Matt Besler has played in a World Cup. He is an MLS Cup champion, a Gold Cup winner and an MLS Defender of the Year. With all he has gone through, the 29-year-old defender is as much of a veteran as it gets, but even Besler was a bit nervous to assume a role that would be make or break for the U.S. Men’s National Team.
On Wednesday, the day before the USMNT’s Copa America quarterfinal, Besler was informed by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann that he would be starting at left back. It’s a position that remains relatively unfamiliar to the veteran defender, one that required a whole different skill set than his usual centerback role.
When the dust settled and the nerves had finally wore off, Besler, the left back, joined his team in celebrating a 2-1 victory over Ecuador. Matched up with Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia before his untimely dismissal, Besler locked down the left side and, in turn played a major part in leading the USMNT into the Copa America semifinals.
“I try to stay ready in case there’s a situation that I needed to step in and play out on the left,” Besler said. “Obviously most of the preparation has been at centerback. That’s where we’ve been training this entire tournament. I knew (left back) was a possibility, and I mentally stayed ready for that.
“I’ve got to be honest. I was a little nervous going into the game,” Besler added. “Obviously I don’t have a ton of experience playing left back, or any experience having a partnership with Alejandro (Bedoya) in front of me. I thought we did well. Going up against a guy like Valencia, who plays at Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world, is not an easy task. I think, for the most part, we handled him.”
Looking back at what was asked of him, it’s easy to see just how much was stacked against Besler. The Sporting KC defender had played the position just once for the national team with the sole appearance coming three weeks ago against a listless Bolivia. Now, weeks later and facing one of the biggest games of his career, Besler was asked to recreate that effort against an Ecuador team currently sitting second in CONMEBOL’s World Cup qualifying.
The key, Besler says, was communication. He’s not a left back, and he’s the first to admit it, making the help of his teammates vital. Defending, at any position, is never truly a one-man job, even if Besler did a bulk of the heavy-lifting down the left side on Thursday night.
“Tonight, I had a lot of help. I think the guys around me, especially Alejandro for most of the game, Michael (Bradley) in the middle, and then John (Brooks) behind me, they did an excellent job,” Besler said. “I think we all worked extremely well together. The communication, we were talking with each other the entire game, and that’s what helped me out a lot.”
“He’s not really a left back, and so for me it was more trying to help him out,” Bedoya added, “and I think we partnered pretty well. Every time they got the ball out wide there was one, two guys coming over and helping out. It went well.”
Now, heading into a semifinal clash against either Argentina or Venezuela, a short-handed USMNT has options. DeAndre Yedlin is set to return to the fold, but Jermaine Jones, Bobby Wood and Bedoya are all bound for suspension. Should Klinsmann opt to push Fabian Johnson up the field to account for the absences, it appears the U.S. has found a steady hand at the left back position, even if his third foray into the role would come against a world power like Argentina.
Only Klinsmann knows what he will do for the semifinal, while the USMNT’s opponent remains yet to be decided. However, Besler’s efforts will certainly be remembered going forward. The defender, hampered by nerves and inexperience, shined as bright as any on Thursday night, ushering in one of the biggest wins in recent memory for the USMNT.
“He did a tremendous job there defensively and we tested out that version against Bolivia with Matt, and there was a reason for that,” Klinsmann said. “We know what we’d be going through in the group stage already. Matt is top, top at just getting the job done. With the two wingers that they have, with (Juan Carlos) Paredes coming in behind Valencia, that is difficult to deal with.”
“I thought Matt did a great job. We believe in all the guys that are in that locker room,” added Brad Guzan. “Regardless of whoever was going to get the call, we knew they were going to do a great job. More importantly than that, the guys around Matt I thought did a very good job. Again, John was good. In front of him Ale was good. Really limited Valencia in the first half. He wasn’t much of a factor, and that was a credit to Matty’s work rate.”
The importance of your lines starts back to forward. We also need to have quality bench players.
I would not be surprised to see the following…..
Wondo or Pulisic
Dempsey
Nagbe
FJ—Bradley–Zardes
Besler-Brooks–Cam–Yedlin
(Beckerman and Zusi on the bench)
or
Zardes
Dempsey
Nagbe—-Bradley—–Zusi
Beckerman
FJ–Brooks–Cam—Yedlin
(Pulisic and Besler on the bench)
Should be interesting. Things may change if Jones and/or Wood have their red cards rescinded.
Does this mean we throw Fabian up into the left midfield or wing role (depending on formation) since Wood is out?
Since i havent seen many people talking about it, I just want to say Bedoya has become very important to the team in my mind. He works as hard as anyone else on the field, and even though he could improve on his through balls and finishing, I think he plays a pivotal part in our midfield. He can cover on defense and is dangerous on the counter attack when it comes to distributing the ball and making runs that opens space for Jones, Wood, Dempsey, and Zardes. I think his work rate is underrated, and hopefully Nagbe can come in and have an impact, because i think Bedoya will be missed just as much (well atleast almost as much) as Jones.
I say we go with this
FJ(or pulisic)————–Demps——————-Zardes
———————————————————————
——————————-Nagbe—————————–
——————-Bradley————Beckerman————
———————————————————————
Besler(orFJ)——Brooks——-Cameron———-Yedlin
———————————————————————
——————————-Guzan—————————–
I could absolutely go for this lineup and if we need a goal put Pulisic in for Beckerman and move FJ into midfield.
