Brad Guzan will lead the US into Gold Cup play in just six weeks. Who joins him?
TYAC STAFF
Greetings, Yanks fans!
With the Gold Cup only a month and a half away, it is time for TYAC to take a detailed look at the roster. To do that, we’ve assembled four soccer writers who have seen an international or three and asked them to debate it out. We felt a debate and discussion would be preferable to a 1-23 list.
Let’s introduce the roundtable.
Jon Levy is Co-Founder and Co-Editor of The Yanks Are Coming. He’s the author of more US Soccer gameday previews than just about anyone in US Soccer, co-founding a site that hasn’t missed a gameday preview in six years. Follow Jon on Twitter at @TYAC_Jon.
Neil W. Blackmon is Co-Founder and Co-Editor of The Yanks Are Coming. His writing appears here and has appeared at The Shin Guardian, World Soccer Talk and A Football Report, among other publications. Follow him on Twitter at @nwblackmon.
Jay Bell is a journalist based in Arkansas whose soccer writing has appeared in The Yanks Are Coming, The Shin Guardian and other publications and who has been a mainstay of soccer Twitter for several seasons. Follow him on Twitter at @jaybellhs.
Andrew Marcinko is a soccer writer out of Orlando. He covers Orlando City for The Mane Land, founded the now-defunct Footy America and has written for The Yanks Are Coming and MLS.COM among others.
Today we highlight goalkeepers and defenders.
Is Bill Hamid heading to the Gold Cup? Our writers think so.
GOALKEEPERS:
NEIL:
Starting with goalkeepers is easiest, so why not?
I’ve argued this should be Guzan and young dudes, with all due respect to Nick Rimando. So I’d choose:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa FC), Bill Hamid (DC United), William Yarbrough (León)
Why? I think you start the Howard and Guzan transition now!
Remember at the Copa in 2007– Kasey Keller captained the Americans sure but Bob Bradley took 1 cap Brad Guzan because, the future. No Tim Howard, no “Hey Brad Friedel don’t retire” speeches. I think you move forward starting this summer. NIck Rimando is a fine goalkeeper but he’s never the US #1 at a World Cup and he’s had his Gold Cup in the sun. You want to reward him? Bring him to the Copa next year. But he’s done enough.
Okay. That’s a start. Feel free to add to the keepers discussion or start in on defenders. Don’t be afraid to be wrong- if you weren’t- you’d be channeling Klinsmann and that’s frightening enough.
JAY:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa FC), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Bill Hamid (DC United)
Why? You still have to roll with your top two guys in any tournament unless there’s some sort of clash between the two. If the US has locked up winning the group after two matches, then you can give Hamid some experience. If Guzan goes down at any other point in the tournament – especially the knockout rounds when the Wall of Wasatch could be particularly valuable in a shootout – you want Rimando as your guy, not Hamid. Another good thing about Rimando is you don’t have that clash. Guzan is clearly the No. 1 guy right now and Rimando would show up with the right attitude to be No. 2.
With Howard still away, is Rimando a required insurance policy? Most our roundtable says yes.
Andrew:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa FC), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Bill Hamid (DC United)
Why? If Klinsmann was inclined to bring in a young third-string keeper just for the experience, he would have brought Hamid to Brazil. Rimando is still the more consistent player, and he’s the one I’d want starting if something were to happen to Guzan. 24 is very young in keeper-years, and it shows for Hamid on occasion. For every incredible, stand-on-your-head performance (D.C. vs. Orlando City, 4/3), there’s a match where he gives up a soft goal to hurt his team (D.C. vs. NYRB, 4/11). This inconsistency is pretty normal for a keeper of that age, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’d rather have the veteran Rimando in net for the Gold Cup.
Also, Rimando’s locker room presence can’t be overstated, especially among the Spanish-speaking players. He’s universally respected, particularly by the MLS contingent, and there’s a lot of value in that for this type of tournament.
Omar Gonzalez and Jeremaine Jones could headline the US back four at the Gold Cup. Should they?
DEFENDERS:
JON:
Defenders: Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Matt Besler (Sporting KC), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Ventura Alvarado (Club America), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), DeAndre Yedlin (North East London), Brek Shea (Orlando City), Greg Garza (Tijuana), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest)
Why: You probably noticed that one the team’s most talented players, Fabian Johnson, is not on this list. With all due respect to Berti Vogts, Fab J changes games on a more consistent basis when he’s deployed as a midfield winger. I know this is a controversial topic, but the best the USMNT has ever seen out of Johnson came when he was on the left wing ahead of overlapping machine DaMarcus Beasley. His club Borussia Monchengladbach gets it, and I think Jurgen is finally back on board. Meanwhile, DeAndre Yedlin showed enough growth in the last Mexico match to be given a chance to make the right back position his own. I’m good with Shea and Garza fighting it out at left back, and yes, I’ll be rooting for the Brekken. I no longer feel badly about excluding Timmy Chandler from any US squad, and Jurgen’s apparent behind the scenes blood feud with Eric Lichaj should be put aside so the wing defender can prove his worth with his speed, work rate, and versatility. As for my center back selections, they speak to the failure of Klinsmann’s post-Brazil open tryouts experiment. Jermaine Jones, who was supposed to be key to that program, didn’t even perform up to “emergency defender Maurice Edu” levels, and it’s a possibility that guys like Birnbaum and Hedges suffered for that. Either way, here are three center halves we took to the World Cup and a ray of hope, for many, in the form of new Liga MX “star” Ventura Alvarado. May he become the player that many hoped Michael Orozco could be.
