Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
By AVI CREDITOR
HARRISON, N.J. — The more U.S. national team defender Timmy Chandler plays at left back, the more it looks like the long search for a dependable option at the position has come to an end.
Never mind the fact that Chandler's performance at the position against Ecuador Tuesday night was just his third with the national team after primarily playing on the right side for both club and country.
Building off a strong showing against Honduras on Saturday, the 21-year-old Chandler neutralized Ecuador's main attacking threat, Antonio Valencia, as part of his 90-minute showing in a 1-0 U.S. loss at Red Bull Arena, earning indivdual accolades from U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
"He didn't allow Valencia not even one thing, and you're talking about a player that plays for Man. United and is a very, very good player," Klinsmann said. "But you couldn't see him at all, because Timmy Chandler closed him completely down."
Chandler's comfort level on the left appears to be increasing, as does his long-term grip on the position, which has arguably been the biggest spot of uncertainty for the national team program over the last few years.
"To play against (Valencia), he didn't have so many chances or do anything. The whole team from Ecuador didn't do much in the first half," Chandler said. "It's two games now we play good, and I'm getting comfortable."
Chandler's trademark attacking qualities are emerging from his station on the left as he continues to get a feel for his bearings. His forays forward on the right were what made him such an intriguing prospect when he first started playing for the United States, and he is starting to get more and more forward as he banks minutes at his new position.
"I'm very happy with how he presents himself on the left side," Klinsman said. "His job was taking out Valencia. He did that job, and then he went into the attack. He did two jobs, actually. It seems like he's just enjoying himself. He's a very curious player that wants to know 'How can I improve? What do I have to do?'
"Obviously he can play both sides. We can shift him over to the right side and he'll be exactly the same."
Even though it's clear that he's more comfortable crossing with his favored right foot, Chandler is making strides in transitioning to his left foot. There was a point early in the loss to Ecuador during which Chandler delivered a teasing left-footed cross to the center of the box that nearly led to a U.S. chance.
His ability to maintain a high work rate throughout also showed, as evidenced by his 74th-minute strip-and-run down the left flank that eventually ended in him drawing a foul and leading to a U.S. free kick in dangerous territory with the game still scoreless.
"I think he did very well getting forward," U.S. centerback Carlos Bocanegra said. "He took some good positions defensively tonight, especially on the some of the long balls covering inside. He's got good energy. He's got a good tank in him."
Chandler's emergence on the left has been helped by his partnership with Brek Shea on that side. The two have developed a strong chemistry and have a sense of timing each other's runs and covering for each other despite playing very few matches together.
"He has what I like in a left back, and I have what he likes in the guys that play in front of him," said Shea, who roomed with Chandler during the September U.S. camp. "We're good friends off the field, so it definitely translates onto the field. We're kind of similar people. We like to have fun and we joke a lot. The off-the-field stuff has helped our relationship grow."
Klinsmann has taken notice of that relationship as well, and his praise for both players along with pronouncing that Shea has "secured his spot in the starting lineup" should lead to a consistent pairing of the two in future matches.
"They start to develop an instinct for each other," Klinsmann said. "Timmy's doing a good job reading (Shea). These types of partnerships … those take time."
Like Chandler's transition to left back, though, perhaps it doesn't take that much time after all.
It’s amusing that everyone is responding to a statement I made towards jlm & he alone has yet to respond.
If it was your statement I was responding to, then I’d type out a lengthy/appropriate response. Otherwise, not feeding the Bradley-love-fest trolls.
As I mentioned, there’s plenty of that on this very board already if you’re that concerned with my thoughts directed towards a specific person on a specific topic.
Ah, the internet. Land of magic, mystery and entitlement.
Castillo had a handful of extremely lucky plays, where he got away with blunders that could have easily turned into goals for the opposition. he is so far below where chandler is. The only thing he has going for him is that he is quick and left footed.
