By IVES GALARCEP
With several top players unavailable for the upcoming friendlies in Europe, U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is handing some golden opportunities to some relatively new faces against world powers Netherlands and Germany.
Klinsmann revealed the 22-player squad that will face the Dutch and Germans in the coming weeks, and the roster is missing several key regulars. U.S. captain Clint Dempsey (awaiting the birth of his fourth child) and World Cup veteran Alejandro Bedoya (knee issue) are among the top U.S. starters who won’t be available for the upcoming friendlies.
Liga MX-based newcomers William Yarbrough and Ventura Alvarado are among the national team novices called in for the friendlies, joining the likes of Gyasi Zardes, Miguel Ibarra, Bobby Wood and Alfredo Morales.
Brad Guzan returns to the fold after missing the March friendlies in Europe for the birth of his first child.
Missing from the squad are World Cup vets Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, with Brad Evans among the surprise inclusions on the squad. Cameron and Greg Garza are set to miss the friendlies as they recover from minor injuries.
Here is the full roster:
USMNT ROSTER for friendlies vs. Netherlands and Germany
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)
DEFENDERS: Ventura Alvarado (Club America), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Michael Orozco (Puebla), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur)
MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix
Diskerud (New York City FC), Miguel Ibarra (Minnesota United FC), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), Danny Williams (Reading)
FORWARDS: Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)
———–
The U.S. faces the Netherlands on Friday (2:30pm, ESPN/Unimas) before traveling to Germany to face the World Cup winners on June 10.
What do you think of the squad? See the U.S. having any chance in either friendly? Which newcomer are you most interested in seeing play?
Share your thoughts below.
What’s happening to our players in MLS is that the quality of these teams is just below mediocre. The talent is too widely spread out, and when good players are in shitty teams, they seem to stink as well. If an experiment could be done, try playing Messi in an MLS team to see if he’s going to shine as he does in Barcelona, and we are talking the best player in the world right now. So, leave Mix alone for a change.
This roster screams 4-5-1 instead of JK’s (seemingly) preferred 4-4-2 Diamond. Based on the personnel in camp, if I’m JK then I would be thinking this:
——————- Agudelo ———————
FJ ————— Bradley ———— Yedlin
——— Beckerman — Williams ———–
Shea — Brooks — Alvurado — Chandler
——————– Guzan ———————–
This midfield wouldn’t be completely overrun in the center and still gives us width and pace on the outside. If we need more possession, this formation also easily reverts to a 4-4-2. You just bring on Johannsson for one of the DMs and Diskerud and/or Morales as the shuttlers in the diamond.
There. Solved.
Evans, Wood, Ibarra? Is this guy kidding me? Then again, Wood just scored his first goals since 2013 so maybe this is the time to call him in.
Can someone send me the link to the article about Tim Ream being in prison and therefore not eligible for a callup?
Apparently playing in England is the worst thing you can do if you want to play for JK. Ream, Lichaj, Spector…
Ibarra and Woods seem average or below average players with USNT. Woods done just OK with his club, while Ibarra seem stuck NASL. I would like to see the Joker or Maars get a look.
Jones is injuried, wonder if Klinsmann is going to replace Jones.
Am I the only one who thinks that it’s borderline criminal that Feilhaber isn’t getting a call up. The dude is on fire right now and has never really been given a fair shot under JK.
Bobby Wood has actualy been half decent for Aue, don’t shoot him down yet.
I really hope Kyle “back pass” Beckerman gets the start.
I also don’t get the feeling that this squad is going to be the team playing in the Gold Cup.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this group will fare against the Netherlands and Germany. Offhand the selection appears a bit on the meager side. The USMNT is not likely to win with the players shown here. Why was Julian Green not selected. He looks to me an awful lot like Agudelo. Is he out of favor? With Dempsey missing and nobody really showing leadership qualities other than Bradley, the game will be highly entertaining but not necessarily a win for the US.
Green has played 3 games in 6 days after not playing in almost 6 months and he’s got 1 more on Tues so that’s he’s not on this roster but for gold cup I think he will be. I think he showed pretty well for the u23s, just needs playing time. Still developing.
Really Mix Diskerud? Have Klinsman watched any of NYCFC games this season? The guy is horrible and nonexistent on the field.
Nat. team call up should be earned and he certainly haven’t work hard enough to be called in.
I agree that Diskerud has had a pretty forgettable year thus far as part of a really bad midfield, but…..
