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Klinsmann ‘flexible’ ahead of roster cuts

Jurgen Klinsmann

By RYAN TOLMICH

With the deadline to confirm his World Cup roster just two weeks away, the job of U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is anything but easy.

Trimming down a team of 30 of the country’s best players down to just 23 is a tall task for Klinsmann, who is entering his first World Cup in charge of the team. But it needs to get done, and it’s going to get done at Klinsmann’s pace.

“We’ll obviously discuss that daily,” Klinsmann said in regards to the impending final cuts. “It’s part of our job, of our work. I don’t have just a specific date in mind.

“We see them a bit closer every day in scrimmages and training exercises,” added Klinsmann from training at Stanford University. “We see little things that add up, so it gives us just more and more information. Every day is another day of getting more information on every individual and every single player, so that helps us exactly understand where they are right now in this moment, which is obviously very important, just a couple of weeks away from the first game in Brazil. It teaches us every day some lessons on the players.”

Until that inevitable day, Klinsmann is committed to getting the most out of the 30 players currently under his direction. Training under the hot Stanford sun is something Klinsmann hopes will sharpen his roster both physically and mentally.

“Obviously you compete with the best in the world at the end of the day and every little piece on the soccer field, whether it’s tactically, physically, whether it’s mental alertness, if it’s a lot of work that you’ve got to make them aware….it’s kind of always connected to each other,” Klinsmann said. “The better you are in shape the more alert you are, the fresher you are, you deal with tiredness and once you have tired legs you still have to make the right decisions, so that all works together. That’s the foundation of it.

“Again, as I’ve said so many times over the last three years, the benchmarks are the best teams in the world that do that to perfection. If it’s Spain or if it’s Germany or Brazil that will do that, so you have to make sure that you are up to speed with them.”

With that said, there are no guaranteed spots or promises when it comes to the roster. Trips to Brazil will be earned and, according to Klinsmann, ideas on who will be cut and when change daily.

“If I would say my feeling today, then maybe that will be different in a week,” said Klinsmann. “We’ll stay flexible.”

Comments

  1. The right half of my brain thinks there is a lot being decided in this camp and that eveybody there has a chance to earn a spot, but that is based on the very small sample size I have seen of the people which is pretty much limited to National Team games. The left half of my brain agrees with the poster that says Klinsmann probably has about 21 of the 23 already picked. The coaching staff sees these guys in training all the time and probably already knows where the bar is set for peak performance from each person in camp. The left half of the brain thinks his big decisions are how to rate potential vs. consistency. Do you rate a person with a demonstrated higher bar for top performance but is inconsistent over someone that plays consistently, but at a lower level than someone elses best game? Donovan may be a wild card because his potential could be 2010 form (or something similar – this is me being hopeful) or maybe something much less.

    From the 20 seconds of footage of Donovan on the ESPN special last night, it didn’t look to me that he had dropped any weight and was any quicker than he displayed against Mexico. I am still hopeful that he can get back somewhere close to his 2010 form (that is probably the right side of the brain …)

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  2. i think Evans, Davis, Goodson, and Wondo will lose out for sure. undecided about Mix/Corona, Beckerman/Edu, and Parkhurst/Yedlin.

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  3. CUTS:
    Mix
    Wondo
    Brooks
    Corona
    Yedlin
    Parkhurst
    Evans

    GK (3)
    Howard
    Guzan
    Rimando

    D(5)
    Besler
    Chandler
    Gonzalez
    DMB
    Goodson/Brooks

    D/M (3)
    Cameron
    Fabian
    Edu

    M (6)
    MB
    Jones
    Beckerman
    Davis
    Zusi
    Bedoya

    M/F (4)
    Aron J.
    Green
    Donovan
    Dempsey

    F (2)
    Jozy
    Boyd

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  4. Beckerman is staying over Edu. It’s not simply about who is better, it’s about putting together a cohesive team. And if you’ve seen Bradley playing with Beckerman, you know it’s a combination that works. Nothing against Edu, but unless he really tears it up, and shows a real bond with Bradley, he’s going home.

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    • didn’t Edu and Bradley looked pretty great together against Slovenia in 2010? i know Edu only got a half but i remember it being pretty great.

