Mix Diskerud (Photo: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports)
Jürgen Klinsmann will likely start a line-up that is something along the lines of what he started in the Guatemala friendly before the first Gold Cup game against Belize, but it’s likely that Klinsmann will start either Stuart Holden or Mix Diskerud over José Torres, who started against Guatemala and Belize.
Torres might start against Cuba, but it would likely be in a more advanced role out left where he started against Belize.
Many American soccer writers such as Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives as well as others suggested that Klinsmann didn’t start Herculez Gomez, Oguchi Onyewu, and Stuart Holden against Belize because of the artificial turf in Portland where the game was played.
That seems like a fair assumption with the exception of Onyewu who World Soccer Source believes wasn’t started at center back because Michael Orozco was younger, quicker, and more skilled.
With the next game on grass near Salt Lake City, it is very likely that Holden and Diskerud will start and that Beckerman will start as well.
Starting with the defense, Klinsmann will probably start Nick Rimando in goal, Michael Parkhurst at right back, Clarence Goodson and Michael Orozco at center back, and DaMarcus Beasley at left back.
While Parkhurst lost his man on Belize’s goal against the United States, Parkhurst is looking very composed and efficient out at right back. According to the statistics on MLS’ site, Parkhurst completed 113 of 127 passes against Belize, which shows a major involvement in the game and an ability to not lose possession.
At center back, Clarence Goodson and Michael Parkhurst have looked much more composed on the ball and more equipped to keep up with quicker attackers than Onyewu has shown.
Klinsmann may start Onyewu with Goodson at center back, but Orozco deserves the start with Goodson.
Beasley continues to surprise at left back, and he is looking too capable of keeping up with attackers and too composed in possession with both feet to be removed from the starting line-up as the left back.
One interesting option would be for Klinsmann to start Beasley as a right back with Edgar Castillo at left back with Parkhurst and Orozco as the center backs.
This option would eliminate Goodson from the Starting XI. Goodson has done nothing wrong, but Parkhurst and Orozco are visibly more skilled and athletic center back options than Goodson and Onyewu. As the tournament goes on, the United States will need to field the best line-up at its disposal.
The so-called Front Six presents even more questions than the defensive back four.
Should Holden and Diskerud start as a line of two faux-defensive midfielders in order to improve the overall skill level of the American midfield behind Landon Donovan, Joe Corona, and Break Shea?
Against Belize, Klinsmann started Beckerman as a midfield destroyer with Corona, Diskerud, and Torres forming a line of three attacking midfielders behind Chris Wondolowski as a first striker and Landon Donovan as a second striker, so Beckerman will likely be in the line-up again.
Jürgen Klinsmann could likely use the following Starting XI: Rimando; Parkhurst, Goodson, Orozco, Beasley; Beckerman; Diskerud, Holden; Corona; Gomez, Donovan.
While Klinsmann’s likely option is close to the strongest option that Klinsmann has at his disposal, this writer supports eliminating Beckerman from the Starting XI.
The more skilled option is a Front Six consisting of:Holden, Diskerud; Donovan, Corona, Shea; Gomez.
Therefore, World Soccer Source supports starting the following Starting XI against Cuba: Rimando; Beasley, Parkhurst, Orozco, Castillo; Holden, Diskerud; Donovan, Corona, Shea; Gomez.
What’s the rationale behind World Soccer Source’s Starting XI?
The basic premise is that the line-up proposed above includes a higher number of technically-skilled players with a defensive back four with two faster and more skilled center backs.
Additionally, Holden and Diskerud showed against Guatemala that they were able to play the requisite amount of defense while also drastically improving the quality of the passing in the American midfield, and that game proves more than the game against a low-ranked Belize side that did surprisingly well, while showing that even really low-ranked teams have players who display good athleticism and good basic fundamentals.
World Soccer Source sees Herculez Gomez starting over Chris Wondolowski despite Wondolowski’s hat trick and well-executed goals off diving headers. Gomez is a better player than Wondolowski, and Gomez plays better against better competition.
Gomez showed some good chemistry with Corona, and the most potent attack for the USMNT is Donovan, Corona, and Shea behind Gomez with Diskerud and Holden playing deeper in the midfield in a truly unorthodox formation with no defensive midfielder.
Klinsmann might start Beckerman again, and there is a logical rationale for doing so as Beckerman is the only defensive midfielder on the roster.
To be fair to Beckerman, his actual technical ability is good and his soccer IQ is high, but he’s simply not blessed with the speed and quickness that allow him to maximize his skill or catch up to opponents to perform better-timed tackles that aren’t fouls.
Another Starting XI option that Klinsmann might use would be: Rimando; Parkhurst, Orozco, Goodson, Beasley; Beckerman, Holden; Corona, Diskerud, Donovan; Gomez.
The USMNT XI against Belize should be similar to the USMNT XI against Guatemala with four changes.
Klinsmann will likely start Nick Rimando at goalkeeper again. Rimando came out of his box a few times to clear balls that Clarence Goodson and Oguchi Onyewu looked in danger of not getting to in time, and there were some miscommunications between Rimando and his center backs.
Rimando likely learned to just clear those out himself next time.
There’s nothing wrong with a goalkeeper coming out of his box, if it looks like his center backs are going to be outrun.
The key is for the goalkeeper to just clear the ball in such a way as to not be vulnerable to being beaten with a blast over his head from distance or a chip floated over his head and into the goal.
Michael Parkhurst looked up to the task at right back despite being a center back for almost his entire career until recently. Parkhurst is known for being calm on the ball, and based on Klinsmann’s roster selections, Parkhurst is still the best choice at right back.
Parkhurst has learned how to play the position. He’s not as fast as other right backs in the pool who were left off the roster, but he isn’t a slow player. There’s no one on the roster that can do a better job at right back than Parkhurst.
Klinsmann would be wise to start Clarence Goodson and Michael Orozco Fiscal as the center backs, as Onyewu looked vulnerable to being beaten with quickness, overall speed, or trickery. Goodson looked far superior to Onyewu in this regard, and Goodson isn’t even a fast or quick player.
Orozco is a player that is subjected to a fair amount of criticism within the American soccer fan base and the American soccer media, but compared to Onyewu, Orozco is a player who is more agile and more technically-sound.
People have their reasons for not liking Orozco, but he certainly doesn’t play like a player with inadequate fundamentals or poor quickness. Starting Orozco over Onyewu seems like a necessity.
Oddly enough, DaMarcus Beasley seems to do well at left back. At the beginning of his career and still now, Beasley was a very thin player who looked easy to muscle off the ball, but Beasley seems to have learned how to play left back reasonably well where he has shown a new ability to shield the ball.
He has the ability to dribble and pass out of trouble, and he isn’t a left-footed player who can’t or won’t use his right foot. Despite Edgar Castillo’s strong showings in La Liga MX and the Copa Libertadores, Beasley looks better at left back, even though it was a position he was force into.
Modern outside backs are expected to attack and defend, and Beasley as a natural winger has learned how to play adequate defense, which even includes the ability to win the ball back when dispossessed due to being somewhat new to the left back position.
Based on Kyle Beckerman’s and José Torres’ performances in the previous game, it was clear that Beckerman’s lack of athleticism caused him to foul players that he couldn’t keep up with, and his lack of speed prevented him from being able to catch players to tackle them or dispossess them.
On one occasion, Beckerman actually tackled an opposing player like he was playing American football and not soccer.
Skill-wise, Beckerman is sound, but the lack of the physical gifts of speed and quickness make him unable to get his body into position to show his skill-level in international games.
Beckerman’s partner was José Torres who provides a level of passing that is far below Stuart Holden’s or Mix Diskerud’s. Klinsmann’s only real option to maximize the skill of his squad is to not use a midfield destroyer or Torres as Klinsmann’s attempt at using an American regista.
Instead, Klinsmann should have Stuart Holden and Mix Diskerud playing in front of the defense not as defensive midfielders but just as central midfielders who are mindful of the need to play more defensive than they normally play.
Playing defense is something both players can do, as both players have a complete set of soccer fundamentals, which includes playing defense and tackling.
In addition to Holden and Diskerud, the final four starters of the USMNT’s Front Six should be Landon Donovan as a right midfielder, Joe Corona as a central attacking midfielder, Brek Shea as a left winger, and Herculez Gomez as the lone striker.
Gomez is clearly the most talented striker on the roster, and his performances for the United States as well as those in La Liga MX display better movement off the ball, better attacking instincts, and better technical ability than the U.S.’ other options at striker: Jack McInerney, Chris Wondolowski, and Will Bruin.
This roster gives the United States a midfield full of players who have the ability to control the ball possession in the midfield.
The key to the midfield will be Holden and Diskerud continuing to remember that they don’t have players like Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Geoff Cameron, or Maurice Edu on the roster behind them playing imposing defense.
Holden and Diskerud must provide the defensive coverage needed in the midfield, and they must do it while being two of the main protagonists of the United States’ passing and attacking.
Kyle Beckerman is a Jürgen Klinsmann favorite. (Photo: ISIphotos.com)
Jürgen Klinsmann has a variety of United States Men’s National Team Starting XI options, and none of them would instill much confidence, if it weren’t for the low level of competition the USMNT will face in the Gold Cup.
Klinsmann could possibly start: Nick Rimando; Michael Parkhurst, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Edgar Castillo; Kyle Beckerman, José Torres; Landon Donovan, Joe Corona, DaMarcus Beasley; Herculez Gomez.
A wiser Starting XI would be: Nick Rimando; Josh Gatt, Michael Parkhurst, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Edgar Castillo; Stuart Holden, Mix Diskerud; Landon Donovan, Joe Corona, DaMarcus Beasley; Herculez Gomez.
The option presented above has no defensive midfielder whatsoever because the strategy behind it is that by having Beckerman starting, the USMNT would have a liability in front of the defensive back four.
Instead, the Starting XI above has two modern outside backs, the best two center back options on the 23-man roster, five midfielders who can maintain possession and attack, and a proven international and Liga MX striker.
Holden, Diskerud, and Corona are all capable of tackling well, if they know they are required to do more tackling than normal. Josh Gatt has played as a right back even though he is considered more of a winger, and Gatt has had the experience of playing a full-strength Russian side in Russia (as a midfielder).
Beckerman’s lack of athleticism, which causes him to badly mistime tackles and injure opponents, alone is a reason not to start him, but his lack of quickness or speed makes him also easily to beat off the dribble or with quick passing combinations.
Klinsmann has the option of flooding the midfield with skilled attacking midfielders and not use a defensive midfielder, and this strategy would basically be based on using offense and ball possession as the United States’ defense.
Whatever starting line-up he selects (and the one proposed above by World Soccer Source is very unlikely to happen), many members of the American soccer media and the fan base will use certain players’ performances against poor competition as justification for their ability to play international soccer against better opponents. Strikers like Jack McInerney and Will Bruin are likely to fall into this category, as well as wingers like Josh Gatt or Alejando Bedoya.
In a way, Klinsmann is not improving the USMNT at all by using the line-up he will likely use. The only thing that Klinsmann can hope to learn with this roster is how well Corona, Diskerud, and Holden play.
Additionally, Klinsmann should be able to gauge how good Josh Gatt’s and Edgar Castillo’s skills are even when they are facing off against a poor opponent like Belize in the first game (if they even start or play).
The United States has other starting line-up options such as using Gatt as a right wing and Tony Beltran as a right back.
