Photo by Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
Throughout the past year, much has been made of the inconsistent play of the U.S. Men’s National Team’s crop of young defenders. Yet, according to head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, its been those on the other end of the field that have proven more concerning.
Ahead of Tuesday’s friendly against Brazil, Klinsmann says that he is concerned about the USMNT’s inability to produce and develop consistent strikers on the international level.
Throughout Klinsmann’s tenure, much of the scoring onus has been placed on the duo of Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore, both of whom rank in the top five of all U.S. goalscorers.
Still, Klinsmann believes that the team is struggling to find consistency outside of the starting two, with players like Bobby Wood and Aron Johannsson yet to fully make the leap as international options.
“What I’m worried in the longer run is to find strikers that on a international level give you a goal every second game at least,” Klinsmann told ESPN. “This is something where we have problems. We have problems to develop a young generation of strikers consistently scoring — in their club teams and then coming into the national team, in the national team environment.
“And this is why it’s so important to have a healthy Clint Dempsey then being back with us against Mexico and that’s why we leave him out right now because he’s not 100 percent. And why it is important to have 100 percent Jozy Altidore being fit, being positive and being full of confidence.”
Altidore’s fitness and confidence levels were on full display this past Friday, as the forward bagged a brace to lead the U.S. to a 2-1 win over Peru.
The pair of goals comes after a disappointing Gold Cup run marred by injuries that saw the Toronto FC forward replaced on the roster ahead of the knockout stages.
Now scoring again for both club and country, Klinsmann remains hopeful that Altidore’s form will continue into October’s crucial clash with Mexico, as the forward is a player that Klinsmann believes will be crucial in the coming months.
“I think it’s a lot of self-belief. I think Jozy is a very intelligent kid. But he went through a lot of roller coasters very early in his career,” Klinsmann said. “You know, going early, probably too early to Europe, bouncing around in Europe all over the place, then finding consistency at Alkmaar, then giving it a shot at Sunderland, it didn’t work out. Then you know, coming back into MLS, then struggling with hamstrings, then having that injury in the World Cup, here and there and other ones.
“So a lot happened in very, very few years for Jozy that we need to find ways to give him consistency. Consistency in his performances on the field but also consistency in his life off the field. They’re all individual people so we try to individualize as much as we can. In the bigger picture of the team, Jozy is really, really important for us because if he’s in the right kind of state of mind, if he’s healthy and fit, he gives you goals and that’s what you need.”
What do you think of Klinsmann’s comments? What players do you see stepping up in the coming cycle? Are there legitimate concerns at the forward position?
Share your thoughts below.
Let’s also keep in mind the story here. The author is taking quotes from someone else’s interview and trying to create their own story from it. I get it SBI is free they don’t have a huge budget I’m fine with the format. But we need to keep that in perspective if we are going to criticize every little minute point that is provided.
I have noticed that often journalists will take a quote and will not keep it in context. You need to consider everything that is said, not just the quote. I once had that happen to me where the quote came out sounding like the opposite of what I intended.
Deflecting from real issues.
Scoring more goals is not a real issue?
He wants someone who scores 1 goal every other international game – a nice challenge to his players I would think – and you can’t agree with him, even just once?
I think that goal count is a reasonable request. What I cant figure out is why he insists on playing JA so much when he does not even come close to reaching that type of performance. Dempsey is the only who is near it. I don’t think i would count PK’s towards that mark either which would drop both of the aforementioned forwards in goals produced.
Looking at the stats AJ is the only forward currently reaching that mark. That is 18 games and 4 goals which is not a goal every other game in terms of caps but it is darn close in terms of minutes played i.e most of his caps he only played a half or less. JA and Dempsey on the other hand rarely play less than 75 minutes every game they started.
I don’t think we should write AJ off yet either. As a hold up striker he’s not great, but some of the goals he scores. The goal against Panama in qualifying was great, and some of his highlights from Azed, wow. If we can change our attacking style or find a partner for him, I think he’s still viable.
