What we learned from USA's friendlies with Brazil and Peru
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Version 0 of 1. Klinsmann needs to make a statement with his veterans in defense Jürgen Klinsmann’s rolling selection policy has always been about constant progress, though there are times when it feels like the illusion of progress is being created by a kind of artificial interference from the coach – creating pressure on places, instigating changes of personnel and roles, less because the form of players outside the team demands their inclusion, but from the coaches’ desire to keep each individual on their toes, uncertain of their place. If that’s supposed to drive the team to collective excellence through a constant fear of being dropped, it is also a potential recipe for spiraling drops in confidence, as players who fundamentally want to know and execute simple duties to the best of their abilities, second-guess themselves out of the team. By the end of the game against Brazil, with the match long gone, Aron Johannsson, Bobby Wood and Jordan Morris were being dared to make something happen with some individual inspiration that might fast-track their temporary ascendancy, but while all have had their moments in a US jersey, they’ve tended to be in glimpses and nearly always with an unfamiliar set of team-mates around them. Related: USA 1-4 Brazil | International match report It’s absolutely fair for Klinsmann to demand the best of his players and the professionalism for them to be ready whenever called upon, but it’s another to so consistently mix up the components of the team as he has done in this last year, and then expect players to understand or anticipate each others’ movement on cue. But with a key game against Mexico coming up, not to mention crucial Olympic qualifiers at the same time, Klinsmann has an opportunity to make some definitive statements about the phased development of the national team plan and just what’s possible at this moment. He needs to play a team who know each others’ game, and will play with the confidence and trust in each other that comes with that. Klinsmann might want Brooks and Alvarado as his long-term center back starters, but notwithstanding Omar Gonzalez’s error against Peru, there’s a fair argument that says that nothing that has happened in the past year has been better than his pairing with Matt Besler at the World Cup. The latter was perhaps fortunate to miss the Brazil game, after a solid second half cameo against Peru. Seeing that pairing alongside Fabian Johnson and DaMarcus Beasley against Mexico might be a temporarily retrograde move development wise, but it would probably give fans and team mates alike a sense of stability that’s not being delivered by whatever hyper sensitive mechanism is monitoring Klinsmann’s “meritocracy”. GP For better or worse Yedlin and Zardes hold the balance of attack One area where Klinsmann seems determined to ensure that youth will hold sway is on the flanks, and Gyassi Zardes and DeAndre Yedlin, with the latter having played more games than any other player this year. Against Peru, Zardes was at the center of the action and looked the key to unlocking the Peru defense. Against Brazil it was Yedlin who caught the eye, as he and Cameron combined at times in the fitful US attack, and the current Sunderland player constantly showed willing to attack. That those attacks were only sporadically incisive says a lot about the player’s decision-making. Sometimes a lack of time to think actually serves Yedlin well, as he often hits first time crosses into dangerous areas, while overrunning or making a mistaken decision when he has a little more time to take on his man. Raw speed is not yet fully matched up with guile and at least one broken attack on his watch ended with a Brazil goal. Yet I’d expect the pair to start against Brazil, with Dempsey back underneath Altidore and Bradley pushed back alongside Jones as the platform for the attack (more of that in a moment). It’s not the worst idea in the world for these two speedy wide players to represent the avant garde of the 2018 generation, but they need dedicated players willing to do some sober enforcement work behind them when the inevitable breakdowns occur. If either player has an inspired game against Mexico the US should have a good night at the Rose Bowl. If neither does, and if the Mexicans can counter at speed behind them the US could be horribly exposed. GP Altidore can’t be an island For about nine minutes against Brazil Jozy Altidore looked like he’d come to play. Holding up the ball, bringing Bradley, Zardes and Yedlin into play, then spinning off his man to look to pick up a return nearer goal, the Toronto player was doing pretty much what was asked of him. But then Brazil scored, and thereafter, one by one his colleagues started dropping deeper to try and deal with the rampaging Willian and Douglas Costa – to little discernible effect. What did happen was that when the US did regain possession they would stay deep, harried by the Brazilian front line, or on the occasions they did step up, too often it was too late to support Altidore – by now marked out of the game – or even Bradley playing underneath him. At times there were USA attacks that appeared to be pitting two lone attackers against seven defenders with predictable consequences. Altidore’s torment at Sunderland was one long object lesson in the futility of asking him to be a lone target man. It’s not that he’s not happy to receive the ball in traffic at times, or to use his physique to make space for himself, but he’s not a target man who’ll single-handedly rescue a team under the cosh. Without players pushing forward alongside him and taking the responsibility for properly threatening secondary runs, it’s asking too much (and the wrong question) of Altidore to be something he’s not. Not that it’s always easy to work out who goes and who