Tomorrow the USMNT will take on Ukraine, a team who just
barely missed out on a spot in Brazil (losing to France 3-2 on aggregate), in
Cyprus for its second to last friendly before a preliminary 30 man roster will
have to be named for the World Cup. The game had reportedly been canceled on
Monday due to the political unrest in Ukraine, but is (back?) on and will be
televised on ESPN2 at 1:30 Eastern.
It is a huge game for both the staff and some of the
players. It is most likely the last time that European-based players will be in
camp or on the field wearing the red white and blue before Klinsmann has to
name his initial World Cup squad. The US is scheduled to play Mexico in April,
but the game will not be held on a FIFA date so it will be very difficult to
have European players released by their club teams.
Here are the seven things I will be watching the most during the March 5th, USA-Ukraine friendly.
#1: Geoff Cameron at right back?
Cameron is
one of the most interesting dilemmas facing the USMNT. Jurgen has been pretty
adamant over the past two years that he sees Cameron as a central player, but
unfortunately Stoke City doesn’t share the same view as they have played him
almost exclusively at right back. Cameron has accepted the position and
excelled this season, and is fully in the “top five Premier League right backs”
discussion. Cameron’s style of play doesn’t truly fit what Klinsmann likes out
of his fullbacks, but the lack of depth at the position in the player pool
might force him to give Cameron the keys to the right back spot, as Timothy
Chandler and Steve Cherundolo are both hurt while Brad Evans is a natural
midfielder. Personally I would love to see Cameron start next to Michael
Bradley at central defensive midfield come World Cup time (as seen in this past article), but that seems very unlikely at this time. It also seems unlikely
that he will unseat either Omar Gonzalez or Matt Besler at center back, as they
have been the first choice pair and have been building chemistry for the past
year. Cameron, however, is far too talented to not be on the field for the
Americans so look for him to get the start at RB—and hope he can impress.
#2: Fabian Johnson at left back?
Fabian
Johnson is a true left back left wing hybrid. He isn’t the best defender but he
is fantastic getting forward. At the beginning of the Klinsmann era Johnson
featured mostly at left back, but over the past year DeMarcus Beasley has more
often than not been there while Johnson played midfield. The problem with this
is that it only allows for three of the group of Donovan, Dempsey, Johnson, and
Zusi to be on the field. Donovan and Dempsey are about as close to locks to
start as you can get, which means it will be Graham Zusi sitting if Fabian
Johnson plays LW. This would be a very bad situation for the USMNT, as Zusi is
the best pure crosser and wide midfielder they have. I also have huge question
marks about DeMarcus Beasley being able to defend at a top level, so I would
prefer Zusi to be on the field. That can only happen, however, if Johnson is at
left back. It will be very interesting to see if Klinsmann will give him a shot
at the position against a very quality opponent tomorrow.
#3: Danny Williams and Jermaine Jones
They play
the same position (center defensive midfield) but are on this list for very
different reasons. For Jermaine Jones, it is to further prove himself in
Klinsmann’s eyes. For whatever reason, Jurgen seems to love Jones and relies on
him to be a key player for the national team. Despite a number of poor
performances for the USMNT over the past year and being relegated to the bench
at Shalke 04 before a move to a much lower quality league, Jones is still a
staple in the starting lineup. It will be important to see where his form is at
after the move to Besikats (in the Turkish league). As for Danny Williams, he
will look to continue his recent great form for Reading FC in the English
Championship. In 2012 it looked like Williams might be starting to lock down
the spot that Jones currently holds, but after a few poor games for the
national team as well as a long stretch of struggles for his club team
(Hoffenheim before Reading) he was almost an afterthought for the World Cup
roster and hasn’t featured for the US since February 2013. However, he has been
spectacular over the past three months and is fully back in the conversation. This is a huge opportunity for him to prove himself. Currently I
have him behind Bradley, Jones, Cameron, Diskerud, and Beckerman on the CDM
depth chart, but a good performance tomorrow could vault him up the list. If he
can outshine Jones it could even plant a seed of doubt in Jurgen’s mind about
Jones’ stranglehold on the position, and if Cameron is at RB, Williams could
find himself as a (huge) surprise starter next to Bradley come June.
#4: Return to form? Jozy and Deuce
Both Jozy
Altidore and Clint Dempsey have been, to put it very gently, off their typical
form over the past six months. Altidore has had a lot of solid overall play,
but just simply cannot seem to find the back of the net for Sunderland, and
this past weekend wasn’t even in the gameday 18 for the Black Cats in the
Capital One Cup Final. As for Dempsey, he has struggled ever since leaving
Tottenham last August. He severely underperformed for the Seattle Sounders to end
their season and in the playoffs and followed it up with a ridiculously
underwhelming loan spell with Fulham. The USMNT needs both to be firing on all
cylinders come June, and both have stepped up for their country before. Jozy is
the reigning American (male) player of the year and Dempsey has been the
captain since March. A good showing from these two would be a HUGE boost to the
USMNT’s confidence.
#5: Brooks vs. Onyewu
Hopefully
John Brooks and Oguchi Onyewu will be the center back pairing tomorrow.
Although they will be a pairing, they will also be competing for the last
center back spot on the World Cup roster. Baring any injury, Besler, Gonzalez,
and Cameron will all be in Brazil. This means that Klinsmann will either call
in one or two more CBs (depending on the role he sees for Cameron). Brooks,
Onyewu, and Clarence Goodson are the only three that have a legitimate shot at
these spots. Brooks has the youth and talent and was a huge “get” for the USMNT
last year when he committed to Jurgen over the pull of playing for the German
national team. However, he still hasn’t been officially cap tied and going to
Brazil would sure up his future for the stars and stripes. Onyewu on the other
has tons of experience for club and country and is currently getting minutes at
Sheffield Wednesday in the English Championship after a few years of riding the
bench. Both players will look to make their cases over the other as well as
over San Jose’s steady defender Goodson.
#6: Sacha Kjlestan vs Alejandro Bedoya
Like Brooks
and Onyewu, there will probably be room for only one of these two players on
the World Cup roster. They bring different things to the table for the USMNT,
as Kjlestan is more of a central player while Bedoya is wide guy, but they can
both play pretty much anywhere in the midfield. Both are having very solid
seasons for their club teams. Bedoya seems to have the upper hand on Kjlestan
as he has had a fantastic past year for Klinsmann. Kjlestan also seems to be
stuck behind Diskerud in the middle. Having said that, one of these two will be
flying to Brazil in June, and tomorrow’s game will go a long way to deciding
which one will be getting that ticket.
#7: Shea’s last chance?
Brek Shea
is one of the most frustrating players in the US player pool. He is immensely
talented but is even more inconsistent than talented. He shows flashes of
brilliance but they come much too infrequently. As the only true winger the
Americans have, Shea has excelled under Klinsmann is a substitute role.
However, he has truly struggled in his club career over the past few seasons
and has had a lot of problems with maturity. If Shea has any chance of making
the World Cup roster he must be extremely impressive tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment