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Spector added to USMNT roster ahead of Peru, Brazil friendlies

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Photo by Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports

By SBI SOCCER

In need of a right back, Jurgen Klinsmann has turned to a familiar face to fill the void.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that Klinsmann has added fullback Jonathan Spector to the U.S. Men’s National Team roster ahead of friendlies against Peru and Brazil. The USMNT, which now sees its roster rise to 24 players, is currently training in Washington D.C. ahead of Friday’s clash with Peru.

Spector’s call-up comes as a result of a dearth of fullbacks with the current USMNT group, as regulars DaMarcus Beasley, Timmy Chandler, Fabian Johnson and Brad Evans are all set to miss out.

The call-up represents Spector’s first since March 2014 and could see the Birmingham City fullback add to his current tally of 34 caps. On the club level, Spector has appeared in each of Birmingham’s first four contests, with the club going 2-0-2 to this point.

The USMNT is set to take on Peru on Friday at RFK Stadium before facing Brazil on September 8 at Gillette Stadium.

With Spector’s addition, check out the full USMNT roster below:

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)

DEFENDERS: Ventura Alvarado (Club America), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Greg Garza (Atlas), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City)

MIDFIELDERS: Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Joe Corona (Veracruz), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Alfredo Morales (FC Ingolstadt), Danny Williams (Reading), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur)

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Aron Johannsson (Werder Bremen), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin), Andrew Wooten (SV Sandhausen), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

 

What do you think of the Spector call-up? How will he fit in with the USMNT? How much playing time do you expect him to get?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Specs has found his form at CB for Birmingham. He reads the game very well and his distribution is quite good. All of his injuries have left him slow and that is why at Birmingham he went to defensive mid and now to CBl He was a backup right back last year at BCFC so it is hard to imagine him playing that position at the international level. That being said, I believe there were times over the past couple of years that he would have been called up for European friendlies had he not been injured – and he is injured months out of every season so I’m happy for him he is getting this opportunity and hope he can stay healthy.

    Reply
    • I love these comments… I don’t think Altidore is anything great, but sadly, he’s by far the most accomplished goal scorer we have, at both the club and national team level. Altidore has the third highest goal scoring rate for the US National team of any player who has earned a significant number of caps (lets say, over 40 for a significant sample size), after Donovan and Dempsey…higher than Wynalda, Brian McBride, etc.

      And who are all these amazing goal scorers we should be replacing him with? I would accept maybe Johansson, but no other player has established any kind of consistency at the club or country level that would indicate they should be starting over Altidore. I cant wait to fast forward 6 years down the road when we are calling the likes of Rubin, Morris, Wood, etc garbage and demanding we start the next 20 year old striker who scored a goal in a game for the Nats.

      Reply
      • A lot of these players shouldn’t be on the USMNT but compared to Altidore I’ll pick them:
        Demsey (no even in the same league)
        Bobbie Wood (goals scored against Netherlands and Germany wouldn’t have been attempted by Noscore. You can’t hit what you can’t see)
        Gyasi Zardes (better ball control, better passer, more versatile)
        Aron Johannsson (just a better all around player)
        Charlie Davies (makes more intelligent runs, finds space)
        Chris Wondolowski (yeah I know, that how bad it is lol)
        Will Brun (hold up play, brute force, good in the air, not a lot of skill but more accurate than Noscore though)
        Chris Rolfe (more intelligent player, not strong on the ball but understands runs, finds space good positioning)
        Benny Feilhaber (convert him to second striker and he’ll do better than Altidore. I mean he has 8 goals this season playing midfield)
        C.J. Sapong (more active and versatile than noscore. Imagine if he had Giovinco and Bradley on his team)
        As long as you can score basically……

  2. Spector is actually playing the best he has in a while right now at Birmingham. Problem is it’s at CB. Not sure how he translates to RB or LB at this point. Rooting for him, but not sure how much sense this makes.

    Reply
  3. When Jonathan Spector was moved to central Midfield by West Ham coach Avram Grant he scored 2 goals against Manchester United (Capitol one cup), scored against Barsley (FA Cup) and Scored against Everton in a EPL game….NOV 2010 – JAN 2011.(scored more goals for West Ham in 3 month span than our top forward could playing STRIKER in 2 years for Sunderland. His versatility and skill has kept him as a regular starter in the Championship league (were a lot of our up and coming players cant even get a break)……regardless he is a valuable addition to this team.

