photo by Soobum Im/USA Today Sports
By FRANCO PANIZO
The experiments continued on Wednesday. This time with much more positive results.
Jurgen Klinsmann once again tried new and different things in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s most recent friendly, and it paid off handsomely in the form of a 2-0 win over arch-rivals Mexico. Picking up a victory by that familiar “Dos a Cero” scoreline was certainly sweet for the U.S. and all its fans, but the match at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas was just as important for Klinsmann because it provided good insight into where some of his players currently stand.
Klinsmann gave both Jordan Morris and Ventura Alvarado their first starts at the international level against El Tri, and both of them performed as well as anyone could have predicted. Morris showed plenty of promise leading the U.S. front line and scored the game’s winner with the composure of a veteran, while Alvarado strengthened his case to be a starting centerback with a defensively sound 90 minutes in his third cap.
Regulars Michael Bradley, Kyle Beckerman and Omar Gonzalez also turned in solid shifts for the U.S., giving Klinsmann plenty to mull over as the CONCACAF Gold Cup draws closer.
Here are five things SBI is thinking about following the U.S.’s 2-0 win over Mexico:
MORRIS SHOWS PROMISE, BUT LETS TEMPER THE HYPE
Jordan Morris will get his shine for his goal-scoring performance in his first U.S. start, but the hype train should take it slow here.
From Freddy Adu to Jozy Altidore to Julian Green, there has been no shortage of players touted as the next big thing in U.S. Soccer. Some players live up to part of the sizable hype placed on them and others don’t even come close, which is why expectations for Morris should be measured.
There is nothing wrong with being excited about the 20-year-old forward’s future, especially after an outing like the one he had against Mexico in which he showed some good speed and composure. But having grandiose dreams of what he might become will likely only lead to disappointment.
As Jurgen Klinsmann said on Wednesday, Morris still has plenty of room to evolve as a player and the Stanford forward needs time, not pressure, to grow.
FORWARD POOL SUDDENLY CROWDED
With Morris throwing himself into the conversation as a serious candidate and Juan Agudelo also making himself a good option with his goalscoring outing against Mexico, the U.S. forward corps has suddenly become quite crowded.
Klinsmann has a bevy of options up top now and some good players are going to get left off the Gold Cup roster. Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey – if you consider him as a forward – will take up a couple of spots this summer, leaving Morris, Agudelo, Gyasi Zardes, Aron Johannsson, Rubio Rubin, Chris Wondolowski and the now healthy Bobby Wood to all fight it out for the remaining places.
It is a good thing for the U.S. that there are now so many players to pick from, as the competition will only help to bring out the best in each of them during these remaining few months before the Gold Cup.
CENTERBACK ALSO FULL OF OPTIONS
Forward is not the only position that now has a surplus amount of players for Klinsmann to choose from.
Centerback is now seemingly as deep as it has been in some time, especially after Ventura Alvarado showcased his defensive skills in a sound first start for the U.S. on Wednesday. Alvarado, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, John Brooks, Michael Orozco and Steve Birnbaum have all thrown their name into the hat, and now Klinsmann needs to figure out not only which of them will form the starting tandem this summer, but also how many of them he includes on his Gold Cup roster.
This also leaves the question as to whether Jermaine Jones needs to continue to be trotted out as a central defender. Klinsmann has used Jones at centerback in some of the more recent matches, but that experiment may be one worth ending given how crowded the pool of options is now. If Jones is no longer seen as a possible solution at centerback, where does he fit in the grand scheme of things? That’s something Klinsmann will need to determine in the near future.
BECKERMAN STILL BEST DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER IN POOL
Kyle Beckerman may not be flashy or sexy at the international job, but he is effective and the best defensive midfielder that the U.S. has currently.
Becerkman enjoyed his latest solid international outing on Wednesday vs. El Tri, putting out several fires and quickly moving the ball to teammates during his 63 minutes on the field. Beckerman’s performance – which was cut short by a non-contact injury – served as a reminder that he is still the top holding midfielder Klinsmann has at his disposal and someone the U.S. coach needs to keep in the picture at least through the Gold Cup.
The 32-year-old Beckerman does a lot of the dirty work that can help the Americans keep possession as well as they did against Mexico. He relieves pressure from the back line, covers a good amount of space, and keeps it simple when he has the ball, allowing the attacking players to play a little more free and move into more dangerous positions.
That type of play might not be necessary during the early rounds of this summer’s regional tournament, but will surely be something that the U.S. needs in order to navigate through the knockout rounds when matches become tighter and more difficult.
BRADLEY FINDING RIGHT BALANCE IN ATTACKING ROLE
Whether you believe Michael Bradley should play in a more advanced position up the field or not, there is no denying that he is growing into the role.
Bradley again delivered a strong outing for the U.S. against Mexico, and he seems to be finding a better balance of when to get forward and when to drop. Both of the U.S. goals came from Bradley passing from his preferred deeper position, but the Americans also held onto possession for large stretches due in part to Bradley’s calmness on the ball in spots further up the field.