USAUSA,
” I don’t think i would count PK’s towards that mark either which would drop both of the aforementioned forwards in goals produced.”
Why? Don’t penalty kick goals count?
I think it isn’t necessarily relevant to the form that player currently is showing. You could be playing poorly and if someone draws a penalty and you take it because your the teams pk taker it inflates your stats. It is also harsh to completely throw out penalties though too, Jozy’s the other night would be an example if you drew the foul and took the penalty that’s different. It becomes problematic though as then you can get into well all you did was tap in a deflection should that count as much or say shank a shot from a difficult angle and beat one of the games top keepers Courtois for example.
This is soccer, not Olympic figure skating.
You don’t get points for style.
Until they do change the rules and require the awarding of style points, a golazo from 40 yards out, a deflection off of your face that bounces in off of the goalkeepers butt , a tap in from 3 inches out and a penalty all count as one goal.
USAUSA,
An average of one goal every two games has long been an established standard for defining what makes a good international level scorer.
Goals per games are usually factored as opposed to minutes since it makes for less confusion if you are comparing a guy like a Messi who usually goes 90 to a guy like David Fairclough who made a living as a super sub for the balance of his career.
Here are the goal per game averages of some familiar players.
JK is considered a great goal scorer yet compare his club numbers to Messi and Ronaldo’s club numbers and you see why those two are so well thought of.
Also note that Clint scores at a much higher rate for the US than he does for his clubs.
JK
Club 2.2
Country 2.2
Messi
Club 1.2
Country 2.2
CR7
Club 1.43
Country 2.2
Landon
Club 2.5
Country 2.75
Deuce
Club 3.4
Country 2.48
Jozy
Club 2.9
Country 2.89
To be precise, Dempsey is scoring at a goal per 2.5 games, Donovan was at 2.75 and Altidore is close to a goal every 3 games, just ahead of Wynalda and McBride. Donovan had a lot of penalty kicks and I haven’t figured that in, so from run of play he is probably closer to a goal in every 3. Dempsey and Altidore have had very few penalty kicks. I don’t think AJ has played enough games to be considered with the others.
Which is what?
One player who few mention is Cameron Pore is only 22. He led the NCAA in goals per game and points in 2014 and was ECAC offensive player of the year. He was drafted by Montreal, and quickly established himself as a very good striker in Concacaf Champions league play, then unfortunately tore his ACL. If he recovers from that by next spring it will be fun to see what he can do. He has good size, speed, skill, can dribble in tight spaces and has a knack for getting open. Stupid knee injuries!
US Soccer started the US Soccer Development Academy system in 2007. Players who were 14 or 15 when it started are now 22 and 23 yrs old. I wish an investigative journalist would really examine whether the development academy is helping or hurting player development.
How could it be hurting? Maybe it isn’t doing as much as we’d like but it’s a step in the right direction. It’s certainly better than our top kids playing high school soccer.
The problem lies far below 14 or 15 year olds. When you have competitive travel teams at 8 and 9 years old that play year round you force multi sport athletes out of the system. I’m sorry little LeBron, I know your 10 but we have indoor workouts every Saturday in January and if you skip them to play basketball you won’t play for us in June when we go to Vegas, Dallas, and Orlando. In addition research has proven playing one sport year round at the youth level leads to increase in injury. As we get into those age groups were the European model of soccer development was employed we see in increase in injuries. If your Germany and 90% of your athletic kids play soccer you can just call the next star in, in the US and you have a limited supply injuries to guys like Gatt, Gyau, Boyd, Gooch, Holden leave holes in the entire program.
That’s a legit question. If the current set up is better than the previous one where is the talent? The USDAs were a bad idea from the beginning and kept getting worse every time they made changes.
