Official Team USA Soccer Thread

[PANDEMONEUM]

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/01/06/20/11/160106-mnt-klinsmann-calls-23-players-for-january-camp-roster

Goalkeepers:
Bill Hamid (D.C. United),
Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls)

Defenders:
Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas),
Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City),
Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls),
Eric Miller (Montréal Impact),
Tim Parker (Vancouver Whitecaps),
Marc Pelosi (San Jose Earthquakes),
Matt Polster (Chicago Fire)

Midfielders:
Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes),
Michael Bradley (Toronto FC),
Mix Diskerud (New York City FC),
Jermaine Jones (unattached),
Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers),
Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution),
Tony Tchani (Columbus Crew SC),
Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)

Forwards:
Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC),
Ethan Finlay (Columbus Crew SC),
Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart),
Jordan Morris (unattached),
Khiry Shelton (New York City FC),
Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

[PANDEMONEUM]

any of those defenders can play L.FB ?

what position does Acosta play mostly ?

glad to see Finlay and Kiesewetter
K. has alot of fan hype with him.

this is the kind of seletion most of us have wanted
a lot of new guys, some young guys
actually use this camp and time to find guys that can fit/play

[Bernman]

That's not the kind of selection I was calling for. I wanted proven players for integration, for the most part from MLS because this is their offseason window and Klinsmann needs to make up for lost time. Instead we get 6 guys who are firmly integrated (1 who isn't even eligible to play), and a bunch of also-rans from u-23. They should have had their own camp to prepare for Colombia. This is a senior team exercise, and it should have consisted of around 28 players, who were almost all in need of integration for the senior team in the near-term, so we improve our chances on that most important level in this cycle. We have WC qualifying and the Centenario coming up. We don't want to embarrass ourselves with more performances against CONCACAF level opposition like we had vs. Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, etc. Camps like this largely set us up to cycle back to the same guys yet again as we did after last hybrid u-23/senior camp before the historic failures. There are only around 8 realistic shots for integration of useful players, instead of the 28 possible. So it's largely a waste of 3-4 months between official international competitions. The exclusions of Lletget, Hedges, Johnsen, Feilhaber, Powers, Farrell, Kitchen, Agudelo, Salinas, and a viable LB option to push Fabian up the park are infuriating but sadly unsurprising. He's blatantly trying to kill off MLS as an avenue and power-tripping to get it done by doubling and tripling down on exclusions. Which is counter-productive anyway because it's only going to box many players in to MLS more and we need a viable domestic league to thrive. The best case scenario would be a good chunk of notable Americans in both major European leagues and MLS. But Herzog/Klinsmann have made it known repeatedly they narrowly want everyone to go to Europe. I guess it doesn't matter where in Europe realistically, if that's the best thing for their individual situation, and what happens to MLS.

[PANDEMONEUM]

i dont think u can call in 28 new guys, or all young guys
you need a few of the main stays, to help run practice and show what the standard is

5 of 7 of the defenders are NEW callups
thats pretty good.

at midfield, JK could have skipped mix and jones
im not a fan of Kitchen
even tho Feilhaber and Kljestan had outstanding years, they wouldnt be a move toward youth
so we can either call in who is playing quality ball, or the youngers that look good

3 new forwards, out of that bunch
ive been done with Altidore for a while, but its obvious JK will keep him
i like Agudelo, alot of people do, but he just doesnt perform at a top level for long enough periods

Lletget, Hedges - i agree with these 2 guys. they should be getting their chances

Johnsen, Powers, Farrell, Salinas - idk enough about these guys to say either way

*

theres only a few spots where JK can add new guys 1GK, 2RCB, 2LFB, 1RFB, 1AM, 2WINGS
(problem is, the new guys and those he hasnt even tried, are not any better than what he calls up)

the #3 GK spot. he can and should be trying lots of youngs guys. even rotating who he brings to camp. for the next year or so between Howard and Guzan, the 1 and 2 spots are filled

R.CB - need 2. Alvarado and Omar should not have a hold of that spot.

L.CB - imo, Belser and Brooks have that spot locked up. i dont see any other LCBs that can chalenge

L.FB - this should be a wide open competition. dont like Ream. Shea and Garza are ok vs concacaf, but thats their ceiling. need to find someone so we can use Fabian higher

R.FB - all depends where we have Yedlin. but we could use some guys here also.

DM - we should move on from Jones and Beckerman. i really like Cameron and Danny Williams. both getting 90 with their teams in england.