It will be interesting to see what Klinsmann does with Bradley when Clint Dempsey returns to the fold, but Bradley is looking more and more comfortable in the the advanced midfielder role and showing why Klinsmann is keen on using him there.
Nobody asks the important questions. RM is a hole for this squad. Can Mix play there? Did he aquit himself OK?
I think this formation has potential
———-Jozy———————————
II——————–Dempsey————-II
II-Johnson—Bradley—Diskeruud–II
II——-DM(see above debate)——–II
Shea——Brooks—-Gonzo—–Yedlin
———-Anyone but Rimando——-
Yedlin and Shea have run of field in outside channels with Johnson and Mix tucking just inside them which helps bolster the middle of the field and gives us really a six man midfield. In bad transition situations (where Yedlin is caught up a little, Mix or MB4 can cover the 6 and the 6 can cover for the RB caught out. If the same happens on the left, Johnson just defends.
Bedoya, Alvarado, Jones, Johanssen, Chandler, become valuable subs
pp,
You answered your own question. Bedoya is the first choice RM on this team.
DM Roll should be filled by Jones & Williams for this GC. Jones as the experienced starter with Williams as the energetic understudy. Morales could be used above Williams, but to me Williams has more speed & fines. Morales has more bite.
I just don’t want Beckerman & Jones filling that role as both are aging out of the team.
No way in hell Beckerman is better than Jones!
During transitional phases like the one that is currently ending (Between WC and the GC) I try to focus more on the play of the individuals (positives & negatives) than on the overall team performances (results). As yesterdays “dos-a-cero” basically ended the experimental/transitional portion…we’re now entering down selections for the Gold-Cup, my opinion is as follows:
Keeper: Guzan, Yarbrough, Hamid/Johnson/Rimando. Until Howard returns to the US fold Guzan is the #1. Yarbrough has shown to be the equal of Rimando and is considerably younger. 3rd GK IMO should go to someone for the next Generation after Guzan, but could understand wanting another experienced Locker-Room guy like Rimando (Coin Flip).
Forward: Dempsey, Jozy, Johannsson, Agudelo & Zardes are the leading options for the GC.
Agudelo, Zardes, Rubin, & Morris are fairly evenly matched. Using Agudelo & Zardes for the GC frees up Rubin for focus on the U-20 WC and Morris to focus on Olympic Qualification. Best of all no need to ever call Wondo up again.
Center Back: Brooks, Besler, Alvarado, & Orozco should be the quartet for the Gold Cup. Youth and experience combined.
Outside Back: Shea, Garza, Chandler, & Yedlin. Lets face it there aren’t any other options to consider. Distant backups at this point are Ream, Lichaj, & Castillo.
Midfield: Bradley, Fabian, Diskerud, Jones, William, & Bedoya. As well as Beckerman played last night he is not significantly better than D. Williams and both Jones & Bradley can play the #6 roll. A case of good, but just not good enough IMO. Beckerman, Zusi & Morales just miss the cut.
Mister Irrelevant (23rd player) = Cameron. Provides cover at CB, RB, & CDM. His Versatility places him above single positional players like Beckerman or one of the other positional options.
Now if there isn’t a U-23 camp this summer for EU players on summer break…would be good to have some of the young players who aren’t competing in the U-20 WC be guests of the Sr. Team during the GC. Practice & Travel w/ the team etc…would build continuity as the strive toward becoming Sr. players and keep pressure on the players who did make the team. Players like Green, Packwood, Pelosi, Rodriguez, Zelalem & Stanko (if healthy)…Maybe throw a couple over age guys on as well to round out to 30 players…Morales, Wooten, Wood, Boyd (if healthy).
Zardes has done nothing for me. I would Rubin and Agudelo if it was me. I could see Rubin and Morris getting the call though.
Agudelo is on my list for going.
I expect Rubin to be at the U-20 WC, and clubs are not keen on their players playing in 2 tournaments in the same summer.
Morris could be there, but I really do hope that the U-23’s have something going this summer. They need the time together to redeem the age group.
enjoyed the read. not that this is my preference but id say JK brings Omar and chooses between Alvarado and Orozco (can alvarado play with th U23s?). Other than that I could only see Beckerman going over Williams and Rubin over Zardes; basically coin flips …
Alvarado cannot play at the U-23 qualifications, but he could be an over age player for the actual Olympics. However, there are some very good players who are able to play CB for the U-23’s (Packwood, Donnovan, EPB, CCV, Dean, and kid from NYRB.
I’d rather see the kids develop at the youth levels and Alvarado take the place of one of the aging CB’s in the US Pool….Orozco, Cameron, Jones, even Gonzalez.
“let’s temper the hype”…. “throwing himself into the pool as a serious candidate”…. ????
that’s the whole article. franco’s telling us in one breath to slow down, and spends the rest of the time making grand proclamations (centerback pool deepest in years! beckerman best defensive mid! bradley growing into attacking role!) based on a sloppy friendly against a very poor mexican team.
Mexico won the possession stat but man it seemed we won 85% of the 50-50 balls and had the majority of possession changing tackles and that I attribute that to speed quickness and work rate, particularly from Bradley, Mix, and Beckerman. Mix and Bradley were “men” of the match to me just for their work rate and transition game and they need to be in that starting eleven.
Gold Cup XI:
———-Jozy——–Dempsey———
——————MB————————
FJ———————————Bedoya
—————–KB————————–
Shea—–JAB—-Omar——Chandler
—————Guzan———————–
Yedlin starts over Chandler if he can get on the field for Spurs. KB could be replaced by Mix but how many times do we need to see him dominate as a #6 with Bradley ahead of him before we just solidify him into the lineup (in CONCACAF competition, anyway)? maybe we alter between him and Mix. i would say Williams, but i think we stick with KB through the Gold Cup before going to Williams or a guy like Kitchen. that all said, i’m sure Jones will be the guy because he doesn’t need to be a CB anymore.
to me, Omar showed he should start because while Orozco is solid (as is Alvarado), him and JAB could dominate in the Gold Cup.
wide players are pretty much set in stone, so i don’t think FJ and Bedoya starting are a surprise. i also don’t think anyone overtook Jozy or Dempsey. but i think Agudelo bumped himself above Zardes. Agudelo and AJ will be the guys on the bench. Gold Cup 23:
GK: Guzan, Hamid, WY
D: Shea, Yedlin, Chandler, Garza, Omar, JAB, Alvarado, Besler, Cameron
M: FJ, Bradley, Bedoya, Jones, Beckerman, Mix, Corona
S: Jozy, Dempsey, Agudelo, AJ
Williams, Orozco, Green, Morales, and Rubin could easily replace people in that 23 though. as good as Orozco was, i have a feeling JK will pick Alvarado and Cameron over him. unless he leaves Besler off, i don’t see both Orozco and Cameron on the Gold Cup squad.
Really the only potential difference I would see is Omar. His biggest strength is something we don’t really need in Concacaf games (aerial ability). I think any of Alvarado/Orozco/Cameron/Jones gives much more in the way of technical ability and speed without really sacrificing anything else. I think Omar probably makes the team, but I don’t think he’ll be starting.
yeah, it’s hard to say. i thought the JAB/Orozco pairing was solid. i think the final test will be the friendlies right before the World Cup. if Omar plays well in those games, i think he’ll solidify his starting spot. if not…then yeah, i think it’ll be safe to say he won’t be the #1 RCB for the Gold Cup.
I like most of your list, have a few questions…
Do you think Jones won’t be part of the starting 11? hard to conceive when he still playing at his peak. In my opinion the CB pairing is going to boil down to Brooks + Gonzales or Alvarado. Is too early to tell but Alvarado may have an advantage since he is very proactive on a running play and is excellent at covering ground, Gonzalez is an aerial master but for GC it may be an overkill when you already have Brooks. The player from your list that I see has no chance to make the roster is Corona, he just hasn’t shown anything special, even Ibarra looked slightly better than him with his defense and speed. The player that will probably make it in his place may be Zardes.
no, i think Jones absolutely will. that’s why i said i think Jones will end being the guy when its all said and done. but we know that Jones doesn’t like being a pure #6. but maybe now JK will tell him he has to be unlike before when it was clear JK was having him and Bradley work as a double pivot.
i think Orozco still has a big chance simply because he played so well in the Euro friendlies. the fact that him and JAB looked good together, against two strong European teams, at home, is impressive. Omar & Alvarado played well against a C team Mexico squad. that’s why i think the decision will be made after the final two friendlies before the Gold Cup when JK will, hopefully, call up the full A team.
as for Corona, 100% disagree with you on that. his Opta shows just how well he played in his 45 minutes. he showed speed, good passing, a good touch, and put in a lot of defensive work…all while playing wider than normal. that said, i do agree with you that Zardes could easily take his spot. it’ll be interesting to see who JK goes with. and to be honest, i’m ok with either guy.
Not related to the article, but what do we make of Jurgen Klinsmann bringing in Julian Green from Germany and not even giving him one minute?
My conclusion is, man Julian Green must be in horrific form right now. JK might be one of his biggest fans but he is now BURIED in the depth-chart behind the likes of Morris, Zardes, Agudelo, and Ibbara. Not to mention the obvious people he is behind such as Altidore, Dempsey, Iceman, Rubin, Bedoya, Corona, Shea, etc.
Yes I think its time to move Green to the U20 team. When he is getting regular time in Europe, then bring him back to the full team.
Green can’t play on the U20 side, but can play for the U23 Olympic side.
My guess would be to assess him and get his confidence in a good place for Olympic qualifying.
BTW, I answered your post last night.. take a look..
