USMNT: The Best 40 American Soccer Players (May 2013)

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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)

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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.

 

Americans have low standards for Jürgen Klinsmann and the USMNT

 

The USMNT needs to start more technically-skilled players at the same time.
The USMNT needs to start more technically-skilled players at the same time. © MexSport

It’s hard to be in the public spotlight, and what Jürgen Klinsmann and the players on the United States Men’s National Team do is very emotionally intense.

In other countries the pressure the press puts on those involved in professional soccer on the national and international level is much more intense than in the United States, but there’s still a lot of pressure in the United States as well.

With that being said, Americans do seem to have very low standards for Jürgen Klinsmann and the United States Men’s National Team in regards to the quality of play.

There will always be mistakes made by professional athletes, and crucifying professional soccer players for mistakes is inappropriate and classless.

Americans’ standards for Jürgen Klinsmann and the United States Men’s National Team are too low because members of the American soccer media and the American fan base fail to intelligently question why attempts aren’t made to correct tactical and player selection mistakes made by Klinsmann.

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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: The Best 30 American Soccer Players

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Clint Dempsey has been the best American soccer player since 2006 and maybe earlier.
Clint Dempsey has been the best American soccer player since 2006 and maybe earlier. © Getty Images

Comment:

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) 

27. Jay DeMerit (Vancouver Whitecaps; Canada)  

28. Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls; USA) 

29. Zach Loyd (FC Dallas; USA)

30. Perry Kitchen (DC United; USA) 

 

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The USMNT Needs to Make 5 Changes

 

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

 

While many people will use the United States’ victories over Mexico and Italy as evidence that Jürgen Klinsmann is coaching well, the reality is that the United States has not passed well or played technically advanced soccer in any of their games under Klinsmann.

Many of the players used by Klinsmann are excellent soccer players, but as long as Klinsmann continues to use the same starting line-ups, the United States will not even be a first or second tier team in terms of international soccer. So far, the United States has played better soccer under Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley, and there is one year’s worth of video evidence of the low level of collective, team play of the United States under Klinsmann.

However, Klinsmann does have the ability to dramatically improve the quality of soccer that the United States play with just five starting line-up changes. If he makes these five starting line-up changes, then he will be able to field a starting line-up with 11 technically skilled and athletic players. He needs a right back, a center back to partner with Geoff Cameron, two attacking midfielders, and another striker, as opposed to just starting one.

Klinsmann needs to eliminate Kyle Beckerman, Maurice Edu, Danny Williams, Jermaine Jones, and José Torres from the starting line-up, but Jones should be starting if Michael Bradley is injured. Additionally, Edu and Jones should certainly be among the 23 players on the roster for the World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica, and starting Edu or Jones as a center back with Cameron would be preferable to starting Carlos Bocanegra or Clarence Goodson.

Klinsmann should continue to use Tim Howard as a goalkeeper, Geoff Cameron as a center back, Fabian Johnson as a left back, Michael Bradley as the lone defensive midfielder (unless he’s injured), Herculez Gomez or Terrence Boyd as a striker, and Clint Dempsey as a free-roaming attacking midfielder.

At forward, Klinsmann needs to start two of the following three strikers at the same time: Juan Agudelo, Terrence Boyd, and Herculez Gomez. Gomez played very well against both Brazil and Mexico, and a strong argument can be made that Gomez has earned one of the two starting line-up spots as evidenced by his play against Brazil where he forced Santos’ and Brazil’s goalkeeper, Rafael, to make several very difficult point blank saves. That being said, Klinsmann has yet to test out Agudelo and Boyd together, and they might complement each other well as Boyd is more of an out-and-out striker that goes straight to goal. Regardless of which two strikers are started, Klinsmann should start two of the three strikers mentioned above at the same time.

Klinsmann needs to introduce Benny Feilhaber and Freddy Adu as dual-playmakers and free-roaming attacking midfielders to play with Dempsey. At right back, Klinsmann needs to start Eric Lichaj, and if he is unavailable, Zach Loyd or Sheanon Williams. Finally, Klinsmann needs to start Jay DeMerit, Omar Gonzalez, or George John as the second center back to play with Geoff Cameron. Among those three, DeMerit is the one that has proven himself on the international level the most with his effective and imposing defensive performances in the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup. Between Gonzalez and John, Gonzalez might be quicker and more agile that John, but Klinsmann has not tested out either Gonzalez or John with Cameron to see which center back performs the best at the international level.

The five changes to the starting line-up advocated for above should be used against Jamaica, and if those changes are made against Jamaica, the United States will have, for the first time ever, 11 technically skilled and athletic starters in their line-up. Never before has the United States had the ability to field 11 technical skilled and athletic starters, and the United States now actually have more than 11 players that fit those criteria.

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