The idea that national team call ups are some kind of “reward” for good club performances is an often misused argument. That is what things like “MLS Player of the Week/Month” are for. There is no reason we should be using our national team as some sort of podium for recent top statistical performers… there are plenty of other forms of recognition for that. This sort of “who’s hot now” thinking is exactly how Edson Buddle and Robbie Findlay found their way into World Cup squads, where they were predictably worthless.
Conversely, there is almost no way you could justify guys like Brooks, Yedlin, or Green being included in the World Cup squad based on what they had “earned” from their contributions at the club level. And yet each was able to clearly contribute to the team effort at the competition in tangible ways.
Ultimately, the purest criteria for a call-up for the NT (particularly for a competitive, non-experimental phase like the one we are now moving into) is “do we think this player can help the team succeed using the strategy/tactics we intend to implement?”. The justification for this can be based just as much on “potential contribution” as “recent historical form” and when talking about senior level CM’s of Mix’s age and experience, we should really be careful about using a “flavor of the month” selection strategy.
Clearly, recent history suggests that JK feels that Diskerud should be part of our plans in CM for this cycle, and not just an “experimental” player. And for good reason– we have all seen (including in his recent performances) that he is capable of contributing for the USMNT, and will almost certainly be part of our group for the coming senior competitions, even if only as an attacking reserve/cover for our first choice CM’s Should we really exclude him from one of our limited opportunities to play and train as a group right now because he and NYCFC haven’t gotten their act together yet?
Maybe if we weren’t so threadbare (especially now that it appears Jones may be gone for some time), one could say so…. I do agree that Mix has disappointed for NYCFC…. but as long as he is as clear a part of our strategy and a proven quantity as a USMNT player, I don’t see the value in ditching him now, unless we believe he is truly and permanently terrible.
If we felt he was truly and permanently terrible, then sure– cut the rope. But
Time and again, it has been shown by players from Jozy to Brek Shea that club form
…. you get the idea.
Herc,Buddle and Findey were on that WC squad because Davies got hurt and Ching could not be trusted to stay healthy.
And Herc and Buddle were so hot at the time, that they were smoking.
As I recall it’s not as if BB left a Suarez or an Aguero off the team.
What’s happening to our players in MLS is that the quality of these teams is just below mediocre. The talent (used loosely) is too widely spread about the league, and when good players play in sewage teams, they seem to stink as well. If an experiment could be done, try playing Messi in an MLS team to see if he’s going to shine as he does in Barcelona, and we are talking about the best player in the world right now. So, leave Mix alone for a change.
Amazingly, I actually agree with you a bit on this comment.
Mix is mediocre with MLS but does well with USNT.
While I think this roster will probably result in two lopsided defeats, I am inspired by the fact that we for the first time have two young and good center backs to build around in Brooks and Alvarado. That could be our duo for the foreseeable future and that is a definite bright spot here. There are also some other very good young players to build around as well with Yedlin, Hyndman (on the U20s), Morris, Green, etc.
On another note it will be interesting to see what Guzans future holds at Aston Villa this summer. Sherwood benched him after one mistake and who knows if Sherwood will ever let him see the field again.
+1 about Brooks and Alvarado; personally, i pretty much feel like we should just roll the dice and start them when possible for the next 3+ years, lol
I like the roster, it had a good mix of young old, MLS players, European based, first and second teamers. My eyes will be Shea and Yedlin perhaps are two best prospects right now.
Brek Shea was a prospect once. Today? Not so much.
It doesn’t change anything. We’ll bunker, counter and pray for a miracle. We are always going to be “shorthanded” against Germany and the Netherlands.
Yeah, just like the last two times we played Germany.
Just to remind those with short memories: our record against Germany of late has been 1-1. Four goals four, four against.
We humiliated them in a friendly a couple years back. The score ended up being 4-3 but Jurgen…uhm, took his foot off the gas, to put it mildly, the last 25+ minutes, when we were up 4-1 and were a Jozy overstrike away from going 5-1. At which point Joachi Loew probably would have needed to apply for asylum. The German press was…enthused. And openly speculated about who the real brains about the German resurgence was.
They did beat us 1-0 in the World Cup. Of course, we were surging for a late equalizer at the end…a point a lot of people did not miss. Especially when it took an emergency clearance to sweep Bedoya’s late strike off the line. That was sort of a…Statement. We scared the Germans that day. We scared the Belgians worse less than a week later. By the way…the Germans are #1 in the world right now. The Belgians are #3.