NEIL:
Remember the Gold Cup has funky rules where you can swap four players after the group stages. This matters a great deal I think, given the US group is soft, even by CONCACAF standards.
Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Michael Orozco (Puebla), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), John Brooks (Hertha BSC), Greg Garza (Tijuana),Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC)
Why? I think at least one of the four Gold Cup swap rule moves comes at this position. Jermaine Jones isn’t getting any younger, is terribly vulnerable in the air, and is playing a new position. Naturally then, Klinsmann will only call him in when the stakes get higher. I’d bring him in the group stages to get him reps, but could see that spot going to a youngster like Alvarado instead. In a world where Klinsmann values reps for Jones at a new spot rather than fresh legs, I think veteran Omar Gonzalez is called in for the knockout stages.
Centerback is tougher: remember Klinsmann seems to like an even number on the right and the left. He’s auditioned a bunch of players for these coveted spots: Matt Hedges, Steve Birnbaum, Perry Kitchen, Tim Ream. In the end I think he goes with his trust in Jermaine Jones and Besler and then as many of the European guys as he can.
For me, fullback was easier as Johnson, Yedlin and presumably Shea are mainstays. Garza has gotten extended repetitions since October, so he’s in for me even though I think there’s an argument for Robbie Rogers. That’s really the only spot there that troubles me.
If Klinsmann’s challenge yourself abroad rules matter, we’ll see Geoff Cameron this summer.
JAY:
Defenders: Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha BSC), Ventura Alvarado (Club America), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC), Greg Garza (Tijuana).
Why? Omar Gonzalez may be one of the most unnecessarily over-criticized players in the USMNT pool, along with Mix Diskerud and Brek Shea. He just gets the job done. OG showed what he can do with competent players around him in the World Cup and again in the latest “Dos a Cero” against Mexico. He is still prone to some derp moments, but those moments are decreasing in frequency and influence. Besler hasn’t been in his best form, but he’s still comfortable with others on the team. Brooks and Alvarado are direct replacements for Gonzalez and Besler. Most of us would say Tim Ream at Bolton should be the next guy in line, but Klinsmann and reasons and challenges or whatever this week’s explanation is.
Every morning when I wake up, I think, “Maybe this is the day US fans accept Geoff Cameron as a right back,” and I’m always disappointed. Public opinion and pressure from Klinsmann forced Cameron to push for a more central role with Stoke after a season when he garnered player of the year consideration as a right back. It’s dumb and I want it to end. The US doesn’t need him as a centerback and he’s the best pure right back in the pool, yes, even over Johnson who is better in the midfield as Jon said. Shea, Garza and Yedlin are about as close to guarantees as you get for the US right now. A lot of us wish that Lichaj would have had a chance by now, but Klinsmann and reasons and challenges or whatever this week’s explanation is.
Brek Shea has been quite good for Orlando City, building Gold Cup confidence.
ANDREW:
Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Omar Gonzalez (L.A. Galaxy), John Brooks (Hertha BSC), Greg Garza (Tijuana), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ventura Alvarado(Club America), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution) DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC)
Some tough calls on the backline, with World Cup veteran Geoff Cameron just missing the cut here. I think Omar Gonzalez’s play so far in MLS this year warrants him a fresh look following his rough World Cup, and Besler is still Mr. Reliable. I’m personally very excited to see more of 22-year-old Ventura Alvarado at center back, and Jermaine Jones makes the cut over Geoff Cameron based more on Klinsmann’s personal tastes than either’s play on the field (Jones has been horrid for New England when he’s been deployed at CB). I do think there’s a good chance Cameron is added for the knockout stages though.
As an Orlando City beat writer, of course I’m excited to see what Brek Shea can bring at left back in meaningful games. I think it’s the right move for Orlando moving him back to wing for the time being, but I’m disappointed he’s not getting the reps at fullback. Still, with Johnson better in midfield and Damarcus Beasley retired from international play, things are wide open at the position. Just a thought, but I wonder if Klinsmann might consider starting Bedoya on the left wing to help cover defensively for Shea. Johnson has been great cutting onto his preferred left foot from the right wing, and Yedlin has the defensive experience to better deal with less help on that end.
Disagree? Think you can do better? Think we did great? Want to wish us a Happy Memorial Day? Join us in the comments section.
Written by: Neil W. Blackmon on May 22, 2015. 
