Photo by Winslow Townson/USA Today Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has taken advantage of the opportunity to shuffle his roster ahead of the upcoming Gold Cup knockout rounds.
DaMarcus Beasley, Alan Gordon and Joe Corona will join the USMNT ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal matchup, replacing Jozy Altidore, Alfredo Morales and Greg Garza on the roster.
Beasley’s addition comes after being a surprise inclusion on the initial 35-man preliminary roster, but Klinsmann called on Beasley to help provide some experience at the left back position, and Beasley always seemed a good bet to be brought in for the knockout rounds after being left out for the group stages.
“Having DaMarcus come into the team is huge, because of his character, his giving nature, the spirit he brings, but also the high quality he brings,” Klinsmann said of Beasley’s addition. “He brings a lot of experience into this group, and he’s hungry. He’s still as hungry as day one in his career. That speaks for us having him back in the group and now it gives us a couple of different options on how to put pieces together.”
Gordon, who was called into the 2013 Gold Cup roster but did not feature, has one international cap to his name: a 2012 appearance in World Cup qualifying. The LA Galaxy forward has since emerged as a super-sub for the LA Galaxy, scoring four league goals this season while only making six starts out of his 20 appearances.
“That’s why Alan Gordon was on the standby roster from the beginning and that’s why we brought him in,” Klinsmann added. “He’s fully fit, he’s so full of energy, he scores goals with the Galaxy, and he fits in right away. He’s a pure giver to the group, and he might be a player that can make a difference at any second when you bring him in.”
Like Gordon, Corona was also a member of the 2013 Gold Cup squad, a tournament that saw the 25-year-old score the only two goals of his international career. In total, Corona has made 15 appearances for the USMNT.
As for the departures, Altidore leaves the team having appeared in the USMNT’s first two games despite being hampered by a knee injury. Garza and Morales, meanwhile, depart after making just one appearance apiece against Honduras and Panama, respectively.
Klinsmann went on to say that Garza is one for “the future”, while admitting that the fullback needs growth to really impact the team the way Klinsmann needs in the knockout rounds. Morales’ situation is one much like Garza, Klinsmann said, as certain aspects of Morales’ game “just don’t click yet, and it’ll just take a little bit of time.”
Altidore’s departure, though, comes due to the forward’s injury, as Klinsmann believes it was essential for Altidore to regain rhythm, something that cannot be done in the midst of a knockout stage.
“We believe that Jozy’s just not there yet,” Klinsmann said of the decision to drop Altidore. “Jozy never really got into this tournament and never really picked up the rhythm. He’s just simply not in the shape right now to help us. For Jozy it’s just simply going back to Toronto, picking up his rhythm, getting in shape, working on his fitness and then he will start scoring goals again.”
The USMNT returns to action on Saturday for a quarterfinal matchup at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.
What do you think of the additions? How will the trio impact the team going forward?
Share your thoughts below.
Bedoya looked very good to me. He was good on the ball and helped us keep possession better than any other midfielder during this tournament. Our first touches have not been very good as a whole and we give the ball away way too cheaply. I try not to be critical….we haven’t lost a game, right? But, at times, this has been hard to watch. I watched a clip of Klinsmann commentating on our play during World Cup 2010. He said the first touch just wasn’t there for many of our players. Well, it’s still not there and it absolutely kiss attacking opportunities.
We need Agudelo for Zusi
Loving DMB being back in the roster. He still has speed, and that’ll be necessary to counteract other teams.
Quozzel brilliant post…couldn’t have said it better so I won’t
Good for Gordon. He’s a great guy and good player who deserves everything he gets. We desperately miss him here in North California. Would love to see him score one of his classic 89th minute headers to win a game.
Is there no end to Klinsmann’s stupidity? Gordon? GIVE ME A BREAK? Beasley??? Corona? We will not win this tournament and STUPID PLAYER SELECTIONS is why.