I saw him getting up the flank a lot more than people acknowledge. After all it was his cross to zardes on the second goal, from quite far up the field. But that was the case for most of the match, even he wasn’t flying up the wing he kept the pressure and that impacted the Equador’s shape
He was getting up the wing alot inmthe warm up game when he played LB, even more in that one half then he did all game last night, but he made better passes and decisions last night. He had some bad left footed crosses and passes in the warm up game, but he was noticeable better in possession and the attack last night and made good decisions on the ball and runs off the ball. He was solid in both attack and defense, and with that performance i can see JK keeping him as a starter and moving Johnson up field.
The question is whether he did well enough that JK feels comfortable with Besler at LB in the semi so he can move FJ to midfield. I would say yes so you’d have FJ on the left side of midfield, Zusi on the right with Zardes moving up top with Clint. Seems like the best way to cover for all the suspended guys although there are a lot of options.
Agreed. I think the suspensions necessitate moving Johnson to midfield. He shouldn’t be uncomfortable in that role, either.
You mentioned 2 players….Yedlin back to RB and Zusi to RM, we need 3 players, we need Jones replacement, either Beckerman to play the double 6 with Bradley (if we play Arg.) or maybe Nagbe if we play Venezuela.
didn’t besler come into the MLS as a left back
What JK put players out of position? The USMNT need to put its best 11 on the field and that means sometimes guys play out of position. Besler has the attributes to play LB besides being left footed. His best attribute is he knows how to keep the offsides trap organized. Innate in keeping the line and handing off defending runners.
Would not be surprised to see Besler again at LB especially with Bedoya out of the lineup.
I remember reading Besler, in the run up to the 2014 World Cup, was “clocked” as the fastest player on the team in training. Considering that team had Yedlin on it, too, says something about his athleticism.
Of course, he certainly needs some more work, practice and general reps but all accounts say he’s a really smart player, we’ve seen he’s comfortable on the ball, and with his speed he offers a unique opportunity to see if he can form another spot for more call ups (or starts).
Besides his defending, what I liked a lot about him was him not getting caught when the team was pulling for an offside trap AND his ability to help out on corners, is like having 3 CBs ready to intercept.
Had no idea about his speed. This may be why JK played him instead of Castillo. BTW, after the 2014 WC I ran across a website that had the speed for everyone who played, as measured during play, and Fabian Johnson was our fastest player in the tournament.
In response to you and wham: I’m not sure where I remember reading that but I also remember hearing it confirmed on a telecast, too, in the build up to the World Cup.
As far as the metric you’re referencing, Gary, I’m not discounting it’s validity because we’ve seen Fabian is fast. However, just for conversational sake isn’t that somewhat skewed given the position? In other words, Fabian would have a greater opportunity to reach maximum speed on the flanks as opposed to Besler playing centrally on the back line?
I didn’t know about that type of speed either and I’ve seen him play live many times. Are you sure he was clocked faster than yedlin? If so that’s crazy.
I’ll back up Old School here, as I heard the same thing. I’ve wanted to see Besler at left back ever since it looked like Brooks was going to lock up the LCB spot. It wasn’t a surprise to see him there last night due to his speed.
Even more impressive was Johnson on the right. I must say the whole back line was world class. Brooks was a beast I call him Mutombo Brooks. Jones was amazing but I am not that concerned he left because with his physical play against an Olympic diving Argentina it would have been bad.
“Mutombo Brooks” is either the dumbest or awesomest thing ever uttered on this site. I think I’d like to see a finger wag from him before I make up my mind
It does beg the question why to bring someone like Castillo at all, if we aren’t going to use him even in this circumstance.
Castillo gives you another option depending on the team you are playing. He isn’t that strong physically though so if we feel we’ll need to clog the middle at some point during the match Besler makes more sense. Castillo is obviously lowest man on the totem pole though and will only play if there are multiple injuries/suspensions
Let’s imagine for a second jones doesn’t get a red card. We’re up a man, Bedoya and jones swap sides, and without the threat of Antonio valencia now, ecuadors entire right flank is shut down, and creates opportunities for overloads; opportunities that Castillo is more suited for. An opportunity to shift Besler to the center, sub out Brooks, and now you’ve protected our defensive rock, both from suspension and injury (remember he had pain in his arm in the first half) and created an attacking threat down the left flank.
Seriously guys, he’s no guardiola (far from it), but you really should give him more slack regarding personnel and tactics.
I thought he did very well, all things considered. I do think in the second half, Ecuador started having success down that flank. Alot of that was due to the tired legs of Bedoya and bradley they weren’t quite as quick to help besler. Ecuadors goal did come from this side. All that said, I think Jurgen should keep besler at left back for the semi and push FJ up to midfield. this helps fill the lineup holes while keeping chemistry of players who have been playing the most.
Besler was average at best. If not for Alejandro Bedoya and John Brooks (should have been MotM) covering his behind, he would have been the goat! I am happy Yedlin is back for the semi-final.
i *really* don’t see him staying at left back for an extended run of games. we might as well go to a 3-man backline at that point, because he just stayed back with the other two cbs the whole time.
bedoya was the real hero on that side; don’t know how he lasted as long as he did.
If we play against Argentina, then we would be perfect since we would be defending most of the game.
except we don’t have bedoya to help out on defense *and* keep the opposing fullback honest. like i said, he was the reason that worked. hopefully someone else can do the job.
Great game for him. Love the line “top at getting it done” kind of guy you need on national team
That said he is not getting LCB role back over Brooks, devoting himself to left fullback could be really good career choice for Besler. Would not mind seeing him there in semis (finally) allowing FJ to push up to winger.
absolutely agree with this thinking too. Argentina(if/when they win) like to attack through the middle so keeping Besler at LB and moving Fabian in the midfield would do wonders for the midfield especially considering the holes being left by the impending absences of JJ and Bedoya.
That would be the logical move for JK, but we know, that JK sees things way different than most.