I read your post Bac. I like your “the pool isn’t deeper, just wider” remark. That is probably true. With so many 50/50 decisions and players not separating themselves from each other, we (I mean all the fans) will be at each others and Jurgen’s throat for the foreseeable future. Just like it was meant to be! 🙂
Bac & UBG –
Having a “Wider Pool” is still a vast improvement over where the USMNT was just 10 yrs ago. If the separation between your Starting XI and second string is so marginal that we can feel confident of nearly anyone in the 23 playing that is GREAT.
It wasn’t all that long ago that you could almost see the coaching staff cringe if a starter went down injured or had the flu because their Backup was significantly below the standard.
We’re now at a point (call it depth or width) where the loss of a single player doesn’t derail the entire team and even the Back-ups, Back-up isn’t that far of a drop in quality at a couple of positions (CM, CB, & Potentially Striker). We just need some additions on the outside (Backs, Wings, wide players in general).
but your “wider pool” scenario assumes that all (or most) of the players are at an acceptable level, and i don’t believe that’s what Bac was saying.
just take your assumption that “the separation between your Starting XI and second string is so marginal that we can feel confident of nearly anyone in the 23”.
i believe that, especially at certain positions, the “separation is so marginal” because no one’s been good enough. the “loss of a single player doesn’t derail the entire team” because, with the exception of maybe bradley or dempsey, no one’s consistently excellent enough to depend upon.
not trying to be all negative nancy here, just putting the “wider pool” comment in a different context.
Not sure how flying him a good 10-15 hours then not playing him a single minute helps his confidence? And speaking of this kind of thing… what head game is JK playing with Lee Nugyen now? Zero minutes?
Well I have no idea what the story is, nor does anyone else here. If I were to speculate and answer your question, I’d say it could look something like this: 19 year old kid gets loaned out to the worst team in BL, has had nothing positive since the Belgium game- Coach brings him over to a team where both the coach and some of the “young gun” teammates like him. Coach gets a look at him, gives him some support and tough love, wants him to know he’s got plans for him come Olympic time….
What’s wrong with that? It’s no skin off anyone’s back, u can’t play all 23 guys.. I don’t see a downside. And if his form is in the tank, do we want it to stay in the tank because he was in Brazil ?? Or do we want to do whatever it takes to get him back on track.
And we don’t know what impact Beckermans injury played into his substitution plans.. whether it be Nguyen, Green, whoever
This reminds me of English class where everyone sits around and wonders, what did the author really mean? It turns out a lot of times the author means just what he wrote. 23 guys called up, he was going to substitute goalies, that left 5 other substitutes and so you had 11 guys left for 5 substitutions, plus the injury to Beckerman which, like you mentioned, may have screwed up his plans. Not everyone could play. Too much over thinking on this, it seems to me.
UBG,
JK has said why he brought Green in. The lack of pt is not an issue. This game was for the domestic and Liga MX players and the next friendlies are in Europe. JK can see him play there and maybe Green will have more club games by then. .
Unless things change dramatically Green, who has been in a slump with a cluster situation in Hamburg , seems secure with Bayern.
http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/bayern-munich-karl-heinz-rummenigge-julian-green-hamburger-sv-future-032315
I don’t see his situation changing with US anytime soon.
After all he is the same age or younger than Morris. If we are to believe Rummenige, not the most warm and fuzzy character around, Julian will get his chances either with Bayern or someone else.
JK mentioned some time ago that he was slotted for the Olympic team.
They brought back Shea, Corona and Juan after their slumps. And you saw the result of that in the last few games. JK believes in those guys. He believes in Green. If he believes in a player he gives them a chance to come back.
On the other side of the coin, he has never brought in Lichaj other than for a few minutes probably because he does not believe in him.
Why wouldn’t they bring back Green after his slump?
Maybe Green got called in to make a point to him personally saying…..figure it out kid and start to mature because you will get left in the dust in this sport.
Is Tesho Akindele out of the conversation now? Since the F position is perceived by some as “crowded” is he going to cap tie with the nice folks to the north?
If I was him, I would wait a while…maybe till the end of this season to make any sort of rush to judgment. He can join Canada but they will never do anything. They have no momentum to say, hey maybe they can make the hex. The US pool looks deeper than usual but its a lot of potential right now and things happen to change that.
Beckerman is definitely a reliable defensive midfielder but not the best. Cameron has more range and so does Williams. Now Beckerman is less athletic but more disciplined in the position, but you could tell he was lacking an offensive touch and the ability to control the pace. He broke up plays but many of his short passes were off.
This I can agree to.
While Morris gets all the accolades for scoring in his first start while still in college, to me the more significant event was Juan Agudelo’s goal. Remember he scored in his very first international and was younger than Morris, was later signed by Stoke, couldn’t get his work permit, and eventually ended up in limbo without a club for about 6 months. I thought his goal was close to exceptional. The way he brought down that pass and controlled it was very Dempsey like. Then he made a very cool finish. If he can get into form, his development may end up being more significant than that of Morris. It is certainly heartening to see that Agudelo’s misfortune in Europe has not hindered his ability.