You’re right on the money. I don’t know what it is with Bradley, but my problem with him is that he isn’t a playmaker. He never pushes the ball forward. The biggest problem for the team on the pitch in the past couple games is the giant hole in the midfield where a playmaker like Donovan or even Adu or Torres should be; setting up the attack. Bradley, Edu, and Beckerman don’t have it, and it shows.
I figured since you so “vehemently” disagree with the sentiment, you’d be willing to peck out a reason or two.
Guess not.
Johnson plays in what Williams role was last night for his team, while Williams plays Beckerman’s role for Hoffenheim so in November don’t be surprised if Williams is where Beckerman was and Johnson is where Williams was in the lineup.
+1 on Mighty Ducks reference. Hopefully Klinsi never eats ice cream with the enemy.
You are probably going to have to add Johnson to that list in my opinion having watched both in the Bundesliga Johnson>Williams but not by much, Johnson plays more of the attacking role compared to Williams, if Johnson was in last night it would have been in Williams role while Williams would have knocked out either Edu or Beckerman.
I’m not completely sold on Beckerman either and I’d be interested to see how much of a role he’ll play when Fabian Johnson jumps in the mix. I think Beckerman might just be keeping the spot warm for Johnson.
Gooch looked fantastic last night, and it pisses me off that he was more aggressive in the attack than much of our midfield. Bradley is great on the defense, but almost never seems to want to play the ball forward. Beckerman is like his hair- sloppy, and Edu’s touch is failing him.
what exactly do we want from our LB, to absolutely stop the rw of the opposing team? dont get me wrong, timmys done fine, but i havent seen edgar castillo do THAT bad.
jonathan bornstien gave up the most crucial goals in the GC final…, edgar castillo faced the same player(barrera) in the next month and shut him out completely(if u guys remember bradley messed up that goal).
With that said, i still have Chandler>Castillo but idealy castillo didnt do THAT bad when he got his chance.
interested to see what klinsey does when and if J.Jones gets back to playing because that DM role is for him bradley or beckerman.
oh and we need goals from our forwards.
Gooch was a very pleasant surprise for me. It puzzles me BB put Gooch in the 2010 WC games when he looked nothing like he did last night.
Put me in the camp that thinks Beckerman is as good or better than Bradley IN THE ROLE that Klinsmann has assigned to that spot. He stays home, tends to get in good defensive positions, disrupts plays, and gets the ball off of his feet quickly. I like Bradley, and think he’s the more versatile player, but in that role I don’t see Bradley doing any more than Beckerman, and maybe a little less, given how slowly he tends to get the ball off of his feet. The main reason to give Bradley the nod is because he’s so much younger, and therefore has a longer future with the Nats. But Beckerman’s game is not based on speed, but rather positioning and decision-making. He should be ok for the next couple of years. I totally get why Klinsmann favors him IN THAT ROLE. Now we can argue whether that formation is right, but that’s a different question.
On a different note, I wonder if Bedoya can play that attacking center mid role that Torres and Holden were in line for. He played centrally in Sweden and scored a fair number of goals there. He can’t be a worse fit than Edu or Bradley. Williams seems like yet another defensive mid–good player but not a great passer. It’s getting hard not to call for Adu, who is getting in game shape and always seems to perform for the Nats, even when he’s mediocre with his club(s).
I don’t think it is fair to be calling someone an MB hater simply because they think Beckerman is a better holding midfielder. If that is the case, then one would have to call Klinsman an MB hater. From a story on MLS Soccer:
**As far as Beckerman is concerned, Klinsmann was unequivocal: “We discovered a player in Kyle Beckerman that is just doing a fantastic job for this team. … We don’t want to have him out of the team.”**
In the same story: **Klinsmann singled out Oguchi Onyewu, Timothy Chandler, Brek Shea, Danny Williams and Kyle Beckerman as the best performers in the 1-0 loss to Ecuador with a clear indication that they will figure prominently in his team moving forward.**
Klinsmann did not mention MB. But Beckerman has already won a spot on the team.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/10/11/despite-loss-klinsmann-begins-identify-his-key-players
Beckerman just looked tired last night. He’s normally pretty solid. Even so, Bradley is the better player. Has better vision.
he’s been battling injuries numb nuts. You don’t keep the arm band if you aren’t performing
I don’t recall asking you personally to. Knock yourself out, though.