So, another Starting XI option would be this: Rimando; Beltran, Goodson, Orozco Fiscal, Castillo; Holden, Diskerud; Gatt, Corona, Donovan; Gomez.
The weakest option available to Klinsmann would be the following Starting XI: Hamid; Parkhurst, Goodson, Onyewu, Ashe; Beckerman, Orozco; Gatt, Torres, Bedoya; Wondolowski.
Jürgen Klinsmann selected another trademark imbalanced roster for the United States Men’s National Team’ s Gold Cup squad.
The roster has one right back, three left backs, only one defensive midfielder, several mediocre center backs without good agility, and mostly pedestrian strikers.
Klinsmann made one needed change from his previous roster which was putting more than one playmaker on the roster: Joe Corona and Mix Diskerud.
Below is the United States’ B Team Gold Cup roster selected by Klinsmann and his staff, and changes could possibly be made to the roster after the group stage of the tournament, should the United States advance out:
GOALKEEPERS: Bill HAMID (DC United), Sean JOHNSON (Chicago Fire), Nick RIMANDO (Real Salt Lake).
OUTSIDE BACKS: Michael PARKHURST (Augsburg), Edgar CASTILLO (Tijuana), Tony BELTRAN (Real Salt Lake), DaMARCUS BEASLEY (Puebla) , Corey ASHE (Houston Dynamo).
CENTER BACKS: Clarence GOODSON (Bronby), Oguchi ONYEWU (Malaga), Michael OROZCO FISCAL (Puebla).
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS: Kyle BECKERMAN (Real Salt Lake).
ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS: Alejandro BEDOYA (Helsinborg), Joe CORONA (Tijuana), Mix DISKERUD (Rosenborg), Josh GATT (Molde), Stuart HOLDEN (Bolton), José TORRES (Tigres).
FORWARDS: Will BRUIN (Houston Dynamo), Landon DONOVAN (LA Galaxy), Herculez GOMEZ (Tijuana), Jack MCINERNEY (Philadelphia Union), Chris WONDOLOWSKI (San Jose Earthquakes).
The Gold Cup roster Jürgen Klinsmann has selected for at least the group stage of the Gold Cup should be very alarming to anyone who remembers that in the 2011 Gold Cup the United States Men’s National Team struggled with the following players on the roster: Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Eric Lichaj, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, and Juan Agudelo.
Looking at the roster by position, even the goalkeepers are just the same goalkeepers that Klinsmann always selects as third string or B Team goalkeepers without even using them or proving that they in fact deserve to always be on the roster.
Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson, and Nick Rimando may prove to be capable as international goalkeepers, but are they better than some of the other MLS goalkeepers like Dan Kennedy, Tally Hall, Luis Robles, and Clint Irwin?
So far, Klinsmann seems to just select Hamid, Johnson, and Rimando without proving that they should just automatically be given the B Team goalkeeper spots.
Klinsmann and his staff selected just one right back for the Gold Cup roster: Tony Beltran.
The other right back in name only was Michael Parkhurst. Parkhurst is a good center back who has done well overseas, where he has recently been used as a right back. But, Parkhurst is a center back who doesn’t have the speed or the style of play to realistically be used as a right back against strong opponents.
Is Tony Beltran was on the roster, then where were the likes of Kofi Sarkodie, Jonathan Spector, and Eric Lichaj? Picking Beltran over the other three requires some evidence, and Klinsmann doesn’t have it.
Spector and Lichaj have a body of international work to support their inclusion over Beltran, and Sarkodie continues to display how he (like DeAndre Yedlin) is a fast and aggressive outside back who poses a two-way threat.
Sarkodie keeps getting better, and proving that Beltran is better than a player like Sarkodie is a tough sell. At the very least, Sarkodie has shown his ability in Olympic qualifying, and his form in MLS continues to improve.
Sarkodie’s attacking ability and his improved tackling has been something that many writers and pundits have noticed.
Exclusions like Sarkodie are a concerning pattern with Klinsmann where he selects certain players without backing up his selections, and at the same time, players who are as good or better aren’t even mentioned, almost to the extent that it would appear that Klinsmann’s scouting is inadequate and subpar.
Even if many of the opponents in the Gold Cup are soccer minnows, the United States still needs to improve as a team and gel, and this roster puts the USMNT in the position to possible lose to teams that it should easily beat.
While there is one right back on the roster, there are three left backs, and they aren’t the kind of left backs who can play as right or left backs. They are three left backs, who can only play on the left, and one of them, DaMarcus Beasley, isn’t even an outside back.
Beasley is a winger who did a good job of filling in at left back in the first half of the Hexagonal round of the World Cup qualifying when the U.S. needed a left-footed player to play left back.
Chris Klute of the Colorado Rapids deserved to be on the Gold Cup roster or at least part of the discussion.
Klute is a lightning-quick left back who can also play as a right back, center back, or as a midfielder, and Klute boasts a 4.3 40 time according to his former coach Eric Wynalda.
Klute is just what the doctor ordered for the USMNT.
He’s a modern outside back who attacks with speed and skill by combining to exchange wall passes with his teammates, and he makes dangerous overlapping runs. Marcelo Balboa also rates Klute highly.
Klute offers the United States an outside back who has the speed and skill to be effective going forward and on the defensive side of things.
Klute has great recovery speed, and he knows how to cover for the center backs when they come over to cover for him if he’s beaten.
He can dribble or pass the ball out of the back, and he uses his excellent vertical leap to head out dangerous balls played into the box or into the attacking third.
Klute can outplay Ashe, Castillo, and Beasley, and while Klute is not immune to being beaten off the dribble or with a pass just like any defender is, he is great at quickly closing in on the player who has passed him.
Chris Klute is an excellent example of one of many quality MLS players who have appeared from somewhat off the radar, and they are totally passed over by Klinsmann and his staff for players who haven’t proven that they are better.
