A Look at the Difference Between March 19th, 2013, and March 19th, 2014 in the US Men’s National Team Camp.
A year ago tomorrow, a Sporting News Article written by Brain Straus panicked the entire US soccer population. In the
article everything about Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure was questioned and the
national team seemed to be hanging by a thread and in a serious nosedive. In
the article, players were (anonymously) “throwing Klinsmann under the bus,”
doubting everything from lineup decisions to tactics to his relationships with
players. The national team was a squad without a leader and Klinsmann was
apparently one bad week away from being fired.
American fans were looking at the upcoming World Cup
Qualifier in Colorado against Costa Rica as a must-win, with the World Cup in
serious doubt if they didn’t. The article followed up the disastrous loss to
Honduras and was based off the interviews of 11 USMNT players. Straus states
that “what emerged over the course of
these discussions was near unanimity regarding the players’ flagging faith in
Klinsmann, his staff and his methods, along with the squad’s absence of
harmony.”
A year ago Landon
Donovan was nowhere to be found in the national team picture, Carlos Bocanegra
was the captain, when the team won it was usually an “ugly” win, there was no
steady formation, players were supposedly angry at Klinsmann’s reliance on
German-Americans, and there was little to no continuity (Jurgen used 24
starting XI’s in his first 24 games in charge). The USMNT had gone 1-2-1 on the
road in the first round of World Cup qualifying and had just been dismantled
2-1 (a very generous result based on the performance) in the first game of the
Hex in Honduras. Just prior to that game, they bored fans to sleep in a 0-0
draw against a very poor Canadian squad.
The article ends
with this following paragraph, summing up the dire situation that was facing
Klinsmann and the national team and the failure of Klinsmann to achieve what he
set out to do when he was hired: “A big part of what Jurgen has tried to do is
instill in players the confidence they can do more than they are doing, the
confidence in taking risks. That confidence has dwindled, replaced by worry.
Klinsmann now must win back the locker room. Walking on water might be easier.”
Three days after
the article was posted came the snow clasico—a game that will live in US soccer
history for the blizzard it was played in (and Jermaine Jones’ "snow fro"). It was a game that you can very possibly point to as the turnaround in Jurgen
Klinsmann’s tenure as the US coach, and led to him “walking on water.”
Fast forward one year and you will see a completely different
picture. The national team had one of the most successful years in its history,
as they went 16-4-3, finished atop the Hexagonal, won the Gold Cup, and once
again beat Mexico in Columbus by the famous “Dos A Cero” score line. Following
the loss to Honduras, they dominated the rest of the Hexagonal—2-1-1 on the
road and 5-0-0 at home to finish with a 7-1-1 over the final nine games. There
was a 12-game winning streak that lasted from June 2nd until
September 6th which included a 4-2 defeat of Germany, a remarkable
second half comeback in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a perfect run in the Gold Cup, and
a incredible 3.25 goals a game average. In the nine months following the
infamous Honduras game, there were 16 wins. The only two losses came to a world
class Belgium team and Costa Rica on the road (played without Michael
Bradley—the USMNT’s most important player). The only draw over that time was in
Mexico City. Klinsmann was rewarded for the year with an extension through the
2018 World Cup and the addition of technical director to his title.
Since last March 19th, Carlos Bocanegra has lost
his place in the USMNT picture and has been replaced by Clint Dempsey at
captain. The team has found its identity in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with a
constant “spine” of goalkeeper Tim Howard, a central back pairing of Matt
Besler and Omar Gonzalez, the central midfield trio of Michael Bradley,
Jermaine Jones, and Clint Dempsey, and striker Jozy Altidore. The only
questions that remain for the team are at the two fullback positions and how to
best take advantage of the depth that Jurgen has developed.
The most decorated American soccer player ever—Landon
Donovan—is firmly back in the mix after reestablishing himself at the Gold Cup,
where he was on a level that no other player in the tournament could touch. He
scored eight goals over ten games and in doing so, became the first ever
American to reach 50 goals or 50 assists (he has now achieved both) in the red,
white, and blue. Mix Diskerud and Alejandro Bedoya have both established
themselves as valuable squad members while earning 13 and 12 caps respectively.
Fan favorite and USMNT vet DaMarcus Beasley went from an afterthought to the
player who had the most minutes in 2013, and is a lock to make the World Cup
roster. Two young and very talented dual nationals committed to the cause in Aron
Johannsson and John Brooks. And Bayern Munich’s 18-year-old prodigy Julian
Green participated in his first USMNT camp, although he is yet to commit to the
US or Germany. The player pool might be the deepest it has ever been and there
will be a lot of very talented players who will have to watch the World Cup
from their couch like the rest of us, something that hasn’t always been the
case for in the United States.
The last 365 days have been transformative for the national
team, but that doesn’t mean that things are perfect today. Jozy Altidore and
Clint Dempsey have both struggled immensely to find their form this year, as
the two have combined for just 6 goals in 62 appearances for club and country since
late August. The US ended 2013 with two very lackluster games against Scotland
and Austria and was no better in a recent game against the Ukraine. The
upcoming World Cup will see the US participate in a nightmare group that
includes the top-ranked team in the world (Germany), their nemesis who knocked them
out of the last two World Cups (Ghana), and a team centered around arguably the
world’s greatest player (Christiano Ronaldo and Portugal). They will have a
very tough time making it out of the group stage. Having said all of that, US soccer is in a
great spot and the future looks brighter than ever.
It’s only been a year, but Brian Straus’ article seems like an
eternity ago to Jurgen Klinsmann and the US national team.
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