By RYAN TOLMICH
Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann and the rest of the U.S. Men’s National Team would sure like to send 2014 out with a win.
The USMNT are afforded that exact opportunity Tuesday with a trip to Dublin to take on Ireland in the team’s final fixture of the calendar year. Much like Friday’s matchup with Colombia, Klinsmann is expected to use Tuesday’s matchup as a chance to blood some of the group’s younger players, although the German-born head coach also insists that the team is still focusing on emerging victorious.
“We play for wins no matter where we goto get experiences or what the challenge is or who the team is, we want to win the game,” Klinsmann said in Monday’s pregame press conference. “That’s how we approached Colombia and we did pretty good for an hour to almost get a result and then they turned it around and it looked pretty much as it did against Ecuador where they got a late goal. It was a similar story.
“We want results,” Klinsmann continued. “We want to earn respect wherever we go and wherever we play those games. Now, as players, you come away with that piece of experience that you’re still missing some pieces, that you still need to improve some areas which you are constantly working on. If we don’t approach those games with a high difficulty level, we won’t get those answers.”
One of the areas that Klinsmann wants the U.S. to work on is the team’s ability to maintain possession. Against a highly regarded Colombia side, posession was tough to come by, but the team expects a different story in Tuesday’s meeting with Ireland.
“I think the whole philosophy with the way Jurgen is playing now is ‘Let’s get the ball on the field. Let’s play, let’s knock it and keep possession’,” said goalkeeper Nick Rimando. “Possession wins and we know this team is going to be a team that’s going to be 100 miles an hour in front of their fans in their home stadium, but it’s a good opportunity for us to get some experience and play out of the back and play on the ground and get some possession and be confident in a tough environment.”
In addition to possession, Klinsmann has reitereated that he is hoping to see a bit more physicality out of his side after squandering late leads in each of the past three games.
“I’m sure it will be a physical battle, but this is what Jurgen has been talking about for the young guys to step up and be physical,” said midfielder Alejandro Bedoya. “Have a physical presence and the game will come. We just have to stay focused for 90 minutes.
“We want to win. The guys want to win,” Bedoya continued. “The last few games, we’ve given up late goals and we want to work on that part. I don’t know what it is, the mentality, but also the physical presence. I think we need to step it up a little bit more and be a little bit more aggressive.”
While Klinsmann insists that picking up a much-needed victory would be a great step for the program, the USMNT head coach also understands that playing teams like Colombia and Ireland away from U.S. soil is going to be a major step towards pushing his side to the next level.
“We could make it easy and play every game at home and choose nations where we kind of have a big advantage, but then I’m not developing this program. I’m not getting the team to another level,” Klinsmann said. “We need those benchmarks: playing Colombia, playing in Ireland, playing somewhere in Europe, going down to South America. We need those experiences to get better and to prepare for the real big, big tournaments.
“You want short term results. Everyone wants them and needs them, but you also want long term development. You want them to see growing and the ups and downs and to hopefully manage it down the road with more wins than anything else.”
WHEN WILL JURGUNN CALL FREDDY
Is it me or is this the same thing we’ve been hearing from American coaches since 1998? Bla bla bla we need to get a positive result…some things definitely have never changed with this team.
What did you expect to hear?
What would you like to hear?
And what difference does it make?
OMG he talks about possession but gives maybe the best possession guy that was in camp…15 minutes? You cannot expect anything JK says to represent what actually happens on the field.
News flash…. you can play a possession game without having to resort to playing physical. In fact, the two don’t really go together at all.
Finally – if you want a result then don’t put an inexperienced Julian Green on at the end of the game only to have his mark out muscle him and score.
Columbia’s first goal was offside. The USA stopped and that was wrong. I guess it was so obvious they didnt even think they had to keep playing. The minute the offsides Columbian player took that step towards the ball, the flag should have gone up
“OMG he talks about possession but gives maybe the best possession guy that was in camp…15 minutes? “
The suspicion is that it was a prior agreement to keep Lee fresh for playoffs. While it would not hurt, ,possession is about more than one guy. SBI people used to cream in their panties over Paco Torres and claimed that his inclusion alone would dramatically alter the US’ ability to play the possession game. Sure..
So, then there was no agreement for JJ since he played the whole game.
Nguyen is supposedly a #10. Those guys aren’t possession guys. Those are playmakers… They frequently lose the ball while trying things.
Xabi and Xavi are possession guys. It’s a totally different role and position.
dont bother trying, Luke’s comment shows his lack of knowledge in the sport.