Klinsmann has never even mentioned Klute, and Klute is almost never even discussed by the American soccer media. For all of these pundits and American soccer writers who seem to only pay attention to MLS, how did they miss Chris Klute?
At center back, it’s unclear how Klinsmann rationalized his selections.
For example, how does Klinsmann justify omitting George John from the roster, when John is a center back who is almost universally recognized by MLS coaches and players as one of the best center backs in the league? Even the Greek national team and EPL clubs have openly shown interest in John.
Looking at Klinsmann’s roster selections at center back, Onyewu and Goodson have repeatedly been shown to not have the agility or technical ability to take the United States to the next level, and using players of their age does nothing to incorporate younger and better center backs like George John, Amobi Okugo, Gale Agbossoumonde, and Andrew Farrell (who can play either as a center back, outside back, or midfield destroyer).
Say what you want about Agbossoumonde and Farrell, but their comfort on the ball, their strong defensive skills, and their athleticism are there for all to see.
These are promising players who have enough experience to not be dismissed as raw and unproven players. Farrell and Agbossoumonde are not YouTube players, but rather they are players who games can be viewed and analyzed on MLS Live.
Any American defender who could possibly improve the center of the American defense deserves to be considered.
Whereas Klinsmann often put five or six midfield destroyers on his previous rosters, Klinsmann has only one defensive midfielder on this Gold Cup roster: Kyle Beckerman.
Beckerman is a midfield destroyer, and the roster doesn’t have a back-up destroyer for Beckerman or two players of the second kind of defensive midfielder: the box-to-box midfielder.
How was Perry Kitchen passed over for this Gold Cup roster as an additional midfield destroyer? Everything Beckerman does, Kitchen does better.
Kitchen isn’t fast by international soccer standards, but he isn’t a slow liability. His passing and comfort on the ball is as good or better than Beckerman’s, and he can also play as a center back.
Amobi Okugo is another defensive midfielder or center back who was necessary as a substitute or as a starter. Given Beckerman’s glacial speed and poor quickness, he’s a liability that should have been replaced by Kitchen, Okugo, or Jeremy Hall.
Despite Beckerman’s sound fundamentals and technique, there’s no place for a player who’s that slow in international soccer, especially a country like the United States that wants to improve its quality of play and international competitiveness.
The rest of the midfield is all attacking midfielders of various varieties including two actual playmakers in Joe Corona and Mix Diskerud and one attacking midfielder in Stuart Holden who doesn’t easily fit into any category.
Additionally, José Torres is on the roster, despite never performing well or impacting any game he has played for the United States, and Torres doesn’t combine enough with his teammates or play enough final balls to be considered a playmaker.
Benny Feilhaber deserved a roster spot over José Torres because Feilhaber has outplayed Torres at the international level, and Feilhaber has been enjoying a solid season with Sporting Kansas City in MLS, despite being left off a recent travel roster.
Sporting Kansas City’s passing is better when Feilhaber is playing, and Feilhaber has also displayed quite a bit of tackling and strong defensive work for a playmaker. Feilhaber even had seven or eight tackles in a game against the LA Galaxy when Jürgen Klinsmann was in the stadium to watch the game.
Feilhaber’s qualities are well-known in the United States, and often coaches like Klinsmann expect him to either play more defense that a playmaker normally plays or they have unrealistic expectations for him.
People know Feilhaber is a talented passer, so they raise their expectations for him, while allowing less talented people to play.
Even without Feilhaber, at least the roster has Joe Corona and Mix Diskerud, but the selection of Torres over Feilhaber shows Klinsmann’s tendency to pick his players early and insist on selecting them over and over again without any evidence.
The roster also has wingers amongst the group of attacking midfielders. Alejandro Bedoya and Josh Gatt are wingers, but it’s hard to support that they match the combination of skill and speed that Joe Gyau and Brek Shea provide as wingers.
Shea has performed better than Bedoya for the United States, and Gatt offers less speed and skill than Gyau offers. Gyau also plays in a more competitive environment in Germany.
The omission of both Terrence Boyd and Juan Agudelo from the group of strikers was very indefensible, especially since strikers like Chris Wondolowski were selected over both of them.
Given the problem with goal scoring in the 2011 Gold Cup, how can anyone have any confidence in Klinsmann and his staff who selected strikers like Chris Wondolowski, Will Bruin, and Jack McInerney to do something that Altidore and Agudelo struggled to do?
In 2011, there was a real lack of service for Altidore and Agudelo, despite the presence of attacking midfielders like Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan. With Benny Feilhaber injured before and during the tournament in 2011, the then-coach Bob Bradley was forced to insert Freddy Adu into the semifinal game against Panama because the USMNT was not creating any scoring chances.
Bob Bradley should be applauded for putting Adu on the roster to begin with, but given Bob Bradley’s prefence for using two midfield destroyers, it must have taken a lot for someone like Bradley to abandon his coaching philosophy and put Adu into the game.
This Gold Cup roster has the playmakers and attacking midfielders to play final balls and create scoring opportunities, but it doesn’t have the best strikers at Klinsmann disposal to finish those final balls, with the exception of Herculez Gomez.
Klinsmann selected Will Bruin and Chris Wondolowski over Juan Agudelo, and Agudelo has more goals in MLS than Bruin and the same amount as Wondolowski.
Unlike Bruin and Wondolowski, Agudelo has proven ability on the international level and 17 international caps for the USMNT.
Klinsmann can rationalize the inclusion of McInerney because he has a good MLS goal-scoring rate this season, but he can’t justify selecting Bruin and Wondolowski over Agudelo.
Agudelo is only 20 years old, and he has already shown more ability to perform on the international level than Wondolowski. Agudelo is better, taller, faster, more active off the ball, and more aggressive than Wondolowski.