Does anybody… I mean anybody believe Jozy has a knee problem? Saves JK from admiting he’s becoming a bust. And to think Alan Gordon will make any difference? We have a serious speed problem up front. Alan Gordon is as slow as Wondo and Dempsey. NOT GONNA HELP. Sooo disappointed. I really thought JK might bring in players that could right this sinking ship. Now he’s done the opposite. He is such a fool.
I think Klinsmann’s pretty durn smart, actually.
He won group, he preserved the legs of his people by rotating, he capped some dual-nationals he wanted, he got everybody on the squad except his backup keepers PT.
First part of the job done. Pretty? Nope. But it was never going to be. Gold Cup is not Champagne Soccer. Gold Cup is an Ugly Soccer deathmatch, especially in a non-qualifying year, which this one is. Toss Germany into this tournament and they’d die of culture shock. Even our German-Americans are obviously taken aback.
We obviously needed some help at outside back and he brought in the best veteran available. We obviously have nothing resembling a target man and he brought in the best veteran one available – the same guy, incidentally, Bruce Arena (regarded by all the Klinsmann haters as America’s best-ever Real ‘Merikun Coach) turns to at LA Galaxy for exactly the same job.
We could use some cover at midfielder and he brought in a Gold Cup vet and Liga MX starter in Joe Corona, a veteran pro with plenty of International experience.
Those guys can all help us. There’s three games left – hopefully – and JK brought in some veteran guys who can hopefully help us close the deal and go to Russia in 2017 for the Confeds Cup.
What else you want? Style points? Not gonna happen. For anyone. Remind me again…who exactly is winning any kind of style points in the Gold Cup this time around?
Even I’m not as down on JK as Hamster but if he wanted to save guys’ legs, why play MB for 90 minutes yesterday (or at all) or play Clint at all. That game meant absolutely nothing. Yet if we don”t win the tournament, no doubt JK will blame fitness.
Some of my feelings exactly.
Singing ship? Man, step away from the ledge and take some deep breaths. Never forget this is the CONCACAF gold cup.. this is never as easy as it looks on paper.
Let him jump
Gordon is a useful player when you are down a goal in the last 10 – 15 mins and need a result. Did you watch the LA – Club America game last Saturday? Watch Gordon’s goal and that will answer your question.
When all else fails, throw him in and you can be sure he will do whatever needs to be done to get the win or point.
Gordon also did that for SanJose. He knows how to get on the end of crosses in a crowd and finish.
Can someone who watches Joe Corona play regularly explain to me why Klinsmann thinks so highly of him? He has never stood out to me.
Hes stood out for me as a player that should never be called again.
When he plays his club football, he is a very aggressive attacker who runs at defenses and often gives them fits. He is the anti-Beckerman–always moving forward. He has some speed and quickness and I have seen him cause a lot of problems for opposing teams because he can be very dynamic. Like Beasley and Alvarado, he is familiar with Mexico and Mexican players and since we anticipate playing them in the final, this may be part of the reasons why Corona and DMB were called in.
Nice commentary there Gary Page. Makes damn good sense to me, and I’d not thought in those specifics before. Good take..
I’m hoping for/predicting Ream and Gonzo at CB on Saturday, between Beasley and Johnson.
+1 Baffled that Ream hasn’t played more….
I like how JK is using the group stages to try to work out some kinks in the line up and give opportunities. The US should be able to advance to the knock-outs in the Gold Cup with an experimental side.
JK did this the last time and brought in some dudes to seal the deal. Hopefully it will work this time around too. I am surprised by Beasley, even though he is a midwest dude too.
Love the additions. JK is extremely shrewed in his selections. My only question is if Bedoya will be healed enough to play again prior to final.
+1, but he does have until Saturday, so…
Dmb coming in allows for FJ to slide to rb. Thank god. Here’s my opinion of who should start:
Guzan
FJ, omar, jab, dmb
Ale bedoya, mb90, Kyle beckerman,gyazi
Clint, AJo
Subs: yedlin, mix, gordon
In my opinion, FJ is JK’s best import to the USMNT.
i completely agree. He is tactically and technically he is one of the most complete players in the player pool
By far. He and Jones are the only ones who are better than what we already had. Brooks might join that list though. Either way, we’ll probably have to stop importing Germericans wholesale into our player pool soon seeing as US troop presence in Germany declined markedly during the 1990s meaning the Germerican supply should be drying up shortly.
