With two more friendlies under his belt, U.S. national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann got a good look at some new faces, including a handful of MLS players.
Kyle Beckerman was the big winner in the recent auditions, showing poise and sharp passing skills. Robbie Rogers wasn't quite as successful in his audition, struggling to make an impact as a starter in two games.
With one, and potentially two more friendlies looming in October, it is only natural for people to start wondering who might be the next MLS players to get looks from Klinsmann. While the fact that MLS will be in its playoff stretch could lead Klinsmann to call in a heavily Euro-based squad for October, at some point he will call in some new MLS faces.
There is a lot of clamoring for players such as Brad Davis, Omar Gonzalez and George John to be called in by Klinsmann, and now it's your chance to vote on who you would like to see get the call from MLS.
Which MLS player who hasn't been called up by Jurgen Klinsmann yet would you like to see called up in Ocotober? Cast your vote after the jump:
(And before any of you ask, Freddy Adu was called in by Klinsmann for the Mexico match, so he's left off this list accordingly)
This list is made up of players who readers have stated deserve national team looks. If there's a player missing that we should have included, feel free to list them in the comments section.
Who did you vote for? Who on this list do you absolutely NOT want to see get a call-up?
Share your thoughts below.
Frankly, I’d like to see Brad Davis and Gonzalez called up just so all the people clamoring for them will hopefully shut up about including them. But, honestly, anyone who thinks that Klinsmann, who’s made it very clear he wants a team of quick, skillful players is likely to build a back line around the lumbering, physical Gonzo, are nuts anyway.
Player not on the list? If the Ginger Ninja can get a call-up then Brian Carroll absolutely desrrves one.
Mix Diskerud. Yes I realize he’s not an MLS player.
Then George John and Omar Gonzalez.
January camp for Sapong and Zusi.
This for coming years assuming good recoveries.
———–Jozy———–
———-Freddy———
Shea–MB–Stu—Deuce
Lichaj–John–Goods–Chand
———–Howard———
Landon supersubs for Freddy or Deuce.
A great 2-way CM with Freddy as an advanced playmaker. Torres as deep lying playmaker is a fail. If goals are needed Agudelo for a CB to go to 3 in the back
Ream is lacking confidence right now, he has nice skill but puts other players in danger with his late passes, he showed very well in the air in the Gold Cup, I think this is a guy who JK can bring around, lots of potential, very young, CB is an older position similar to ‘keeper…don’t give up on him. Jozy needs a strike partner, he looks dynamic with Agudelo as he did with Charlie Davies, when those two paired it was the only time we were scoring off the run of play…
Feilhaber has never disappeared, BB kept dropping him…and JK has yet to call him, he is by far the best Mid we have as far as vision, creativity, calming rythym, a cut above other US players, I don’t think BB was ever comfortable with non-athletic types like Benny and Torres who should be paired vis a vis Iniesta and Xavi (no I’m not saying they are at that level, there are similarities in style and abilities) Geoff Cameron should get called up, Charlie Davies unfortunately is not who he was, hope he gets back there…
He did not play well against Brzil at all. And goals for a CB don’t matter, that’s just icing on the cake. One of the most solid CB’s in the world, Freidrich, just scored his first goal for Germany at the WC last year after 70+ caps.
As the French would say, you are dumb.
Agreed. I don’t think enough attention was paid to how injuries in the heart of the us defense really crippled our prospects in South Africa last year. If you have a healthy onyewu and a fit jermaine jones at DM we beat Ghana for sure and really dictate a different level of play against Slovenia and morocco. We need new players at Cb and depth to boot. First priority IMHO
So… No IQ requirement for those season tix, eh?
It’s a moot point to consider LeToux for the US, but he could compete for a roster spot for the US and hang.
Once upon a time the world though Benny and MB were going to be the thunder and lightning pairing in the middle for usmnt… Then Benny kinda disappeared for awhile….
Wait.. We’re not part of Mexico?
