By RYAN TOLMICH
With the 2014 World Cup already in the past, it’s natural for each and every national team to start the process of slowly moving past players that are set to be aged out of the next cycle.
On paper, one of those players for the U.S. Men’s National team would be Kyle Beckerman, as the Real Salt Lake star would reach his 36th birthday just prior to the next World Cup. However, despite the midfielder’s age, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann insists Beckerman still has a part to play as the team heads into the 2018 cycle.
“Whenever he comes into our group, he’s 1,000 percent focused, he’s all about business, and he seems to [be] only getting younger,” Klinsmann said. “He’s physically always on an extreme high level, he can outrun anybody out there, there’s always another gear in him. You think that maybe he’s tired, but actually the opposite happens and he’s going again and going again. It’s just great for us as a coaching staff to have a player like him.”
Klinsmann also reiterated Beckerman’s importance as a true number six, as the head coach pointed to the midfielder’s usefulness in limiting stars like Colombia’s James Rodriguez.
“When I see that here and there maybe we can try something out, we don’t need a pure number six, then like in October I asked Kyle, ‘Don’t be mad at me, but I’ll leave you at home, I want to see a couple of other guys,’ and he’s cool with that,” Klinsmann said. “But now when you’re obviously preparing yourself for other opponents, too, and when you prepare against a team like Colombiam it’s also a little bit what you need and what you maybe don’t need.
“In a game like this, you need a number six, you need somebody that picks up a James Rodriguez when he gets close to the goal and you have to close him down as much as you can.”
As vital as Beckerman is on the field for the U.S., the midfielder’s biggest contributions have come from his leadership role within the team. As one of the pool’s more experienced players, Beckerman has assumed a mentor role with some of the younger guys who will likely lead the team’s charge into the next World Cup.
“That’s something I’ll take on whether he asks me or not,” Beckerman said of his leadership role. “If I see someone struggling, I’ll try to pick him up and just try to make them feel comfortable. I think that’s the biggest thing – when young guys feel comfortable, they’re going to play their best.”
“Kyle is, in a certain way, a huge role model for this entire team because he’s a pure giver,” Klinsmann added. “That’s what we always talked about the last couple of years.”
Regardless of the younger generation, Beckerman still understands that he has a part to play. The Real Salt Lake midfielder is keen to continue to make his mark in a U.S. jersey as the team approaches a series of major tournaments.
“Every time you get out there, you got to keep going, you got to keep improving,” Beckerman said. “If you don’t, of course you guys are going to let us hear it. We can’t let up. You’ve got to continue to perform and soccer has a quick memory.
“I know 2018 is a long way away,” Beckerman added, “but I’m not ready to just say I’m not going to go because I’m going to be that old. I want to keep fighting for a spot and trying to keep staying in the team. I know he’s going to be looking at young guys, of course. I’m going to help those guys feel comfortable, for sure, but I’m also going to make it hard for Jurgen to not just go with those guys.”
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What do you expect from Beckerman in the coming years? What U.S. veterans should Klinsmann continue to call up?
Share your thoughts below.
Colombian announcers were extremely impressed with Beckerman. Maybe it was the hair.
Admittedly, I only see Jamaica during qualifying but I have to say none of those guys even comes close to matching Kyle’s hair.
His hair is gross.
Kyle should have been a part of the 2010 cycle, not sure why B Bradley never gave him a true look in his prime.
Hair envy.
+1000
He’s better now than he was then.
Bradley did, he was in the Gold Cup team that was destroyed by Mexico in the final when A team played ConfedCup, and Torrado completely outclassed him in that final. Beckerman’s tourney until then was good but nightmare final which was his big chance imo
Hopefully Kicthen and Trapp get some looks soon. So that 10 years from now we aren’t saying how good they are but it’s a shame they are 32, towards the end of there career..
If they are not better than Beckerman they will not displace him.
If they are not why would you want them to displace him? Just because they are younger?
What if they don’t get better than they are now? Being younger does not guarantee that you will improve with time.
Beckerman also has far more experience than those guys and that matters when playing defense. Beckerman fouls people better than anyone in the league. He knows how to get away with it and when to do it . He is a master of walking right up to the line without actually crossing it. JK understands and appreciates the masters of the dark arts of defense. He played with enough of them on his teams and that is also why he appreciates Jones and Beckerman, two irritating pr**ks to play against.
Kyle gets into people’s heads better than just about anyone. When Kitchen and Trapp figure that out then they will be competitive.