Mr. Left Arm… sounds like your coming from a wishful thinking pov imho. Sad!
I believe Fabian Johnson was already talking to Bob Bradley and choosing to play for the US before Klinsmann was coach. So was Jermaine Jones.
Chandler and Jones got capped under Bradley, Johnson under Klinsmann but I believe BB had reached out to him. Honestly the only players I think Klinsmann made the difference on were Johannson and Green, maybe Zelelam.
Jones capped under Bradley
Chandler began with Bradley, played under him, capped under JK
The recruitment of Fabian started with Thomas Rongen, under Bradley’s tenure, capped under JK
Boyd similar to Fabian I believe
Mix started the youth program originally under Bradley
Williams, Brooks, Green, AJ and Zelalam under JK. Andy Herzog was responsible for Zelalem
I am not sure how Alvarado is still on this roster…they could have brought in Besler. And they needed more of a creative midfielder like Lee Nguyen who can hold the ball and break down these park the bus defensive teams. Wondo has not looked that great either Juan Agudelo could have been brought it as a super sub :/
Besler would have replaced either Brooks or Ream and both have shown well.
It looks like JK will stick with the pairings i.e Brooks/Alvarado and Ream/Gonzo.
Why can’t he replace Alvarado? Alvarado played the “left” center back role (not that I believe there is such a massive difference between right and left-footed central defenders). I like Alvarado in general but he’s been poor in this tournament.
re: Alvarado, JK seems to want to develop him so minutes are useful to do that. also he has long preferred a left footed LCB and right footed RCB, which makes sense tactically. If the LB back passes to the LCB, you want the LCB to be able to comfortably pass to his right (to RCB, RB or long ball to RM) without turning his body in order to use his right foot. sure pros “should” be able to use either foot but in reality players have favored feet so keeping the left on left and right on right makes total sense.
He must be confident in Ream, good for him to work his way back in.
The question is, what will the CB pairing be- Does he stick with Alvarado or go with Omar and his height… or both
I don’t wanna begin to speculate on the outside backs:
-Start FJ and TC
-Start DMB move FJ right
-Start DMB and TC move FJ to mid
-Replace TC w BE
-Bring back Dolo
-Klinginberg?
Regarding outside backs, Beasley and Johnson is my vote.
It looks like JK will stick with the pairings, i.e. Ream ,Gonzo and Brooks Alvarado.
So with Brooks suspended, it should be Ream/Gonzo this next game
RB will be interesting. I suppose the line of thought is that FJ will just slide over to RB now. My preference would be for him to go to LM instead. The issue with FJ is that he is probably our best player at three positions (LB, RB, and LM); however, he is not significantly better at one position versus another. He is just smooth and consistent where ever he plays. I like him better at LM so he can get involved in the attack more. With all of that said; if this were to happen, I would prefer to see Evans at RB versus Chandler.
I’m cool with FJ and Yedlin on the right side but that leaves Bedoya and DMB on the left– not a ton of speed there, albeit DMB still has some bursts of speed left in him. so then maybe it’s DMB and FJ on the left but that leaves Yedlin and Evans on the right– not sure that’s the best either.
so i concur, RB will be interesting…
Despite his lack of speed Ale is essential to maintaining the midfield possession/buildup plus he is excellent at providing cover for his back.
Yea I like how Bedoya has built his career, he’s made contributions everywhere he’s been, is well liked and respected, can play multiple positions.. and when he’s moved on he didn’t try to jump 4 levels, he’s just upgraded to get better.
He’s a guy you definitely want on your team, but he’s the blue collar dude.
The problem has been when someone who is too similar to him, like Zusi, is on the field at the same time
Our center backs have been fine!! In no way could we use besler! Why do you ask?
