Photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Fears that Landon Donovan will miss yet another U.S. men's national team training camp have been put to rest by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
Klinsmann revealed during a conference call on Monday afternoon that Donovan's injured left knee had shown substantial signs of progress and the veteran midfielder was on a plane to Miami to join the rest of the U.S. for their preparations ahead of their important World Cup qualifier against Antigua and Barbuda on Friday. Donovan injured his knee late in the Los Angeles Galaxy's 2-1 defeat to Real Salt Lake on Saturday night after a collision with Jamison Olave, laying motionless on the field before being stretchered off by team doctors.
"We were in touch over the last two days, obviously, and he was actually supposed to do an MRI this morning in Los Angeles but he skipped it because it improved a lot yesterday during the day," said Klinsmann. "We spoke last night and he said if it was even better this morning, he would skip the MRI and come straight to Miami."
Another player who is coming off an injury but was included in the U.S. roster was Jermaine Jones. Jones did not dress for Schalke 04's 3-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg this past Saturday because of a left ankle injury picked up in training last week, but Klinsmann said the German club held the midfielder out as a precaution and that he should be 'totally fine' for the U.S. camp.
Here are more USMNT notes from Monday's conference call:
KLINSMANN DISCUSSES KLJESTAN RETURN
One of the bigger shocks among the 24 players selected for the upcoming qualifiers was Sacha Kljestan, who Klinsmann has not selected since the 1-0 victory over Italy in February despite some strong performance for RSC Anderlecht. Klinsmann, however, stated that Kljestan's recent form at the club level had satisfied him and warranted a call-up.
"Sacha was with us in Italy and then we left him out and I discussed it with him but he was always absolute by us and he's done well the last couple of games," said Klinsmann. "We had (assistant coach) Andy Hertzog actually go to one of his games, Anderlecht played Malaga, and he did very well even if they lost that game.
"He played in a way that we wanted to see him play. He was very aggressive, he was very direct, he looked for the vertical balls to play, he didn't play sideways the whole time, and he pushed forward in order to get shots off himself, so we are pleased with the way he's playing right now and that's why he's getting the call."
Jose Torres' inability to leave his stamp in recent U.S. games might also explain Kljestan's call-up. Klinsmann said in September that he wanted to see more offensively from Torres, a regular selection of his, but the diminutive midfielder failed to do that despite enjoying one of his better outings in a U.S. jersey in the 1-0 win over Jamaica last month.
EDU A 'SERIOUS OPTION' AT CENTERBACK GOING FORWARD
Normally a midfielder, Maurice Edu was listed as a defender on the U.S. roster that was unveiled on Monday afternoon and Klinsmann thinks centerback could be the best position for Edu going forward. Klinsmann again singled out the United States' unprecedented win over Mexico at Estadio Azteca in August as a match that showed how good Edu can be as a centerback and the versatile Stoke City player may be a long-term solution as to who to pair Geoff Cameron with in central defense.
"He's a very serious option for us as a centerback, absolutely, going forward," said Klinsmann. "You can obviously play him as a (No.) 6 or 8, but the way he managed the game in Mexico City was the way we hoped to see him, because that's why we tried it out.
"Mo right now is going through his initial stages there with Stoke City. He has to break into the team. Now, he finally got onto the field the last game. He doesn't have enough playing minutes over the last couple of weeks that we hoped he will have but he's on the right track because his transfer was just getting done the last day of the transfer period, so he's a serious option for us as a centerback going forward and as well always as a defensive midfielder."
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How big of a role do you expect Donovan and Jones to have in Friday's game? Happy to see Kljestan back in the mix? Agree that Edu should be seen as a centerback option?
Share your thoughts below.
Ridiculous justification for bringing in a player who would never see actual game time in a world cup game. I guess we will see…
Yep. If the battle in the air is what he wants to win, then why not call Lenhart? Better player, better in the air.
Does Holden play on crutches?
Do we have a sub for Chandler for when he no-shows! Beitasour gets my vote.
Nonsense
Jurgen is the coach, the only person that needs to grow up is Jozy. Only in this generation do people feel you don’t have to respect authority.
Thank you for your valuable contribution!
well, which team will be better-the one Klinsmann puts out, or the best XI of those NOT called up
Wondolowski-Altidore…. strikers who are on fire
Pontius-Mixx-Gatt……speed on flanks
Holden……..fine replace him with one of the 8 DMs we have
Lichaj-Spector-Whitbread-Chandler……are two English Champinship defenders that worse than a 2nd tier Spanish and a Premier mid playing Cb?
