Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports
By DAN KARELL
With the 2014 World Cup firmly in the rearview mirror, U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is now focused on a new challenge as he integrates new recruits into his squad.
For the second consecutive international window, Klinsmann has selected a mixture of experience and burgeoning youth to his USMNT squad. Ahead of the USA’s match against Ecuador on Friday, youngsters Miguel Ibarra, Joe Gyau, Julian Green, Bobby Wood, Luis Gil, Greg Garza, and DeAndre Yedlin have all been called into the U.S. squad, where they’ll team up with veterans such as Landon Donovan, Nick Rimando, and Alejandro Bedoya.
Klinsmann’s selection decisions clearly follow a path towards the future, with 18-year-olds Rubio Rubin and Emerson Hyndman joining the squad for their September camp in Europe as well as 19-year-old Stanford forward Jordan Morris. The selections are all part of Klinsmann’s work to mix in some fresh blood into a team that is aging at a number of positions.
“For us it’s exciting to start a new cycle with many big competitions coming up on the horizon,” Klinsmann told USSoccer.com “We have the Gold Cup next year, the Olympics in 2016 which we have a huge focus on, the Copa America in the United States in 2016, in 2017 the Confederations Cup if we do our job, and then the World Cup in 2018 in Russia. Now it’s our job to connect the different age groups and make the younger ones understand that time will fly by and you must take advantage of the opportunity and not waste it.”
A number of the younger players in the USMNT player pool have taken to heart Klinsmann’s comments and confidence in them, and have taken their play to new levels.
Gyau recently made his first-team debut for Borussia Dortmund in a 2-2 draw against Stuttgart, while last Saturday, Rubin set up two goals for FC Utrecht in a 3-2 defeat to Go Ahead Eagles.
Hyndman, Rubin, Morris, and Cody Cropper were all called into a U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team camp in Brasilia, Brazil instead of returning to the senior national team, but Klinsmann warned the senior hierarchy that he’s not afraid to call in youngsters if the veterans aren’t performing as well as they should.
“I think it’s becoming very clear to everyone involved that the senior team, the U-23’s, and even the U-20 team that goes to the World Cup in 2015 are all connected,” Klinsmann said. “The coaches are connected, and the players are getting moved between the groups. A U-20 player now understands that if he does extremely well, there might be a chance to bypass people and show up in the senior team.”
While the spotlight will surely rest on Donovan in the lead-up to and during the match against Ecuador, the surprise call-up of Ibarra has drawn plenty of media interest.
Ibarra is the first player to ever be called up to the USMNT from the current iteration of the North American Soccer League, and the first player since Clyde Simms in 2005, when he was with the Richmond Kickers, to be called up from one of the lower divisions.
Although Ibarra may have been a late bloomer, having been drafted but cut by the Portland Timbers in 2012, Klinsmann likes what he sees in the California native.
“First of all, a call up to the Senior National Team is something very special,” Klinsmann said. “When we do that, we have the feeling that the player deserves it because of certain elements he brings to the table. Miguel in his game is maybe a bit of a late bloomer coming now through the NASL system, but he has done tremendously well there the whole season.
“We watched him and a couple other players in the league, and they might go a different path than coming through MLS, Europe or Mexico, but he’s a good example that there are different ways to get all the way to the top. He knows he has to prove it now: he has tremendous skill, he has speed, he has an engine, he can take people on, and he keeps everyone on their toes.”
Although the LA Galaxy don’t play again until Sunday, Klinsmann noted that Donovan wouldn’t be arriving in East Hartford until Thursday, keeping the media distractions on the team to a minimum until he arrives. Following the match against Ecuador, Klinsmann also hinted that he’ll likely make a number of changes, with MLS veterans replacing the European-based youngsters.
“For us it’s always important to mix things up,” Klinsmann stated. “For this first game we are mixing things up with MLS players and with players that are coming from overseas but they are not as established yet as we would like them to be, so maybe we let a few ones go after the Friday game back to Europe so they have a whole week of preparation for the next game, bring in some MLS players to fill in the blanks, and continue to grow this culture of competition and also of accountability.”