Except Beckerman already looked a step slow and is only getting older.
If you like the attitude and knowledge and willingness to mentor, he can coach.
My concern right now is moving Jones back opens a CDM hole. We can’t seem to control games late. Part of that is someone(s) who not only understand the dark arts but also have the wheels to implement them.
IV: “We can’t seem to control games late.”
Or, do you mean, “We can’t seem to control [friendlies in which multiple substitutions that are not at all designed to hold on for the win are made] late”?
I think you’re asking for too much out of friendlies. If you want to see Beckerman in the context of a real match, then go watch his performance in the WC.
Not that he was all that much at fault, the Galaxy did just run circles around him and RSL.
he could not find the ball and got traffic coned on D by multiple Galaxy players
Not when they lose leads over and over.
IV,
I get that you value speed, height and strength above all in defenders I have made a habit out of watching a lot of these masters of the dark arts. A lot of those arts are about how to make up for a lack of wheels.
Beckerman has never been particularly fast but he is not as slow as most of you would have us believe. As Johann Cruyff was fond of saying , more or less, “the fastest man is the one who starts running first.”
I value speed and strength as well as technical ability. Not so much height.
I felt like the midfield was struggling to keep up side to side on switches of the field of play. I felt like Beckerman looked slow and a key aspect you need at DM is mobility. The whole point is meet the attack, destroy, meet the attack, destroy. If you’re struggling with the speed of play you defeat the purpose.
IV, being fast is a plus for a DM, but it is not essential. Many DMs are not fast, but play position well at the highest level, e.g., Xabi Alonso, Pirlo, Di Rossi, Busquets, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, etc.
He was struggling to stay with the play.
If he can’t stay with the play we need to find someone mobile enough to do so.
I didn’t see any/ enough playmaking forward to justify lack of mobility, a la Pirlo. I see Pirlo more as a CAM anyway.
To be clear, I actually liked Beckerman before because he was creating and destroying. I didn’t care if he was a lower prestige guy.
But he appears to have lost a step.
IV, that’s just it: I don’t think there is any evidence—none whatsoever—that Beckerman is slower today than he was two, four, or even six years ago.
Twellman kept droning on about how this was Ireland’s B team. Yeah, it was and they were at home.
How come no one mentioned this was not the US’s A team either?
With some notable exceptions (Bedoya, Garza,Wood, ) this team looked gassed. I’m not going to condemm Beckerman just because the USMNT looked more like RSL.
And while he did okay, all things considered, Hamid did not provide this team with the sort of
lift they are used to getting from the keeper.
we need more peurah givahs on this team!
“I’m going to help those guys feel comfortable, for sure, but I’m also going to make it hard for Jurgen to not just go with those guys.”
Awesome. I love Beckerman’s attitude.
agreed. this is the mentality that Jurgen wants to see i think, which is why he gushes over Beckerman so much (and rightfully so)
It took me a long time to appreciate what he brings to the game. He is a pure fighter. During Klinsmann’s early tenure as coach, Beckerman would get flack for not playing a flashy game and not playing a forward-style game. He plays the 6 role so well that he gets lost in the shuffle. He reminds me a bit of Steven Cherundolo: easy-going, knew his role, played it well, and gave all he had to the team.
“not playing a forward-style game.”
I coach youth soccer. Convincing kids that it is not only okay, but highly advantageous to backpass is one of the hardest lessons to teach. No, they’re all “nose to the goal, all the time.” Around age 11 they start to figure it out.
To the critics of Beckerman, however, it’s all still a perplexing mystery.
This is revisionism. Beckerman has shown he can play the ball forward or cross. The question is whether he still has the wheels to play this attacking game. He is 32.
Occasional backpassing may reflect an intelligent passing choice. Constant backpassing reflects struggling with the speed of play, technique, and/or a lack of skill or speed to find separation to pass forward. It can in fact reflect a slowing player unable to get turned and head upfield.
It can be a hindrance to a team because it reduces the amount of players able to move the ball forwards, a prerequisite to reaching the other goal and scoring in it. You also put more pressure on the defense to playmake which given their skill set may lead to more giveaways and the inability to hold the ball.
“Constant backpassing reflects struggling with the speed of play, technique, and/or a lack of skill or speed to find separation to pass forward.”
Or a bunch of strikers and wingers who aren’t getting open. You can’t lay everything on him. Beckerman had at least as good of a forward-passing game as any other US player in the recent friendly.
Beckerman is pure class.