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      • Yup, but that was four years ago…don’t know if they’ve played together since then. If they can regain that form quickly, great, but I think Beckerman has the inside track.

  5. I’d cut:

    Parkhurst
    Evans
    Yedlin
    Edu
    Corona
    Davis
    Boyd

    The three keepers are obvious. You’d have defenders of Chandler, Cameron, Besler, Gonzalez, Goodson, Brooks, Beasley, Johnson. Of those, Cameron and and Johnson can play multiple positions. In the midfield, you’d have Bradley, Jones, Donovan and Zusi as potential starters, with Mix and Bedoya as offensive options and Beckerman as a defensive option for (a) when we need to shut up shop, and (b) if Jones accumulates too many cards. Green would be the absolute wildcard for a random spark off the bench. At the forward spot, you’d start Jozy and Clint, with Johansson and Wondolowski waiting in the wings. I admit I was never a huge Wondo fan, but all the guy does is get himself into good positions to score. You need someone like this if you are chasing a game (and remember, John Terry was incredulous that Wondo didn’t get more national team play, calling his movement one of the best he’s seen).

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    • I’d cut Beasley and take Parkhurst. I know that won’t happen, but I have long believed that DMB is a pretty average player. Klinsman seems to like him though.

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    • Boyd will make the roster unless he just looks awful in camp and in the scrimmages. He’s the only other player in the pool that is in the mold of a Jozy, and if JA were to get carded or gets hurt we’ll need Boyd’s like for like ability so I think he goes.

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  6. Nobody mentions to cut Omar? He’s the first person I would cut. Why in the world would anyone on this discussion board want to bring a CB with a “tweeked” knee to the most important and the highest level of international soccer? Omar isn’t even International level quality when he is fully healthy, but nobody wants him cut with a bad knee? Think about it.

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      • Apologies to those who DID previously mention Omar. My cuts:
        Omar
        Wondo
        Evans
        Davis
        Parkhurst
        Corona
        Beckerman

        These were tough choices, man. I don’t envy JK

    • This is something to monitor. If his knee is still tweaked as of the Turkey game, I’d cut bait. If he shows improvement, I’d take him.

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    • probably because we haven’t officially heard his progress. until we do, there is no point in listing Omar as a possible cut. if he’s healthy, he’s going. as of now, they are still maintaining that he will be fine. we’ll see.

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  7. I feel like klinsy likes Brad Davis for his service on set pieces. He definitely is not fast enough for the international level of play, but he did play in some important games. Does he make the squad? I didn’t think he would sniff the 30!

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  8. I have a very different take. I think Klinsi already knows who is 23 man squad is. Or at least 21 or 22 of the list.

    I just think he’s big on the value of competition. He doesn’t think he needs a month for his 23 players to bond–he thinks he’s got chemistry now. So instead he’d rather invite 30, no-one feels comfortable, everyone gets pushed. Basically, 5 and maybe even 7 of these guys were invited with almost no chance of making the squad (unless there are injuries) but they’re there to push the first 23 and try to raise everyone’s sharpness and level of play.

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  9. Saw the espn show about the team last night. It doesn’t look like gonzalez is even training right now and he seemed to be noticably limping. There isn’t much time for him to get healthy.

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    • Azerbaijan in five days: doesn’t look good for him playing.
      Gives Cameron or Goodson or Brooks a chance to start alongside Besler.
      Even if Gonzo “recovers” before the Nigeria game, it doesn’t look good for him to making the 23.

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    • DVR’d the show but the baseball game on ESPN ran late before it. So when everyone was in bed and work was done, I sit down to watch the show with a cold beer and only half of it recorded. Disappointment. Anyway, the part on Tim Howard was cool.

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      • Same for me Ah, I was pissed too because it was looking very insightful and starting to give us a great look into the camp then BAM, it stops running smh. Does anyone know where or if they show replays of this series!