Disagree. He’s a tank and as a poacher and proven finisher there’s lots he can say coming off the bench. Plus, having in him camp showing pups where the ball belongs has to be of some value…
Awfully soon to call the Ream situation… He’s still in the uterus as far as CB development goes…
How the hell hasn’t Dunivant been called yet? he is easily the best LB in MLS! Gonzo, John and Dunivant are the obvious choices I think
I will be so happy when we finally stop beating this dead a$$ horse…
Oh and as far as I can tell, George John is taller more experienced and with better upside. EPL team wanting him says a lot, Ream has garnered SOME interest but I think we all know those rumors will die down for a bit until he brings his game up again.
So yeah John AND Omar would probably work better, and at the least deserve a shot next to Boca/Goodsen to see how they measure up?
Ream’s gotta improve, I mean for all his great passing skills, after doing pretty bad in clutch situation last year vs Convey, Wondo and the Quakes, and the blunders and horrible errors this year, he has really put into question how good a passer he really is, doesn’t have lots of experience and has not performed all that great in his 2 playoff games and 2 or 3 Gold Cup games.
Omar is getting better, and his scoring ability is becoming a great weapon which we all know we depend on for the US.
I can’t wait to see Omar vs Morelia and in the Knock off stages of CCL as soon as Galaxy makes it there.
I like your list! Except for Davis. I think Shea has that spot locked, and Adu gives us cover, not to mention Fabian Johnson also offers a left wing option and we have young players who might play there as well like Mixx Diskerud and Joe Gyau.
I would swap Davis for his teammate Cameron, I know I know he’s not playing CB but aside from the fact that doesn’t change the fact that he can play there, that might change at least this weekend. Adu already got called up but I’d like to see him get called again since he’s playing again and in form. I’d add him to the maybe category.
That’s it, I like your list! Oh and hope Convey can play his way back?
Lamar F’n Neagle!!!
Umm, Sapong is a great player who’s just still learning the MLS.
He isn’t a poor finisher either, he just simply doesn’t take very many shots and doesn’t have the confidence yet to take long distance shots. The few he has taken have barely missed and had excellent movement.
A KC blogger reported that watching the KC strikers practice their finishing and remarked the CJ may very well be the best finisher amongst them. He just doesn’t have that confidence yet. I’ve seen CJ take shots and the dude can finish.
And he is a great player, thank you very much. He does a lot that isn’t included in his goals scored.
sounds like jozy altidore’s record last season and he still started every frickin’ game.
Seba’s been here long enough to be eligible.
He said he wanted to play for US when with Seattle. He’ll play with anyone who calls him.
And unlike Torres, Benny is not a defensive midfielder…
Soon my friend, soon…
I see maybe a U-23 Olympic pre-qualifying camp in February and late January Camp game is also a possibility. The Jan camp is a long shot but he is a great propspect along with the Scandinavian stars Josh Gatt and Mixx Diskerud.
God can’t believe he’s what 17 still? He’ll be 18 by the time January Camp and the Olympic team starts playing, lots of upside
I agree with Shane in that I think Torres is getting a bit more hype than he should. People are confusing spraying a few nice passes in the defensive or middle third with creating chances close to goal. He’s not a boost in the final third and I think we have better options for defensive midfielders.
Not saying he doesn’t have a spot on the team but let’s not lock him into a starting spot.
Shea, Adu and Johnson > than Davis.
Edu, Jones, Holden, in form Bradley who should be soon now that he’ll start in Serie A, Torres, I’m surprised but Beckerman > Zusi.
Not to mention Diskerud offers about the same as Zusi and not as much as Davis maybe but not by much and has WAY more upside.
In Jan Camp I can see Zusi get a call, along with Davis, but I hope Davis doesn’t get called, Shea will be available & so will Adu. Enough Left wing cover if you ask me. Davis isn’t even a true winger which is what we need under Klinsmann & haven’t had for a while since like Donovan in early Hex play but as a natural lefty, not since 05-06 Beasley days?
I REALLY wish that Fredy Montero hadn’t played with Colombia’s Senior team, but I think he would of had to not played with them at all since he isn’t YET eligible for citizenship or to play for the USMNT.
If Zakuani takes a little while to come back and can actually GET to where he was before the injury and keeps progressing that’s 1 Sounder I would like to see in a US uniform. But there will be time for that I guess….
Poor Zakuani, was having a great 3rd season, and they need depth for CCL, lets hope he and O’Brian White can make a comeback around or after playoff time to be there for the knock out round of CCL
Fair enough, I like what I’ve seen from Dunivant and now he’s doing great in CCL.