Sounds good. Gordon is always good especially for late goals. Corona and Beasley are excellent choices. I hope the US attack gets more support from the defense and the midfield this way.
Man , I Almost nailed it. In the previous article, I commented that JK would bring in Beasley and Gordon. The article did not mention Garza though, but I picked Kitchen as a possible add, with JK bringing in Corona.
That’s THREE Galaxy players on the team now. The scary thing though is that they will probably beat RSL tonight in an Open Cup match, and San Jose on Sat, who are without Wondo, but the Galaxy’s Keane and Gerrard meshing real well and they won’t miss those players as much.
We will always miss Gordon! He keeps Buddle away.
The nice thing about that is that it levels the playing field. The teams that have all those DPs, i.e. the Galaxy, can afford to lose once in a while. I feel more sorry for the Earthquakes because they don’t have Wondo and Cato.
Zardes, Panedo (Panama) and Gordon are not DP’s, and Gonzales will be a TAG player at the end of the week. The only (soon-to-be)Galaxy DP playing is Dos Santos 🙂
Saturday night Gordon came into the game around the 70th minutes and then won the game against Club America with a beautiful header. He will not be a starter, but the hope is he can do similar with the national team. He gives us a good, physical presence in the air which should serve us well late on against smaller Latin teams.
Wow just wow. Gordon can’t even start for his club team in MLS, but he’s a good option to help us get to the Confeds cup? Lol at Klinsi.
If you are replacing Altidore, bring in Agudelo. Garza should have stayed to give another LB option so Fabian can play RB in case anything happens to DMB. And how do you keep Chandler and replace Garza? Ridiculous.
Wondo, Gordon and Zusi is laughable. All the talent that’s in our pool, and that’s what we decide to have in play for the knockout rounds of an important tournament.
Possession/creativity in the final third has been an issue. I guess with Gordon and Wondo we want to poach goals and not create them. Nguyen should have been called in.
Should have went with Nguyen, Beasley, Agudelo, Corona and Orozco for Alvarado, Chandler, Morales, Zusi and Wondo.
I’ve tried to stay a Klinsi supporter and apologist, as he’s achieved some positive results and honestly pushed our program forward long term. But the idiotic roster selections, constant formation and lineup changes, and poor recent performances haven’t set well with me.
i feel Gordon AND Agudelo should have replaced Jozy AND Wondo at this moment in time.
Sure because Agudelo is scoring so many goals in MLS, he will absolutely kill it in the Gold Cup. He is behind, Wondo, Dempsey, Altidore, Davies, Rolfe, Sapong, Finlay, Feilhaber, Bunbury, Gordon, MsInerney, Grella and Mullins in goals scored per 90 minutes this year, who I remind you all play in the same league scoring against the same defenses Juan does. In what world does he automatically get a call ahead of any of those guys for the purpose of scoring goals in games that matter?
Sure things other than scoring matter too, but Juan is not much at defending and he has fewer assists than most of the guys I named and most of those guys have assets other that “potential”.
Everyone always questions Klinnsmann’s roster selections, subs, personnel, etc. and rarely has he failed to justify himself. You can yack all you want like you know the player pool better than he does, but just give him a chance.
He has earned it.
That wasn’t a direct assault on Jag’s comment; but more so the majority of this discussion thread.
Never understood the rule allowing changes to the roster in the middle of a tournament. But do you think JK though those three were better before the first round and now after seeing them just not good enough? I’m just surprised a head coach need another 45 minute performance to make up his mind. Right?
morales and garza both got cap tied with their 45 minutes.
Exactly. You better believe that if we were up winning rather than losing to Panama at halftime, we’d have seen Yarbrough get cap-tied last night, too.
Morales is praised by the German media at club level, but JK played him outta position… same as when JK used to play DWilliams as left midfielder/winger… Morales showed little, but he never had a chance.
Do you (or anyone else out there) know if Morales has played any RB with his club earlier this year or was he strictly a DM?