It could be potentially hurting by splitting the talent pool into those who play in the Academy league and those that don’t. Plenty of talented kids are not willing to play Academy for various reasons. And as far as high school soccer, I know that in the area where I live some of the most talented players are opting not to play Academy because they want to play high school soccer. For some, their soccer is a ticket into a top private school so Academy is not worth it. Yes, US soccer will grant high school waivers, but a player has no idea if he’ll be granted one at the time when he has to commit to the school (if its private). Also, you want phenomenal athletes playing soccer, but some of those athletes will still be playing other sports like basketball, track, hockey at 14 or 15 yrs old. Are players like that who have lots of athletic options really going to commit to Academy soccer at 15 yrs old and as a result is the US system driving top athletes away from it’s top youth league or soccer in general? Also due to Academy rules, players on Dev Academy teams are playing less soccer than their counterparts did prior to 2007. US Soccer says that’s a good thing – less but better quality games and training. However, we also hear how we need more pick up soccer in the streets and school yards if we are going to improve as a soccer nation. That seems true to me but isn’t that the complete opposite of what the US Dev Academy is doing by controlling 100% of the soccer played by the top youth players. Yes the Academy does not prohibit pick up soccer, but my point is a lot of the other soccer that players participated in prior to the Academy era was essentially “pick-up soccer” for them and that is now not allowed. Finally, just take something like a players ability at taking PK’s. Most kids in the Academy system will never take a PK in a meaningful game under pressure unless their team qualifies for the playoffs and the game goes into PKs. More than 50% to the teams don’t make the playoffs. At the U13/U14 age group, there are no playoffs so the kids at those ages are not taking any PKs unless they are the designated pk taker on their team. Prior to the Academy youth players were playing in tournaments on a regular basis with games which could often be decided by PKs, games with pressure. Is the Academy going to raise a generation of players with very little experience in taking PKs under pressure, does that matter. Not sure but I think these are things worth looking at and discussing, especially considering we don’t seem to have reproduced, let alone exceeded the Donovan, Beasley, dempsey generation.
Hey man, you have to use paragraphs.
Very good points.
I actually have first hand experience in this.
The choice between all in and wanting to play multi sports isn’t easy for many real athletes.
So while the “only” soccer players, the guys that are dedicated, are the ones we want. That is only partially true. That isn’t true if they are dedicated because they can’t make other more competitive sports. Not trying to belittle soccer and how tough it has gotten in the US, but many go for higher paying sports.
Or go for both and if soccer at the higher levels doesn’t like it. OK play at lower levels, not sure at age 14 if I am going to make it anyway. Just a great athlete at that point, long way to go.
I realize it is the most popular spectator sport in America so that provides a lot of appeal, but I think a big reason playing football is so popular is that it is just a 3 to 4 month sport. Its not until high school that you run into much Summer work and there is very little travel teams (which prices a lot of kids out of the top levels of youth sport).
Some of you must have very sad lives, I am sorry that you are going through so much pain whatever the cause. Please seek help, admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.
Hi Jurgen.
Sometimes I wonder if Klinsmann sees the same game everybody else sees? Jozy is back to scoring? Are you crazy? The rebound off a muffed PK and a tap in anybody could score? Other than that he did nothing but cough the ball up over and over and jog around. Maybe if he actually called up some forwards we could see what they have.
It’s just amazing that the guy responsible for the whole program is complaining that we don’t develop strikers. What exactly is your job JK? You can’t distance yurself from what you are not doing. It’s your fault
+1
You do not develop anyone at the National Team level. The clubs develop players. The great clubs, like the Galaxy, develop players like Gyazi Zardes. The problem with MLS is that there are only a handful of clubs that develop great players that can contribute to the National Team. My beloved DC United has never developed a talented forward who could stay healthy (RIP Chris Pontius’ career).
Yeah like LA developing Zardes and the Sounders developing Yedlin.
Can someone tell Tottenham, Yedlin’s development can keep up with Zardes with the proper training?
Danko,
Who would you call up?
If scoring goals was easy we’d all be virtually hugging each other…
Or we wouldn’t even be fans of this game, I don’t know.
As one of the greatest goalscorers to ever live he probably is crazy enough to know that it doesn’t matter how the ball goes in the net.
Only a fool would think that a national team coach develops players. Clubs develop players. Again, clubs develop players. Ideally, your national team and club system are aligned with objectives (Germany), but that is not always the case (England).
