more than one player like Dempsey at the same time in order to create possession and attacking soccer?

Clint Dempsey should be applauded because he plays soccer the right way, and he learned how to play outside of U.S. Soccer’s official development system.

This was the key to Dempsey’s success: not learning to play soccer like an American but rather learning by studying Diego Maradona and playing with Latinos in Texas.

His game is based on technical ability, creativity, two-footed skill, movement off the ball, bravado, toughness, physical endurance, and mental strength.

There is only one correct way to play soccer, if you want to compete with the best in the world, and that way is skill soccer, as opposed to long ball and all crosses: the English way.

There are a lot of great American soccer minds in the United States, and there are lots of people from other countries with so much valuable expertise and wisdom to offer Americans; none of them advocates a style of play not based on one-to-two touch soccer.

One-to-two touch soccer leads to victories. Brazil, five World Cup trophies. Italy, four World Cup trophies. Germany, three World Cup trophies.

Other countries take the most talented players they can find, determine if they have the requisite athleticism to play soccer, and they hone the skills of these players.

Elite teams use the whole field, but they don’t restrict their attack to just running up and down the sidelines with the intention of always looking to play a cross.

Americans need to permanently get rid of this notion that more width and more crosses is the key to more scoring opportunities.

Brazil would never play that way. That style of soccer would never fly in Brazil, Spain, or anywhere else with a good soccer system.

Better soccer nations work the ball around and look for openings in the defense and probe for weaknesses, and if one gateway into the penalty box is closed then they work the ball around until there is an opening somewhere else or in the original place they looked.

From better national teams, you will see crosses played in the air to players who have made runs or who are making runs, but you won’t really see balls just crossed into the box blindly.

You might see balls played across the goal mouth in the attempt to sneak a pass through to a teammate in front of the goal, but you really will not see crosses crushed into the penalty box without a specific target.

Again, the root of the problem of American soccer and the United States Men’s National Team is the low premium placed on technical ability.

Before players are weeded out at a higher level because of a lack of athleticism or a lack of confidence in their abilities, players are supposed to be weeded out if they lack the technical ability to perform in say Major League Soccer or for the United States Men’s National Team.

The United States has plenty of talented and athletic players at every position with the ability to play a brand of soccer more along the lines of the world’s best national teams, but the first steps were already taken by Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley.

Bob Bradley reluctantly played Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, Landon Donovan, and Clint Dempsey at the same time, which allowed the United States to have the requisite ability to perform against Spain and Brazil in the 2009 Confederations Cup and advance out of the group stage in the 2010 World Cup.

Jürgen Klinsmann must take the next step of fielding starting line-ups where all eleven players are technically-advanced and athletic and where the line-ups balance defensive strength with effective and inventive attacking players.

There will always be complaints about which players are used by a coach, but Klinsmann needs to at least use a reasonable balance of defensive and attacking players who all have advanced technical ability and sufficient athleticism.

It takes courage to lose because you tried to win.

 

23 players for the USMNT Gold Cup roster

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

 

Changes: An updated USMNT roster proposal

 

Benny Feilhaber. (Photo: Reuters)
Benny Feilhaber. (Photo: Reuters)

 

Roughly a year ago, Jürgen Klinsmann suggested that the problem with the United States Men’s National Team was that the team needed to be “an edge more nastier” and work the referees more.

That tactic seems to have not worked.

Klinsmann once famously said “Anyone can play left back,” and if that was his attitude in a World Cup qualifier, then inexperienced players with a high-skill level deserve a shot in the upcoming friendlies with Belgium and Germany.

Since Klinsmann’s approach to coaching the United States Men’s National Team has achieved no real progress in improving the technical ability of the team, this writer would contend that essentially tossing in a large group of new players into the deep end against Belgium and Germany would at least offer the potential to see some improvement at various positions and in the overall technical ability of the team.