I thought that Second City was the one-man hate show with regards to Bradley. He seems to get in early on every comment thread to espouse his mistaken opinions. Most others either parrot what he said or disagree with 2nd City.
I am with you. on the USMNT, Bradley has performed better that Edu, Beckerman, Jones (though from his history that is surprising, I expected more from Jones), Williams, Bedoya or Torres (but this is comparing apples to oranges since Torres and Bradley perform different tactical purposes on a team), or Holden who is the lone player I think might match up with Bradley, but he has been injured so much in the last year and a half that it is really hard to tell.
Good point about Fabian – would like to see a natural lefty out there if possible, but Timmy proved that he can handle some of the best players in the world out there and Dolo is still a good player even if he’s lost a step. Ideally, either Lichaj or Johnson stay healthy and step up their games to the point where they are even better than Dolo, but you have to like the status of the wing back situation at present, especially compared to past years when there was simply no one able to play the left in an adequate fashion.
Every time I see him winding up to shoot I close my eyes because I know he’s going to make himself look like a fool.
In reguards to MB; I thought he looked good enough to show he should be a starter but it was fustrating how many backpasses or lateral passes him and Becks were doing in the final 5 or so minutes. Ruined any chance of scoring because neither of them pushed the ball forward.
Nyjer1 I like your comment, I think klismann should give a try to see Bedoya what he can bring to this team he has creativity and control as the same Adu too. Adu might be a European bust but he is getting fit but somehow when ever he wear the USA jersey he play well see the last Gold Cup against Mexico and Panama. He is like Geo doSanto from Mexico. He wasn’t playing a lot in his team but everytime he came to play for Mexico, he played well. Geo and Adu have that in common. well that what I think not sure if u agree with that.
Edu and Beckerman were equally useless. I don’t hate either one, but when central parts of your team are giving away possession, why are people so confused as to why we’re not scoring?
As per usual…just not sold on him. We need Jones to get some playing time or give Williams some time in the center.
Yeah, I’m going to go searching the net for some random dude’s opinions. That’ll happen. Some people drastically overestimate how much people care what anyone says on these threads. I love it when some noobs crow that Bradley made a sub or called in a guy because of the traffic on the boards. Really??
Chandler legitimately deserves his grade but the rest should be dropped, yes.
Yes, very bad. He actually put himself in some good spots, but was very, very wasteful.
Agreed. I don’t think the MB haters even watched the game or else maybe they watched it through “hater shades”.
Disagree about Williams. I’m not sure he is ready yet. His reactions are slow and he plays with the ball far too much instead of moving it quickly or shooting. Twice in 2 games he had good looks at goal but instead of one-timing it, he settled and let the keeper back into position. Depending on who’s available, I would send him back and tell him to work on making quicker decisions.
“not observing the actual play. Too many negative/lateral passing.”
Either you mixed up your names or YOU are the one who didn’t “observe the actual play.” Beckerman was an absolute turnover machine last night. If he was a turnover drinking game, I would have passed out. I think you are not seeing what’s actually happening on the pitch. The international game seems pretty clearly too fast for Becks. Defensively, he holds up very well and even covers more ground than MB, but he has had several games now where he just turns the ball over on almost every touch. We can’t have that on our team, especially in a system that relies on stringing together passes. Maybe he will eventually adjust, as Sacha seemed to do, but Sacha was 22 when he was turning the ball over like that, Becks is in his prime, maybe his late prime. I’m not sure he should how many more chances he gets. Guys like him are the reason why we have 2 goals in 5 games under Klinsi.
Edu played horrible….
I think there is absolute competition right now between Beckerman and Bradley.