      • it’ll be on Saturday as well:

        roger bennett ‏@rogbennett 13h
        #Inside: @ussoccer: March To Brazil re-airs: Episode 1 Saturday 12 PM ET ESPN 2. Episode 2 Saturday 2 PM ET ABC #GoGoUSA @30for30

      • same. cut off right in the middle of the Edu store. and to make matters worse, they aren’t showing the replay until Saturday. which is ridiculous given the situation. and i’m a Dodger fan even! i don’t think it’s available for streaming yet either.

    • Yeah there was that one moment when Gonzo was doing a test on both knees and failed miserably with the injured knee, he couldn’t even try to do it.

      He is noticeably limping.

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  10. If Jurgen is going to judge players by their ability to suffer then Evans’ chance of making the team are better than most think. He has a huge engine and can play a number of positions.

    Not saying he is one of the best 23 players from the US. He’s certainly not one of the best 11. But when he is on the field he just seems to make the team play better. Coaches love guys like him.

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  11. Cant wait for this line up after World Cup

    —– Johannsson – Boyd ——–
    Green ——————- Parker
    ——- Zalalem – Bradley ———
    F Johnson – Brooks – Cameron – Chandler

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    • Instead of Cameron and Bradley, we can find two more foreigners and play Yelldell in goal and then the dreams of JK and Rongen will be complete.

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    • You’re falling for a common trap – thinking that what you don’t have or haven’t seen is better than what you do have. Don’t you think if Shawn Parker deserved to be involved, he would be? Don’t you think if Brooks had the talent to be starting over Besler, he would be? Don’t you think if Boyd was better than Altidore, he’d have been starting over him for a while now? And don’t even get me started on Gedion Zelalem… When will you people learn that hyping a 16-17 year old and saying that he should be STARTING for our national team in 3 months’ time is just an exercise in futility? Lordy. I don’t know why I torture myself by coming into the SBI comments. For every bit of intelligent discourse, there’s piles and piles of drivel.

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      • I also like how you’re very obviously going with youth and unknown quantities (with the exception of Bradley who is everybody’s Captain America right now) yet you stick Cameron in there, who is 30 already and unlikely to play at the next world cup. Why not throw Palmer-Brown in the mix? He’s the next Giorgi Chiellini, and should be starting for the national team at 16 years of age, just like Zelalem! Or Caleb Stanko? He just signed a contract with a Bundesliga team – he must be better than everybody else!

  12. O./T

    I truly believe the most talented Yanks need to be playing in EUROPE at the highest level. Besler, Gonzalez, Zusi. Come on. these guys could be starting in Italy or Germany.

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    • O/T is just fine actually. I have a lot of topics I’d like to cover here too…

      Stephen A. Smith apparently lives in Clint Dempsey’s stomach and likes Oberto brand beef jerky. So there’s that.

      Wait let me start over.

      Andy Carroll is not related to Lewis Carroll, Sinclair Lewis is right out of the conversation, although Lewis and Clark might be relevant, assuming we are talking about Eddie Lewis and Ricardo Clark. Eddie Lewis played for Preston North End and the Los Angeles Galaxy, much like a certain David Beckham, who recently founded a soccer (Association Football) team who will play their home games in the middle of the ocean near Miami.

      See what I’m saying?

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    • Sometimes it’s better to be playing week in and week out than not even making the squad at the worst Bundesliga team (cough, Parkhurst.) Though I agree that Europe is a higher level and our players should strive for success there, it’s not as easy as Graham Zusi calling up Bayern Munich and saying “I’d like to start in the Bundesliga, please!”

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  13. Jurgen is changing the NT. he needs to get his own advisors and re-do the youth teams. from 14-20. Run those boys like it’s a professional club. Get them prepped and ready to battle. A game every few days. Have them at the highest level. whatever the spanish/dutch/portuguese/germans are doing, we need to copy them for success.

    MLS needs to start loaning out talented 15/16 year olds to the Dutch league.

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      • I was about to say the same thing and repeat my story of the 12 year olds I saw train when I played one summer in Holland and Germany..
        That’s the thing.. you not only gotta get em younger, but you gotta get enough of em together also..
        Oh well.. a story for another time..
        Plenty right around the corner

    • Here’s the thing about copying the successful ones – It seems like the right thing to do, in theory. And it might yield short-term results. However, while we are copying the big boys, they continue to progress and innovate. We are stuck playing catch-up no matter what, because we started doing what they do, only later. And development takes time.