You nailed it. That is defintely our best lineup!
Maybe so, but Mexico eventually got to the right coach. Going back to Bradley would not work,
really well put
I like it!
This is what I’d like to see
——–Herc
———Dempsey
–Landon-Bradley-Zusi
——–Williams
Johnson-Boca-Cameron-Dolo
You know, Klinsmann is starting to look like our version of Hugo Sanchez when he coached Mexico. I understand Bradley had to go (at that time), but I’m starting to miss him…
They should post an audio link to this conference call. I would love to actually how Jurgen says what he does and what kind of questions he fields..
Yes but what about Shea’s apparent injury?
—————-9—————–striker
——-10——————-7——playmakers
—-8———————11——-holding/attacking mids
—————6———————dmid
-2—————————3——-fullbacks
————-4——-5—————-centrebacks
——————1——————–keeper
—————-gomez—————-
—–dempsey———donovan–
——–jones———–bradley—–
—————–williams————-
Johnson——————dolo——
————–boca—-cam———–
———————timmy————
Tossed under the bus? JK did not say we lost because of Altidore. All he said is he wants to see more effort out of Jozy. And Jozy’s response was “He’s incompetent.”, and to prove his immaturity he got thrown out of AZ’s game on the weekend with a 2nd yellow for decent.
Parkhurst was very calm on the ball in the CL game. His team was running a lot of their attack (in the first half at least… Until Chelsea dominated towards the end) through him. I wasn’t a Parkhurst fan previously but he can definitely ball.
He is not the problem with JK’s roster.
But what does Jozy do consistently for Verbeek? Plays dynamic futbol and scores goals. That is not a mirage; mine eyes have seen the glory. Plus, my original statement was actually hyperbole, because most club managers seem to despise their players having to leave for international duty. Just trying to make light of a situation where both Jozy and Klinsi need to act like adults and figure this thing out; neither side is blameless and both come off as fairly
ridiculous.
Jones blows…A turnover machine
Co-signing on this…..
Goal keeper – 1
Defenders—— 2 —– 4—- 5—– 3
Midfield ——— 6—– 10—– 8
Forwards—– 7——— 9——– 11
That’s for a 4-3-3. It changes around, but generally 10 is CM, 9 is a striker and 1 is a GK. The rest move around in their part of the field.
Verbeek’s benched him TWICE for disciplinary reasons in just the past full season of games.
And basically called him an idiot in the press this weekend… so no, I don’t think Verbeek is very happy with him.
I would also say parkhurst was excellent against jamaica in the first game. One of the few bright spots
I highly doubt Klinsman will start Edu at center back at this point. He is just there for backup.
You can obviously play him as a (No.) 6 or 8…”
Anyone know the complete number designation thing? an 8 is someone that would play right behing the back line? I dont know the others like what a 9 is.
Garbage. Wondo does everything Gordon does, only he does it better, It’s a ridiculous pick from an outsized ego.
here are some Klinsmann quotes that were not posted for some reason:
“since Beckerman has photos of me yodeling while naked, I have to keep calling him in”
“Eric Lichaj’s cousin posted a mean joke about me on MySpace two years ago, so he will not be called in as long as I’m the coach. I’ll use his lack of playing time, or his lack of experience with the current USMNT, because I never called him before, basically whatever I have to use”
“when I spoke to Bob Bradley after taking over, he told me to pick two or three random favorites and call them in whenever possible to drive traffic to US soccer blogs after rosters are announced. I looked at the entire pool of players and picked Edward Castillo and Jose Taurus”
The happiest man in Europe today? AZ Alkmaar’s manager Gertjan Verbeek, who has apparently learned how to maximize Altidore’s immense potential, something that is currently baffling Klinsi. No trans-Atlantic travel, no back to back exhausting qualifiers for Jozy; I am sure Verbeek is all smiles.
ditto, I echoed these comments in the earlier thread…
bringing Alan Gordon for “tactical reasons” over Jozy, Botd, Wondo is like starting Tarvaris Jackson at QB instead of Tom Brady for his scrambling ability, or starting Kyle Korver instead of Lebron James at small forward because of his 3pt ability… yes, he may or not be better at one factor relevant to the forward position, BUT there is more than one factor relevant to the success of a forward….and if there in only ONE, it’s goals, which Jozy and Boyd and Wondo have been scoring on a weekly basis
I just don’t get JK. I’ve never liked Torres as a USMNT player, but JK has him all wrong, Torres is not an attack minded player, he is a great link from D to Mid.