Ya maybe not worth it. But Im gunna take him seriously as It may just be inexperience watching the game.
Also… Green didnt get out muscle (he would have though hah) Johnson was marking that guy and lost him. Green just couldn’t get there in time.
Possession? I thought all the “training” he makes the team do is just fitness… better hope he builds chemistry instead.
Nah they train too.
How do you suggest they building chemistry? I’m seeing a Disney sports movie carwash montage in my head.
So Happy Together playing in the background.
Possession with a purpose. Do not waste time playing side to side in front of the penalty area until a turnover. You miss every shot you do not take. I would rather see a shot outside the penalty area miss than cough it up and turn it over. Shots outside the penalty area will force defenders to step up, and when they step up forwards will have space to run into. Midfielders and forwards need to read and react as best they can. Do not avoid route 1 (penalty area) and limit the offense to route 2 and 3 (wings). Use route 1 and only route 2 and 3 as necessary to get into route 1. Good luck.
Yes, you miss every shot you don’t take, but your opponent cant score if he doesn’t have the ball.
Wax on, wax off.
What possession? When was the last time the US had the edge in possession against anyone outside CONCACAF? Under Klinsmann, our tactics boils down to having Howard or Guzan make a million saves and hope for a lucky bounce in the opponent’s box.
Somebody told the USMNT it is against the law to dribble and beat a player 1 vs 1 somewhere between Arena and Klinnsman.
dont forget our lack of 1v1 talent that contributes to this ……..
Scotland?
And coleman
Coleman can be down right excellent. That man is a classy right back.
They have some good players in McGeady, McCarthy and they have Gibson too.
JK should be able to put an XI out there that can possess the ball against Ireland. If the goal is to win this game while keeping possession and not giving up a late goal, I expect to see that tomorrow.
Gain respect… Showed Grit…god we’re lame
The lads should be able to exploit the Irish lack of speed down the flanks, especially on our left and the Irish right side. Against Colombia, FJ looked downright mediocre against Cuadrado. I want to see Ibarra get some meaningful minutes and I want a look at Jordan Morris.
What confuses me about Ibarra is that everyone seems to think is younger than he actually is. Consider this:
Ibarra: 24
Jozy: 25
AJ: 24
Juan Agudello: 21
Terrence Boyd: 23
Rubio Rubin: 18
Bobby Wood: 22
My point is only that Ibarra is not a young player. He’s actually one of the older guys in our striker pool. I understand wanting to get a look at him, but all Ibarra is to me is a mind game Klinsman is playing with MLS.
Honestly, do you really think JK gives a rat’s a** what Garber thinks?
Do you really think he bother to drag Ibarra around the UK just to give Garber the finger?
Have you seen Ibarra play?? If not shouldn’t you wait to see him before you condemn him to hell?
Ibarra may be 24 but he probably does not have as much mileage on him as, for example Jozy. Clint used to make that point all the time when people compared him to Landon. And why are you worried? Ibarra will be 27-28, an SBI approved age, in 2018.
I notice JK isn’t particularly worried about a player’s age. He often points out that he did not get his first cap for Germany until he was 24 and the last time I looked, he went on to have a pretty good international career.
And I noticed JK played Beckerman in JK’s first USMNT game in charge even though he must have known that Captain Crofton was going to be drawing Social Security checks by the time Brazil 2014 came around. And you see how that worked out.
JK sees something in Ibarra. It worked out with Beckerman; it hasn’t work out so much with Shea yet, I’ve read that Ibarra is fast and one thing you can never have enough of in the modern game is speedy attacking players.
I absolutely think JK would bring on Ibarra just to mess with Garber. JK has been playing mind games since day 1.
And I don’t think the comparison of Ibarra to Clint is apples to apples. Clint transferred to Fulham when he was 24 where he raised his game to another level. By the time Clint got to England, he had already amassed a dozen or so caps for the USMNT and played in a World Cup.
The point of my message was not to say Ibarra has no potential, but to address the odd age misconceptions people on this board seem to have about players. The way players of similar ages are seen in different lights.
Klinsmann continued, ” of course, Jermaine is a different case, I have instructed him to kick it 50 yards downfield everytime he gets it.”
Del you are clueless.
he surely is haha. every post of his is ignorance. as a CB, Jones is asked more to clear a bouncing ball in the box. as a CDM he is asked more to settle it and find an open man. so implying he’s wrong to clear it as a CB, again, shows your ignorance
Tell us, bryan et al, why do you keep changing your handle here?
a better opportunity to play this way vs. Ireland, still a good test for it in Dublin
Looking forward to seeing how the pups do.