I still think Lichaj, Fabian Johnson and maybe even Lloyd have a shot. I’m still hoping Castillo can bring more to the table, he’s a little puny so he would get mad handled vs big Euro or African teams, but in CONCACAF I think he can hold his own. Chandler seems great, but I see his future at Right back, I also hope Greg Garza find a 1st division team
He deserves a shot, he’s gotten better with his passing and we won’t know how he fares until we test him out, he did very well vs Brazil. I loved Ream up until midway thru this year, Gold Cup and a few blunders in MLS made me change my mind. I believe the Philly game was the beginning of his demise, I think John has the be the #1 MLS Center Back. Then Ream followed by a VERY narrow Gonzalez and then Cameron who I think can fight John for best MLS CB prospect for the nats. God I wish Opara didn’t get injured, he was on a tare with 5 goals from a CB position on pure corners and set pieces and in half a season, that’s twice as good as say Boswell or any other CB. And his speed and size were greater than anyone else including Cameron, Gonzalez and John. not to mention Ream.
I don’t think many people outside of SJ don’t know who he is or the fact that deserves a call up, in fact a lot of us in this site have been up in arms about Convey being snubbed in the January Camp, the March friendlies and the pre-Gold Cup friendly vs Spain and the whole Gold Cup tournament. But we are all aware of the differences that RoboBob had with Convey.
But he hasn’t been as good as he was last season. He’s missed time with injuries, bad form and hasn’t been no where near as effective as he was last season. He doesn’t necessarily like playing Left back I think but he’s willing to for both club and country as witnessed by his performance in NY last year when Corrales went down.
And that may be his only way to get back in the nats. I hope to see him, but I think Dunivant is a better Left back right now and he has done more this year, Convey had a GREAT 2010, but most of his assists were as left mid, and to a streaky Wondo towards the end. Lets hope they can push each other?
Cameron. He’s amazing at CB but has only played middie as of late. Now that the Dynamo signed Carmago he should get to play CB again at which point i think he’ll get the call.
I doubt Lichaj has been forgotten, Klinsmann didn’t call him up vs Mexico which I can understand wanting to see other people like Castillo and what not, but he was also in the middle of a transfer/loan situation that required his attention and him flying or traveling to a different city. Just like MBradley & Jermaine Jones he needed to sort out his club situation.
Now he is just hurt but I think it’s hard to ignore that in the last 20 months he has been BY FAR the best Left back we’ve had. Zach Lloyd has been a nice prospect but not the same as Lichaj was vs Canada, Panama, Guadalupe, Jamaica who I thought he would get BURNED BY, Panama again and well he didn’t exactly do bad vs Mexico in the 1st 10 minutes or so and did fine at Right back after.
Those are more challenging games than vs Chile’s B team
Lichaj will be back
Not sure Taylor is better than Cameron, I see you’re not too high on him but I don’t recall him diving as much as you make it out to be like. For sure not when he was Center Back, I think Taylor and Hainault are about equal but Hainault has been improving each season and he’s been Houston’s best and most consistent defender for about 3 years now.
Boswell is not far off Taylor and the thing is he has 5 goals as a Center back, that’s pretty good for a Center back, I think Omar has like 3? Gotta be top 3 among defenders I think? At least among Center back defenders, maybe someone like Solli might have more I don’t know????
I’m not sold on Torres, he is an excellent passer but seems to get lost once the opponent start to play him tighter, physically, I think his level is CONCACAF, against euro guys he seems to have more problems with the speed of the game.
didn’t Franklin struggled against a “B” chile team? I’m a galaxy fan and Sean is a very good MLS attacking mid/wide but I don’t think he is anywhere our top 3 RB back (DOLO, Chandler, Lichaj)
“we’re not winning any games now”
Which is fine, since we’re not playing any competitive games now and since this is a new approach with a brand new coach who is trying to see how things can be better going forward, and all of that rather than winning should be the focus.
No?
Deserve a call up:
John
Gonzalez
Dunivant (at least for LB cover while Lichaj is out)
Maybes:
Feilhaber
Davies
De La Garza (LB cover)
Sapong
Davis
MLS guys who are in the mix but not guaranteed (i.e. not Donovan):
Adu
Loyd
Bunburry
The chance you are talking when Donovan missed badly which I think pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game, that was ALL Break Shea, and for the 2 little things you say Rogers doesn’t get credit for….. He missed about a dozen other crosses and passes he should have made or done way better on.
