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:
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.
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.
The World Soccer Source Best 30 American Soccer Players
What makes one player better than another player? Good question.
The names on the list are more important than the order as many of these names are drastically different from the first thirty names on American Soccer Now’s Top 100 from February, which asks several writers, pundits, podcasters, ex-players, and analysts to rank American players, but the list does not show how high each panelist ranked each player.
CRITERIA & REASONING:
*This World Soccer Source list is based on the criteria of skill, club performances, international performances, current form, and the players’ performances against high-level competition.
*Ultimately, every soccer fan will weigh each criterion higher than others.
*Some people will value the overall skill of the player: meaning the visual impression of how talented the player is in terms of technical ability, movement off the ball, and athleticism compared to quality competition.
*Other people will value consistent playing time at the club level and club form as the most important criterion.
*Still other people will consider how a player has performed against the highest level of international competition over the years, as the most important criterion as few Americans are playing for truly elite club teams: only Michael Bradley is playing in Serie A, Clint Dempsey plays and starts for one of the best teams in the English Premier League, and Jermaine Jones has been consistently playing and performing for one of the best Bundesliga teams, Schalke, for years.
*Keep in mind that a player’s ranking does not necessarily mean that a player is better or worse, based purely on talent, compared to players above or below the player. One excellent example of this is Freddy Adu.
*Observers are always quick to qualify what they say about Freddy Adu with some phrase such as “No one doubts Adu’s ability, but he needs to be more consistent.” Freddy Adu’s last game for the United States Men’s National Team at the senior level was against Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup Final, but Adu was widely considered the best American player on the field in that game against a Mexican team that was considered much better at that time and even now. What does this say about Freddy Adu compared to other American players? If Adu plays for the United States Men’s National Team rarely, but normally plays well, how high should he be ranked? How much does signing for and playing, even if for a short time, for Benfica matter?
*The performances of the United States Men’s National Team under Jürgen Klinsmann indicate that there is a major problem with how unwilling fans and the media are to accept the need for change, and there is a problem with the way that players are being selected as the United States Men’s National Team has several well-known problems that many observers quickly point out: a weakness in the center of the defense, poor overall passing, lack of goal-scoring chances created, a low number of total goals, and a heavy reliance on Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Tim Howard.
*Every soccer fan, coach, player, analyst, and observer has a certain criterion that they value above others, but the most important thing about this list is that the names on the list are more important than the particular numerical ranking that each player is given.
The World Soccer Source Best 30 American Soccer Players:
1. Clint Dempsey (Tottenham; England)
2. Michael Bradley (Roma; Italy)
3. Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy; USA)
4. Tim Howard (Everton; England)
5. Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim; Germany)
6. Jermaine Jones (Schalke; Germany)
7. Geoff Cameron (Stoke City; England)
8. Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City; USA)
9. Steve Cherundolo (Hannover; Germany)
10. Terrence Boyd (Rapid Wien; Austria)
11. Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA; USA)
12. Joe Corona (Tijuana; Mexico)
13. Timothy Chandler (Nürnberg; Germany)
14. Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg; Norway)
15. Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union; USA)
16. Brek Shea (Stoke City; England)
17. Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht; Belgium)
18. Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna; Mexico)
19. Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar; The Netherlands)
20. Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders; USA)
21. Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa; England)
22. Maurice Edu (Bursaspor; Turkey: on loan from Stoke City; England)
23. Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City; England)
24. Brad Guzan (Aston Villa; England)
25. Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy; USA)
26. Joe Gyau (St. Pauli ; on loan from Hoffenheim; Germany)