    Reply
    • Context, Bizzy, Context!

      I have always liked Spector, but he is a filler on an international level. A weaker/poor man’s version of Cameron that is only called in when there are injuries or you field a B-team. Besides, there is a big difference between a 30+ year old pro that is as good as he’s going to get and 22 year old with potential trying to find his footing.

      I don’t feel sorry for the guy
      He’s a millionaire. He was probably making about 2 million a year at West Ham for 4 years. And has been making about 800k – 1mill at Birmingham for Tha past 2 years. If you don’t think Championship players make that much, then I invite you to investigate Tim Ream’s slay which just over 1 million.

      Reply
      • ” Besides, there is a big difference between a 30+ year old pro that is as good as he’s going to get and 22 year old with potential trying to find his footing”

        Which is exactly why Alvarado and Brooks were playing during the Gold Cup. How’d that work out?

      • Matt,

        Did you see Mikey’s first 10 USMNT games or so? I did.

        If you had been the manager he wouldn’t be a USMNT player today.

      • I meant Mikey’s first 10 USMNT games.

        He wasn’t that great. Red card waiting to happen.

        Neither is Alvarado who has just 10 caps.

        Every player is different in terms of how long it takes to get that light bulb going off in their head.

        It might never go off in Ventura highway’s head but it is too early to throw him in the dumpster.

      • Never said anything about throwing them in the dumpster, just that they (Alvarado and Brooks) shouldn’t have been playing at the Gold Cup. On the team? Sure!
        But when it comes to actually playing in big games, you play the best person at that moment…not the one with the most potential.

      • Matt,

        Hindsight is great isn’t it?

        At the time the center back pair for the Gold Cup was picked Cameron was not available, Ream was something of an unknown quantity. Besler’s US form was questionable and Gonzo, well with the US you never know with Gonzo.

        I was not worried when I saw Brooks and Alvarado starting. As it turned out, they did not play well in the Gold Cup but, other than Dempsey, no one on the team did.

        I have a hard time singling out the pair because most everyone else was lifeless.

        Assuming nothing changes, I expect Cameron to be one of the center backs Orozco to be the right back and Ream to be the left back I don’t know who will be the other center back, maybe JK will play a back three.

        I don’t expect Spector to start and maybe Yedlin will be so upset about being loaned to Sunderland, SBI’s version of hell on earth, that he won’t be in the right frame of mind to play at all.

        I can just see those SBI Sunderland haters now quoting Michael Corleone:
        “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in”

        The silver lining about Sunderland for Yedlin is that Advocaat is the same guy who converted Claudio Reyna to a starting right back at Rangers in the late 90’s when they were a pretty good team.

        Hopefully he will be as good for this USMNT midfielder.

      • “Besides, there is a big difference between a 30+ year old pro that is as good as he’s going to get and 22 year old with potential trying to find his footing”……Altidore couldn’t hack it in EPL or the Championship League and he’s 25 years already, his room to improve is very narrow. What is he going to do when TFC lets him know he’s not worth $4.75Mil? and that day is quickly approaching

        And my points are backed by facts…..So if you need context I dont know what to tell you….unless you need citations and I can’t help you with that.

      • bizzy,

        You need context?

        What Spector did was a one of a kind deal. A fluke. A lucky run.

        If you want to compare him to Altidore have him play forward for full time for a while and give defenders time to figure out how to play him..

        In other words, using Spector’s lucky turn to put down Altidore is useless .

        Did Spector ever do it again? Was that West Ham team better set up to attack than what everyone acknowledges was a Sunderland team full of centerbacks and defensive midfielders who could not spell assist if you spotted them all the consonants?

        Did Spector ever play forward for that Sunderland for two years?

        Then you can talk about a sensible comparison, a radishes to radishes comparison..

        I get you hate Jozy but don’t drag Jonathan into it.

      • Context “What Spector did was a one of a kind deal. A fluke. A lucky run.”
        If you knew anything about Jonathan Spector is that he didn’t play in the midfield so he could replicate that performance. What he did do playing for an EPL team, when Grant tried him in the midfield was score 2 goals against Manchester United, score 1 goal against Barsley and score 1 goal against Chelsea in a 3 month period (when moved to central midfield just in case you missed it). A defender turned temporal central midfielder not only have a man of the Match performance but was able to go on to score 2 more goals with a team doomed for relegation.