Blah, blah, blah. Anything Jurgen says is probably complete and total BS. That’s not necessarily a bad way for a national team coach to operate but nobody should take what he says seriously, at least not now.
JK does say an awful lot. A lot of it contradicts what he said earlier and what he says tomorrow will likely contradict what he says today. (Except for that 100% commitment thing, he has been pretty solid on that.)
It is the nature of dealing with 60 to 100 player’s personalities when everyone knows in the end most of those players will be gone as he down-selects to the 15 or 16 he really thinks have what it takes.
No one, not even JK knows for sure who will be the starters 3 1/2 years from now, there is just so much that will change between now and then.
Predicting something like
Altidore
LD
Green Gyau
Diskerud Morales
Johnson Chandler
Ream Gonzo
Guzan
A 4-2-3-1? Sounds pretty good, but I’m not sure Klinsi will play Mix in a defensive tandem like that. Maybe in a 4-1-3-2 with Landon up top and Mix CAM?
well we know LD is going to be back for LA’s game against Dallas. he confirmed that with Serrano. the question is will Omar? and then after that does Omar come back? the Honduras game is on the 14th and the Seattle/LA game isn’t until the 19th.
JK also specifically mentioned players like Beckerman, Beasley, Wondo, Davis, etc. as guys who are still in the picture. maybe he calls up a few of them for the 2nd game?
No way Omar plays against Dallas. Blame MLS for scheduling important games on FIFA dates.
i don’t think it’ll happen, i think he stays with the team for the Honduras game. and no way he leaves and then comes back. but i’m just putting it out there.
and yes, in the end, this is all on MLS and their scheduling.
I guess Klinsmann could just play Omar a half and bring in Ream but there’s not much depth there at CB.
JAB, Omar, and Orozco are all CBs and there are only 7 defenders in total. not to mention Ream. so i think we’re fine there.
Based on what ?
US 22
CR 18
Hon 15
Mex 11
Pan 8
Jam 5
CRica won their WCup group. Mexico, a lock to make the final 16 did so too…and we still won the group going away. Were there some down moments, sure going into SnowBowl was scary, but come on, we are the best team in the region. We are better than a lot of B list teams ranked higher. We are a legit top 16 team, on the verge of breaking top 8.
sorry reply to wood chip zip
I too have given up on even caring about the relevance of these rankings. They’re for discussion, debate and dismissing.
I think those are the points from the most recent Hex…
Maybe I need a new sarcasm meter???
I’m sorry, I misread without actually reading. I incorrectly assumed they were FIFA rankings.
Whoa whoa lol, are you saying based on talent we are a top 16 team and almost one of the best 8teams in the world?
based upon a funny feeling, like I said. No logic involved
If Klinsmann doesn’t win the Gold Cup does he get fired? ’cause I have a funny feeling we will not win it.
He really don’t have to win we already qualified for the Confed Cup playoffs, We can use it to experiment with players and line-ups. If we win it’ll be a bonus.
What? I haven’t heard of this. Please elaborate
Concacaf adopted a new format to make the off year Gold Cup (the one at the same time as the Confed Cup) mean more. The 2 Gold Cup winners now have a playoff to determine who gets the Confed Cup spot. This first playoff will be the ’13 winners, USA, vs the ’15 winners.
Not sure what the format of the playoff is though.
okay, the question should have been if we don’t win the Gold Cup and don’t win the playoff?
Depends. I could see his job being at risk if he gets knocked out before the final by anyone other than CRC or Mex or if any team hands us an embarrassing defeat like Mex did in ’11. Otherwise if they are tight losses where we showed well but didn’t end up on top I don’t see him getting fired.
The standard set the last time a manager made the knock out rounds then lost in the final of the Gold cup is termination. Just pointing that out.