It was a really nice goal by an exciting player.
I believe that, for high level and confident players, failure/”misfortune” in Europe or wherever can push their game, their ceiling, to higher levels. It makes them work even harder to prove themselves and having had that experience, know what the level is. It was true with Landon Donovan, and more recently perhaps Agudelo and Brek Shea. It is a mental game, and that little psychological push for people who can handle it can go far.
Bingo – exactly right. Who in the current forward pool could do that? Ans – nobody… was it luck? NO, I watch him every week and he does stuff like that all the time. He is cool on the ball and has a high amount of skill and is a very good passer. He had that one chance and basically took a poor pass from Bradley and turned it into a goal. That’s a high, high strike rate. We need players that can do that.
If JK doesn’t make him a regular call up then he’s a bigger fool than I already think he is. Juan has a ton of upside, lets just hope JK gives him a 1/2 chance to show what he’s got.
Revs fan here, and very much agree about Agudelo. When he’s on, he’s excellent, though I’d like more consistency from him.
I will take exception to the poor pass from Bradley part, though. If that ball is shorter, the defender clears it; longer, and it goes through over the end line. Bradley put it exactly where Agudelo, and only Agudelo, had a chance at it, trusting Agudelo to do something with it. Totally reminded me a good NFL quarterback leading their receiver almost too far, but close enough that the receiver can make the play and there’s no chance of an interception.
Tayklor Twellman alluded to it when talking about Agudelo. Can he show the desire to play and dominate every game. That seems to be a big thing for Juan and I hope he gets hat psychological part going because when he is on form, he is absolutely fantastic.
Juan needs to go to Camp Zlatan…
Morris goal was cool and glad Agudelo is getting back in form.
Of course, Chad Marshall isn’t even mentioned. 3x defender of the year. Deserved all of them.
Lock down, with close to zero mistakes.
I would like to thank Pineda for mentioning him last night, so at least he got a mention.
Un
Be
Lievable.
That’s Klinsi for you. Some players don’t seem to get a chance while others get chance after chance. It is enough to drive you crazy, but hey, what can you do?
If this were the year before a World Cup I could see pushing for Chad Marshall to be included in the National Team pool. However it’s not. We are 3 years away from the WC. Chad is a 30 yr Old CB with a history of injuries. Where as the CB’s used since the end of the 2014 WC were either a part of that team, or have been considerably younger than Marshall.
Everything being done now is about building towards the future, and you don’t do that by introducing a 30 yr old who hasn’t played at the international level in 6+ years. Chad is at the tipping point where his abilities will begin to degrade, where as Brooks, Alvarado, Birnbaum, Hedges, and even Gonzalez, Besler, & Orozco are still moving forward in their development.
Chad’s abilities are a lot like John Terry’s who is still playing at the top of his game at the age of 34. Chad just cant break through for whatever reason. Maybe he doesnt want too? I doubt that is the case but I gotta believe Clint has talked to Jurgen about Chad. Honestly, in terms of ability, he is the best bigger CB we got. He is better than Gonzalez and more consistent.
Dirty,
You are forgetting that Sigi and JK are close.
I can’t imagine JK doesn’t know everything worth knowing abut Chad.
I think Lichaj should be in the mix. Yedlin, Garza, Shea, Chandler are all serviceable fullbacks but none of them are locks. Lichaj is a good enough player to have his national team status settled on the field compared against the others not in some theoretical white board discussion.
I don’t think Lichaj is better than the guys you mention but it’s weird that he hasn’t gotten a look from JK.
Of course it has been settled on the field. There is nothing theoretical about JK not rating Lichaj. He doesn’t think much of him at least not as much as he thinks of the current fullback pool.
Obviously, they can see what he does on the field in the Championship. Is that going to suddenly change in San Antonio?
Ream plays in the Championship and they called him in, so I would say the USMNT knows full well what Championship players can or cannot do.
And JK and his staff obviously don’t agree with your assessment of Lichaj relative to the other US fullbacks ; but you never know, maybe he gets called in to these next two Euro friendlies.
Presumably if it were possible for coaches to accurately rate somebody on the field by just watching TV, soccer wouldn’t go through the bother of friendlies and training camps. There is no substitute for comparing players playing on the same field in person and it really would cost JK nothing to bring Lichaj in for a closer look.
JK called in Lichaj in 2013. He made two sus titis appearances against Scotland and Austria.
“MORRIS SHOWS PROMISE, BUT LETS TEMPER THE HYPE
Jordan Morris will get his shine for his goal-scoring performance in his first U.S. start, but the hype train should take it slow here.
From Freddy Adu to Jozy Altidore to Julian Green, there has been no shortage of players touted as the next big thing in U.S. Soccer.”