        “Did Spector ever do it again?” Wow….does he need to do it again to prove a point? How long did he play central midfield? hahahahaha…no he doesn’t, tho he went on to score 2 more goals in a 2 month period while he was controlling the midfield for West Ham.

        “In other words, using Spector’s lucky”….Spector gets moved to a new position, in the EPL, and in a 3 month period he scores 4 goals???……. and you call that luck? Then Altidore must really be really unlucky because he had two years to do it and couldn’t…Playing up top, closer to the goal

        “Did Spector ever play forward for that Sunderland for two years?” really? If so you couldn’t compare any player in the pool then because no two players play on the same team in the same position hahahahahahaha

        Lets talk sensible and use facts……Altidore is currently terrible

      • bizzy,

        You seem bound and determined to engage in this comparison of Jozy to Spector.

        They are both American soccer players who have been capped by Bob and JK. They have played on the same US team a number of times. They both played in England.

        Other than that, Spector has little in common with Altidore and I see no particular reason to compare the two but you appear to have this onanistic need to produce reams of copy on these sketchy, frivolous comparisons.

        But that is what SBI is for , so feel free to indulge yourself as SBI allows.

        Have fun.

      • My whole thing is you all can sit there and bring down a player like Spector and hale a player like Altidore.
        If any player in the USMNT had come up through the ranks of Manchester United, played for them, moved on to another EPL team, maintained his spot at that level of play, moved to central Midfield in times of crisis, in that position scored a brace against Man U, scored against Barsley and score a league goal against Chelsea, played more that 101 games in the EPL, played over 100 games in the Championship league…….we all would be singing his praises but for some reason you all have to water down Spectors accomplishment. Then you want to stand up tall for a player like Jozy Altidore? Don’t give me this moral code of conduct stuff you try to preach. Give credit were credit is due….

      • Excessive weed usage tends to increase paranoia.

        You remind me of my friends who have engaged in such practices.

        Hopefully you don’t have access to weaponry of any description.
        .
        I haven’t failed to give credit to Spector a player I’ve followed since SAF signed him. I have pointed out that the main thing about is his career, which remains a fine one, is that it has been really hurt by his awful luck with injuries. He would have been on the 2006 WC team if not for a late season shoulder separation and who knows how much that hurt the US? Maybe he could been been a World Cup star?

        Earlier in this thread people were comparing him to a far inferior Lichaj. Such a comparison is a joke.

        And you are a hypocrite if you accuse anyone else of failing to give credit where credit is due.

        Jozy has his flaws and failures but his overall contribution to the USMNT has been exemplary and he deserves credit for it.

      • “Excessive weed usage tends to increase paranoia.”
        …….Then of course we result to idiocy.
        ” I haven’t failed to give credit to Spector “…Ok for the first time you have made that statement clear so I’ll ease up on you there

        “And you are a hypocrite if you accuse anyone else of failing to give credit where credit is due.
        Jozy has his flaws and failures but his overall contribution to the USMNT has been exemplary and he deserves credit for it.”
        …..you are kind of right there. Noscore is not an exceptional striker and has a lot of flaws (he’s standing in the doorway preventing others from being tried at that position) but he has made contributions to the USMNT and thats a fact (what gives people the idea that I hate or biased against Jozy?? lol)

      • Bizzy,

        I don’t know how old you are, but you do know that Spector came up as a midfielder, right? He was a midfielder in the Man Utd youth system, played midfield when he played with Charlton. He got move to left back because they did not think he was Premier league caliber at midfield. It was not a knew position. In fact, although, he suffered a severe drop in play time his past year at West Ham with Grant, Grant still deployed at midfield quite a bit when he did play.

        Additionally, when I told you to put things in context, I mean weigh one fact relative to all other available facts. Spector had a good run of 3/4 games. However, he did it against weakened competition (the league cup where teams often play their young players), he did playing a position that was not natural to him because he was developed as a central midfielder and had to learn to play outside back (which he why he often made positioning mistakes and could not make up for due to his lack of speed), AND as far as scoring in league play, Spector has scored ONCE in 11 seasons in the EPL and Championship.

