Improvements Must Come Soon

When Jürgen Klinsmann took over as the US mens national team coach on July 29th everyone expected the team to start producing goals or at the very least some attacking play that Klinsmann's Germany team displayed in their 2006 World Cup run. After six games under the new regime the team is just 1-1-4 which includes a disgraceful loss at the hands of Costa Rica's "B" team.



No one should have expected immediate results, but at this stage the Klinsmann era looks all too familiar to the end of the Bob Bradley era. The team has managed to muster up a mere two goals in their six games, and in the majority of those games they have not even had scoring chances. In the 1-0 loss to France today the US had no more than a half chance. While the defense looked solid for the vast majority of the game all it took was one chipped through ball and a nice finish from Loic Remy to hand the US another defeat. The US team seems to be relying on their defense to keep them in games. That is not what we thought we were going to see when Klinsmann took over.

To be fair Klinsmann has not had the full stock of US players to use at his disposal. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey are yet to play alongside one another in the six games under Klinsmann. Jose Torres who got off to a hot start unfortunately suffered a foot injury that has sidelined him since the end of September. Then there is the sad story of Stuart Holden, who was arguably the best player on his Bolton squad in the English Premier League last season. Holden suffered a brutal knee injury at the end of the 2010 Premier League season which kept him off the pitch for six months and when he finally returned he was out for another six months before he knew it. Torres and Holden are clearly missed in the center midfield, as the combination of Kyle Beckerman and Maurice Edu have yet to produce any sort of attacking play from the center-mid spots.

Klinsmann has also taken some heat for leaving off LA Galaxy center back, Omar Gonzalez, who was recently named to the MLS Best XI squad. Klinsmann has inexplicably kept Michael Orozco Fiscal in the rotation over Gonzalez. Orozco Fiscal has shown nothing in the friendlies he has played in. It is hard to criticize Klinsmann's back line selection for the France game though. Bocanegra was his solid consistent self, and Clarence Goodson played an almost impeccable game (it was ruined by Loic Remy when he bodied off Goodson to score). It is safe to say the US has found its answer to the enigma that is the left back position. Timmy Chandler has certainly had some poor moments (crosses), but for the most part he has been just what the US needed at left back.

Brek Shea, who is going to start training with Arsenal after the Slovenia game, has played well, and has arguably been the best player under Klinsmann but he still has yet to have a truly breakout performance. Danny Williams has been a non factor on the right wing, but he is really only keeping Landon Donovan's spot warm for now. Jozy Altidore has been in form since heading over to AZ Alkmaar, but can Klinsmann really expect him to be the answer as a lone striker? Personally I would love to see two strikers play at the same time, because this current formation with Jozy alone up top is not working.

The most important thing to keep in mind though is that these friendlies don't technically mean anything. While it may be worrisome to see the lack of offensive production under Klinsmann, ultimately it does not really matter right now. The goal of these friendlies should be to find players who can get the US side into the 2014 World Cup. So while the results are not particularly troubling to me, the player selection, formation, and strategy are. World Cup qualification is just around the corner, and if the team goes into it playing the way they are right now, they might not get out.

When Klinsmann took over the Yanks I was ecstatic. I still think he has the potential to be the game changer that this program needs, but through six games I have my concerns.



Quick Side Note:
---The US U-23 team also kicked off their Olympic qualifying campaign today with two scrimmages. One against VFL Bochum's reserve team and one against Azerbaijan. Each scrimmaged featured a different group of players from the U-23 camp. The game against Bochum featured more of the guys expected to carry the Olympic team, while the second group was made up of mostly U-20 players. The US won 3-1 over Bochum and drew 0-0 against Azerbaijan. Some players to keep an eye on in this group are; Mix Diskerud, Terrance Boyd, Joe Corona, Perry Kitchen, and DMV born and and raised Joe Gyau. Hopefully by the time 2014 rolls around some of these guys have blossomed into senior level players.