As for why: my reasoning has been splattered around the board on various stories/threads, if you seek descriptive justification, as I’ve typed out countless times.
I thought Lichaj was out til the new year. And not sure I agree on the Starikov addition. Yes he gets some minutes in Russia, but he’s not at a power team and isn’t a consistent starter there either. Plus Holden is also out another six months so he won’t be in for the Nov camp either.
So who do you rate higher than Bradley? Edu or Beckerman? Or both? And why?
I don’t agree there’s “absolutely no question” sentiments. Vehemently disagree, actually.
Yes, the left side was great with Chandler and Shea dominating. Overlooked, the defense allowed only one shot on goal. Ecuador is very good side, that easily beat Venezuela, who just beat Argentina, so the defense was excellent. The USA had 5 on target, but not enough quality, with no threat down the middle.
I’m startled by the heavy anti-bradley sentiment that I continue to see on this sight and I’m left wondering if we where watching the same game. I think Bradley played very well last night. I don’t recall a single errant pass. Can’t say the same about Beckerman who I continue to not be sold on. With Bradley playing regularly for his club team (which is top flight in one of the top four leagues in the world) and showing himself well with USMNT I would say pair him with Williams. Give Williams the freedom of an attacking MD while Bradley can play the DMF.
I’m glad that folks remember Lichel or who I agree has a lot of promise and could very well end up taking over a starting spot. Also, lets not forget Holden and Torres who I think will be in the mix. Holden, when healthy is a solid player that was establishing himself as a regular starter in the top league in the world. Not sure though if he is as good inside as he is on the wing. Bedoya is talented. With regards to Adu, he is a bit of an enigma. While I love to see Beasley resurgence and am excited to see him get 100 caps, not sure if his form will continue through the next world cup. Truth be told, I’d trade our over abundance of midfielders for another solid defender.
Can’t say how excited I am to see two enticing 21 year old prospects on the left side of our starting lineup. They will only get better.
If you replace Williams with Donovan, Beckerman with Bradley (in the first half), and Adu with Edu, this team would scored goals. Just because the central midfield was not good and did not put others in good positions or because Williams didn’t take advantage of his chances does not mean that others did not play really well.
there is absolutely no question that Bradley is better than Beckerman and Edu in the midfield. I would like to see Dempsey up top with Altidore coming off the bench and someone like Adu who can create more in the attacking midfield spot. Not because Altidore is a bum, but just to see it — we should not be playing the same players in the same position over and over at this point (the same argument for Bob giving Michael a break every now and again). The exceptions are people like Shea and Chandler who are getting comfortable in the squad.
For me players that should be in the USMNT:
Chandler
Shea
Dempsey
Williams
Gooch
Altidore
Howard
Bradley
Agudelo
Beasley
Player that deserve a second chance to prove themself in the USNMT
Beckerman
Edu
Buddle.
Players that should be left out for the next call up
Boca
Cherundolo – Boca and Dolo not because they are bad players but they are getting older.
Spector
Ream
Hope to see this lineup next time
Fowards:
Altidore(Agudelo/Boyde(germany/Teal)
Dempsey(Gyau/Adu/Davis/Starikov)
Midfields:
LM – Shea(Beasley/Donovan/Garza)
RM – Donovan(Williams/Josh/Bedoya)
Holding Mid – Torres(Diskerud/Holden)
Defend Mid – Bradley(Jones/Williams)
Defends:
LD – Lichaj (F.Johnson/Lleget/Boyde-mls)
CLD – Gooch(Gonzalez/Amobi/Kitchen)
CRD – Goodson(whitebread/Gale/John)
RD – Chandler (Lichaj)
Goalkeepers:
Howard(Yelldell/Hamid/Johnson)
or philly so he can get some experience in the playoffs…
Given Holden will be out for the next 6 months, here’s a line-up I think we will see in November:
——————Altidore
————-Dempsey
Shea—————————-Donovan
—————–Williams
—————–
—————–Beckerman
—————–
Chandler————————Cherundolo
———Boconegra—–Onyewu
—————–Howard
=======||||=======
Williams has gone on record of saying he prefers/feels more comfortable playing centrally for club & country. When Donovan returns, I think that’s a logical place for Williams to play and oust the struggling Edu in the central role.
