Klinsmann: Fabian Johnson needs to "rethink approach" to team

You can also turn the analysis around and say that Fabian needs top players around to be productive in midfield. Since we don't have those top players, to the back he goes.

 

That's not true though. Sure, everything is relative. Players are going to perform better with better players around them and Monchengladbach is a better team than the U.S. National Team. We obviously have different views on Johnson. I think he is one of our best attackers. His technical skill and speed of thought is well above our national team average. If we get an opportunity around goal or for a counter, I think we pose more of a threat if Johnson is in those positions over the likes of Bedoya or Yedlin.

 

Not if Deuce, Benny, Juan, Cam and Landon are on the field with him.

 

My position was always that Fab had to play back if he didn't have a scoring foot which he didn't. He developed a scoring foot while JK was basing his evaluation of Fab on old data.

 

Wait, wasn't it Klinsi who said that "anybody can play left back"?

 

The World Cup was when Klinsmann made his first definitive statement regarding where he sees Johnson's position in the national team. Up to that point it seemed really up in the air whether he was going to be a midfielder or defender heading forward, but by playing him as a fullback in a World Cup Klinsmann said he sees a greater value having him on the backline than he does in the midfield. Alright. At the time he, among others, felt that to be the case. Looking back now was this decision correct? I don't even think Klinsmann believes it was considering he has gone back to playing Johnson in the midfield in our last two World Cup Qualifiers.

Prior to the World Cup Johnson started 7 games in the midfield where he had 3 assists (5 wins, 2 losses, 14 goals scored). Not jaw dropping stats, but not bad either considering a guy who had a midfield spot ahead of him in Brazil, Bedoya, has 5 assists over 43 games. Johnson is one of the few multi-dimensional players we have. Our offense is less predictable and has a better flow to it when he's a part of it. Even with all this being said, moving him up isn't going to make much of a difference unless our other problems are addressed along with it. Forcing Bradley into a #10 role has been detrimental to the team. Not having a Nguyen or Feilhaber in the squad has left us with very little options when we need to tactically approach a game in a different way and as a result we've been forced to field teams of square pegs in round holes.

 

Everybody wanted Ozil fired at Arsenal a year ago. Then, Sanchez got injured, Walcott and Campbell were paired with Giroud, and Ozil had targets for his type of game. Now he's looking at a huge extention of his contract. Sometimes it isn't so smart to pick somebody because he is "the best American striker" or pretend that everybody is a 10 and width comes from the fullbacks. It's really about which 4 players we have who can finish each others' sentences, so to speak, in the attacking end.

If we start with Morris and Nguyen as two scorers with good vision, who do we add? I think adding one of Finlay or Fabian makes sense, but not both. So, maybe Morris, Nguyen, Zardes + Fabian (if we want attack out of left mid) or + Finlay (if we want attack from right forward wing). otoh, because he is flexible, we could start Fab at left back with Finlay at right forward and move Fab up when Finlay comes off. That way we have both in the game and width on both sides. Zardes will be better than Jozy because Zardes has aerial ability.

In any case, we never know these things until we try them. Even at the Arsenal.

 

Id argue the Fabian Johnson fiasco has been the culminating point in showing blatantly that Klinsmann is no longer fit to coach the team, if he ever was at all. Not only unprofessional what he did, but immature as well. Almost as immature as his son. almost.

 

Ozil doesn't agree...

“The biggest change started when I was injured last year and I changed my diet and started to look at the small details in my life,” the 27-year-old said. “For example I started to have physiotherapy on my days off and made sure I had a good sleep. That is crucial over here [in England]. It is the fastest league in the world and we often play twice a week with no winter break."

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/22/mesut-ozil-arsenal-secret-success-sleep

Mesut was pretty well known in the past for having an active social life.

 

The whole team is in better physical shape. The difference is huge. It affects the emotional well being of the player as well which improves performance. Klinsmann tends to ignore psychological effects of his physical training methods which is why he will never be a winner for USA.
http://goonertalk.com/2014/06/04/ar...-top-fitness-coach-from-german-national-team/

 

Bump.

 

For what?

 

I don't think it has much to do with his position. I just think he got "fat and happy." It's too bad. He was among our best players last cycle.

 

If we're going to have an ineffective offensive winger, I'd rather have someone that at least brings fire and a bit of speed. Give me Arriola over Fab at this point.

 

Johnson is faster than Arriola, but I agree that Johnson should mainly be used as a LB.

 

I'm willing to cut Fabian some slack yesterday since he is just coming back from an injury layoff and clearly isn't on form. That said, he also hasn't looked great to me in a USMNT shirt since Bruce Arena took over.

 

Arriola has been unimpressive and will contribute little to the USMNT.
Fabian was a total zero last night. If he deigns (or Arena sees his mistake) to play LB or RB, when needed, perhaps he'd be useful.