A lot of people took all the wrong lessons, off the World Cup. The powers-that-be, anyhow, took it as a clear statement of intent. Which it very much was.
I remember those games. We bunkered, counter attacked and almost pulled off a miracle. We also almost lost 6-0. The intent was to not allow too many goals and hope for a miracle at the end. Some of us regular folk did notice.
+1
Well scratch Jones… just left the Revs game with a groin strain
One thing about JK…. he’s totally consistent and consistently picks less than the best players for given positions. For example…. 1/2 the goalies in MLS are better than Romando. Same with Matt Bessler and others.
half the goalkeepers in MLS are better than Rimando, you say? OK, name them.
Rimando was ok and I liked him; Klismann has made me change my opinion about the latter with his unfair selection of Rimando time and again, especially after the WC.
and of course you’re not counting the goalkeepers who are ineligible to play for the U.S. (Ricketts, Ousted, Frei, Penedo, Kwarasey, Saunders), right?
Luis Robles.
Awesome roster, can’t wait to watch the goals come pouring in and watch some great passing and movement up and down the field.
Of course I’m talking about Germany and the Netherlands because they’re going to have a blast out there against these guys
While there are some selections that seem strange, to say the least, if you consider the players who can’t make it for various reasons (Altidore, Dempsey, Cameron, Garza), the only two “regulars” who won’t be on the team will be Gonzalez and Besler.
Exactly, and I’m not even sure those two count as regulars any more.
Sooo many defensive-mids on this call-up: Bradley, Jones, Beckerman, Morales, and D Williams. In a 4-4-2 diamond you preferably only want to start 1 defensive-mid at the bottom of the diamond and then some players with offensive/creative/attacking capabilities in the other 3 slots. Klinsmann usually starts 2 defensive-mids in his diamond. After looking at this roster i feel he will start 3 or 4 of them. We will have no offense.
Out of those only Beckerman Williams and morales have routinely been seen as 6’s.
Jones played the absolute best soccer he’s ever played in a US jersey on the left of the diamond at the WC. He’s not a d-mid, at least not with this team.
What an absolute joke. Benny doesn’t get called in and he’s playin at a diff level yet Beckerman and Mix still make the trip?
We’re gonna get smacked and rightfully so. JK needs to get his head out of his ass. Idiot.
Evans and Jones both subbed out early due to injury in their matches today.
Id rather see somebody young in for evans whose never gonna make it internationally. Honestly the u20 and u 23 tourneys are taking guys away u gotta think rubin green morris and emerson would b on this squad. But dissapointed not to see davies. Id even like to c caldwell dax or kliejstan on this team. Get rid of wood evans and ibarra
I’m ready to see more of Hyndman, Zalalem, Sonora, Rubin, and Morris all get regular us team call ups. Probably premature but I would really like to an infusion of exciting young talent and building for the World Cup.
——————————Aguedelo ———————-Johannsen
————————————————-Bradley
————————–Jones —————————— Mix
————————————————–Williams
Shea—————————————————————————Chandler
———————-Brooks————————Alvarado
———————————–Guzan
Respectfully, I dont see Fabian Johnson sitting the bench so Mix and Williams can see the field. I think Jones slots back for Williams, Johnson on the left of the diamond and Yedlin on the right of the diamond.
I forgot about fj! 😉
We have rarely seen jones as a 6. I would expect mix sits for Johnson then.
Wonder if fj could go back to lb? We really need a better option than Shea there.
Yes we do, and we have that option. The funny thing is FJ looks better attacking from back than he does from the midfield.
Shea’s been pretty good there the last couple of games. I don’t mind seeing him get another chance against the big boys.
These next two games will either make him or break him in the eyes of JK. He’s done well there this season of O-City and USMNT against….substandard teams. Now it’s time to find out if he’s actually got the goods there (ala Beasley) or not.
Fabian’s been one of our best creators. The closer to goal we can get him the better.
You’re right about Johnson, but Jones has never played the base of the diamond. Why would he start now when Beckerman and Williams are in the squad. He’ll be on the right or left or at center back with Brooks.
Where is DAX MCCARTY????!!!!!
In Seattle. Turn to ESPN2.
I will be the first to say that usa will might not even be in Russia 2018 and if they do go to Russia, it will be by playing the conmebol playoff .