Why are you surprised?
Most people would see Jozy, Garza and Morales not doing well in the first half as failures on their part not the failure of the manager who picked them.
Jozy’s recovery was always going to be iffy; apparently it just never worked out.It’s called Gambling.
In the 2014 Champions League final Simeone of Atletico Madrid, a manager that few of you will call stupid, GAMBLED and fielded an unfit Diego Costa because he thought he was that important to the team. It backfired, Costa left early, Atletico lost to Real Madrid and Simeone acknowledged he had made a mistake. Gambles don’t always work out..
Morales and Garza had never played in the Gold Cup or any senior tournament for the US before. So how were you going to know how they would do until you gave them a chance?.
Did they do “poorly” or were they just overwhelmed a bit?
International level is fast, people. CONCACAF in particular is fast, aggressive, physical, played on bad fields with worse refs and some of the nastiest fouling you’ll ever see this side of Copa Libertadores. This one’s also being played in a 100-degree heat wave.
Bit of a transition, there…and it’s easy to look bad. There’s a learning curve and getting your head handed to you is part of it.
I don’t look at Morales and Garza and think: “failures”…I think they weren’t quite ready for the level yet. They both have looked pretty good in friendlies but an actual major International tournament is a very different thing.
I very much doubt Klinsmann will just give up on them.
I keep preaching that people need to put things in context, as you have done so well here. For all these reasons, CONCACAF is hard and it’s probably a big reason why Chandler can be a starter in the Bundesliga, yet look awful here.
Euro play is more like chess and CONCACAF is more like checkers (or battleship…); Chandler performs better at chess match-y games. Add in the heat and dirty play of the Gold Cup and it’s understandable (not acceptable) that Chandler didn’t do very well. I’m not saying Chandler’s the poster boy for ‘soccer IQ’ but he fits a Euro style that’s less about constant counters and more about tactical penetration; aka he gets caught out of position more in CONCACAF because the teams look to cause that by fast countering, and he defends better in Euro style that uses more building attacks where the defender just has to read the immediate situation more than sprint back to catch some speedy latino winger.
all this being said I think he’s worthy to keep as a backup until he develops his game better. essentially FJ is #1 LB (DMB is the 1A of sorts) and Garza, Chandler and Shea are all kinda battling for that #2 spot–which is a great spot since FJ moves up to midfield, thus the #2 spot could easily turn into a #1 spot.
“Euro play is more like chess and CONCACAF is more like checkers (or battleship…)”
AWESOME analogy.
Quozzel, Page, and D L O A, Great comments, analyses! Too many knee-jerk analysts!
+1
Refining your analogy just a tad, for CONCACAF, I’d go with Chessboxing . Chess isn’t nearly as good as the grandmasters, but the grandmasters aren’t getting pummeled either.
Surely chandler moves up to wide mf, right?
Chandler should be moved to right bench. What a disappointment. Ready for this “experiment” to end.
Chandler has been pure garbage. FJ to RB and DMB at LB. Or Yedlin at RB and FJ in midfield. This is what people mean when they talk about JK and his favorites. Chandler has been awful, frequently shown that he lacks commitment (i.e. is not a “giver” in JK parlance), yet still gets called in.
Also, why no Juan Agudelo instead of/in addition to Gordon?
Chandler has been overall poor with glimpses of brilliance. Sadly, they seem to be more and more infrequent. As such, his place in the pecking order should be dropping.
Gordon was brought in for the last ditch efforts on goal and his hold up play. The hold up play being the major reason for replacing Altidore. The knack for scoring clutch goals is just an added bonus. Agudelo would be much the same as AJ and Zardes in terms of movement or so I would think, so his inclusion is not as necessary. Corona adds the another offensive midfielder that can play up the middle or on the wings and add a little spark to our attack if/when necessary.
As for a potential lineup, I would like to see something like this with the new call-in’s. Note that Ream is starting for Brooks due to yellow card accumulation, but Ream was a positive in his last appearance, which I admit was not a word I would normally use to describe him in the past.