The fact is that the Last Olympic age group has failed to step up to the necessary level to really contribute to the Full National Team. Players like Shea, Gyau, Chandler, Gyau, Agudelo, Diskerud, Boyd, Gatt, Kitchen, Morales, etc… Be it due to injury, poor career choices, or some other reason these players were supposed to replace the aging players from 2010 & 2014. For whatever reason these players are still behind the curve. Hopefully the current crop of Olympic Hopefuls (Hyndman, Tall, Zelalem, O’Neill, Stanko, Rubin, etc…) succeed where the last group failed. If they avoid injury and make a good run during the Olympics it will go a long ways towards filling the gap in our talent pool.
While I agree the last group failed, I would group Gyau with this group since he is only 22. He was 18 or 19 with the last cycle. Kitchen as well (23). They could both play in this Olympic although they would be overage exceptions by a few months (according to the new rules which shifted the birthday limit from 1 Aug 92 to 1 Jan 93).
Where “we” have problems, coach?
Where YOU have problems.
the day when this guy’s contract is up cannot come quickly enough.
If Juergen quite or was fired today, who would you hire?
Carlos Queiroz would make an excellent national coach. His coaching CV on both the club and international level is far superior to Klinsmann’s.
Carlos Queiroz…try again! Look at his record with the Portuguese, UAE, and South African national teams. He is a coach, not a manager. He lost this job after the 2010 World Cup because his game plan resulted in a very talented Portugal not scoring in 3 of their 4 world Cup matches.
He’s …OK…that is it. I would take Arena before him.
I’ve wondered if Arena would be interested in another run. Berhalter is intriguing as Columbus plays a very fun to watch brand of soccer, but also tend to lose games they dominate because they have no defense like Sundays game with Dallas.
At the beginning of this season in the LA Times the question was if Arena was retiring soon. As I remember he indicated he was going to stick around for a couple of more seasons, but it seems to me that he is more likely to retire than take on a new job.
Carlos Queiroz, worse winning percentage than Klinsman, finished 4th with Real when they had Zidane, Figo, Beckham, and Renaldo. His teams won 2 matches in three World Cup trips, and was banned for attempting to stop random drug testing of the Portuguese National Team, which was later appealed, but he still chased after testing officials shouting disparaging sexual comments about the testing agency president’s mother. However, at least you didn’t name Bob Bradley.
I was not a JK hater. Thought he was doing already, minor beefs like anyone would have.
I am now. I would hire someone that is on board, not “above the board” looking down his nose at us, like he thinks he is.
You asked. I am right.
But who is that, I don’t care if people want to replace Klinsman I just want to know who is better that would take the job.
I think some of what irritates so many about JK is cultural, if you read comments made by other European managers about their sides both club and professional they are pretty similar. I can’t imagine what this board would be like with Van Gaal. That being said certainly US Soccer has some PR people that could work with him on not saying stupid stuff.
I think if you consider the nature of the German culture, that has something to do with some of the negative reaction here to Klinsmann. Germans are known for blunt talk and not known for diplomacy. When I carefully read his comments I find that probably 80 to 90% of his statements are obviously true. For example, in the recent interview that has a lot of people upset he said that in the United States some people get it and a lot don’t, referring to the performance of the US team. Notice he said some and a lot–vague terms that can mean anything. Does anyone doubt that a lot of casual fans don’t understand the ins or outs of the game? I see a lot of people here who haven’t grasped the difference between club professional soccer and international play. What to me is basically a statement of fact sounds to others like arrogance. You have to remember that people on these sites are much better informed than many, many US fans. Even people here don’t follow the game as closely or as passionately as most fans in Europe or Latin countries. For those fans a lot of games are taken as seriously as the Super Bowl is taken here. They have rioted over soccer games, they have actually had a war over a soccer game. It’s just not the same here.
