The announcement of Jurgen Klinsmann’s 30-man preliminary
World Cup squad has given us some answers (most of them about Eddie Johnson)
and a whole lot more questions (some of them about Eddie Johnson). One of the biggest questions, is who will
start at right back where as many as six of the eleven classified defenders
called into camp can stake a claim. That each of Ghana, Portugal, and Germany has
a dynamic left winger means that whomever Klinsmann chooses will have
a huge say in whether the Americans advance to the knockout rounds.
Let’s run down the candidates that got invited to
Klinsmann’s pre-game and see who should be starting when the full party begins.
Michael Parkhurst
Parkhurst’s legs have always been two steps too slow, but
his ability to think three steps ahead has made him a standout defender in MLS
and Denmark for over a decade. As smart
as Parkhurst is, open field isolation against the likes of Christian Atsu and
Cristiano Ronaldo would prove to be asking too much. Still, his versatility, experience, and tidy
passing ability make him a great candidate to be the fourth center back – the
position he’s played for Gregg Berhalter all season long.
Fabian Johnson
He’s a good bet to start and has largely played right back
for Hoffenheim this season, but Johnson has thrived when given freedom to get
forward with the Stars and Stripes.
Landon Donovan being stuck in first gear (and being labeled a forward by
Klinsmann) means I think we see Johnson as the left midfielder in the Yanks’
first eleven.
DeAndre Yedlin
Young, fast as hell, and a threat to stretch play on the
overlap, Yedlin exists here as pretty much the polar opposite of
Parkhurst. I like Yedlin and was happy
to see him called into camp, but I think this tournament came a year or two too
early for him. He’d bring attacking
thrust from the back, but his propensity to get caught too far forward (most
recently exploited by Diego Fagundez in the Revs 5-0 thumping of Seattle) is a
genuine risk. One for the near future to
be sure, though.
Timmy Chandler
Actually the invite that most surprised me, Chandler hasn’t
played for the USMNT since the 2-1 WC Qualifying loss to Honduras back in
February of last year. The team moved on
without him (or so I thought) and his World Cup hopes seemed to be completely
over after busting his knee with club-side Nuremberg. His pre-injury form was good however, good
enough that he grabbed an invite after proving his fitness in Nuremberg’s final
two Bundesliga fixtures.
If this was FIFA 14 and we could make selection decisions
based exclusively on a neat set of numerical ratings, Chandler would be heading
to Brazil as the team’s more attacking right back option. That’s not a world we live in however, and
Chandler treating the Yanks like his back-up prom date for two years pissed off
just about everyone. The core of this
team is mature enough to accept his (hypothetical) inclusion in the final 23,
but collective toughness and togetherness becomes everything when World Cup
adversity heads your way. I think that
rules out in the end and I think Chandler watches this tournament on television
like the rest of us.
Brad Evans
One of MLS’s standout midfielders (his Sounders teammate
Yedlin appearing on this list), Evans’ conversion into the national team’s
right back has proven to be one of Klinsmann’s most fruitful experiments. Even without the buccaneering style of Yedlin
and Chandler, Evans’ sharp delivery, intelligent positioning, and 90-minute
stamina make him a more logical heir to Steve Cherundolo’s throne than
initially expected. He’s gotten over the
nagging injuries that dogged him to start the MLS season and seems a good bet
to go bushwhacking in the Amazon.
Geoff Cameron
So, after that praise for Brad Evans, I’ve put Geoff
Cameron’s name at the top of my list and it’s not just because he reps
Attleboro, Mass. Simply put, I don’t
know how you ignore the two consecutive seasons he’s had at right back for
Stoke City.
Klinsmann’s initial knock on Cameron was that despite
playing right back, he was essentially rendered an auxiliary center back in
Tony Pulis’ rugby system. Fair enough,
but Cameron was given significantly more freedom to get forward under Mark
Hughes this year and still doesn’t have much love to show for it (I’m not
counting the disastrous Ukraine friendly in which the rest of the back line
read “Castillo – Onyewu – Brooks,” woof).
His delivery from the flanks may not be as cultured as Evans
and he won’t be doing any step-overs like Yedlin and Chandler, but Cameron has
proven to be a reliable, if simple, option moving forward in possession. The former Dynamo is the best defensive option
on this list. Taking into account the
Americans’ aforementioned opposition and the likelihood of Graham Zusi starting
on the right wing, simple but solid possession play with excellent defending should
be good enough.
Final Score:
I’m taking all of Parkhurst, Johnson, Evans, and
Cameron. Parkhurst is my fourth center
back/defensive glue guy, Johnson is my starting left winger, with Cameron
starting at right back and Evans a more than capable replacement. Yedlin looks like he could have a real role
to play moving forward, maybe that 2016 Copa America is his coming out party,
and I think that means the end for Chandler.
Then again, I’m not Jurgen Klinsmann and that’s probably a
good thing.
Posts
11 comments:
Long time reader and love this blog. With Cameron as your first choice RB, and Fab Johnson as your starter at LM, if Cameron struggles with the speed of the likes of Ronaldo, Atsu, etc.. do you honestly think Evans can do a better job? He has been solid for us in qualifying, but he has less pace than Cameron, hasn't been outstanding against the likes of CONCACAF, and he's a natural CM. I've been reading on various websites about his versatility, but CM is packed, so is his versatility even valid? I just can't see how you can't take Chandler as your back up form sheer ability. I don't like his attitude, but I just have too many concerns about Evans.
Brad,
Valid points about Chandler vs. Evans and also Cameron's speed. On the whole, it's really difficult to isolate one position because everyone is so versatile it's like tugging a string and watching the whole thing unravel.
The way I see it: Cameron won't be given starts at holding mid nor CB (unless Omar's knee is shot), leaves him as most in form RB in the pool. Klinsmann could see Cameron as his 3rd CB and that in turn leaves room for two RB's in Evans and chandler.
Good piece, but my only countrpoint on Yedlin is that he is playing the way Sigi is telling to play. Fromthe beginning last year, Seattle shifted the right mid inside to give Yedlin the range to move up. In his last US appearence, he stayed much close to home. I think if you give him the assignment to stay at home, he would adjust.
But write him down for the starting jon in 2018.
I would bring Yedlin. He'd have one job in the tournament: man mark Christiano Ronaldo.
He has the speed to stay with him and with clear instructions to keep him in front of him and not lunge/take chances, he's capable (with support from a midfielder or CB when Ronaldo gets to the corner) of shutting Ronaldo down.
Given our group, if we can shut down Ronaldo, our odds of getting to the knock out stages increase dramatically.
If I was a betting man, I'd bet that we use more than one right back in this World Cup.
There is a nice balance with DMB and f Johnson playing wing backs. Geoff Cameron would make a great sub for jermaine jones at around the 60 th minute mark against Ghana, holding a one goal lead.
I'm not sure it is strictly about speed either, because Puyol has played wingback as an older slower man and absolutely shut down Ronaldo.
Matt this exactly how I see it
I would leave Evans at home just because he doesn't have a high utility of position, and realistically he is not even the best right back on his team.
He did a good job when we needed him, and that is great, but if he makes the squad as more than a sub then we are losing out on an additional valuable player to us tactically.
I wrote an article on this at fixturewire.wordpress.com
Matt -
You are not an official NSC writer until Dicky Kronavich posts an inane response to your article. Now that the seal has been broken, I bid you congratulations!
It was my impression that Chandler was back in JK's good graces and would have been at the Ukraine game/camp if he hadn't hurt his knee. If fit, I think he's going to make the roster.
(Welcome, Matt by the way.)
Has anyone ever asked JK directly? With who and how do you plan on defending CR?
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