————————AJ———————
—————-Dempsey——————-
Zardes———-Bradley———Yedlin
————————Mix——————–
Beasley—–Ream—–Gonzo—–FJ
———————-Guzan——————
i agree with this response in full; was about to say the exact same thing.
2cents.. I switch Mix and MB, preferring MB operating closer to the back line.
Another discussion @ Alan Gordon is that he connects very well in the attacking 3rd with teammate Zardes. You might see lots of crosses onto Gordon’s head or foot from that tandem.
While I initially agree with you, the problem is that JK will not start them that way. So, I am both using my preferences and taking JK’s into consideration as well.
I believe the other reason for having Bradley up top is less for the offense, but more for his pressing abilities. He has a non-stop motor, is relatively quick, and constantly puts pressure on the opposing team. While Mix can do something similar, he will likely be dead by the 60th minute and I think that Bradley has a little more speed and tactical awareness anyways.
Either way, from the previous game the two played together, they were doing a good job of switching between who was up and who was back. If Bradley got the ball from the back 4, Mix would move up a bit and vice versa. Would be nice to see if that intuition between the two can continue.
DMB was/is one of JK’s “favorites”
When JK brought him back almost everyone vomited in their mouths.
And when he moved him to left back, a move DMB did not want to make, everyone vomited in their mouths.
And when he took him to Brazil you all vomited in your mouths.
Maybe there is a reason JK has “favorites”.
Run DMB’s USA career has nine lives. He was written off after the Brazil game in 2009, we were all shocked he made the 2010 team, left for dead after barely seeing the field at Hannover, reinvented as a left back, proved his doubters wrong in Brazil, retired after a strong world cup, and is now back. Never count out Run DMB!
I have never been “shocked” at Beasley’s inclusion. You never count out your greatest talents, and Beasley is one of the USMNT’s all-time greats. He’s a USMNT top-five player, IMO.
I’m not a member of the “JK has his [inexplicable, undeserving] favorites” school of thought, but I agree with your lineup suggestions. Johnson and Yedlin and Bedoya can handle the right side.
That’s right the bench would be fine.
There isn’t a “right bench” position. You must not know anything about soccer
I don’t disagree with the assessments below, but I was projecting based on JKs love for TC.
rather, “above”
the Alan Gordon experience returns! love it! can’t wait for him and Wondo to score some random, surprising yet clutch goal..
Corona.. sure probably better than Morales
DMB – legend! could use his versatility and leadership.
All of you who thought Run DMB would show up to lock down the LB spot may now collect your kudos.
All props and respect to DMB. Outstanding career and amazing durability… but you have to ask yourself what does this say about our pool of defenders — especially at LB. Mind you this is the JK that is all about eternal competition at every position — no one is safe… still no one in the pool JK thinks can step up to surpass DMB? Wow.
It tells you injury can always ruin the best laid plans.
If Brek had been healthy Garza might not even have been on the original 23.
Garza wasn’t horrible but he just isn’t ready yet. I would be surprised if he and Brek did not fight it out for the position going forward.
The best left back, Fabian, is still there and as unpopular as this may be Chandler can always shift to LB where he actually tends to play better. And one of Evans, Bedoya or Zusi could be put there if there were a real emergency.
DMB is about 32 and might even still be available if LB is a problem in upcoming WC qualifying..
When it comes to tournaments JK has no qualms about using older players. JK played his last World Cup when he was 33-34 and scored three goals.
As for the longer term, the USMNT can always use a good left back candidate.
“As for the departures, Altidore leaves the team having appeared in the USMNT’s first two games despite being hampered by a knee injury. ”
… Knee injury, eh?…
I thought it was a hamstring. Or was he hamstrung by a knee injury?
Those hamstring injuries never quite go away. That’s the breaks of the game.
Gordon will make everything better.
right? desperate times afoot
Jeff Gordon would easily be the fastest forward in this tournament, especially if he can play under Dempsey for drafting.