The instance in which you’re referring was a disgrace in which the US was up 2-0 than lost 4-2, at home to Mexico with a squad made up of players who’d been with the squad for years (Spector, Bornstein, etc).
Standard is based on the how and why….not just the win or loss.
Mr. zax,
The “standard” is whatever the USSF says it is.
BB was on thin ice after the World cup because the USSF felt he should have beaten Ghana and taken the US further. For whatever reason the board could not agree on firing BB so it seems he was allowed to stay on till the Gold Cup. And then BB lost the final in an embarrassing, humiliating fashion in which almost none of the players were blameless.
He might have been fired regardless of whether he won or lost that final but I suspect even BB knew losing it would finish him.
JK is on far stronger ground coming out of this World Cup than BB was coming out of 2010. The perception was that the 2010 squad was aging and sadly in need of a rebuilding job, while the 2014 squad is seen as up and coming. You could argue that much of this had little to do with the respective managers.
BB is every bit as good a football manager as JK but they are perceived differently and as they say perception is reality. JK would have to do a completely horrendous job to with these Gold Cups to get axed over them.
The Gold Cup is our continental championship and we should be aiming to win it regardless of the Confederations Cup. First of all, I don’t understand why this competition is considered a big deal by US fans. Plus, do you think African supporters, for example, are sitting there saying “We have to win the ANC because it’ll get us into the Confederations Cup”? No, they want to win it because they want to be the best in their region.
But even if you think the Confederations Cup is vital, winning the Gold Cup will enable us to qualify without a playoff.
What do African fans have to do with anything?
The Confederations Cup is a big deal to US fans because it provides a perfect dress rehearsal to the World Cup. Same country, stadiums and maybe some of the same teams one year before the WC.
The 2009 Confederations Cup gave the USMNT a huge boost heading into the 2010 World Cup with the win over Spain, Dempsey winning the Silver Ball and making the final, which we should have won.
The Gold Cup has been devalued as a competition because it really should be called “US or Mexico, best in CONCACAF”. The current iteration began in 1991 and since then the US has won 5, Mexico 6 and, oddly, Canada has won one.
It is also not that highly thought off because other countries besides the US often send their B teams.
The Confederations Cup sweetener was probably added to get teams to take it more seriously.
I am not an expert in the FIFA rankings, but intuitivey I’d think that the Confederations Cup also represents a super opporunity for a team on the “bubble” of being a seeded World Cup team to boost their score in a competitive tournament only 6 months before the draw. I think we can all agree that a seed is a huge carrot and perhaps our only chance of changing our draw prospects — the way the system works now, we are always likely to be in a “Group of Death”…. 2010 was an absurd confluence of good luck.
Klinsi needs to test his hypothesis that an NASL star is right up there in quality as a budding MLS star by playing Ibarra. If Ibarra doesn’t at least get on as a sub (probably should be a sub only) than we won’t be able to say for sure if Ibarra belongs and JK is on the right path to building the “culture of competition and also of accountability.”
I’m also struck at how JK has surrounded Landon Donovan with a crop of fresh faces mostly unfamiliar to LD. It’s clear JK sees the Donovan USMNT send-off thing as being pretty low on the list of priorities.
“If Ibarra doesn’t at least get on as a sub (probably should be a sub only) than we won’t be able to say for sure if Ibarra belongs…”
Throughout Klinsmann’s tenure, it’s not uncommon at all for a player to receive his first call up only to not receive actual playing time. What many people seem to forgot is the integration that takes place in practice/training. Not only do the coaches get an opportunity to look at the player, for the player to meet the other players and build camaraderie, but to also guide and teach the player what the staff is looking for to receive future call ups.
In other words, playing in the actual match is only one part of the equation and may or may not be as important as the rest of the experience. We only see the match, but there is far more to the call up.
“It’s clear JK sees the Donovan USMNT send-off thing as being pretty low on the list of priorities.”
Hysterical.
+ 1.
