Overall I believe the 5 match tourney was a good experience. We are top of the table in our group with our trip to Guatemala completed. I enjoy the new style on the pitch and yet I appreciate that these specific guys will have issues adjusting but these will lessen as they play together more. I also realize that guys coming up will also see what is expected of them and will turn their focus to the new style. I am not JK, so I do not know who he would like to include on the team between now and the "hex" next year, but based on this tourney this is my take on the guys. Gooch might still have a place on the team but not in the first XI. His quickness such as it was is gone. Boca showed leadership but the help wanted wanted sign is out at CB. Dolo and Johnson have locked down the outside backs. The midfield (IMO by far the most important part of the team using this style) looks set with Edu, Bradley and Jones in the center. More time together will only help reduce the issues and increase the beauty. Stay healthy and on the pitch guys. Up top has Gomez, Donovan and Dempsey. My personal favorite would be to put Jozy in there because IMO I think he brings more to the team. I assume that JK was using the tourney to send a message to the squad about coming into camp ready to go. What can you say about Demps! Donovan is relying more on maturity and IMO is opening up a PT position for someone to backfill. I hope Wondo and Parkhurst enjoyed the trip as I am not sure they will be in the USMNT plans in the future as both will be north of 30 next WC. Beckerman will continue to get minutes. Boyd, Castillo, Corona and Torres will continue to get looks. The core is set, which was the stated goal of this tourney. Overall I am very pleased with the team right now! What say you?
A few general critiques, good and bad. Good: 1. Brought Jermaine Jones back into the starting XI. 2. Finally gave Herculez Gomez a chance. 3. Learned that the best use of Maurice Edu is a strict DM role 4. Against Guatemala, somehow got around a FIFA law stating that only 7 players can make the bench. Bad: 1. In the three matches the US out-possessed their opponents, they attacked far less effectively. 2. The over-emphasis on fitness in training, especially once the matches that counted had started. 3. In a similar point, he didn't really utilize the entire squad. Klinsmann should have given a start to a backup GK, Parkhurst, Beckerman, Corona and Wondolowski and rotated out Howard, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Bradley and Donovan 4. Utilizes the best, most experienced DM on the squad as an attacking player, not a DM. Not even once. Overall: 4 points in the 3 friendlies + 4 points in the 2 WCQs = adequate.
Did anyone come up with an explanation for this? Law 3 says: The Regulations for FWC 2014 Brazil (I assume that's the relevant doc) has this in Section 17 ("List of Players"): I don't see anything else that implies you can't have 12 players on the sub list. The match report on the FIFA site lists 12 subs for Guatemala. So...I guess FIFA match regulations can supercede the Laws of the Game?
Agree with most everything even the bad, as those did happen. But JK said he was going to run the guys to test fitness. JK also said he was looking for a core. With the exception of CB, those guys aren't his core. For better or worse, those guys will need some help to get a chance at the core.
I like Edu, Bradley and Jones but I don't think they belong on the field together. We're not getting true value out of these players in the current roles they are deployed. It was blatantly obvious that we need someone with more offensive skills in the attacking midfield role. Jozy can't be starting if he shows the effort and fitness he showed last night. I'd much rather see Gomez who worked a lot harder and finds way to score goals, pretty or not. If Jozy is able to show better and fight for his spot I'd have no problem seeing him back in the starting lineup. I think it might be going a little too far to say the core is set. The only guys I see as part of the core at this point would be Dempsey, Howard, Johnson, Jones and Bradley. Others that people might consider the core (Donovan, Boca and Cherundolo) are getting old and starting to show it in different ways. Do we really consider Goodson a core player? I still hope we can do better at CB. Who starts up top? In the camp before the last World Cup we basically had an open casting call to see who could put the ball in the net. Three players I'd like to see get back in the picture as time permits would be Holden, Lichaj and Shea. Holden could compliment Bradley and Jones in a way that Edu doesn't. Clearly, he first needs to get healthy and win a starting spot with Bolton before this happens. In retrospect, it was a mistake to leave Lichaj off the roster. I'm a big Dolo fan but he did not look good last night. Might Lichaj be a better option here or possibly at LB allowing F. Johnson to move up to the black hole on the wing. Speaking of wings, B. Shea has had a rough go of it lately but was the hot commodity a year ago. He's still very young and has the physical tools that few others have. He can also provide desparately needed help on the flanks, which was clearly missing over the last 5 games. In the end, I still see a lot of issues that need to be addressed and I think we'll see quite a bit of roster movement from now through the end of the Hex.
True, I think most of us felt it was a suspect omission from the beginning. I guess I'm thinking more from JK's perspective once he looks back at his roster selections.