        You see…THAT is context. I have been involved in soccer among other sports for 3 decades. I can tell you that even a mediocre or bad player can have a great run of form for a few games. However, the true measure is their level of consistency. Spector’s level is much worse than what he showed against weakened competition for 3/4 games in a competition most clubs don’t take seriously against teams who were prepped to see him play in that position. In professional athletics, the key issue consistency. At that level, any of those guys could have a special run, but the good players are the ones who repeat. All Spector had was a blip

        Listen, I like Spector a lot. I followed him since he came out of the Chicago area as a kid. He is a very likable guy, but don’t make it out to be more than it is.

        Also stop with these ridiculous Altidore comparisons. How many goals either scored has nothing to do with the other. You are the one who keeps bringing it up.

      • Spector never started for Man U or any EPL game as a midfielder. He was converted to RB by no other than Sir Alex before his first game and its been that way ever since his first EPL start against Everton Aug 30, 2004. Avram Grant tried Spector in the midfield in the 2010-2011 season before West Ham was regulated and he excelled
        Everybody tries to water down his accomplishments and nobody in the USMNT has played for Man U, Nobody has scored a brace against Man U, Nobody in the USMNT pool has more games under their belt in the English football system than Jonathan Spector (goalkeepers don’t count). Whether you accept it or not his accomplishments ARE BIGGER than people give him credit for.
        You have been involved in soccer? From what I’m reading I don’t think its been that long or you would be the one to give credit were credit is due

      • “AND as far as scoring in league play, Spector has scored ONCE in 11 seasons in the EPL and Championship”
        Because he was playing Defense. He is a defender. Do you get it? He started scoring WHEN he was MOVED to CENTRAL MIDFIELD for less than 4 months.
        And if you don’t think thats an accomplishment(hence the comparision), Jozy Altidore our prime striker on the USMNT LIVED up top at forward and was only able to score once in league play( Chelsea Dec 4, 2013)

  4. The criticism here is hilarious. Our backs sucked at the Gold Cup. JK is bringing in someone that’s playing consistently well at a higher level than most of the FB pool.
    And people are whining because he’s not world class? Wake up…we don’t have any world class defenders.

    Reply
  5. So Spector is brought in after the fact as a fullback – which gives us three, total. Garza I guess is going to get a lot of time on the left. Cameron on the right. Spector as insurance. And six CB’s to duke it out for two spots. Would it be safe to say the USMNT is “unsure” when it comes to their defensive roster?

    Reply
  6. I don’t rate Lichaj. He was crap in the EPL on a bad Stone Villa tram and does alright on semi-decent Championship side. Call him in when in need, but I place so many others in front of him

    Reply
  7. Klinmann you are listening!!!!! I talked about Cameron, Ream, Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler and they all got called in, I talked about Jonathan Spector and he got called in……now if you can just hear me out and drop Altinoscore, Corona and Mix Diskerud (just for these games) and pick up Lee Nyugen, Benny Feilhaber and Sebastian Lletget we’ll be good!!!!!

    Reply
    • Nyugen mystifies me as to why he’s not in the team regularly. He always seems dangerous in the final third. Is he one of those guys that gets dinged because of lack of top end speed?

      Lletget will get a look if he just keeps doing what he’s doing, but I think it’s fair to note that his Galaxy teammate Zardes is more talented than him

      Feilhaber is a stretch.

      Reply
  8. Seriously, I got to know what the deal is between Lichaj and Klinnsman.

    The dude plays week in and week out at the championship level in the prime of his career and has good EPL experience… yet he can’t get a sniff.

    Lichaj is a pure right back and this squad selected doesn’t even have a pure RB…

    After watching tons of games with Timmy Chandler and Brad Evans at RB it blows my mind that Lichaj can’t get a shot.

    Reply
  9. Andrew Farrell should be on Klinsmann’s radar screen. He’s on the MLS team of the week this week, is fast, strong and skillful on the ball. He was mostly responsible for limiting Philly to only 2 shots in last weeks game and has like 7 fouls called on him for the WHOLE YEAR

    All things we need

    Reply
  10. i’m assuming klinsmann’s just trolling lichaj at this point. “hey, who’s that right back that we have in the english championship? i hear he’s doing pretty well these days? yeah, spector, that’s the guy!”

