USA turn page with Peru and Brazil friendlies as Mexico showdown looms
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Version 0 of 1. Just don’t mention the Gold Cup. That was the spirit of Jürgen Klinsmann’s comments to the press this week, in advance of the pair of friendlies with Peru and Brazil that will lead into the Mexico game in October. That latter game of course, is one the USA did not want to be playing – given that a win in July’s Gold Cup would have confirmed them as Concacaf’s representatives at the Confederations Cup in Russia in 2017. Instead, their slow start in the tournament never quite ignited, Jamaica caught them flat, and Mexico got the benefit of some very dubious refereeing decisions to win the tournament and force the October playoff with 2013 champions USA. So for all that a Brazil game is always intriguing and Peru’s third-place finish at the Copa America this year suggests they’ll be difficult opponents tonight, these games have been given extra edge by what the selections and performances will tell us about Klinsmann’s thinking for Mexico. Starting at the back, it’s clear that some of his thinking is the same thinking he carried into the World Cup – namely, what have you done for me lately? Tim Howard may be back in the roster after his sabbatical, but like Landon Donovan before him, he’s arrived back to find that his career highlight reel isn’t enough to replace the current incumbent in goal, Brad Guzan, who Klinsmann has suggested will be the starting goalkeeper through to the Mexico game. In front of him, you can have any defender you want as long as it’s a center back. Injuries to the wide players have meant that seven of the defenders selected are natural central defenders, even if the likes of Tim Ream and Geoff Cameron have found themselves played elsewhere by their club sides, and now, most likely their international coach. In the absence of the injured DaMarcus Beasley and Fabian Johnson, Ream will probably start on the left and Cameron on the right, while the central pairing should offer an interesting referendum on Klinsmann’s current favored pairing. John Brooks and Ventura Alvarado endured mixed fortunes during the Gold Cup, while the World Cup qualifying pair of Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez have never quite returned to full favor. In front of them, well, there’s no Michael Bradley for the Peru game, though he’ll be back for Brazil, which raises the question of where the drive and creativity is going to come from in midfield. On the creativity side, Mix Diskerud has had a pretty uneven time of it at New York City FC this season, as well as an indifferent Gold Cup, but he’s in the roster regardless and may have a chance to push his credentials in this area. Just as likely though, the creative burden may come from the intelligent movement of Alejandro Bedoya. And DeAndre Yedlin, Sunderland’s newest player, may make another one of his attacking substitute appearances out wide. As for the drive, well, Jermaine Jones is back from long-term injury and given the excess of personnel at the center of defense, where Klinsmann experimented with him earlier in the year, it’s safe to assume that he’ll be asked to play in the more marauding box-to-box style that saw him turn round New England’s season last year. Fans will be watching closely though, to see what those injuries might have taken out of him in that regard. Jones in full flight is a menace, but there have been times in the past when his aggression has been a hazard to his own team. What form he’s in may go a long way to determining how this little stretch of games plays out. And of course there’s Jozy. Mr Altidore has been unlucky with injuries in recent weeks, and was hampered in the early part of the summer just as he looked to be finding his form with his new club team Toronto. His form saw him eased out of the Gold Cup squad after the group stages and this is a big series of games for him with the faith Klinsmann has placed in him to recover. Early signs domestically have been good. He’s scored three for Toronto coming off the bench in the last few weeks and seems to be getting sharper with each appearance. Klinsmann was happy to gush about Altidore this week, but rather less happy about the events that have now defined this Fall schedule. When he was asked about the Gold Cup, he was keen to change the subject: I don’t want to get deeper into that topic. There’s still a little bit of anger in me … I think it left something in our stomach, the way it happened there, the decisions of referees, a lot of controversial stuff that happened in that Gold Cup left something bitter, sour, with us. Klinsmann better get used to that sourness. Officially the Gold Cup hangover will last until at least the playoff game at the Rose Bowl on 10 October, but the failure this summer has eaten into the coach’s popular support and with it the indulgence for his preferred experimentation style in friendlies. Klinsmann’s suggestion that some fans didn’t understand what they were watching in the 2-1 Gold Cup defeat to Jamaica didn’t help diplomatic relationships. A good start on repairing them might be a home win tonight. |