      The question now becomes, how can we catch up to the most successful programs more quickly than they progress themselves? It starts with copying, but there has to be a more creative element to it, one where we become the innovators and others are racing to copy us.

      There’s a quote from an old Simpsons episode where Bart is sent to the remedial class because he doesn’t know cursive. He finds out the lesson plan is to spend a week learning the letter “A”, and he says (paraphrasing): “So we’re behind, and we’re going to catch up to them by going slower than they are? Cuckoo!”

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    • Last Plantas, i’ll bite because your comments are obviously provocative,
      and your examples misguided.
      What would be best would be a synthesis, you follow?, a good mix and fusion of the best American soccer and athletic attributes,
      plied with the best the rest of the world has to offer.
      The youth coaching system failed the US for decades,
      it is finally getting up to speed.
      The old boys and girls network of running things is slowly going away,
      needless to say this old guard style catered to money and influence, rather than searching high and low for diamonds in the rough, digging for true skill and talent.
      Thankfully this is beginning to change, self serving and bankrupt politics has always been the greatest impediment to the ultimate success of American soccer.

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    • By all means, we should improve our youth system which will certainly include copying elements of other countries’ systems, but when you say MLS should loan out 15 year old to Holland, did you ever consider that a lot of 15 year olds (and their families) don’t necessarily want to move to Holland? That’s not feasible for a lot of people. Makes more sense to work on getting it right here, which we are doing pretty well I think.

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    • Because it’s a lack of games, not high-level training with qualified coaches, that is holding American youth soccer back. And all the Dutch teams are just DYING to take the plethora of talented American 15-16 year olds in MLS on loan – all they’ve been doing is waiting for us to ask!

      Some people think they are so smart and have the answers to everything. Don’t you think if you did, US Soccer would be bursting through your door trying to hire you right now?

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    • Think you had it pretty right… up until your closing statement. Rather than having outsourcing as the goal…. me thinks mo betta to emulate the development. Spanish/dutch/portuguese/germans ain’t loaning to the dutch league and the dutch league’s notorious development didn’t become what it is by loaning out 15/16 year olds, but by… developing them. You already knew that, but fell victim to the quick fix temptation that compromises most up and coming leagues from developing their…. developing…. if you know what I mean.

      That’s a lot of developments in one paragraph, but apropos/ in proportion to the emphasis that needs to be placed on “it”.

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  14. if you cut WONDO, you will lose MLS millions of $$$$

    he is the modern RUDY of US SOCCER.

    he’s 31 and average striker at best but he’s scored loads of goals in the past 4 years and is arguably a legitimate face of MLS.

    should he be in Brazil? Yes. should be be there ahead of Agudelo or Boyd? NOPE

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    • To be honest, I’m not really sure I know what you’re talking about(?) Perhaps I am missing something, but I’m pretty sure nobody outside of us USMNT /MLS weirdos knows what Wondolowski looks like. You see any sponsors tripping over him? Me neither. Not sure marketability is really a factor here

      But it’s all irrelevant, because the “Rudy of US Soccer” comment is varsity awesome, and a meaningful victory you can carry with you forever.. If I am at a bar and drunk enough, I may start a “Rudy” chant when he starts warming up on the touchline. As I become further inebriated, I will unintentionally and obnoxiously start referring to him as the “Gipper”. Eventually I will be beaten to death by a combination of Germans, Portuguese, Notre Dame supporters, local vagrants, and hockey fans.

      In closing… when do the games start? I’m obviously losing my sh*t.

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    • “Every time during this process generally an attacking player hits form at the right time,” he said. “Right now in training, in the games, everything [Wondolowski] does is turning to gold right now. You can tell he’s confident, he’s fit. I’d say he’s one of the top two or three fittest guys here. He’s playing well, he’s helping the team, he’s defending, so he’s in really good form right now. It’s been fun to watch.”

      Quote from Landon Donovan

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      • Hope to $#@$ MLS is outgrowing the need for a singular face……….. needs to be a 10…. 20….. 30 headed monster.