I don’t see any progression, I know we got sucky players and klins wants to do everything from coaching to front office stuff, but he needs to be honest and stop believing in sucky players.
We cant rely on Dempsey, Bradley, jozy, rimando, besler, gonzalez,zusi, which are good enough for mls but not a world cup, this ain’t the old days.
“We can’t rely on Dempsy, Bradley, Jozy, Rimando, Besler, Gonzalez, & Zusi”….
While I don’t fully agree with this statement, only 2 of them are on the current roster (Rimando & Bradley), and while they may not be good enough for the WC, they are more than good enough for CONCACAF.
You do realize, don’t you that the US has not only qualified every cycle since 1990, but has gotten out of its group 3 out of the last 4 World Cups? Your position is close to delusional.
No, it ain’t. Look what happened to Mexico last time around. Mexico wasn’t even getting beat that much, they were just not winning even at Azteca. A slew of draws brought them down to earth and onto their knees, to realize that it is very possible to not make it out of CONCACAF to the WC.
Duly noted. All please note that “Man vs. Food” was the first to go on record suggesting that the US will not qualify for Russia 2018. It’s a pity we aren’t standing in the same room right now, because I’d happily give you 15-1 odds on this without a second thought (and really, I’d probably go much higher).
As stated by others above, I’m not sure where you somehow get the notion we are falling out of the top three nations in CONCACAF. Who are the three teams that have suddenly raced past us? Mexico? The same team we beat with ease a month ago at both the senior and U-23 level?
(Also weird is the bizarre assumption that if we really had become bad enough to finish 4th in the Hex, that we would still somehow be good enough to beat a CONMEBOL team in a playoff.)
It’s one thing to say you’d like to see faster or more clear progress in talent emergence. Personally, I think it’s probably too early to assess, given we still have yet to play a competitive match since the WC, but I guess I can understand why you might worry about this. However, the rest of the argument is way overboard– there is nothing to suggest we are losing ground in CONCACAF and in danger of non-qualification.
+1
i can’t wait to watch the slow death of Man v Food’s notion over the next 3 years…
Take a deep breath. And Dempsey, Bradley, Besler are absolutely good enough for a WC. Especially Dempsey and Bradley. That’s a ridiculous statement. Jozy, too. But we never got a chance to see him. There’s no use getting yourself worked up over this for countless reasons that I hope you can figure out.
Jozy isn’t. He would either pull a hammie or be in the middle of goal draught in the WC. Sorry, not world caliber.
Man vs food, that comment is a bit of a head scratcher. What I remember from the ‘old days’ was tiny Caribbean nations kicking our butts long before they themselves got eliminated by the CONCACAF nations that actually qualified for the finals. I’ll take the new days over the old days.
As for these friendlies, I’m sure Germany and the Dutch aren’t bringing out all (if any of) their A-listers, either. I know they have qualifiers for Euros, but it’s not like either nation ought to worry about qualifying (don’t think Germany will sweat their coming game with Gibraltar), and everybody in Europe is banged up right now. We may even get a result against one of them.
I haven’t seen the Dutch roster but Germany’s is pretty good. And by that I mean they’ll be a damn good team. I think they’ll play a solid lineup, but it won’t be their absolute best.
Oh yeah, I just saw that. Not the best German side, but pretty solid. Eh, what can you do against that deep a national pool? Still, it’s a friendly and players will be playing to not get hurt instead of pressing attacks.
I don’t understand why you call this a shorthanded team. This are not second tier players they are called up because coaches believe they offer something to the team. It is stupid to say that they’re not worthy, this are the player we have to work with. Omar needs to step it up, I’m a galaxy fan and I have been disappointed in his performance. Not to mention, this is a perfect time to test out players. We have a busy summer and we need to build depth and to find quality depth we have to try it out. Let’s not be so American ( afraid to try something new) about this, we will look back and say I’m glad we had that. We can’t keep bringing in the same people and expect to suddenly achieve be level of quality. Let’s be American (innovative and resourceful) about it. Oxymorons are fun.
Brad with the horrible challenge that should have been a penalty just now. This guy sucks at cb. Why is he in the team?
Perhaps the funniest thing is that Brad Evans has been comically bad today. He was clearly spent at the end of the last cycle, that’s why JK left him off the World Cup roster. Why is he calling him up now over someone that is as clearly superior as Geoff Cameron?