Klinsmann said that Agudelo needed to be more “consistent” and less “up and down,” in order to make the team and yet he still has more goals than Bruin and the same amount as Wondolowski.
There is a definite pattern with Klinsmann’s roster selections, which almost seems to boil down to his selection of players he feels he can get to play a more proactive style rather than selecting the players than already play that way.
Klinsmann is quite frankly using many of the same players who have already shown that they don’t have the capacity to play at or close to the same level as the United States’ best regular players like Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley.
The United States and really Klinsmann is squandering an opportunity to take a number of players who have demonstrated that they have the skill-set and natural gifts to play soccer well at the international level and begin to incorporate them into the national team set-up so that the U.S. can improve.
Using these new but talented players isn’t a bigger risk than using many players who fall short of being able to keep up with the speed and skill of international soccer.
WORLD SOCCER SOURCE’S NOTABLE ROSTER OMISSIONS (WHICH ARE LARGELY UNPOPULAR WITH THE AMERICAN SOCCER MEDIA):
Clint Dempsey (left) and Jozy Altidore (right). (Photo: AP)
For several months, this writer has proposed fielding a United States Men’s National Team XI made up of some of the U-20 players with the best USMNT players, even the ones Klinsmann refuses to use.
What would this look like? It would look like Benji Joya, DeAndre Yedlin, Shane O’Neill, Caleb Stanko, Mario Rodriguez, José Villarreal, Alonso Hernandez, Juan Agudelo, Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, and even Freddy Adu being given a real shot.
The caliber of the passing hasn’t been good enough, and there haven’t been enough shots on goal.
So, just how good are Klinsmann’s starting line-ups?
Skipping quickly past the goalkeeper position, either Tim Howard or Brad Guzan are proven international and EPL keepers who serve the United States well.
Who plays right back? Well, Steve Cherundolo is certainly a seasoned Bundesliga and USMNT veteran who nobody really ever doubted in the past. Now, he’s a little older, and he asked for time off this summer. Additionally, some observers feel as if he’s lost a step.
Jonathan Spector is a capable player with strong technical ability, experience, and respectable athleticism for an international player. He’s by no means slow, and he isn’t very old. Spector performed well against Spain and Brazil in the 2009, and that’s something that he can continue to point to for a long time.
A bolder choice is tossing DeAndre Yedlin into the deep end with the full USMNT at right back where he gives the United States a modern outside back blessed with speed, attacking inclinations, comfort on the ball, and fairly aggressive defensive tendencies.
Yedlin is thought of as primarily an attacking threat, but he has certainly demonstrated an ability to tackle well, force attackers wide, and track down opposing players. The advantage of using Yedlin is that he puts the opposition on its heels when he marauds down the sideline, which breaks the defensive shape of the opposition and sucks opposing players toward the sideline, which frees up Yedlin’s teammates.
Who should be the two American center backs is really up for debate, and until all of the relevant parties are allowed to step into the ring, no one is really going to know which American center backs or defensive midfielders can take the center of the American defense to the next level.
Are Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler better than Carlos Bocanegra, Clarence Goodson, and Oguchi Onyewu? Definitely yes.
Are Gonzalez and Besler better than Jay DeMerit? Probably not.
DeMerit was baptized by fire and performed well in two major FIFA tournaments against truly elite attackers. DeMerit didn’t just survive when the famous players were coming at him, he showed that he was an American center back that was too good to be victimized by elite forwards.
With that being said, Jürgen Klinsmann owes American fans and himself the opportunity to get to see the list of 10 or so center backs being tossed into the shark tank.
Center back is a difficult position primarily because faster and better players are sprinting at center backs while center backs are backpedaling; at any moment, the opposition can play balls through or over center backs or simply decide to dribble past them with a full head of steam.
It’s easy to say that center backs are mistake prone or too easily beaten. It’s hard to stop someone sprinting at a center back when the center back has his back to goal.
Gonzalez and Besler? Cameron and Gonzalez? Cameron and Besler? Shane O’Neill and Besler? Cameron and Shane O’Neill? George John and Maurice Edu? The list of possibilities goes on as several center backs like Amobi Okugo, Gale Agbossoumonde, Caleb Stanko, and Andrew Farrell (amongst others) weren’t even mentioned in the options above.
Taking a look at Agbossoumonde and Farrell together at center back in a friendly would be a very bold move that could prove to bring better skill, defense, and athleticism to the center of the American defense.
Should Fabian Johnson play as a left back where he can attack and bring better skill to the left side of the defense?
Should a brand new MLS player like Chris Klute be allowed to suit up for a friendly or tested in camp?
Should right backs with the ability to play as left backs be used?
These are all legitimate questions, which Klinsmann hasn’t posed or tried to answer through testing, with the exception of frequently using Johnson at left back.
Despite Klinsmann’s makeshift line-ups, one thing is for certain: the United States Men’s National Team has a better and more athletic pool of players than ever before.
Will they get a chance to show what they can do? Will they be giving a fair shot?
The front six offers a lot more certainly.
Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore are starting as a box-to-box/defensive midfielder, roaming attacking midfielder or second striker, and first striker, respectively; this fact leaves three open spots.
Will Trapp isn’t beating Jermaine Jones or Geoff Cameron out for the defensive midfielder spot any time soon, and Perry Kitchen hasn’t even been given the chance to show how well he would do against someone like Brazil, if Jones or Cameron were unavailable.
Can Jeremy Hall or Amobi Okugo outperform Maurice Edu? Who knows?
The U.S. has other midfield destroyers as well, but no one from Tab Ramos’ U-20 U.S. side (except maybe Stanko in the future) is taking the misunderstood number 6 role, which requires a lot of comfort on the ball, speed, defensive skill, and elegant passing ability.