I wish sports writers would stop telling people how & what to think. I’m 53 years old. Understand that some of your audience is 12 but even all the comments I’ve seen by them on a load of different websites are simply congratulating JM for scoring and hoping for him to continue to succeed. I’ve seen no one suggest he is the next big thing. And so what if they do, that’s thier right to have thier opinion whether you agree with it or not. It’s the players fault if they read it and not use it positively… Freddy Adu’s or anyone’s problems are of thier own making not anyone elses.
Well said Bob34
My only issue is comparing Altidore to a flop like Adu and someone like Green who hasn’t really done much yet but is only 19. Altidore is 25 and is already one of the better goalscorers in US history. Maybe he hasn’t met Franco’s expectations but then again maybe his expectations were too high.
Adu does not belong in the same sentence as Jozy.
Jozy’s production as a pro for both club and country is a quantum leap above whatever Fredinho has done
And Green is just getting started Adu was basically washed up by the time he was the same age that Green was when Julian made his USMNT debut. .
Ives, “This time with much more positive results” is an incomplete sentence.
a missed opportunity to correctly use the timeless semi-colon…
While I would tend to agree that Bradley is better playing deeper, I also think that we have more depth at the deep-lying midfield/defensive midfielder spot (Diskerud and Williams, and, for the next year or so at least, Jones and Beckerman) than we do at attacking mid. Among potential attacking mids, Bradley is also better than pretty much any other alternative — Dempsey plays more like a forward for us and will lose mobility/endurance over time, and while I like Nguyen, at the highest levels of club and international soccer, defenders close out space on attackers much more quickly than they do in MLS (something Bradley would understand and be able to adapt to since he’s had some decent performances in Europe). That’s why Klinsmann insists on playing him in a pseudo-#10 role, even though it’s not his best position.
The good news is that when our roster is full strength, we don’t really need a full-time #10, because we have wide midfielders and/or outside backs in Johnson and Chandler (and, to a lesser extent, Bedoya and now Shea), who can advance the ball down the wings. Really, we only need a central midfielder who can pass/dribble through the middle in an advanced position often enough to give our attack some variety. In other words, while Bradley may never become a true playmaking midfielder, he’s athletic enough, durable enough, and skilled enough as a dribbler and passer that he can perform the role for stretches of each game, with the understanding that he won’t have to do it all the time (this was actually even true that the last World Cup, where Jones got into the attack at least as often as Bradley did and we relied on Johnson and then Yedlin to get the ball upfield). I’m guessing (although, clearly, there’s no way to know for sure) that this is part of Klinsmann’s thought process in playing him so far up the field.
*was actually true AT the World Cup. Wish this site had an edit function…
Mikey is playing further up the field because the US has many options to play deep who are as good if not better than him.
However, they have no one better at doing what he is doing now. Nguyen? Not yet and maybe never.
If Stu Holden was resurrected he might be a better option but that is about it.
Please dont mention Chandler as good at anything. He is 3rd choice in my eyes and if he was German American, Jurgen would see that too
This idea that beckerman only passes back is silly without some numbers behind it. He make a lot of back passes but he moves the ball around. He completes a high number of his passes. It’s really the intangibles he gives the US like when slammed a Mexican player who appeared to try and run through him on a give and go. That didn’t show up on a stat sheet but that toughness deters the opposition and sets a defensive tone. Not stuff fans really care about but coaches notice.
Remember how he stood up to the Portuguese last year. Everyone quickly figured out that the crazy looking dude with dreads isn’t messing around.
Much as this RBNY supporter hates to say it — and recognizing that the sample size is still way too small — Kitchen gives off the same “you don’t want to mess with me” vibe.
Agreed. Kitchen is a good player and I’d like to see him get more chances with the USMNT.
i believe JK refers to that as “being nasty”
Kitchen. Hoosier Proud.
Agree that our attacking options are getting better – as highlighted by how many goals we’ve been scoring lately. There’s more depth and power and speed and technical skill up there than at any time in the past in my opinion. And there is also youth. This is good.
Disagree about the centerback assessment. Sure we have lots of them, but really what’s the quality? Looking at recent games and the goals we’ve given up, I’m really not optimistic about our solidity in central defense. It’s proven difficult to replace the prime days of Boca/Gooch, hasn’t it? Brooks is the one that stands out as “could be the anchor”, but he’s still a bit green. The others are serviceable but limited (Omar, Besler, Orozco, etc..) and insufficient for high level international play (should suffice for WC though).
I meant “gold cup” NOT “WC” !!!
I don’t agree that our CB are somehow not ready for top flight competition. They did great in qualification (8 goals in 10 games) and did fine in the WC just recently completed. I would say that Omar and Besler (Cam had a bad WC though) showed much better than many of the so called elite of the world . Pepe, Luis, Silva, Dante spring to mind as particularly awful but across the board there was lots of scoring. Our guys aren’t elite but they are better than people give them credit for.
That said Cameron is getting old and Besler is in a funk (and will be 31 next WC) so I am happy that Alverado seems to be somebody that can join Omar and Brooks. If Birnbaum (or some yet unknown youngster) can step up we have the prospect of having a back 4 all under 30 for the next WC and of Cam and Besler can maintain themselves the added competition might result in something special.