      • If you guys think that Beckerman should get cut, you haven’t been watching the US enough.

      • Agreed. Beckerman is right behind Bradley and dead even with Jones for defensive mid. As to who gets the start between Jones and Beckerman depends on the competition, and later on, yellow cards.

      • The expression that Beckerman should be cut is a handy way to identify those people who don’t know anything about soccer.

        Beckerman will START a match this summer. Book it. He is the absolute key to at least one tactical approach you could see us take this summer (Bradley in advanced role when we need to play attacking soccer e.g., the Mexico 4-4-2 from the first half)

      • I agree with @DCUPedro & @ChristheLSUtiger (although I’m a bama fan)…Beckerman is necessary. I love Wondo but I think he’ll get cut. I love the potential of Green but let’s face it, his creative attack doesn’t make up for his lack of wherewithal.
        All that being said, I have no idea who JK will cut, but I worry more about our general defensive tenacity more than anything going on in the front or middle.

    • Actually that’s the most comfortable cut list I’ve seen. Leaves us still solid at all positions. Mix and edu can cover for JJ and Bradley, plus edu can provide cover at CB position if needed. RB and LB covered by chandler, Fabian Johnson, Beas, and Cameron. CBs Besler, Gonzalez, and JA Brooks w/ Cameron and Edu for cover. Boyd quicker and more of a size presence in the box over Wondo (even though he’s done all asked of him). Yes, this is the best cut list:
      Davis
      Evans
      Wondo
      Pankhurst
      Beckerman
      Goodson
      Corona

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      • Swap Yedlin for Beckerman and possibly Mix for Parkhurst, depending on what positional makeup you want for the team.

      • I think best to keep mix if cutting corona to have an extra creative CM on the roster. I also think Yedlin could be a very nice attacking RB option late in game if we need a goal because of his speed and ability to overwhelm a tired opposition late in a match where were searching for a goal

      • Has YEDLIN ever created a late/stoppage-time game-winner for the Sounders??

        If so, then can you post a link? Or at least remember the opposition or roughly when it happened.

      • He drew the tying pen late against Portland. Also the comment was about adding a speedy back late when the other team is tired. Yedlin hadn’t done this for SEA because he’s always starting.

        I also think he could be a dark horse to make the team for this reason.

      • cpldaniel

        You asked and g-dub smoked the answer.
        The problem is, the US has no speed on D and Yedlin has extra speed. If we need an extra goal and want to defend with 3 1/2 guys Yedlin is a good choice as he can get back VERY fast.

        I don’t know that I take him, but if I do it is because of what these guys are saying.

      • I know you probably agree with me, but this statement, “Mix and edu can cover for JJ and Bradley,” is honestly absurd. No no no. . .just no f’n way can Mix hang with the big boys. Edu is a monster defensively though, so yes, he can cover ground ala Jones.

        He’s going to be cut

      • We already have Beckerman/Jones as the CDM, so I’d drop Edu (keep both Mix & Corona), unless he beats out the dreadlock mon, the punisher, or one of the defenders (because of his versatility/WC experience)-JMO.. Trust in JK…LETS GO YOU YANKS!!!

      • Evans and Parkhurst are essentially competing for the same spot. My guess is that only one of the two is cut.

      • it’d say it’s more that Chandler, Evans, Parkhurst, and Yedlin are all competing for up to two spots. we hear yesterday that FJ played RB in one of the scrimmages and there is Cameron as well. then again, JK also said yesterday that he prefers Cameron at CB. either way, that’s 5-6 RBs.

        personally, i hope FJ stays at LB which would allow JK to take two from the RB pool (Chandler & Parky or Yedlin). especially if Cameron sticks to CB. but it should be noted those scrimmages can’t be read into all that much.

    • these were my cuts except i think Yedlin is out and Parkhurst is in. but at the same time, if Yedlin shows well in camp, i could see JK doing it your way and surprising people.

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  15. Here are my guesses for the cuts:

    Bradley
    Dempsey
    Donovan
    Green
    Howard
    Guzan
    Rimando

    Vasquez just couldn’t wrap his head around the “False 1” concept

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