Two spots remain to be discussed, and these two spots have been Jürgen Klinsmann’s clearest display of being a poor tactician.
The ability to appreciate creative passing skills in a player who is willing to try passes that might not slip through the defense and the need of the first and second strikers to have a playmaker who is inventive, smooth, instinctual, and a risk taker is a connection that Klinsmann either refuses to try to address or a connection that he refuses to accept.
Either way, Klinsmann has been unwilling to even test out the best playmaker options at his disposal and pick one. Klinsmann’s standards for playmakers are high, but he has never proven that his assessment of Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, Freddy Adu, Mix Diskerud, or anyone else is correct. He needs to prove it.
He needs to allow a playmaker to play with Cameron/Jones, Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, and Altidore, and he needs to evaluate all of the options at his disposal.
With Cameron or Jones playing with Bradley and Dempsey and Donovan combining with Altidore to help him to attack the goal, Klinsmann doesn’t have a good excuse to not try out playmakers who link the more defensive midfielders with Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore.
Until he tries it out, he can’t support his tactics. Klinsmann needs to try something. He is entitled to not use his archenemies (Feilhaber and Adu) to whom he has nothing to teach , but he could at least play a line of three attacking midfielders Donovan, Corona, and Dempsey behind Altidore with Cameron and Bradley playing deep.
That’s fair.
That’s tactically sound.
Based on how Benji Joya has played in the U-20 World Cup and in CONCACAF U-20 World Cup qualifying, Joya would be a very useful midfielder to begin to incorporate into the USMNT.
Joya brings skill, calm passing, defensive qualities, good athleticism, and intensity. He’s a complete midfielder that offers Bradley, Cameron, Jones, and Dempsey a player who can play at their level and help the team to produce better soccer.
Perhaps the best performance ever for the USMNT under Klinsmann was the game against Panama in which Klinsmann had players close to fulfilling the 1 through 11 numbering system: Tim Howard 1, Brad Evans 2, Omar Gonzalez 3, Matt Besler 4, DaMarcus Beasley 5, Geoff Cameron 6, Fabian Johnson 7, Michael Bradley 8, Jozy Altidore 9, Eddie Johnson 9, Clint Dempsey 11. No number 10 or anything close to it.
Even Joe Corona, an actual number 10 who proved himself in the Copa Libertadores, was on the bench for several qualifiers before and after the Panama game when the U.S. was passing poorly. Corona’s cameo against Panama was essentially a public insult from Klinsmann that said, “It means nothing to me that you start for a good Liga MX team that went deep into the Copa Libertadores, and I don’t care that you proved yourself twice against Corinthians.”
Looking at the starting line-up against Panama, the right back and left back were questionable as legitimate options against better teams. Eddie Johnson was oddly used as a right midfield winger. Clint Dempsey was used as a 10.
The reason the line-up worked was because Cameron, Bradley, Fabian Johnson, Dempsey, Eddie Johnson, and Altidore all had the skill-level, playing style, and athleticism to display a higher caliber of passing play despite the rather bizarre formation with a striker like Eddie Johnson as a right winger and Dempsey as a playmaker .
Clint Dempsey will be the best American soccer player for years to come. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Starting with the strikers and moving backward towards the goalkeepers, there are lots of pros and cons to what Jürgen Klinsmann is doing.
The main thing Klinsmann has done right is that he is close to finding a Starting XI that can play a higher caliber of soccer against top national teams.
The main two things he has done wrong are 1.) failing to use a player to connect the midfield to the attack; and 2.) filling the non-starter roster spots with players who haven’t proven they are better than other players the U.S. has at its disposal.
There’s no real connection between the improved international play of players like Jozy Altidore, and anything Jürgen Klinsmann is doing as a coach. Klinsmann simply likes to remind Altidore how he was a great German striker and thus entitled to publicly rag on Altidore, as opposed to solving the problem of providing Altidore with more service.
Klinsmann has publicly insulted Altidore on multiple occasions (supposedly as some sort of motivational tactic), but the improved service that Altidore received when playing for the United States was the real reason for Altidore’s recently improved scoring rate and combination play with Clint Dempsey.
Altidore’s improved skill-level and international performances is a product of steady improvement from childhood until seeing lots of playing time with technical footballers in Holland.
Clint Dempsey has been playing for the United States Men’s National Team as a second striker, even if a diagram of the line-up makes him look like a central attacking midfielder, but Dempsey’s performances for the U.S. have always been better when he’s provided with a better supporting cast who can play on his level.
Dempsey’s record and highlights speak for themselves, but Dempsey is often the scapegoat when the USMNT plays poorly. Often, Dempsey receives lower ratings from the American soccer media than players who clearly didn’t show as much class and intensity in a particular game. The more players like Michael Bradley who are playing with Dempsey, the more he’ll be able to play off his teammates and shine.
Despite the praise Graham Zusi has received from the American soccer media for his World Cup qualifying performances, Zusi looked mostly in over his head against Germany and Belgium. Often a single cross that finds its target in a game largely characterized by just trying to keep up with international competition will garner Zusi praise.
Zusi is certainly a technically-sound player with the ability to rely less on a steady stream of crosses and more on higher-caliber passing than he does. Zusi crossed the ball 12 times against Honduras, and while a few of them were well-weighted and elegant, others looked like he was married to crossing the ball. Nevertheless, Zusi has shown the ability to play a better style of passes, but he should play that way more.
One of the back ups for Zusi is Joe Corona, and Corona almost seems blackballed by Klinsmann, despite seeing a small number of World Cup qualifying minutes against Panama. Whatever Klinsmann’s rationale is for not using Corona more, even though he continues to call him up to the national team, it makes but little sense.