Yeah that could have been a PK easy.
Cameron is hurt and Evans is a “pure giver”.
Smh
Jumping the gun with “who should start”; JK interview on ussoccer saying Jones is playing mid (thankfully) and he seems high on using Alvarado and Brooks for the games, I’d suspect:
———————–Guzan
Chandler/Yedlin–Alvarado–Brooks—Shea
—————-Beckerman—-Jones
Agudelo/Zardes——Bradley———–Johnson
——————–Johannsson
Pretty decent lineup until Ibarra and Wood come on (lol)
switch beckerman for danny williams
Tbh, many people won’t say it, but I agree. I want to see how Beckerman does this call-up. He was quality at the WC, and earned praise from international journalists (BBC, Guardian). He’s smart, keeps it simple, and will be important in keeping Germany from breaking us down. Also, Williams needs to regain his familiarity with the players before starting. But, I easily could be wrong.
Beckerman with his back passing skill is not only going to get burned many times, he will get pulverized, and like always Michael Bradley will have to pick up the slack.
Expect the diamond. It was used against Mexico and has been used across all the youth levels too. It was the preferred system at the world cup before Jozy went down there.
The midfield group has diamond written all over it. Beckerman-holding, Jones and Johnson – right and left, Bradley – top.
Perhaps. But fj plays as a winger for his club. In the diamond, thats best as a fullback. So fj might best suit lb.
Put a midfield of jones, Williams mix/ morales, and Bradley
Who would your second striker be out of your narrow diamond formation?
When I look at that roster, I see two holding mids behind Bradley. JK is going to put lots of defense on the pitch and hope neither of our opponents put 4 in the back of the net.
Hard to put Jones as a clear CMD anymore. We know he doesn’t prefer that role as he gets forward too much and he’s not a CB – which is clear from his performances there. He’s not a winger….just…no. The only way I see this working is if we slot Jones next to Bradley ahead of Beckerman.
Also, JK seems rooted in Yedlin and Johnson on the wings. Which I feel gives us an actual strong footing going forward and defending for overlaps. But Zardes is the man of the future on the wing. Book that.
I’d be suprised if JK, finally, doesn’t start Aguedelo as the CF over Johannson with the later coming in at about 60/65 for Jones for a tactical change. Johannson is not a target striker and Aguedelo has taken up that role better as he’s matured.
My proposed:
————————-Guzan————————
Chandler—Brooks———-Alvarado—-Shea
———————-Beckerman———————
—————Jones—————Bradley———-
Zardes/Yedlin————————-Johnson—-
—————–Aguedelo/ Johannson————-
I don’t mind the look, but every time the games get a big serious, JK goes to the Diamond midfield in a 4 4 2. I also think Kogts (spelling?) has something to do with that. The youth teams also seem to be very diamond focused.
I read an article a while back that said that JK had an interest in the diamond going back to his days coaching der Mannschaft, but Ballack talked him out of it. Apparently he’s not a man that’s easily convinced.
Love to read that if you can find it.
Looks like Jones is out with a Groin. This brings us back out into a possible diamond, but I doubt that’s where JK will go considering the competition – plus we don’t really have two forwards that are going to play together for 75. I’d switch this up a bit and maybe play a slightly modified 4-3-3 as it gives us the same amount of defensive coverage with multiple options to play balls forward:
——————-Guzan——————
Chandler–Brooks–Alvarado–Shea
—-Yedlin——Bradley——-Johnson
—-Zardes—-Aguedelo—Johannson
I think it’s the usual diamond, with MB at the top – get used to it, it’s what we’re going to see – and Beckerman or Danny Williams starting at the base. Fabian Johnson likely starts on the left and either Yedlin or Mix starts on the right side. We could also see Morales starting on the left side, and FJ starting at right back…there were only seven defenders listed on the roster, and I think the reason is, FJ is cover at two positions and will certainly start at one of them.
JK is obviously VERY high on Alvarado and I think he regards Alvarado and Brooks as his preferred CB pairing…as do I. They’re by far the most athletic and talented CB’s in the pool, they just need some experience…and JK is not shy about giving young guys that experience. Use the words “deserve” all you want but Alvarado is both more athletic and more technical than Omar Gonzalez or Matt Besler, and while Orozco is short, he’s consistently put together very solid performances for the USMNT and his distribution out of the back is very good as well. The inclusion of Brad Evans as a CB pretty much is another red-flag that Klinsmann is saying: the times, they are a-changin’. It ain’t enough anymore to be big, strong, and good in the air…if you wanna play CB for Jurgen, you’d better be able to distribute outta the back as well.