stays. Which brings us to … Jermaine Jones is a problem In the World Cup the injury to Altidore and the reshuffle that ensued saw the team recalibrated in such a way that Kyle Beckerman anchored the midfield so that Jermaine Jones was free to be not only a destroyer alongside him when called upon, but also to maraud forward and score the kind of goal he conjured against Portugal. That goal arguably wrote Jones’s contract with MLS – where his directness in a similar role took New England to MLS Cup, but 2015 has been awkward for both club and country. Jones has missed several games for the Revs through injury and has only just come back. He played more minutes than expected in this pair of games but is clearly off his best, and moreover his performances are recalling some of the anxiety that used to surround him before Beckerman was identified as a potential minder. There’s still a doubt that Klinsmann’s preferred midfield anchors of Bradley and Jones are able to play alongside each other. Like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard when they played for England, both seem obvious choices, but can sometimes represent either a redundancy or non-complimentary talents. It was less apparent against Brazil, with Bradley granted an advanced role from the start, but when Clint Dempsey returns from his own injury to face Mexico, presumably Bradley and Jones will have to shield the defense and make any forays forward only when they’re clear where the other is. And that might be a problem – Klinsmann has already experimented with Jones as a center back this year, but surely can’t afford to experiment in that fashion against Mexico, while if a Bradley/Jones tandem balances for the US next time out it will be among the first times it did so. Jones still has a drive and presence that’s matched by few players on the USMNT – what he doesn’t have is a natural position in the set up. GP A reckoning is coming Klinsmann has a habit of referring to benchmarking – measuring his team against teams who represent an aspirational level for his players. Yet the results of this benchmarking always seem to be folded towards some unspecified future goal, which is partly the result of Klinsmann’s dual remit as head coach and technical director – he’s a master at strategically pulling focus in a way that makes it hard to call him to account. So while another head coach might be looking at a do-or-die game against Mexico, Klinsmann also has an eye on Olympic qualification, the cycling through of players up the system from under-14 level onwards, and beyond that the more nebulous goals of long-term player development within the USA’s state of sporting exception. And it’s that constantly moving target that’s meant that where other coaches reached absolute moments of reckoning according to how their teams performed in the last World Cup, Klinsmann can simultaneously talk of benchmarking, as though absolute meaningful conclusions can be reached from any single game, while also being able to operate within the more vague criteria for assessment that surround his technical development brief. But if Klinsmann loses to Mexico, then Tuesday’s mauling against Brazil, the Gold Cup collapse and the long malaise after the World Cup will surely begin to put an indelible stain on the coach’s personal record. Perhaps not enough to dislodge him completely from his embedded power base within US Soccer, but perhaps enough to raise more sustained questions about the advisability of having the technical director as head coach. In the former role, Klinsmann is a tireless cheerleader, a willing iconoclast and a figure of enough global stature to enact change within a national system that’s as unwieldy as a supertanker. He may not be able to defer judgement in that regard forever, but it’s certainly feasible that the benefits of his approach do not become apparent until long after his departure. Yet were he a head coach in virtually any other nation, he’d be approaching the Mexico game knowing that anything less than a win might make that departure imminent. GP Meanwhile down south ... Immediately following the punishment dished out by Brazil to the US, it was Mexico’s turn to take on a South American giant as they battled on Argentina in Texas ... on this disaster of a pitch. Rocky terrain aside, it was a revealing encounter, one that showcased all of Mexico’s strengths and weaknesses within a single 90 minute period. Related: Argentina 2-2 México: como pasó Mexico started brightly against the higher-rated Albiceleste, eventually securing a 2-0 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. But in typical fashion El Tri would lose their focus late eventually squandering their lead to a Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero goal and a late Lionel Messi equalizer in the 90th minute. It was a shame as Mexico’s defense held firm for the majority of the match, but after the ageless (his time in the MLS notwithstanding) Rafa Marquez came off, their organization fell apart and Argentina took full advantage. At times however Mexico looked phenomenal. The Central American side has a nasty habit of mimicking the level of their opponent and today was no different as they continuously took the game to Argentina.Still, despite their disappointment there will be some positive takeaways for interim coach Ricardo Ferreira. While Chicharito struggled, his strike partner Raul Jimenez put in one of his best ever performances for the senior team and the likes of Herrera (who scored the second goal) and Diego Reyes all impressed as well. There will be surely be election headaches for the man they call “Tuca” ahead of next month’s encounter, but make no mistake Mexico are coming into that matchup in far better form. However the real highlight of the evening may have been this Donald Trump inspired match preview, which aired on Mexican television. October 10th can’t come soon enough. TR |