Every soccer fan around the world knows that the one missing element from the U.S. national team now is starting a higher number of technically-skilled players like Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Geoff Cameron, Jozy Altidore, and Fabian Johnson. Corona is not only technically-skilled, but he’s creative, experienced, and a starting attacking midfielder in a league that is better than Major League Soccer: La Liga MX.
The constant refusal to let Corona play a bigger role is a tough sale for any knowledgeable soccer fan. The United States Men’s National Team is simply not good enough in its current form to exclude players like Corona.
Amidst the euphoria of sitting on 13 points in World Cup qualifying, American soccer fans and the American soccer media should be mindful of how easily Germany’s B Team was able to score a flurry of goals in a matter of minutes when it was actually trying. Additionally, Belgium absolutely destroyed the United States in the friendly before Germany.
The United States wouldn’t have been outclassed to such an extent by Belgium if a greater number of better players were used. Without any thought, anyone who has followed the USMNT knows that Landon Donovan and Benny Feilhaber could have simply been given a uniform for the Belgium game and had no problems performing well without looking in over their heads. The United States might have still lost, but the quality of play would have been better.
People can say what they like about Donovan or Feilhaber, but both of them have skill-sets that this current U.S. team is missing.
While the United States has a variety of strong pieces in Klinsmann’s recent starting line-ups, there is undoubtedly a better right back, a better right midfielder, and a better playmaker. Klinsmann could simply insert three new starters to start with eight of his current starters and make the USMNT instantly better.
The State of the United States Men’s National Team is that eight of Klinsmann’s 11 starters should continue to start: Tim Howard (goalkeeper), Omar Gonzalez (center back), Matt Besler (center back), Fabian Johnson (left back), Michael Bradley (defensive midfielder), Geoff Cameron or Jermaine Jones (defensive midfielder), Clint Dempsey (second striker), and Jozy Altidore (first striker).
The United States needs to use new players at right back, at the central attacking midfielder role, and as the right attacking midfielder, and Klinsmann has the players available to him to strengthen these three positions.
At right back, Klinsmann has DeAndre Yedlin, Jonathan Spector, Eric Lichaj, and Andrew Farrell. At playmaker, Klinsmann has Benny Feilhaber, Joe Corona, Benji Joya, and Freddy Adu. And lining up as a right midfielder, Klinsmann has Landon Donovan, any of the players listed at playmaker, Joe Gyau, Brek Shea, or Stuart Holden.
The State of the United States Men’s National Team is that it has the players in the pool to shore up its weaknesses, but Klinsmann refuses to use even the internationally-proven ones.
The United States is in first place in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, but the line-ups Klinsmann is using don’t have the collective quality to beat stronger national teams. Klinsmann will have to use someone who can provided Dempsey and Altidore with more service, and Klinsmann will also have to use a right back with more speed than Brad Evans.
Not everything that Klinsmann is doing is bad, as Klinsmann is somewhat close to fielding a starting line-up with 10 skilled, dynamic, and athletic field players, but the missing connection between the defensive midfielders and the attack is still a problem.
One reality of the USMNT is that Jürgen Klinsmann is using some players who make the United States play below its real ability, and it’s time to see just how good the U.S. really is.
Geoff Cameron (20) allows Michael Bradley to attack more. Can Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley, and Geoff Cameron start at the same time? (Photo: AP/Rick Bowmer)
In the wake of the United States Men’s National Team’s 1-0 win over Honduras, there are still many questions about how the United States should use Michael Bradley, Geoff Cameron, and Jermaine Jones.
While Cameron allows Bradley to play a bigger role in the attack, Jones is still a very talented Champions League and Bundesliga defensive midfielder who like Cameron has refined passing skills and an overall comfort with the ball at his feet.
Does starting Cameron, Bradley, and Jones play at the same time allow the USMNT to pass better while still being tough to break down defensively? Can all three stay out of each other’s way?
The American soccer media likes to refer to the various types of defensive midfielders as central midfielders, as if defensive midfielder means midfield destroyer and central midfielder means a box-to-box midfielder. The second classification is an accurate assessement, but there is this conflict of ideas of how the central midfield should line up and who should play there.
As many writers, pundits, and fans have pointed out, Geoff Cameron is doing a better job than Jermaine Jones of agreeing to play some variation of the midfield destroyer role. Nevertheless, Jones is a highly-skilled Champions League and Bundesliga veteran, but Cameron is, as many people have observed, allowing Bradley to play farther up field and participate in the attack closer to Clint Dempsey.
With that being said, Jones certainly has the right and skill to advance toward the final third as Bradley does, but if that is going to continue to happen, then the United States Men’s National Team will need to play Jones and Bradley in front of Cameron as three points of a diamond midfield formation.
If Bradley and Jones want to play closer to goal, Cameron seems perfectly willing and able to fulfill more of the defensive duties in front of the defensive back four while also stamping his passing imprint on the game as well. Starting Cameron, Bradley, and Jones leaves three open positions in the midfield and at forward, so the USMNT could start Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, and one other player as part of the front six.
If Jürgen Klinsmann ever elects to start Cameron, Jones, and Bradley together, then he’ll have to finally take the plunge and allow Joe Corona, Benny Feilhaber, Benji Joya, or Freddy Adu to start.
This sort of line-up would be an improvement over the types of three defensive midfielder formations that Klinsmann used in the past.
In the past, the player tasked with the midfield destroyer role wasn’t as agile and skilled on the ball as Geoff Cameron. With Cameron playing as the midfield destroyer, the United States would be giving both Jones and Bradley (both defensive midfielders) the license to really play as box-to-box midfielders more so than in the past with a playmaker in front of them and a second striker and first striker in front of the playmaker.
The United States has used a midfield with Landon Donovan out right, Clint Dempsey out left, and Michael Bradley and Benny Feilhaber in the middle, but the U.S. has never used three midfielders with Bradley’s, Jones’s, and Cameron’s defensive and technical skills behind three essentially pure attack-minded players.