I can almost promise you he gives Agudelo a big extended run-out as our target striker…and frankly, once Agudelo gets in there, I don’t know if Altidore ever gets him out again. I’m a much bigger Jozy fan than most and I think he’s done a much better job than credited, but Agudelo is potentially a true world-class striker. He always had technical ability but he’s matured into easily the best big forward in MLS…I know on paper he’s a left wing for the Revs right now but they’re basically playing a 4-3-3 whatever their formation is on paper.
Jurgen has never made it a secret what he’s trying to do. He wants a technically sound team loaded with non-diva box-to-box hustlers (“pure givers” is his very Germanic term, and it’s obviously a huge requirement for him) that can possess the ball and play proactively even against elite European squads. He’s not putting together an MLS All-Star team.
It wouldn’t shock me much if we got a result against either the Dutch or Germans. I do think it’ll be much closer than people expect. Count me in among the people who think Jurgen is a rare judge of talent and a system-builder with some pretty rare long-term vision, and I think he’s very steadily moving us away from the bunkered, defensive-minded two-blocks-of-four 4-4-2 we were playing as recently as 2011. People have very short memories.
I agree with you. Technical ability wins tournaments. Hustle runs out of gas in the knockout rounds. It’s good we are transitioning to play more technical and more attacking than bunker and counter.
This extended comment is fantastic.
+1 Some great points.
We are going to get pummeled.
I hope we get embarrassed. Klinsmann needs to start picking a team based on performance not just who he is familiar with.
He seems to always have his guys of the moment – the players he will try hard to fit into his “system” regardless of recent performance or the availability of other quality players. It’s this real stubbornness I see that has hurt the team at times, and he really seems to enjoy the controversy it creates and will make up whatever illogical reasons he wants to back up his decisions (and I think he really convinces himself, too).
That said, I think this group will do ok – it’s not one of his most “head scratcher” rosters. It also seems we have some injuries besides Altidore.
“I hope we get embarrassed”
Thanks to comments like this I already am.
Welcome to modern American soccer, where the bizarre notion of “being right” has now formally replaced the initial purpose of “wanting your national team to win”. With any luck, in a few years we can be like England, where it is actually taboo to express any genuine enthusiasm for the team’s performance
Great comment.
+1
Contrary to what many here may erroneously think, I want the USMNT to win the GC, qualify for the WC, and do well in the WC. But, I have to agree with Jack here; Klinsmann needs to be humiliated and brought down to earth, because the teams he has been putting together are getting lucky short of being embarrassed, and that in the long run my friend could spell disaster.
It’s almost required among some RBNY fans.
+1
+1000
Go ahead and make your replacements:
Replace xxx with yyy
and so on
The only 2 that I wouldn’t have picked are B.Evans and B.Wood (replaced by some of the U23s).
Due to injuries, club commitments, etc I can see why JK will pick this team and try to “season” the players against the Germans & Dutch. I’m curious to see who he ends up picking for the Gold Cup.
Jonathan Bornstein…… just so I can say:”Nooooooooooooo…..”
What is clear is, what you do in MLS means absolutely nothing to Klinsmann.
It is harder to execute against higher level competition. Wondo excelled at MLS, but not at the international level.
And then Juergen brought him to a World Cup over our nations best player. Funny how that works.
Just can’t let it go, can you? People can’t even decide on this site if it was Brad Davis, or Julian Green, or Wondo, or whoever who even “took” LD’s spot.
Hey as far as I’m concerned, Joe Gaetjens is “our nation’s best player”…. who took his spot?
I will never go away, get used to it. What Kinsmann did to Donovan and USMNT fans was very disrespectful, to say the least.
Our nations best player took sabbatical during the critical WC qualifiers, while other guys batted against Costa Rica in a snow storm game. Jermaine Jones gutted out that game with an injury. There is no question that Donovan is a better player than Wondo, but bringing him in, particularly when he was out of form prior to the WC and abandoned the team during the qualifiers, was a big risk for team’s chemistry. His form improved after he was left out, but immediately prior to the WC, he was not playing well.