I saw Rogers in practice, and let me tell you he is not that much better in the game. I really hope Klinsmann stops giving him starts and stops calling him altogether, or he will be what Bornstein and Kljestan were to Bob and as of recent what his son was with all the game time he would get despite doing exactly what Bob said would meant players wouldn’t get called up or play for the US, not playing with your club.
Klinsmann has a history with Rogers, but I hope he stops calling him, lets see Pontius now, who’s more of a natural left footed guy, since Shea can play on the right better than Rogers who I hear is actually a right footed player. More goals and better assists than Rogers if you ask me from Pontius. But the left flank belons to Shea for now. Adu is a MUCH better option.
Andy Najar!
Luis Gil.
Though he’s not going to solve the national team’s left-back crisis nor its goal-scoring dearth, Zak Whitbread deserves to wear the USA jersey (in competition, not just for funsies)at least once.
My vote would be for whoever could play left back. I think Todd Dunivant is a left back hence I voted for him.
For every 10 or 15 that are thrown at the wall 1 or 2 stick though. Its usually pretty obvious who will work on the next level early on (Shea, Stu Holden etc).
Convey certainly has the class of an international, but recently his form hasn’t been all that great. If he regains his confidence at SJ, he’ll get a call-up.
Well in the recent Costa Rica friendly it was Rogers who made a diagonal run that opened up all the space for Donovan to recieve the ball he should of scored on. The other time Landy got the ball alone on the right was when Rogers gained possesion of the ball in the US defensive half and then made a pin point pass downfield to Jozy who layed it off nicely for Landy. Those were two of the best chances of the night and Rogers played the part that no one gives him credit for.
I know Torres is a good player, but I dont see him deserving at this moment in time. He creates too little compared to other players we have available.
It’s a shame about DeMerit, but even if he were consistently healthy still, he’d be pretty old by 2014. Onyewu is in the same injury-riddled boat. Goodson will only be 32 by 2014, which is fine for the solid CB he is. Depending on Boca’s club form, he should still be ok by then as well.
Who’s going to fill in the shoes? Right now the two big possibilities are Ream and John, with Gonzalez not too far behind. Are there any other possible players there? Whitbread? (is he even a CB?) Parkhurst, even?
the players listed in MLS look good in the confine of MLS. once outside MLS, they appear inadequate if not incompetent. as such, Klinsmann is taking time to test many more MLS players in world class competition. be patient guys/gals.
I find the whole PK-criticism amusing because it ignores the seal of approval handing him the ball on PKs conveys. Many forwards are not seen as having the consistent touch to merit the ball on a penalty. None of the guys you name have that kind of frontline touch, which we badly need on the USMNT. And if he ever gets healthy you are talking about a player who is top 10 in MLS while working his way back into shape and form. Imagine the upside…..well, like I said, you don’t even have to imagine…..a goal in Azteca already shows it. You really see Sapong scoring that? Stats nonsense.
Now, you can make this run-of-play argument, but you’re ignoring the list of goalscorers I have to scroll past on the MLS leaders to find Bunbury (5G) or Sapong (3G). They include Braun and Casey. Bunbury is in Ching/Wolff/Supersub Agudelo/Neagle/Lenhart territory. Sapong has fewer goals than Bobby Boswell! I think these guys have promise but there’s a reason that at best they make it to camp and no more.
That you’re throwing Bruin in there is telling. He disappears for most of Houston’s games (even before being hurt). Bruin hasn’t scored for Houston since April, and that includes months of pre-knee-knack soccer. He went completely cold and one can argue that DC hat trick was the artifact of a bad, pre-renovation DC defense. Total haul, 4 goals, 3 of which were scored one night. He’s an interesting prospect, but he doesn’t even start for his MLS club now.
Chance Myers. He has the speed and willingness to give make the defensive runs up the sidelines to provide a threat with a wide ball in. Our defense now doesn’t like to attack, they seem scared when they have the ball at their feet. Chance would be a change of pace that the US doesn’t show.