JK always says form and playing time are whats needed for call ups. Yet last year Sacha played like a beast and got no call ups, now he is on the bench playing a few games here and there and he gets a call up. Jozy and Boyd both top of their leagues no call up. Take Edu, he has barely played this year, he gets a call up.
As for him and Jozy. Jozy only defended himself after Klinsy tossed him under the bus.
Agreed. Against A&B for example, having an extra holding midfielder ain’t going to be much use when they’ll probably be playing fort knox sytle.
You see Parkhurst in the Champions League just last week? He was great.
Gordon isn’t really an exchange–he’s a situational player for the end of the game.
My only real complaints regarding the 24 called into camp is Parkhurst. The fact that JK is selecting him over Lichaj to me is the biggest snub. The exclusion of Jozy & Boyd…while in IHO is a mistake can at least be marked up to JK wanting them to work harder, but I don’t see Gordan being a good enough exchange.
Kljestan over Torres isn’t that big a deal considering how poorly Torres has played. Might just light a fire under Torres to perform better.
Vamos Xolos! Vamos Corona y Castillo!!!!!
Said he’s not introducing new young guys unless it makes tactical sense for a single game.
Boyd was benched for awhile and just earned his first start after awhile. Wondo plays Herc’s role and Herc is better on the international level. Klinsmann flat out said Jozy isn’t putting in the effort at the national level and has bad attitude problems.
Lichaj isn’t starting or playing consistently. And he isn’t better than Johnson (or Dolo) who Klinsmann has said is the permanent LB.
Ej and Gordon are monsters in the air. They have something like a combined 20 header goals alone this year. At the end of a game when the stakes are high and people are lobbing balls into the box that’s what you want.
Tactically it makes perfect sense. Form matters, but you have to fit into the system.
For our enjoyment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnEYgqe5GhI
Expect to see an aerial game with lots of crosses…Alan Gordon MAY actually start too.
Let me first say that I am thrilled to see Sacha. He earned the privilege here.
But JK has me confused. He says form matters, but leaves out Jozy, Wondo, and Boyd. And brings in the guy they bring in for Wondo in the 80 minute on his club team and EJ.
JK says he is not bringing in new guys at this stage when asked about Lichaj. And then he brings in EJ, Sacha, and Gordon.
Something isn’t right here, and it had a lot to do with JK’s mindset. From squad selection to tactics, his decision-making has become increasingly baffling. Sorry if these points have already been covered in other posts, but I am beside myself.
Think of him as the United States version of Peter Crouch minus a few inches. Because of the complete failure of the midfield to create chances, Klinsmann needs somebody to win balls in the air when they resort to long balls and set pieces.
I really like that Box midfield..Dempsey and Donovan can get as forward as they can with Herc. Jones and Bradley would need to get as forward as possible and help sustain/support attacks…Williams could be dropped, if the game warrants it, and put in EJ with Hercules to spread the D…I like it..
Was there no explanation for the Alan Gordon call-up? I’d like to see this fabled depth chart if Gordon is ranked over Altidore, Boyd, wondo, even Wooten.
Bingo. Zusi for Jones if we’re looking to attack a bit more.
He does have better speed than Boca, doesn’t he? Against A&B, that might be the idea, resting Boca for Guatemala. And if A&B doesn’t have much attack, let him get a little bit involved like an extra D-mid. We not only need to win, but getting a few extra goals would be great at A&B.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Kljestan getting his chance if Donovan isn’t ready in time for the first game. I just don’t want to see Williams anywhere near the wing since he has played poorly when played out of position there. He showed very well at dmid so if he is going to play, play him at dmid.
Every time I have seen Edu play in defense, he has been terrible. Whatever his limitations as midfielder, he seems totally out of position in central defense — either because of his skills or lack of understanding of the position. if it’s the former, there’s no cure. If it’s the latter, he needs gobs of time to play the position before he’s ready to play it at an international level. WOrld Cup qualifying is no place to learn a position.
Think we might see something like this–
Herc
Demp Donovan
Jones Bradley
Williams
Johnson Edu/Boca Cameron Dolo
I feel surprisingly relieved by hearing JJ is gonna be able to play too. I’m not usually that high on him (though I do like him), but his tenaciousness and ability to cover the field are really a valuable asset to the team.
Haha. I feel you, that will be gut wrenching
Please just give me four points and I will be happy… otherwise I’m gonna have to use a sick day at work and I HATE doing that.