CM - looks like Nagbe will fit here. then i see 4 or 5 others at about the same level. pick whoever is performing well

AM - mix. this is they only spot he should be played in, but JK has other thoughts. depending on our system, we can only afford to carry 1, maybe 2 guys that fit this role.

wings/forwards - what are we doing with Dempsey? is he a lock? zardes, morris for me, are in.

lots of guys in europe on the cusp also.
IMO, theres no clear better player, being left out or not being given a chance.
sometimes, selections like, Wondo and Orozco make 0 sense. those are the few times where we really could have went a different direction.

[Bernman]

I said almost all. And you can call in an extraordinary amount at this current juncture because of Jurgen neglecting so many deserving players for a long period of time. You should be able to have higher confidence that players like Lletget, Hedges, Kitchen, Johnsen, Finlay, etc. are good enough. And some of the leaders could be guys like Feilhaber and Agudelo who were already decent at the international level but were being ignored for whatever reason. You could still have Besler, Bradley, and maybe one other guy regular in there. That's enough leadership/fuse pieces.

As far as the new guys that he did pick, new isn't an inherent positive. Many of those u-23's have very little interest to the senior national team in the interim, and they'll probably never be good enough. Take the 5 new defenders you mentioned. Only Acosta is playing at a level in MLS where it appears he'll be able to help now or in the near future. And he's even projected to play out of position, as he's succeeding at 6/8 in MLS. Tim Parker has a decent chance to legitimately make the squad at CB in the future. But he's not playing at that level right now. Hedges was Best XI. Farrell made twice as many appearances his rookie year as Parker, was younger, and now he was a much higher rated defender the last couple of years, while only being a year older. It's the whole stupid u-23 angle getting in the way, probably by design. Those other u-23 defenders didn't do enough to care about them now from a senior

The good new were the type of players I mentioned who were proving their worth in MLS or another decent pro league already. You like Danny Williams. Well, Dillon Powers essentially made Reading's team on trial last month to compete with Williams for time, then their coach got fired so the tentative deal expired. Johnsen was the leading scorer for American players last calendar year, and from a scouting perspective he doesn't have a glaring weakness, while being a great athlete and 6'5". Kitchen didn't have a great year, but who knows what DCU was doing half the time tactically, and he had a great cameo for the U.S. Salinas is just a favorite of mine and would be a LB candidate. The Lletget exclusion in and of itself might have caused me a brain aneurysm. That's the potential huge difference maker there, maybe more than anyone currently on the team.

And it's not just about difference makers. Depth matters. Even if you don't have a big difference maker, having 23 guys who are solid and interchangeable can give you great tactical flexibility and allow you to win a high majority of your games like Austria is right now. Jurgen is big about competition for spots on the club level. Why is he the opposite for the national team? These guys like Jozy, Jones, and Zardes must be feeling pretty damn comfortable. I'm pretty damn uncomfortable with them right now though. Friendlies, gimme officials, and throwaway ones should be used to see if we can find an upgrade at every position, even the ones where we're already alright.

[Bernman]

Some changes already being made due to injury. Pelosi and Alashe are out. Kitchen, Birnbaum, and Vincent are in.

Kitchen and Birnbaum may have not had that good of seasons, but they certainly impressed enough people in their cameos for the national team thus far (although I wasn't as high on Birnbaum's). We'll see if there's something to translating better because their club was in so much disarray. Kitchen it looked like was on his way to a 2. BL club or top Danish Superliga one, so I don't know how this effects things. Although I think both leagues start after camp.

As for Vincent, that's another u-23/youth player, but I'm a big fan fwiw. You could argue he did his job better than Morris for Stanford in the national tourney. Very aware defender, poised passer, smooth crosser, and solid athlete. I was actually projecting him to be our starting LB in Russia. I would have liked to have seen him prove it in MLS/pros first, as this is an unreliable system what he's done with collegiates and lower level guys. But individually, I don't mind this pick, and we did need a LB on this team. I'm pretty sure he would have picked Villafana if he hadn't gone to Mexico.

[PANDEMONEUM]

so,
have we stopped caring about these friendlies?
or is it because of Jurgen?

started in a 4-4-2
..........altidore - zardes
nguyen - bradley - jones - finlay
acosta - besler - orozco - evans
...............robles

at least, finlay and acosta started
nguyen in the wrong spot
DIDNT need to see Altidore, Jones, Orozco(or Evans)
1 of O. or E. didnt need to start

Finlay is a natural winger/outside mid
Nguyen had some very nice passing, and dribbled out of pressure nicely
Acosta was solid. didnt have much to do and wasnt tested too much. did have 2 horrid crosses.

when Evans went out the D got a bit worse. wasnt great to start with.
Birnbaum scored a set piece goal. but the D was messy.
Nagbe feels like a safe player. maintains possession. should have scored too.
Tchani, i didnt really notice, which i guess is good for a DM
Kiesewetter looked dangerous. he was receiving the ball and turning to attack the defender. rare for usa players to do. looked to have some speed also.

won 3-2
thats alot of goals for usa

did we see anything that we should be happy about ?

did we see anything that was encouraging ?

just wish we would have started some of the youngers, and not the same oldies we have seen.