Jesse Marsch and has worked at all levels. Learned from Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley. In the picture: Jason Kreis (NYCFC is not a problem of his making), Richie Williams (did wonders with U-17’s including Pulisic but they were also just a talented bunch), Gregg Berhalter (has international and European experience but think he needs more years in MLS), Steve Cherundolo (working with Hannover youth, I would start bring him into the fold as an Assistant Coach).
You gotta love how that NYRB team is playing too. Not many rated that team highly without Henry.
I will throw in a Dom Kinnear. He wins no matter. Which is what the US needs. Some guy crying that he doesn’t have the guy that he deserves, really isn’t the guy. He is too good for us. Has said so almost every time he speaks.
Marsch is pretty inexperience as a head coach, although if you are talking for next cycle I think he, Kries, or Berhalter would be fine. Kries would be the only of the three I’d be comfortable with if you’re talking Oct. 11. Dom hasn’t won much lately and is not a very exciting pick so I don’t see that ever happening. I don’t see United much because they aren’t NY, LA, or Chicago (one of those 3 is always on national TV), what do people think of Ben Olsen?
We have some good kids coming up through the ranks. Lynden Gooch. Maki Tall. Rubio Rubin. Jordan Morris. No reason to panic.
It isn’t just the young strikers. It seems like the talent level below the old guard is really low. How is it that, at a time when MLS clubs are devoting more resources than ever before, that the talent pipeline seems to have dried up? The U-23s are getting destroyed. The U-20s are ok but no one on that squad is looking like the next Bradley or Dempsey. During the Gold Cup we heard a lot about how MLS has been great for the national teams of the Central American and the Caribbean. Why hasn’t the same happen for the US?
Are we just in a talent trough? That happens. Just look at the Netherlands right now. Jurgen is to blame for a lot of things in terms of his coaching. As the US Technical Director it might be unfair to blame him for the lack of talent among US men between the ages of 18 and 28. Nevertheless, developing talent is in his job description. Might be time for US Soccer to separate his job responsibilities and give the Technical Director job to a guy who knows the US youth system, from the club level on up to MLS.
I think the talent coming up is better than what we have right now. When Clint Dempsey was 20, he was in college, Bradley was at Heerenveen. We have young guys at comparable or better levels than that now.
Agreed 100%. Said so up above.
US Soccer is getting way better. I see it, big time, even in my small involved corner of the world. Better in every regard and one of the biggest being the athletes that are playing are simply higher quality.
It will work out, especially now that the money is starting to show up.
What MLS has helped the US do is develop depth. However, given the level of play, they depth has been at the mediocre level. In other words, there are many more international level filler players now than there were 15 years ago, but fewer stars. I also tend to think that the USMNT players tend to go into some of these games cocky (a little like Mexico), whereas other teams in the region get up for the USMNT and Mexico. As a result, bad play (sometimes) and upsets. For those of you who don’t remember, Mexico actually played worse than USMNT until the final. Mediocre level talent can beat better talent if they up for it don’t make mistakes. For example. 1994 USMNT had no business beating Colombia (at the time one of the best teams in the world).
I also think that 18-28 is too big a gap to discuss in soccer terms. A generation of players tends to be 4 or 5 years, generally. Personally, I think there is a lot of talent between about 17-22ish (don’t forget Joe Gyau, Alverez,Yedlin, Brooks are 22), but you have to see how they develop (guys tend to not pan out).
The 23 – 28 group is much weaker – a lot of guys with promise fell to the wayside. However, we did get Shea (25), Jozy (25), Omar (26), Ream (27), Bradley (28), Besler (28). They did not compare to the healthy 29 – 34 group: Dempsey (32), Donovan (33), [pre-injury] Gooch (33), Beasley(33), Cameron (30), Beckerman (33), Jones (33), Holden (30), Spector (29), Gomez (33), Guzan (31), [pre-injury]Davies (29), Goodson (33), Edu (29), Feilhaber (30), Eddie Johnson (31).
Guys like Cherundolo, Demerit, Bocanegra, Howard, Ching, John O’Brien, are much older (around 36/37). A lot of guys of their generation did not work out, but those who did were studs. Don’t forget John O’Brien (whose career ended with injury was about their age (only 1 or 2 years older).