The fact that nobody mentions is JK is in a tiny percentage of international managers who would make a decision to leave their country’s greatest player of all time at home when he is only 32. There was lots of eye-rolling and “leave it Jurgy” on that decision.
For me, I would have brought LD along and employed him how I saw fit. And I would bet my life that he would have had a positive impact on that tournament for the Stars and Stripes.
Wasn’t Raul, then Spain’s all time leading goal scorer, left out of Spain’s title winning squad? These things happen. Prior Ballon D’Or winners, Kaka and Ronaldinho were also left out of Brazil’s squad for the last world cup. One could argue it was a mistake, because these could have arguably stepped in and led the team when Neymar went down with his injury. Nobody is guaranteed a spot.
You’re comparing the depth and talent of Spain and Brazil to the U.S.? Sure you can leave out Raul when you have the likes of Torres, Villa, Iniesta, and Xavi left.
Edward, no, we don’t have the same kind of depth, as Spain or Brazil, but the players I mentioned, who were left out, are also much better players than LD. My point is not that the squad depth of the USMNT is similar to that of Brazil or Spain, but that past achievements do not guarantee you a spot on the national team.
I think Edward shut you up. Comparing USMNT with Spain and Brazil. One thing I must say though, if Klinsmann was “loco,” Scholari was “very loco.”
USA 2022 :
“For me, I would have brought LD along and employed him how I saw fit. And I would bet my life that he would have had a positive impact on that tournament for the Stars and Stripes”
LD went to three World Cups.
His first one was his all time great breakout one.
His second was his worst. Against the Czech Republic, LD disappeared:
“Coach Bruce Arena, before now not known as one to publicly criticize his players, said, ”Landon showed no aggressiveness tonight…We got nothing out of Beasley on the night.”
His third one was sort of his makeup World Cup and we all remember that one.
So if LD had gone to Brazil would he have been really grateful to have this historic chance at a fourth World Cup and rolled back the years?
Or would he have gone anonymous on a team where he looked to me like he was never comfortable or happy?
I’ve watched Landon his whole career and, just after South Africa he looked so burnt I thought he was going to retire from the USMNT right then..
One thing I have always noticed about him is that when he wasn’t happy, he didn’t play well. And I don’t think he was ever going to be happy playing for JK. .
We’ll never know.
Klinsmann apologist Number One.
Yet two of the guys JK brought cannot score at the rate Wondo can even in exactly the same league.
Oh, now I get it! they can score against international players, just not in MLS.
Aside from pure statistics re gals scored in the league, there are other things that factor into decision-making. Agudelo and Zardes are much younger and more athletic than Wondo, Agudelo is also much better technically. So they were taken over Wondo based on their upside. Moreover, Agudelo had strong performances against the likes of Argentina and Chile, while Wondo’s best games came against CONCACAF minnows. Klinsi knows what he can get from Wondo – a classic poacher and a good locker room guy. On the other hand, Agudelo and Zardes are big question marks with potentially bigger upside. These friendlies may help to answer these questions.
Ibarra, Evans, Wood are the head scratchers for me. Maybe in that order. Always was going to be a tough 2 matches.
Finlay with a broken toe is better then Ibarra.
But FIFA 15 has Ibarra rated as a 65 and Finlay is only a 64. Case closed.
LOL, but true.
Was hoping to see Davies on there, but I knew it wouldn’t happen.
Jurgen will make comments about why certain players were left off that could also apply to several players he has called up. Not worth getting worked up about it any more, he does it every time.
+1
Me too, these days I just sit back, relax, open a cold one and watch the circus play.
gotta think Feilhaber deserves another chance. and Lichaj…
Pretty sure Lichaj and Jonathan Spector did something bad to JK in a past life…can’t think of any other reason they’re constantly ignored.
“Lichaj and Jonathan Spector did something bad to JK in a past life…”
Actually Bob Bradley stopped calling in Spector and since then he keeps getting hurt. I like Jonathan but there are more than a few younger, better alternatives to him right now.
The US has better and more promising backs than Lichaj.
I’m not even going to try to make any since of this.
Makes sense.
+1
I understand, NOT.
what is ibarra still doing there? and duskerud has been mediocre in mls
Brad Evans being named to the squad is a joke. Not as hilarious as Miguel Ibarra still getting call-ups though.
Ibarra has speed, technical ability, and, from what I’ve heard, the kind of conditioning that reminds people of Michael Bradley.