You say Cameron had a bad World Cup. He had one terrible game. His other two starts he made the FIFA best 11 for that round. He was the only usmnt player that made it twice, and the only player in Brazil to be named Best 11 at two different positions. No matter what criteria they used, that’s an impressive thing.
Bac,
That sort of sums up Geoff doesn’t it?
Really good for the most part but with the potential to lose the game for you unexpectedly. .
One terrible game may be enough to make for a bad World Cup regardless of what else you do. But I’d give him a pass because he shut down Felaini in the Belgium game.
I wan’t bashing Cam. I think he is a very good player but he screwed up mightily in a game and that’s really all it takes to have a bad world cup. The point I was trying to make is that our current incumbents are better than people rate them and our new batch hold promise to make the group better still even if the older guys drop off.
The centerback position in the World game in general, has been a little thin in recent years.
The US centerback situation isn’t great but the current pool and the one coming up appear good enough to do the job.
At this point they just have to play well enough so that they don’t lose the game for us. If Gonzo can keep playing like he did last night then maybe he can shake his rep for game losing errors.
Besler, Cameron and Gonzo would have been great for the US except for the occasional game losing bonehead play.
Sums up a lot of em brother…
Man I think back to the pre-Brazil conversations we had, and I still see the 3-5-2 as fitting our group right now in time…
I of course do give credit where credit is due.. Quozzell brought it up…got me stuck on it still
would you be willing to bet whoever is the next pairing at US CB doesnt have a better World Cup than Belser did?
Im a SKC fan but far from a Besler fanboy, but I dont get the thought of not having “it” when it has already been displayed.
The prime days of Gooch was like a couple weeks, the “good ole’ days” are never as good as people seem to remember in basically any situation.
Love Besler too. Marshall is better.
Marshall is better than them all
No, Besler had a fantastic WC. My concern with Besler is that he seems to be going through a rough patch now and that he will be 31 in 2018 so it is good that some young guns are in the pipeline. I wasn’t bashing the guy, just expressing my confidence our depth at the position.
Yes back in the glory days with Boca & Gooch leading us to a World Cup Championship? Semifinal? Quaterfinal? Out of our group? They really only played 2 games together 2006 2 games together in 2010 and Boca was deployed as LB when playing with Gooch. Gooch and Boca were exactly what you are calling our current crop of CB’s,excellent against Concacaf but not good enough against World class competition. Gooch and Boca were good for their time but clearly our style of play has changed since the good old days of hoofing the ball 50 yards and hoping one of our players gets a head on it. Most of of CB’s with the exception of Omar, who reminds me alot of Gooch, can dribble and pass out of the back better than our defenders have done in the past.
I don’t think Beckerman is our best DM, he may be the most capped as a DM. I think Cameron and Danny Williams are way better than Beckerman. A DM not only has to break up plays but also initiate plays. Beckerman 80% time will pass back or to the side when maybe there is a more advantageous option.
Maybe you can argue that Cameron is better, but really that argument should be that he might have a higher ceiling than Beckerman at that position if he actually played it regularly. But if you look at performances for the Nats in the last couple years, Beckerman probably wins over those two. Jones might have more talent, but it is clear the strait DM role is not for him and JK never tried to fit him into that role, so you can’t really compare. ” Beckerman 80% time will pass back” did you ever watch Makelele play? Arguablly, the best central midfielder of his generation.
Makelele was never even the best central midfielder in his French teams, much less his entire generation. Do the names Deschamps, Viera, or Zidane mean anything to you?
Makelele was the best defensive or holding mid of his time. Totally different type of player than Vieira or Zidane. Damn, that French team was stacked! Midfield was so good they won the world cup with Stephane Guivarch as the lone striker!
To respond, I’ll just quote Zidane’s comment on his teammate Makelele leaving the legendary Real Madrid team: “Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?” Steve McManaman also called him the most important midfielder at Real. He defined the defensive midfielder role that has become the linchpin for a widely used style of play.
I think Beckerman is American soccer’s best embodiment of that type of player. When it comes to how soccer can be played in the MLS, you can argue that no other American has been as important to the MLS game on the ground over the last 7/8 years. End of rant.
He isnt the best DM in MLS though..maybe the best American DM but not the best.
I agree, Geoff Cameron is the best defensive mid in the pool. Faster, better in the air, more creative, better with the ball at his feet, better at tackling, …. Maybe jones, but definitely not beckerman.
Cameron, Jones and Becks will all be on the wrong side of 30 for the next WC. In the short term any of the 3 would do fine as a DM but I’m thinking that Williams and Kitchen need minutes so they can be active in the run up to 2018.
If Williams and/or Kitchen are better right now, they will play right now. There is more than enough time after Copa America to get tuned up for 2018. Right now it’s about winning Gold Cup.
Isnt Tchani US eligible or close to it? If he continues his ascension then maybe him. Ozzie Alonso led the league as a DM in terms of defense, passing, etc. The only player last year to mirror those stats was Tchani. Plus he is a big man that can be an asset on set pieces.