What’s so funny to say JK doesn’t care much about LD send off but more about integrating new faces more etc. I’m not saying it’s unfair he thinks this way and I’m fine with it. Its clear he’s over LD and I’m not upset about that fact.
As far as Ibarra goes, yea heat not see the field and klinsi will get a good look at him throughout camp. That doesn’t mean myself and others don’t want to see what he could do and what klinsi sees in him. Of course klinsi doesn’t care what fans want other than just plain old winning.
Neruda,
“Of course klinsi doesn’t care what fans want other than just plain old winning”
Correct me if I’m wrong but under JK the USMNT has been much more open to the fans with open training sessions and the like than BB ever was. He certainly has discussed the players far more than BB ever did.
People hated BB for his bland quotes and people hate JK for talking.
And if JK didn’t win , then nothing else would matter, he’d be out.
To clarify I’m referring to player selection and who plays etc. but I think you’re right in that he’s much more media savvy than BB.
When will you get it that it’s the USMNT not the LDNT? Representing your country is a honor not a right. I’m still tight about LD even being on the team taking away from the building for the future thing we have going on. I know LD is the greater every and blah blah….. but we have to look towards the future and not the past. As for Ibarra it means nothing if he plays or not. i don’t know why people try to turn everything Klinsmann does into a negative but having a coach that looks at everyone from college to the lower leagues is a good thing. No talent is going to slip through the cracks.
you’re correct about the honor but conversely, the National team is “honoring” LD for his play. a send-off game right after a WC is not only very common, but it’s not hurting the developement. it’s actually the most logical time to have a send-off.
Dude, injuries happen. Players have a run of poor form. There are some pretty compelling reasons to mix it up, the biggest being to create the depth you need to get to the next level. It’s true that Bunker Bob had his lineup all set and then Gooch got hurt in the back and Davies got hurt up top. He was left with a choice of moving Bocanegra to centerback and slotting Bornstein in at leftback. You may not remember that the USMNT results in 2010 WC were desperate come from behind affairs after giving up soft goals early in the match. So, relying on a set of regulars “gelling” in the end is a high-risk strategy because invariably somebody will be hurt or accumulate too many cards or take a sabbatical. Constant competition for playing time may drive fans nuts, but in the end you have more players who are ready to step on the field and the job.
meant to be in reply to Woodchip below v.
Mixing it up, constant competition, adversity, etc are all good for youth development and at the club levels. Much less so at the international level when the players and coaches are together for so little time. I don’t mean set regulars, but at some point Klinnsman needed to decide on a group of defenders. Instead in 2014 right up until the WC send off games, Klinsmann was still trying out Evans, Parkhurst, Castillo, Beltran, Goodsen, and Onyewu. None of whom even made the WC roster. Chandler, Brooks, and Yedlin had hardly featured for the US before the WC send offs and World cup
A national team needs to have line of sight to a minimum of 3 players deep at each position to cover for multiple tournaments, dip in form, and injuries. Right now the USNT is shallow at Outside Back, Center Back, and Wingers.
LB: F. Johnson, Beasley, Chandler, ???
RB: F.Johnson, Yedlin, Chandler, ???
RCB: Cameron, Gonzalez, Packwood, ?
LCB: Besler, Books, Orozco, ???
as it currently stands we need to identify 2 more outside backs who can play at the international level as well as 2 more CB’s.
Wing is even more of a need unless we’re going to count on Zusi & Bedoya come 2018.
“a send-off game right after a WC is not only very common,”
Yeah? When was the last time the USMNT did one?.
“building for the future” what building does JK ever do? He was still messing with the back line right up until the World Cup despite the fact that any professional defender will tell you a back line needs time to gel. He changes the line-up all the time, puts players out of position, players never feel comfortable, he runs them into the ground. He doesn’t build a darn thing. He said it himself in the article “it’s important to mix things up”. Cant wait until this ego-maniac dictator is gone.
