I am no Wizards fan, but if I ask who has impressed me the most in all the games I have seen, and warrants the big call to USMNT: Chris Klein. He is an animal-huge, strong, fast, pretty skilled and the sucker has an excellent shot. I am not saying he has a position on the flank locked up, but someone will have to work VERY hard to beat him for the slot.
I watched Chris play all four years at IU, and was always impressed by the technical abilities he posseses, while being of such an imposing size......he is a REALLY big man. I don't know what has held him back from breaking in with the national team.....I also would hesitate to call him a lock, but he can definately kick that midget Coby Jones' ass up and down the right side of the field. That's it...my USA National team philosophy in a nutshell, PLEASE DEAR GOD GET COBI OFF OUR TEAM! AMEN
Klein was in, getting a start in the final critical game at Barbados in the first round of qualifying. Also played well in a friendly against Mexico (Landon's first cap), but a knee injury cost him his chance. He is really just now coming back into that form. In the future, when we have the likes of Klein & Suarez, we will be able to physically dominate, and have the "dance" of the game, with skill of Donovan, Beasley etc. James
hey, Cobi has been a valuable player for the USA for a long time and had an excellent World Cup so give the man his props. That said, it is not an issue. Cobi is in his 30s, Klein is what, 25? Also, given the number of good, small players the USA has, we need a few big men to bring some power to the offense AND defence. Klein is a beast.
with Sanneh, Pope and McBride on the wrong side of 30 in 2006, we will need some big tough guys in our line-up, especially against Euro teams. Chris is a tough guy who can play.
Another factor is that there are continually more and more players who still contribute at later ages now. 30 isn't as old as it used to be in football. Training and diet regimens have made careers more productive for a longer time. I think this will continue as nutrition and training advances keep getting better. Klein would be a nice addition to the pool IMO.
Klein is good, but I think Ruiz and Twellman deserve to be 1-2 in player of the year voting as far as MLS players. Nat team consideration is something different all together, but I have no problem with Klein getting some friendly game action in the off season.
To be fair, Klein has only recently started to get hot. He was not impressive earlier in the year. He needs to improve on his crossing, but other than that, he has all of the physical tools and skills to do something productive with the US. Recently he's been playing an attacking right back position in a 442, and pretty much has to work the entire right flank so he's definitely a horse.
I'm not too impressed with Klein as the man is quite slow for international competition, but he can help the team when brought in for the last 15 mins or so.
That's Klein's one big drawback. Slow speed of play. This comes from several factors, including speed of thought, foot speed, quickness, and ball control. Hopefully he will learn to play a little faster, as MLS pace doesn't cut it at the international level.
he doesn't look slow to me. And those other guys play different positions and are much smaller. If the USA team is not to be the Lilliputians, we need some horses.
Chris is a very good player and should be playing a lot for USA, he is by far the best Wiz player and personally the best pure rightsided mid fielder in America. He has size, touch, vision and pace to help USA...also he's a lot faster than people think
I always thought Klein would be a nasty outside back in Arena's attacking 4-4-2. Guy's huge, you forget when he's on TV but every time he comes to New England it's striking how big he is. He could develop in the Sanneh mold... big winger converted to defense to better utilize physical attributes but still brings the ball up extensively. Question is (probably best answered by KC fans), how's his defense?
The emphasis should be on pure rightsided midfielder -- Arena, unlike traditional American coaches, does not reserve a position for a "pure" left or right midfielder. As the previous poster notes, right back appears to be a better fit in Arena's system.
I can't agree. He is pretty damn effective in midfield. As a Revs fan, I can tell you that one of the worst sights to see is Klein rumbling down the wing with the ball. He is NOT going to be stopped by a little shoulder charge either. You either need a two-footed tackle or an elephant gun!
His defence is allrigth, but really his main strength is playing a pure mid position. a few times he covers as a right outside back, but realy, his main effectivness comes from midfield.
In MLS that is. On the international level, whether he has the ability to be an effective midfield attacker is yet to be determined. And in Arena's systems, midfielders can attack down the wings but they better be able to operate in the middle as well.
Against Germany, we started Frankie Freakin' Hejduk at RWB. I've long thought Klein was a tweener, so now that Bruce has discovered the 3-5-2, maybe he can be our right wingback. He won't have any responsibilities toward the center, but he'll have alot of defensive AND offensive responsibilities on his side.
I liked the guy that jumped onto the field during the rain delay at the All-Star game and shanked the ball wide of the open net. the mooner also looked pretty impressive as well.
Um - those Lilliputians got us to the quarters ... but I think I get your point. This thread is all about size??!!
Superdave -- Arena played the 3-5-2 years ago with DCU and at the beginning of his Nats run. Arena has always known of and considered the 3-5-2, it's just a question of what he thought was the best use of personnel considering the personnel available and the opponents. There is very little difference between a 3-5-2 and a 4-4-2 the way Arena plays them. Bruce S -- not sure that I implied that other candidates under 28 are more proven than Klein at the international level, but sticking to guys that can play some type of right-sided midfield role, I believe that Donovan, Kirovski and Ben Olsen have proven themselves to be offensive threats on the international level, to varying degrees. In the few times Klein has played, he has not shown me much. I guess my main point is that my current opinion is that he is not skilled enough to cut it internationally in a four man midfield. I am certainly open to the possibility that I am wrong. Now in a 3-5-2, Klein goes much closer to the head of the list as a right wingback.
I think someone mentioned that Klein's crosses aren't good, but I disagree, I think they're quite good, especially the low hard ones to the feet of onrushing attackers. On the move, he's a hoss--great power and enough speed to at least use his leverage on a defender. Also tremendous stamina. He's only vulnerable when he's not moving--it's his on-the-ball skills that I think need a little more work. I've seen him dispossessed with some frequency at the top of the box by a double team if he doesn't cross immediately. Shielding, subtle chips, back heels, all the delicate touch things in the attack he's not as good at. He's better either taking it to the line and getting in a cross/winning a corner kick, or taking it inside and letting rip far post with that cannon of a leg.