    Reply
    • Given Spector’s history and experience and the fact that Klinsmann spends most all of his time scouting, following and evaluating US players who have played or may play for the US, he must obviously know Spector well. Klinsmann has called him in before, as the article indicates he was last called in about 18 months ago. Also, we have 4 outside backs who aren’t available and none of the available alternatives I know of have as much international experience as Spector.

      Reply
      • yes, gary, my comment was in jest–i don’t actually think klinsmann’s trolling lichaj.

        just thought it was funny that of two defenders we have who have established themselves at exactly the same level, he picks the one who’s been playing CB for the last two years as opposed to the one playing RB.

        i don’t have any problem with calling up spector in general, and i didn’t mind him much as a fullback when he played there years ago; he was more disciplined defending than lichaj and can serve up a good cross, but isn’t as involved in the attack as lichaj.

      • Spector is a better crosser of the ball than Lichaj was.

        You might notice that he actually has played a whole lot more games than Eric ever did in the EPL.

        At the end of the day neither of them is great but Spector is more consistent, more experienced . I don’t think he will play much in these games.

        His biggest problem with the USMNT is his inability to stay healthy..

  11. meh..vulnerable at the international level.With all the CBs that play or have some outsde back experience, don’t be surprise if the US goes 3-5-2 with speedy wingbacks on the outside (Yedlin)

    Reply
      • Really? He scored a brace against Manchester United once and was named Man of the Match. How many Americans have done that?

      • +1
        Exactly Hopper!! Wow……Someone who actually follows players abroad. Spector while playing in the MIDFIELD for West Ham United scored almost as many goals in one game as Altidore (USMNT goal scorer lol) did in a Sunderland uniform ….against Man U!!!

      • Has he maintained his position in the Bundesliga? ….No. Has he played 101 games for any other team in the Bundesliga…..no. Was he picked up by any Bundesliga II team and made the first team….No. Has he played over 100 games for any Bundesliga II team?……no. Has he play full 90 for ANY team consecutively….no. So the answer to that is no

      • Thank you! It’s all about what you do regularly or consistently. I remember that game. Spector had been in and out that season for West Ham at defense for Abram Grant. Grant didn’t really think he was up to the task at defense (Spector was released at the end of the year). However, he decided to start him against Spector’s old youth club (Spector was Man Utd Youth club captain as a midfielder -he got converted to back as a professional) and maybe something would happen. Spector ended up having the game of his life, but could not replicate that again. I like Spector, but every dog has his day.

      • I saw that game, too and several others where he played midfield. Given his defensive limitations, midfield may be his best position. I remember watching a game once where he started for the Hammers at outside back and had a chance for a shot on goal and it went about twenty feet wide and twenty feet high. The color commentator had played at Charlton while Spector was there (Spector was still a teenager while there) and the commentator said that even in practice Spector never came close to scoring. So, I imagine everyone, including Spector, was surprised when he scored those two against Man U.

      • Grant praised man of the match Spector and Cole, who has been criticised for his form in recent weeks.
        “Spector is a good professional and always tries hard. I changed his position in training to midfield,” said Grant. “I think that he saw the Barcelona performance against Madrid last night and thought that he can do that as well.”
        No Grant put Spector in central midfield (and he scored goals in that position for an EPL Team) even though his job was on the line, which says a lot about his confidence in Spector. He was fired, West Ham was relegated and Spector when to Birmingham

      • To be fair, it was a domestic cup game, I think FA. So, he wasn’t playing against their full first team. Still, he often looked pretty good in the midfield as he played maybe half a dozen times there for West Ham.

      • G
        Manchester United team (including subs that plyed)
        Tomasz Kuszczak
        Chris Smalling
        Fabio
        Rafael (sub)
        John O’Shea
        Jonathan Evans
        Wes Brown (sub)
        Anderson
        Ryan Giggs
        Darren Fletcher
        Javier Hernández
        Gabriel Obertan
        Bebé
        Federico Macheda (sub)

        was a Strong enough team

      • That was not a strong man Utd side that was put out
        – Smalling was a 20 yr kid that never played
        – Rafael is in France and doesn’t play. He wasn’t a regular player his last couple seasons at Man Utd and he’ only 25.
        – Evans never that good and doesn’t even play for West brom
        – obertan is not very good
        – Bebe was one of the biggest busts in Man Utd history.