See you’re making up things now. Johnson, Besler, Gonzo and Beasley were set starters before the WC. The experimenting was because Gonzo wasn’t 100% and giving equal PT to everyone before the WC to avoid tuning guys into the ground before a tournament. Go look at the playing time and you’ll see every defender played at least a half before the tourney
Cameron started against Ghana – how can you argue JK had a set back four going into the world cup? No one knew who would be starting.
In case you forgot. Gonzo had an injury before the tournament he was limping into the WC when he got healthy he was back in the starting 11 aside from that everyone knew Bes, FabJ and Besler were starters. And the playing time give to the fringe guys in the warm ups paid off or did you forget that Brooks and Yedlin played very well when called upon? Before the WC there were people complain that those 2 guys even made the team. As I recall half of SBI comments where saying Goodson and Parkhurt/ Evans should have gotten the job.
Dude, injuries happen. Players have a run of poor form. There are some pretty compelling reasons to mix it up, the biggest being to create the depth you need to get to the next level. It’s true that Bunker Bob had his lineup all set and then Gooch got hurt in the back and Davies got hurt up top. He was left with a choice of moving Bocanegra to centerback and slotting Bornstein in at leftback. You may not remember that the USMNT results in 2010 WC were desperate come from behind affairs after giving up soft goals early in the match. So, relying on a set of regulars “gelling” in the end is a high-risk strategy because invariably somebody will be hurt or accumulate too many cards or take a sabbatical. Constant competition for playing time may drive fans nuts, but in the end you have more players who are ready to step on the field and the job.
Mr. zip,
“He was still messing with the back line right up until the World Cup despite the fact that any professional defender will tell you a back line needs time to gel.”
The US played four games in the 2014 World Cup.
Fabian, DMB and Matt Besler started every game.
Gonzo started two and Cameron started two.
Gonzo was also a late sub in the Portugal game but Besler and Cameron stayed on the field
Besler missed the second half of the Ghana game due to injury. His sub was Brooks and we all know how that turned out.
Yedlin was a late sub vs. Portugal and Germany. In both cases Fabian stayed on and moved to midfield.
In the Belgium game Yedlin came on after half an hour due to Fabian’s injury and Cameron was on but as a midfield replacement for Beckerman.
The USMNT back four wound up with six players getting significant playing time over four games with a seventh, Brooks, putting in an impactful 45 minutes. In comparison, Germany, through its first four games played five players in its back four, while Belgium had seven different players play in their back four through their first four games.
“building for the future” what building does JK ever do?”
This is hardly the chaotic situation with the back four you claim and it vetted. Yedlin and Brooks two very good prospects for the future.
Tell me what young US players emerged from the 2010 World Cup?
I’m fine if LD comes on late for a short cameo and a bow. He deserves praise but JK has job to improve the USMNT and that comes before anything Donovan.
Zardes was an obvious snub. Only explanation would have been to leave him with a club that is contending for the supporters shield; as they are already taking LD and Omar from the Galaxy. Still would have liked JK to touch on this.
I believe your second sentence hit the nail on the head.
I’d like to see Zardes come in for the second US game.
+1
As would most Sounders fans.
++1
This is why I didn’t want LD on the team. He just took a future contenders spot. I know the LD fan boys are still in full swing but I moved on a long time ago I could.
Perhaps, but I don’t think excluding one fringe player or one senior player for one match in this friendly will have a material impact on any of the upcoming tournaments.
As a side note, I think it’s time we officially retire the term “fan boy,” along with “butt hurt.” Certainly for anyone above the age of 18.
I don’t want LD there because it’s disrespectful to have JK still managing this team and making any decisions regarding LD anymore.
Why the words “fan boy” and “butt hurt” still apply – your Honor Exhibit A!!
I keed, I keed!! 🙂
No mention of freddie. he is the one for 2018
WhO?
Love his growth (ADU) but I think ’18 will be a little early. I think he will peak just before ’22. This guy is a STUD!!!!!
US Soccer needs to raise his profile. Maybe they can put him in a soda commercial with someone like Pele for an Old Guard vs. New Guard contrast.