PS – hate typing on my phone. It makes me seem illiterate or at least incapable of achieving proper grammar.
Exactly right.
We have more players, but not better players.
Good observations.
good comment.
‘the rising tide floats all boats’ idea is what we have since MLS/US has gotten serious about professional development in the past 8-10 years. The overall quality in the region has improved but for some reason we have not seen an increase in top level talent — the kind the national team depends on — as you point out every 4 year age group seems to bring out 2-4 international leaders and this trend has been steady thorough the past 25 years despite all the changes and evolution of pro development.
Well said, Trialist.
Where are you getting the U-23s are getting destroyed they are 7-4 this cycle with wins over England, Netherlands,and Mexico and finished 3rd in the Toulon Tournament. A 1-0 loss to England who hadn’t lost at home in something like 5 years and the whole cycle is a bust, chill.
I disagree. I think Jozy is pretty consistent – poor movement off the ball, slow, bad first touch, mediocre (at best) passer, good strong body that can draw fouls, bad attitude when things don’t go well, decent finisher on those few occasions where he gets the ball (and doesn’t immediately give it away) in and around the box.
Those “few occasions” have come enough times to put him in the top 5 all time goal scorers for the USA.
It is a shame Jozy Altidore was brought back. Yeah ,he scored a couple of times, but then we all get excited and he flops again. As I am sure he will. Altidore is inconsistent and we need to develop new strikers!
Really? REALLY? This isn’t some chemistry lab where you can develop new strikers or compounds in a matter of days. Outside Clint or Jozy who else do we have right now. JK has stated that these friendlies are prep for Mexico. Exactly WHO are going to develop in 1 month? Do you honestly think Wood or Morris are more consistent? They have potential. That is it.
Yes, Jozy swings with his confidence, but that is nothing new. We have been saying it for years. However, even with regard to that, he is still the 5th leading scorer and 3rd in goals per game (with 25+ caps) in USMNT all-time history. He also doesn’t score in bunches. It tends to be 1 per game with him, and against very good competition.
Listen, do I want Jozy replaced by a higher quality, consistent scorer? YES! However, guess what? THERE AREN”T ANY. AJ is mediocre at the international level (did you not watch the gold cup). Wood/Morris/Rubin have promise, but are raw. The upcoming crop is either too raw/unproven or disappointing.
Yeah…it is a shame Jozy Altidore, our loan [healthy] proven scorer, was brought back in a prep game for Mexico….
Unbelievable!
Dan,
“It is a shame Jozy Altidore was brought back….. Altidore is inconsistent and we need to develop new strikers!”
The US needs new strikers? What is your suggestion? Buy them at Wal Mart?
That is actually not far from the truth because about 90 % of the product in Wal Mart is made abroad.
You know what else is made abroad?
Read these stats:
http://www.mlssoccer.com/stats/season
You might notice that the American with the most goals this season is SBI’s beloved Wondo.
Scanning that list further and tell me where the promising young top level American strikers are.
As MLS grows and gets bigger, results are really becoming a big deal. So DP money will be spent on goal scorers.
The “skill positions” like striker and #10 will be monopolized by foreign DP’s. This has happened elsewhere. It happened in England and Italy. It’s already happening here.
Counting on MLS to develop young American strikers, especially anytime soon, like in time for the 2018 WC, is a problem.
That is one reason why JK schedules so many more games than the USMNT used to play in the past.
And that, Dan, is why Jozy coming back now matters. Jozy is notoriously streaky.
As much as you despise him, If he can keep it going and come into the Mexico game on a roll, and Mexico hates big physical players, then the US has a better shot at winning the game and getting into the Confederations Cup.
That means the US will have anywhere from 3-7 more high level games in which to develop your US strikers.
After October the US can drop Jozy forever if that will please you.
But right now, if you don’t mind, they can use him to beat Mexico.