        Additionally, These guys aren’t in the premier League anymore and they should be in their primes.
        – Fabio
        – Machada
        – Kusczak

        That was a Man Utd line up in name only. It was clear what Ferguson did was put out a youth line up with some serviceable veterans for the cup. That was a mid table side or slightly better at best.

      • Darren Fletcher
        Ryan Giggs
        Anderson
        Rafael
        Chris Smalling
        Park Ji-Sung
        Michael Carrick
        Wes Brown
        Javier Hernández
        Gabriel Obertan
        These players where all on the 18 man roster that played against Arsenal (that they beat 1-0)

      • Okay Bizzy, I have 20 min, so I will play along.

        First, of all there is a huge difference between a starting 11 of (Kuszczak, Smalling, Fabio, O’Shea, Evans, Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Fletcher, Hernández, Obertan, Bebé) with subs (Brown, Rafael, Macheda) and the line up Man Utd had vs Arsenal (Van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson (Giggs 85), Park; Rooney).

        That team faced Arsenal would light up that league cup team. In the league cup match, Fergie had a team that was 1/2 kids, half Marginal team members and one former star (Giggs that was on his last legs). Only 2 guys started both matches (Anderson, Fletcher).

        Do you really think that a defense of Kuszczak, Smalling, Fabio, O’Shea, Evans, could stop Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson (Giggs 85), Park; Rooney with Evra also attacking on the wings.

        Yes, Spector scored against a team in League Cup play, but it is more telling tht he never scored in league play or in Englnad until then even though he came up as midfielder. He has 1 goal in 11 years of league play (his other 4 goals came in league cup play).

        I like Spector, and the was a great moment, but let us not make it bigger than it really is.

      • Oh Anthony you should know I have too,
        Out of a 18 man team if you have 10 players that play in a game that’s Manchester United, and against Valencia, in a USL game 7-8 days later they played Rafael, Smalling and Fabio in defense

        Secondly Spector never started for Man U or any EPL game as a midfielder. He was converted to RB by no other than Sir Alex before his first game and its been that way ever since his first EPL start against Everton Aug 30, 2004
        Everybody tries to water down his accomplishments and nobody in the USMNT has played for Man U, Nobody has scored a brace against Man U, Nobody in the USMNT pool has more games under their belt in the English football system than Jonathan Spector (goalkeepers don’t count). Whether you accept it or not his accomplishments ARE BIGGER than people give him credit for

      • It doesn’t matter what you did once (except if you are a young player), it matters what your consistent level of performance is at a particular level. You’d be surprised how many professionals have had one great moment, but cannot consistently perform anywhere close to it, regularly.

      • He had a couple of good games in the 2009 Confederations Cup. He played fairly regularly in the EPL for several years, mostly West Ham. He was originally in the Man U youth system and then loaned out to Charlton when they were in the EPL and played a bit for them when he was only 18. Was he a great international? No, but for a while he was good enough for the USMNT. He has speed limitations, but he’s pretty steady and can put in some good crosses.

  12. …except he’s been playing CB for Birmingham this year.

    While i’ll admit that Lichaj didn’t play that great in the one Nottingham game I saw this year, my lord, Lichaj has officially been banished to Siberia when it comes to the USMNT.

    Reply
    • If “Lichaj” is your answer for “how are you going to stop Neymar and Brazil” I would ask that you kindly share some of whatever it is you’re smoking. Puff, puff, give, don’t be selfish, now.

      Of course, even when the bong is passed to me, it’ll take a great deal of existential contemplation before I can come up with an answer for how we’re supposed to do it with Spector either.

      The Universe will have to show us the way, man. 😉

      Reply
      • God help us.

        Is it REALLY that hard to find a freaking right back who can run, serve, and, you know, actually DEFEND?

        I get that there’s, like, 1/10 the number of naturally left-footed guys with the same skillset, but not having a competent right back is just mind-boggling.

    • Spector has way more international experience and played fairly consistently in the EPL for about 4 years. When it comes to both club and international play he has shown to be more experienced and considered better by a number of coaches.

      Reply
    • I think Lichaj is better off not getting called up. Neither Besler or Gonzo where on the radar until about a month prior to the hex and then they damn near played every game for the next year and a half. My guess is that at some point JK is going to realize that his pet favorites can’t cut the mustard and then EL will get his chance.

      Reply

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