Has he put it together at the International level? Nope. Do I see what Klinsmann sees in him? Oh, yeah. There’s a reason Klinsmann keeps calling him up, and it isn’t because he’s trying to convince everyone he’s a genius. He just believes in his own math…and he’s waiting for Ibarra to equal the sum of his parts.
I suspect when it happens, everyone will know. That old Bill Walsh quote…”if you are willing to give talent experience….”
I hear what you’re saying. I think most people’s issue with Ibarra isn’t so much him – it’s about how long the process seems to be taking. I say that with a grain of salt because realistically, he’s been in the picture for less than a year, but off the top of my head I can’t remember a guy who was given this many consecutive call-ups that resulted in this few actual minutes. I’m sure there’s someone out there I’m forgetting about, but I can’t think of him.
Ibarra isn’t a kid (he’s 25), and he’s not playing club ball at a level that’s going to help his development against international competition. That’s not a knock on him, but to borrow a platitude I generally don’t like to use, he kind of is what he is. What I (and I’m sure many others) would like to find out, is whether or not what he is, is good enough to contribute to this team beyond the training ground.
That said, I think Klinsmann is in a position to heed that Bill Walsh quote, hopefully get Ibarra some meaningful minutes against high level competition and take stock of where he is. With Bedoya not in camp, there’s a vacancy on the right side of the midfield, which happens to be right in Ibarra’s wheelhouse. I hope he gets his shot.
tbwal,
How many competitive games ( i.e non friendly) has the USMNT lost because Ibarra was on the team?
Allegedly , he is a fast , winger type with the ability to score or create goals.
If he is getting called up, perhaps you think he is preventing some other fast speedy, winger type who can score or create goals from getting called up.
If so I have two comments:
One. Who is the guy that Ibarra is preventing JK from looking at? Our other fragile wingers Gyau and Gatt?
If you go back and look over the camps that Ibarra was called into it’s not like there was a lack of space. In most of them you had guys do what Jones just did, drop out for injury or some other reason. So it’s not as if Ibarra is preventing JK from looking at another player. If there was someone else there was room to call them in.
Two, JK looks like he was on the right track by calling in young guys that others were not crazy about such as : Morris, Brooks, Yedlin, Shea, Green, Alvarado. Granted some of them were surer bets than others but JK has shown a pretty good eye for young talent.
Ibarra should get experience at the club level. There are too few international games to even pretend that playing in all of them equals the day in and day out training and games for a good club team.
JK has made it clear he thinks the guy has talent, which is essentially what a national team coach can do. Apparently not enough people in charge of signing players at bigger clubs agree enough to pay for the privilige of finding out.
I can agree with you on Brad Evans, We have plenty of young talent that can do what he can do. hes 30 years old and does not look that special at the international level (Except for his goal against Jamaica-that was awesome) Time to move on.
I have to feel bad for Omar Gonzalez and Geoff Cameron. They both deserve to be with the National Team and are now consistently left off with every call up.
Omar played against Mexico. Cameron’s been out awhile though it seems.
Cameron and Garza have nagging injuries and were left off for that reason.
Ah, thanks for the info.
They have nothing on Wondo who once again is leading MLS in goals scored, yet Zardes and Agudelo who score goals at 1/3 the rate in terms of goals per minute are there, as is Wood who looked like a lost child the last time out for the USMNT.
It is true this is just a friendly and the results do not matter so much, still unless Wondo got a call explaining the reasoning, it had to hurt!
If those other guys can score only once per four games in MLS, what makes anyone thing they will score one in three games against international competition?
Of the USMNT eligible players, only Dempsey and Altidore in the MLS score at the rate Wondo does, but they are not available.. Well, Chad Barrett has scored at a good rate this year, maybe that indicates how more much attacking strength Seattle has than Barrett’s potential for the USMNT
Wondo May be scoring goals in MLS this year but 3 of those are PKs, so the numbers are a bit inflated.
Secondly he has gotten plenty of opportunity on the international level without much real production. he has scored 9 goals in 27 appearances with 5 of those 9 coming in blowout wins against Belize and Cuba. Take out those 2 blowouts and wondo has 4 goals in 25 appearances.
Thirdly, Wondo is getting to be older now, he is not the future he is the past.
Finally, He blew it under pressure in the world cup, and I don’t think many USMNT fans want to see him represent USA anymore. (he had his chance)
At least Ibarra made the team. Now, that’s great news.