If you take away PKs then the totals are-
10-Bruin
9- Davies
8- Finlay, Wondo
7- Jozy, Dempsey, Lletget, Sapong
So yeah, not too much to get excited about really. I don’t see many saying we have to get Bruin in.
Jacl,
So penalty kicks are so easy you could come out of the stands and score on them I suppose?
Tell that to Leo Messi.
It’s a shame Jozy was brought back? His goals are what beat Peru and that was no flop either. Get a clue!
He really is only stating the obvious. Consider how so many teams have outstanding strikers they can count on to be game changers. And I’m talking about teams that would be mediocre without those players, not teams like Germany which has a lot of good scorers. Ibrahimovic for Sweden, Suarez for Uruguay, Ronaldo for Portugal, Dzeko, and a number of others. Note these are all relatively small countries. Finishing is what often sets the mediocre teams apart from the good and very good teams. Let’s hope AJ ups his game in the Bundesliga, Zardes keeps improving and Morris pans out. Wood and Rubin have some promise, but Agudelo has been a bit of a disappointment.
The thing is while 19/20 is young for soccer (Green, Rubin, Morris), 22 (Wood/Agudelo) or especially 24 (Zardes/AJ/Boyd) isn’t uber young for a forward. A 24 year should be a regular somewhere (either starter or regular sub) somewhere. 22 year should be near that. The critical gap is 17-23 where the US really falls off.
Keep in mind, while I think Jozy is not good enough to take us to the promise land (or as dynamic a forward as I would like), he was far more accomplished than any in the 24 or 22 year old group at their respective ages. Even taking into account his obvious confidence swings, he is only 25 and at 24 Zardes/AJ/Boyd aren’t really prospects as much as they are late developers or perhaps what they will ever be. While I agree guys in their mid 20’s will continue to develop and get better through their late 20’s/early 30’s, aside from Boyd who has been derailed by injuries, how much better do we really think these guys will get? My hope lies with the 20 – 22 year old group. I think Zardes/AJ/Boyd will be serviceable internationals with Zardes being the best.
I agree – I never understand why people talk about 25 year old players as though they are still young, up and coming players. Generally speaking, a 25 year old player is in his prime. We are working on the gap you mention. I think historically it’s been cause by players playing in college, which is far from ideal for player development (playing 25 games crammed into 2 months against super low level competition). There wasn’t an alternative before but now with USL teams and homegrown players etc., MLS has begun to create an alternative that most elite players will use going forward rather than playing 4 years of college ball. Hopefully going forward this gap will be less of an issue.
slowleftarm,
I agree with a lot of what you say when it comes to play time. Guys of international level talent should be playing regularly at the highest, most developmentally supportive level they can, even at 19/20. That is not college soccer. The only difference of opinion I had with you with regard to Morris was that he should not leave unless he gets the post-tax monetary compensation to cover his $55-60K/year scholarship on top of his salary. To me, don’t leave unless you are making at least $160K a year in Seattle (because a first year Stanford grad makes about that $60 a year). If I was Seattle, I would give him the money or at least give him $75K and then make a tax deductible educational repayment grant up until $100k so both sides win.
4 months of college soccer is not good enough. I started watching games again this weekend, and the level of play is not good enough, AT ALL, for someone of his exhibited potential. When I was in college, you would play Spring soccer with the team and do fitness workouts, but that was crap because Spring soccer consisted of 1 or may 2 small mini-tournaments at a neighboring school. PDL was just starting, which is better. When I was in grad school, PDL expanded. The best players payed for PDL teams that they tried out for, and they played against other PDL teams (but Morris is too good for that level as well).
PDL is much higher than Spring soccer. What is does is get higher level talent from local colleges on select level teams playing in the Spring and Summer against better players (not all kids from a college team would be good enough to make certain teams). However, it is developmental soccer for guys who are not youth or senior national team level from what I see. It is the step below to improve the “filler” guys.