[PANDEMONEUM]

USA v Canada
2/5/2016
9:15pm CT

Evans left, hamstring tightness
Orozco left, club only released him for the first match
- why JK even bother to call him in, idk. more stupid decisions by JK

lets go with some new guys, and some young guys
its only a friendly

kiesewet - morris - finlay
.......Nagbe --- Nguyen
.............Tchani
Acosta -Besler -Birnb -Miller
.............Hamid

sub in the 5 who havent played yet

[LittleOzzy]

Good luck tonight fellas. Hope Bradley has a good game.

[PANDEMONEUM]

Good luck tonight fellas. Hope Bradley has a good game.

im a fan and supporter of Bradley,
but we dont need to see him at all.
him, jones, altidore can all just chill on the bench, imo

its just a friendly.
might as well learn about the new guys and young guys.

[ReasonablySober]

I think the Bucks lose by 15. What do you chaps think?

[LittleOzzy]

Good luck tonight fellas. Hope Bradley has a good game.

im a fan and supporter of Bradley,
but we dont need to see him at all.
him, jones, altidore can all just chill on the bench, imo

its just a friendly.
might as well learn about the new guys and young guys.

He's still the Captain. I assume he'll start but not play the whole game.

I could see all the others sitting. Though Altidore may play to prove his match fitness. I doubt he wants to get sent home again.

[paulpressey25]

You guys need to move this off the Bucks board.

Thx

[LittleOzzy]

You guys need to move this off the Bucks board.

Thx

Sorry you didn't appreciate the shadow topic. The thread was never on the Bucks board though, just a link through to promote USA soccer.

Won't happen again.

[Det the Threat]

A nice article by the Washington Post on Gladbach's Fabian Johnson.
Fabian Johnson on form in Bundesliga

[PANDEMONEUM]

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/03/20/17/31/160320-mnt-klinsmann-calls-26-players-for-world-cup-qualifying-matches-against-guatemala

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (Club; WCQ Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (4):
David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0),
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa; 9/0),
Tim Howard (Everton FC; 30/0),
William Yarbrough (Club Leon; 0/0)

DEFENDERS (9):
Ventura Alvarado (Club America; 0/0),
Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City; 8/0),
Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United; 0/0),
John Brooks (Hertha Berlin; 0/0),
Geoff Cameron (Stoke City; 15/1),
Edgar Castillo (Monterrey; 4/0),
Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca; 8/0),
Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana; 4/1),
DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland; 0/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8):
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake; 6/0),
Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes FC; 3/0),
Michael Bradley (Toronto FC; 26/5),
Mix Diskerud (New York City FC; 3/0),
Ethan Finlay (Columbus Crew SC; 0/0),
Fabian Johnson (Borussia Monchengladbach; 11/1),
Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers FC; 2/0),
Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution; 0/0)

FORWARDS (5):
Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC; 28/12),
Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC; 34/13),
Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0),
Bobby Wood (Union Berlin; 2/1),
Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy; 2/1)

[PANDEMONEUM]

insert normal JK issues and stupid roster inclusions......here

vs Guatemala, we should be able to bring in some new guys, and not the old guys
beckerman, dempsey

brooks and yedlin, should have been allowed to go to the U23s vs Columbia

some of these guys dont even start for their club teams
alvarado, castillo, orozco

guys with injuries
jozy, fabian

still not bringing in any FBs

[GS Warriors 1]

U-23's end 1-1 @ Colombia in the Olympic playoff, USA have the advantage entering leg 2 in Texas due to away goals rule. Got the goal early from Luis Gil and stayed back defensively, basically. Morris did have a chance that hit the crossbar. Impressed with Parker, CB who plays for Vancouver. Thought he looked more composed than Miazga. Fullbacks were not good. Colombia weren't impressive, sort of like their U-20 team from the WC last year. Quintero is clearly their best player but I thought the rest of their attackers were underwhelming.

[GS Warriors 1]

I can't think of a worse first half the U.S. has played in the years I've watched them. Horrible.

[GS Warriors 1]

Welp, 2-0 Guatemala was the final. Both of the goals came in the first 15 minutes of the match. Just flat out embarrassing.