Beckerman looked tired last night but I havent seen anything from Bradley to displace him. I think we’re hanging on his name recognition alone in that debate and not observing the actual play. Too many negative/lateral passing.
Additionally, the experiment of Beckerman/Edu or Beckerman/Bradley should be over. The former due to Edu’s poor form and the latter due to both players withdrawing too much. Bradley nearly plays another CB for the majority of his time on the pitch. We need someone that can play the pulley system better with Beckerman. Williams is that person for me, once Donovan returns.
While generally favoring a two forward system, Altidore and Dempsey are looking more and more like a potent combination, with more playing time in that system.
I wasn’t a fan of the two forward system and having Dempsey playing the central attacking midfielder, last night. I didn’t see players finding him as much, nor did I see him near goal as often as I’d like. When he has the freedom and space to roam by himself underneath the forward, he’s a beast.
Interesting ratings for a team who barely created a chance… Drop everyone 1 – 2.5 pts
Cherundolo barely plays for Hannover anymore too. And he’s the captain, lol.
I think we should still see what Lichaj or this Fabian Johnson character can do at left back. Cherundolo’s not getting any younger and I think we’ll end up needing Chandler on the right. The great thing is, Brek can play that side as well. Imagine that speed! I see our eventual line up shaping up like this:
————Altidore————
————Dempsey———–
Donovan——————–Shea
———Holden—-Bradley——
Lichaj/Johnson————-Chandler
And then whoever can solve our CB conundrum. My crystal ball’s not giving me anything on that, unfortunately. On that note, it is time to see John and Gonzo in camp. I’m absolutely flabbergasted that we’ve had to suffer through Orozco this long and neither player has gotten so much as a sniff.
yeah yeah Chandler did great playing out of position but —-
GOOCH IS BACK!
and I don’t mean Big Awkward Gooch from WC06, I mean Gooch who had started to move like a Futboller not a Footballer. More fluid in the hips, more composure on the ball – Gooch from ConFed Cup 09.
Great to see him look like he belonged. Keep it up big man.
as for the the rest – The top 1/3 is still a muddle. not enough possession – Shea and Williams showed their youth and promise at the same time.
Set pieces were a weak C. should do better than that.
Bradley is looking much better than he has, and ultimately will unset EDU or Beckermann. Beckerman works hard, but the US needs more from that position, ie they need Jones to get into playing sharpness.
Agudelo needs time on the pitch. If NY isn’t going to play him they should loan him to DC.
Which one is Portman and which one is Fulton?
With Cherundolo being gassed last night and heavily out paced, made me wonder what things will look like going towards Brazil 2014 & perhaps beyond.
Lichaj at LB and Chandler at RB are promising prospects for the Nats in the near/distant future.
The few crosses with his weak foot went surprisingly well for Chandler, too. Also, I agree that the chemistry with Shea is really developing. Additionally, the chemistry with Shea/Dempsey & Shea/Alitdore look to be growing, too.
Chandler 8.5
Shea 8.5
Dempsey 7.5
Beckerman 5
Edu 5
Williams 6
Cherundolo 5.5
Gooch 9
Boca 8.5
Altidore 7.5
Howard 8.5
Bradley 8
Spector 3
Agudelo 7
Beasley 7.5
Ream 2
Buddle 4
First game the communication between chandler and shea was terrible. Last two games it’s been great…definitely good to see.
Chandler & Shea the BASH BROTHERS!
Team America, F YEAH!
It’s great that their building some chemistry on the left. Now if we can only build chemistry in scoring.
I still wish we could get a chance to see him running up the right flank. I think he would be much more dangerous.