Agreed, I believe either Cameron or DWill should be given the role. I honestly don’t understand why people think he was great last night. Yes, he was good defensively, as always, but there’s so much more to that position than breaking up the play. I feel like he is slow of foot, and isn’t passing as well as in the past. We need a more athletic option in that spot, who can also switch the play, and get out of trouble by sidestepping a defender. I don’t think Becks has the lateral quickness or ball-skills to do that with any regularity. Just my 2 cents, I thought he was great in the WC, but I think his time has past.
For one thing, his positioning is great. I was watching him off the ball on the defensive side and there were so many times he intelligently filled in gaps.
The CB’s looked great because of him.
He is not going to wow you with attacking balls or anything. But he keeps position, fills gaps, marks, and a ball winner. A definition of a traditional CDM.
You said you thought he was great at the World Cup. That was less than a year ago. it did not look like he lost a step since then.
If your argument is that MB should be in that spot, I would not argue. But if JK prefers MB up the field, than Beckerman is our best CDM option at this moment.
Danny Williams and Cameron are not consistent enough. Jones, an excellent player, really competes with MB and that has always been the problem.
It still amazes me that fans don’t see what Beckerman brings to the table. He is so much of a better passer than any of the other options. He is in no way a negative player, as you suggest. He is almost always in the right position, wins the ball back at a stunning rate, and then distributes quickly to initiate the attack.
You are correct, he does not make flashy runs with the ball. He does not dribble at guys. He is not as fast or tall or as great of an athlete as Cameron or Williams. But, we are not asking him to be a box-to-box midfielder. He is a perfect #6 and the USMNT is significantly better every time he is on the field. He makes Bradley a better player giving him the freedom to play box-to-box and get into the attack. The Americans are so, so much better when he is on the pitch. He wins the ball back constantly and is great at possession and initiating the attack. What else do you want from a #6. He doesn’t need to be able to turn and run with players. He doesn’t even need to make spectacular runs forward. That is for a #8 like Bradley, Jones or Williams.
+Many
Geoff and Danny are physically and athletically superior to The RastaMan but he has it over them in terms of the intelligence required to play that particular position.
Not by a ton but enough so that I believe he is the best USMNT DM.
It’s easy to downplay what Beckerman does but I do think he’s our best option in that spot. Cameron doesn’t play in midfield all that often for Stoke. Kitchen or Williams might be the heir apparent to Beckerman.
Agree. I like Cameron and I think when you’ve got some mutant like, say, Fellaini who likes to get up in the box and bully people he can be an option – Cameron largely took him out of the equation – but otherwise I’d go with Beckerman, probably at least through the Gold Cup, and see if Danny Williams can be Becks’ heir at that spot.
It really would just be incredibly hard for me to leave Cameron out of the 23 right now because he can do so many jobs – CDM, CB, and RB – but I also think there’s better options at every position, too. Kind of a quandary; Cameron is quality.
yea i was having a discussion with GW a few weeks back, i had begun wondering if Cameron’s “jack of trades” trait would soon backfire and hurt his spot because while being good at multiple spots he might not be great enough at any position to start or play. i hope he can find 1 position to focus on with JK and just proceed knowing that’s his focus but he could be used elsewhere in a pinch.
No offense but you are delusional. Beckerman has clearly shown at the last WC and yesterday’s game that he is the best d-mid hands down. Geoff Cameron has shown he could be good there but that was years ago and now he is considered a fullback. Danny Williams is not as quick to the ball as Kyle.
If Beckerman was so great why didn’t he play in the Belgium game? that job was given to Cameron.
In sports its called a match up problem.
Fellaini was a match up problem for Kyle.so JK put Cameron on the Fro. Geoff is a better match up with the Fro and already played against him in the EPL
That doesn’t mean Cameron is a better DM than Kyle.
Here is the thing, if you are the very best at a position you shouldn’t have to be replaced. Is Bradley going to come off if he has to matchup against Messi? of course not, we role the dice because Bradley is the best we got at that position. Beckerman is not the best, that is why there is matchup issues and alternative options.
I never said Beckerman was the best DM in the world.
I said he was the best the USMNT has.
Ideally our best DM should be able to shut down anyone but this is the real world not the ideal one.
That doesn’t mean that every once in while when you run into a mutant like the Fro you don’t try something different. .
What you and I will never know is would Beckerman have shut down Fellaini anyway. We also don’t know and probably never will know if Kyle was 100% .
All I know is it worked.
And neither did I. I’m just questioning the writer’s claim that he is our best DM when there is other alternatives that look even better.
it’s true, looking at Opta, his passes were either sideways or backwards aside from about 7. despite that, we still look good with him there. it’s probably fair to say it has more to do with the system, as opposed to the player, but KB gets it done. but if Williams starts in that pure #6 role, i’m happy. so long as someone is playing as a pure #6.