With other CONCACAF teams demonstrating better technical skill in World Cup qualifiers than the United States, the next two friendlies should be used to really take some roster and starting line-up risks just to see what the United States has in the talent pool. Certainly, Germany offers the chance to see new players’ skill level while factoring in nerves and inexperience.

What’s the real harm in really seeing how some totally new and promising players do when thrown into the lion’s den against Germany in an international friendly?

No matter what happens against Belgium or Germany, the United States should fare fine in World Cup qualifiers if it starts Tim Howard, Jonathan Spector, Omar Gonzalez,  Geoff Cameron, Fabian Johnson, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey, Juan Agudelo, and Jozy Altidore.

As opposed to what Klinsmann suggested below, a major change in the players included on the United States Men’s National Team as discussed below would seem to be a better strategy to improve the level of play.

Change the players or up the nastiness as suggested in the video below? You decide.

 

Goalkeepers:

Tim HOWARD

Brad GUZAN

Sean JOHNSON

 

Defenders:

Geoff CAMERON

Omar GONZALEZ

George JOHN

Gale AGBOSSOUMONDE

 

Fabian JOHNSON

Jonathan SPECTOR

Andrew FARRELL

Chris KLUTE

 

Midfielders:

Michael BRADLEY

Perry KITCHEN

Benji JOYA

Dax McCARTY

 

Clint DEMPSEY

Benny FEILHABER

Joe CORONA

Freddy ADU

 

Forwards:

Juan AGUDELO

Terrence BOYD

Tony TAYLOR

Mario RODRIGUEZ

 

Possible Starting XI Formation:

Starting XI
Starting XI

 

USMNT: Benji Joya belongs on the World Cup qualifying roster

 

You can just see how some players are better than others, and this is the case with Benji Joya compared to the majority of the players in the United States’ player pool.

Benji Joya is a different type of midfielder and player than Clint Dempsey, but in the same way that this writer immediately saw Clint Dempsey’s quality, so too did this writer see the same with Joya.

Many observers and members of the media will call the belief that Joya should be on the United States Men’s National Team “too soon” or “based on a few good showings,” but this is inaccurate. Joya elected to skip college soccer in order to go pro immediately, and he quickly made his way into La Liga MX with Santos Laguna. Even right now, Joya has demonstrated the ability to play as a professional in Mexico as a teenager, and he has also shown that he has the skill and mentality to be both effective and unfazed on the international level by hostile crowds and quality competition.

For a United States Men’s National Team that needs more dynamic midfielders to move away from Jürgen Klinsmann’s overly defensive style of using of Danny Williams, Jermaine Jones, and Michael Bradley at the same time, Joya is the perfect blend of two-footed technical skill, defensive grit, mental toughness, and a love of big games. Joya gives the United States Men’s National Team a true box-to-box midfielder who not only can play one-to-two touch soccer and play final balls, but who can also help to regain possession of the ball in the midfield.

Benji Joya is 19 years old, and this is not too young to play international soccer. Jürgen Klinsmann still has a lot of games in front of him in World Cup qualifying, but time is also running out. Klinsmann simply does not have the luxury to not put Joya on the team, just as he does not have the luxury of excluding Joe Corona, Juan Agudelo, Terrence Boyd, and even Freddy Adu from his rosters.

Both Freddy Adu and Benny Feilhaber have been discussed at great length by this writer, but both are different types of players than Benji Joya. For a coach who insists on using a midfield destroyer with two box-to-box midfielders, Klinsmann can have his wish by putting Joya on the team and starting him with Bradley as box-to-box midfielders and Jermaine Jones as the midfield destroyer, who also offers advanced technical ability.

Skill is more important than experience, but Benji Joya has shown that he has both, given his club situation and the display he put on in CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying.

Jürgen Klinsmann needs to put Benji Joya on the United States Men’s National Team now.

With Benji Joya in the starting XI, the United States Men’s National Team could line-up with something like this:

USMNT XI with JOYA