The key to the system is Cameron playing deeper than everyone else in the front six, and Cameron not only has no problem doing this, but he also seems to enjoy roaming the back where he gets lots of touches on the ball, which allows him to either spray passes around or combine with his teammates with quicker passes on the ground.
This formation would eliminate the need for Bradley to sacrifice his attacking qualities, in order to provide defensive coverage for Jones, and this formation would also be technically-skilled but difficult for opposing teams to break down.
As long as some playmaker is linking Cameron, Bradley, and Jones to Dempsey and Altidore, then this formation could allow Bradley and Jones the freedom to both attack and defend without fearing leaving a big hole behind them.
This system would be attempting to let the USMNT start two players similar (in position only) to a player of a much higher caliber: Arturo Vidal.
Despite being excellent European and international players and with all due respect to their technical qualities, Bradley and Jones don’t have the same attacking arsenal and class as Arturo Vidal, who’s essentially a combination of Bradley’s running, tenacity, and defensive skill with Dempsey’s technical ability.
Nevertheless, all of the U.S. midfielders listed above are quality international midfielders by any standard, and starting Cameron, Bradley, Jones, and Corona with Dempsey and Altidore up top would be a courageous and tactically-sound formation.
The most likely reaction by the majority of the American fan base and soccer media to the line-up proposed above would be a mixture between complaints that Corona isn’t ready to arguments that this is a formation with three midfield destroyers
After seeing Geoff Cameron and Michael Bradley partner well together as something close to a defensive midfielder partnership, the next step for Jürgen Klinsmann is to start three attacking midfielders in front of them against Honduras.
While Cameron and Bradley do much more than breaking up the opposition’s possession and helping to protect the defensive back four, starting three dynamic attacking midfielders such as Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden, and Joe Corona would give the United States Men’s National Team the chance to see how the passing could be improved even more from the Panama game without taking any real risks.
Playing as a left midfielder with the freedom to roam around the field is not a new or unnatural role for Dempsey, and Holden and Corona are attacking midfielders who have plenty of experience plus all of the tools to help the USMNT continue to improve its possession and passing ability.
Starting four defenders and two defensive midfielders (even of the more box-to-box variety) is considered by many to be a fairly defensive line-up, therefore starting Dempsey, Holden, and Corona in front of the two defensive midfielders is hardly an overly attack-minded line-up.
These three attacking midfielders gives Klinsmann the chance to see his vision for the U.S. national team go to the next level.
Klinsmann had to like the type of passing and off the ball movement he saw against Panama, and using Holden and Corona provides him with the chance of taking his vision of proactive soccer to the next level without using inexperienced or unproven players.
Starting Corona is a decision that Klinsmann needs to make, if he’s serious about taking the United States national team to the next level.
Based on the type of combination play Altidore and Dempsey were displaying against Panama, the next logical step is to play someone like Corona behind them, in order to give them the types of final balls they are looking for. Nice chemistry between a first and second striker poses a real threat to a defense, but a playmaker behind players of Altidore and Dempsey’s skill level is even more of a threat.
Although Dempsey in this system would be starting as an attacking midfielder on paper, Dempsey will be looking to slip behind the Honduran defense and provide support for Altidore.
Holden and Corona aren’t liabilities as starters, but if people view them as somewhat risky, the risk cannot be much more than minimal.
Who Jürgen Klinsmann will include in his Starting XI for the United States Men’s National Team is anyone’s guess, but it seems likely that Edgar Castillo would slot into his natural position of left back to replace the suspended DaMarcus Beasley.
Additionally, Klinsmann has been a big fan of Graham Zusi’s play as a pseudo-right winger. Nevertheless, Klinsmann must have liked the type of passing and off the ball movement the U.S. showed against Panama without Zusi.
The likely starters based on Klinsmann’s past decisions are: Tim Howard; Brad Evans, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, Edgar Castillo; Geoff Cameron; Michael Bradley; Graham Zusi or Eddie Johnson, Clint Dempsey, Fabian Johnson ; Jozy Altidore.
Is this the best starting line-up that can be formed from the players on the roster considering the suspensions? Maybe it is, or maybe it isn’t.
On the one hand, the United States played its best soccer under Klinsmann when two of Klinsmann’s first choice starters, Graham Zusi and Jermaine Jones, were unavailable. Zusi had delivered an assist two games in a row in the games before the Panama match, but without Zusi, Eddie Johnson was in the line-up making runs behind the Panamanian defense.
While Jones has performed well and provided the American midfield with lots of qualities, Cameron seemed to do a better job of playing a combination of a midfield destroyer and a box-to-box midfielder, mainly in regards to his passing and defensive recovery duties.
Klinsmann does have the option of starting Cameron right in front of the back four with Jones and Bradley in front of him to the right and left playing as box-to-box midfielders, but two things are unclear: is Jones ready to play again after his concussion, and would Klinsmann use all three at once given the problems with using three defensive midfielders in the past?
Despite the likely starting line-up predicted above, Klinsmann has the option of using Stuart Holden or Joe Corona or both, and Klinsmann has the option of using Terrence Boyd or Eddie Johnson as an additional center forward alongside Jozy Altidore.
Who will Klinsmann start? Who should Klinsmann start? These are two different questions.
The game against Panama at the very least demonstrated that changes to the starting line-up can greatly improve the USMNT’s performance, as opposed to the conventional wisdom that constant line-up changes prevent the team from playing as a cohesive unit.
A new line-up against Panama produced the first real glimpse of the type of proactive soccer that Klinsmann said he was trying to instill when he became head coach of the U.S. two years ago.
The right kind of change is good, and the next step for the U.S. is adding a playmaker in addition to the improved passing displayed with Geoff Cameron as somewhat of a combination of a midfield destroyer and a box-to-box midfielder.