There are always exceptions. A reminder–Dempsey was a late bloomer. And when he first arrived at the Revs I have read that he wasn’t even looked at as an attacking mid. It took him about a year and a half to really set in with Fulham. Zardes just turned 24, but he hasn’t yet finished his third professional season. I think he is a late bloomer along the lines of Dempsey, only with more athletic potential. So, although he isn’t a young striker or player by soccer standards, I think he has the most potential outside of maybe Morris, in the 20-25 group.
Not too worried about it. Dempsey is young enough right now and when he isn’t, there will be someone.
(Oh, but with a caveat, I am only half way through the Klinsmann educational course for dumb US fans. I left off with the chapter about where the US team didn’t stink in Gold Cup, because I am dumb and JK told me they didn’t)
Lol.
I actually am worried. The drop-off after those two is very steep. I have never been impressed by Johansson. Whatever happened to Boyd?
Boyd is coming back from injury. Should see him in a couple of months.
Boyd is injury plagued. Had on serious injury then came back early, then picked up another serious knee injury. The past 1.5 years have been terrible for him.
QWASUS I am struggling with the Klinsmann educational course myself. I thought Klinsmann was a world class striker and also the US Tech Director yet he says, “We have problems to develop a young generation of strikers consistently scoring”. I would have thought someone with his background could have nurtured a young striker, like say Agudelo, into a real goal scorer by now. But I guess my stupid American soccer brain just can’t understand that a 32 year old journeyman like Wondolowski is the guy who should be getting valuable caps. Maybe if I apprentice as a baker I will be able to comprehend the Klinsmann brilliance.
Your stupid American brain expects a national team coach to develop talent. If you had a smart American brain, you would know that it is up to the players and their clubs, where they train 300+ days a year, to develop. That’s why someone like Chris Wondolowski, who is a consistent top-5 scorer in the MLS and 6th on the all-time scoring list, gets caps. Players don’t develop on National Teams.
To take your thought even further, reps on a ball between age 5 and, say, 12. Reps on a ball, all the time, and, for a striker, somehow the birth of a killer instinct. Then a great club.
Objectively, the USA has actually had a few very good ones – difficult to play against, and needing only 1 chance to alter the game. Jozy is probably in that list. When on, he is very difficult to play against.
Oh I see Jo. One of the main reasons Klinsmann was hired is because he was a world class striker who had won a world cup as a player. Everyone said that would be the difference maker because he knew what it was like to succeed at that level. Now you’re telling me that’s not true. He has no wisdom & insight that could help bring along a young striker who has the goods but not the experience. Those caps he could give to a young talent won’t do anything to help develop him even with the genius of Klinsmann at the helm. I get it now so I guess we hired Klinsmann for those two previous coaching jobs he was fired from and the Toronto FC turn around his brilliant consulting initiated.
WCZ,
“I get it now so I guess we hired Klinsmann for those two previous coaching jobs he was fired from and the Toronto FC turn around his brilliant consulting initiated.”
So that’s your criteria for being a good manager?
Then good luck finding any decent manager who hasn’t been fired more than a few times, including Arena and BB..
you are not concerned that our only proven and consistent striker is 32 years old?
we have 2 maybe 3 years at most before his USMNT career is really pushing into extra time.
Jozy and Johannsson are at times good strikers, Wood & others useful, but the forward position is certainly a very thin and lacking supreme talent.
I am not. I actually am a Sounder fan and think that Dempsey is already falling off, but I do believe when it comes to US soccer right now, the next generation will be better.
When we find the next Dempsey, it will be even better.
Look at Zardes and Yedlin. Where were they in the conversation this time last World Cup cycle? Zardes was too young for last cycle, but Yedlin played and make his mark.
Klinsmann is right to be worried. Where will the goals come from?
Dempsey is no younger young and Jozy has been hot and cold. Both have had injury issues that limit their availability. The only strikers who have scored with some consistency for their clubs are Wondolowski and Johannsson, but neither of those have exactly lit it up for the USMNT.
Some young guys have had flashes, but only Zardes is what you might call consistent.
The US needs 5 or 6 players who are scoring a goal every 180 minutes over a season for their club team, but right now?