Will Tim Howard be the American starter for the final two qualifiers? Our panel discusses.
Jurgen Klinsmann will shortly name his 23 man roster for the two decisive Labor Day weekend qualifying matches. Who warrants the call?
TYAC assembled a roundtable of American soccer writers to discuss just that. We’ll release the roundtable in two parts.
Today- goalkeepers and defenders. Because defense wins Hexagonals. Or something like that.
First, the five man panel.
Andrew Marcinko moonlights as a student in Birmingham, England but he also writes for MLS.com and SB Nation’s Orlando City site The Mane Land. Or is he actually a student that moonlights as a soccer writer? I forget…
Pedro Heizer is a Brazilian-American soccer writer who writes for various outlets. He covered Brazil’s national team, Seleção, for MLS.com at this summer’s Copa América. The fans and bloggers over at the website Fifty Five One once accidentally called Heizer, who is the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel’s beat writer for the North American Soccer League’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers, a “fan and blogger.”
Kartik Krishnaiyer is one of the editors at World Soccer Talk. A member of the North American Soccer Reporters, Krishnaiyer’s work has appeared at numerous national outlets. He is also the author of multiple books about the sport and formerly served as communications officer for the North American Soccer League.
And y’all know Jon Levy and Neil W. Blackmon, the co-founders of this site and North American Soccer Reporters.
Introductions outside- let’s talk rosters- without any further Freddy Adu.
Keep in mind this is the 23 man team we’d collectively select, based on individual votes. It in no way reflects what Jurgen Klinsmann, the master tinkerer pragmatist grand-exalted mystic ruler of American football, will do. We know better than to act like we know precisely what Klinsmann will do. And we guarantee y’all that Klinsmann will pull at least one “Jurgen gotta Jurgen.” But hopefully this panel discussion will serve as an effective framing mechanism for how that “Ahh, peak Jurgen” choice is made.
Brad Guzan won the starting job at Middlesbrough, but is off to a difficult start.
GOALKEEPERS (3)
Brad Guzan (Middlesbrough, Premier League)
Bill Hamid (DC United)
Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids)
Just Missed: Ethan Horvath (Molde, Norway); William Yarbrough (León, Liga MX)
PANEL:
Marcinko:
As shocking as it is to say, goalkeeper is creeping from question mark toward weakness for the USMNT. Brad Guzan will need to re-establish himself this year at newly promoted Middlesbrough, but at 31, the former Aston Villa man should just be entering the prime of his career. Tim Howard can play elder statesman in the locker room, and he’d still be my starter in a do-or-die game tomorrow.
Finally, I take the more seasoned Hamid over Ethan Horvath to back up Guzan. Hamid had the best year of his career in 2015, and after missing time for injury, has posted 4 shut-outs through 10 matches for DC United in 2016.
Levy:
If the discussion is– “Player Who Helped His Case in the Copa”, I think the answer surprisingly is Tim Howard.
The American mainstay was relegated to backup for the big summer tournament. So he had to wait until the third place match to outplay Brad Guzan on TV. He did just that though, so Jurgen should have a decision to make.
Player Who Should Be Called Up: Bill Hamid
All he did during the Copa was get healthy, and return to form as both the best, and most athletic goalkeeper in MLS. After years of uncertainty about the future of the GK position with the national team, I’m confident in saying, “Bill is next.” But when?
Kartik:
Guzan the best option right now. Can he keep playing at Boro? That’s the biggest question.
Heizer:
Only reason I’m putting Tim Howard on this list instead of Will Yarbrough is because Howard has the leadership and the veteran savvy needed to groom a keeper like Hamid to take over as the number one of the USMNT. Guzan has to yet again reestablish himself in Europe with a new team, and Howard is clearly not the same guy from 2014 versus Belgium, although he has been playing well for the Colorado Rapids.
The best guy? It’s Hamid. And these are two games where Hamid should be the starter to give the youngster some confidence as they continue to groom him to take over the job. What better place to start than when games matter?
Blackmon:
Guzan plays in the best league and has equaled his win total from last season in one match. So there’s that. He’s still a formidable shot stopper as well. But he also has games like he did in the EFL Cup this week. Yikes.
Hamid is a better shot stopper, but the US should wait until after qualifying to move to the DC United man as the number one. It’s almost time- but I’m with Andrew– if I had to win one match tomorrow- I’m still going Tim Howard. And sitting second and needing results to get out of the group and into the HEX- that’s what Jurgen Klinsmann ought to do in these two matches.
Our kingdom for a left back.
DEFENDERS: (7)
John Brooks, Hertha Berlin (Bundesliga)
Geoff Cameron, Stoke City (Premier League)
Steve Birnbaum, DC United
Omar Gonzalez, C.F. Pachuca (Liga MX)
Timothy Chandler, Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga)
DeAndre Yedlin, Newcastle United (Football League Championship)
Jorge Villafaña, Santos Laguna (Liga MX)
Just Out: Matt Besler, Sporting Kansas City; Cameron Carter-Vickers, Tottenham Hotspur; Edgar Castillo, C.F. Monterrey; Jon Bornstein, Querétaro; Matt Miazga, Chelsea; Keegan Rosenberry, Philadelphia Union
PANEL:
Marcinko:
My kingdom for a left back!
Out of principle, I refuse to include Fabian Johnson on this list. The next best option at left back fro the US could be the Abraham Lincoln’s reanimated corpse, and Fabian Johnson would still add more to the team on the wing. Fortunately, there are actually a number of intriguing options at the moment, but I give the nod to Villafana over Jonathan Bornstein and Edgar Castillo. Besler earns a call due to his consistency and proven ability to shift to RB in a pinch, but CCV and Miazga represent the future and deserve playing time should Cameron or Brooks miss time. Omar Gonzales may actually be the third best CB in the USMNT pool, but misses out for me for the above reasons, not to mention his previous USMNT struggles.
Blackmon:
Even if the US had a left back (they do!), Jurgen Klinsmann probably wouldn’t call him in (see, summer, 2016). But I’m with you on Fabian Johnson. There’s some merit of course to put your best 11 players on the field. There’s also merit to playing your best player where he’s most effective for a Champions League team in one of the world’s best three leagues. And for Fabian Johnson, that still isn’t left back.
I’m going Villafaña here over the likes of MLS Rookie of the Year candidate Keegan Rosenberry, who deserves about as much credit as anyone for what’s happening in Philadelphia, and the likes of Kellyn Acosta, who really isn’t a fullback. Villafaña has parlayed being instrumental in a MLS Cup run to playing time in a superior league, and he’s younger and more viable long-term than Jon Bornstein, who has been a stalwart in Liga MX at Querétaro and Edgar Castillo, who deserved to be at the Copa this summer but has faded a bit at Monterrey of late.
A champion with Pachuca, Gonzalez’s inclusion- or lack thereof- challenges Klinsmann’s mantra about rewarding players that challenge themselves.
The CB situation is more interesting. Injuries and a bit of bad form have hit the usually consistent Besler fairly hard. I think Steve Birnbaum has replaced him as option “A” off the bench. Geoff Cameron needs to win his starting job at Stoke back but he’s earned the right to remain the national team starter at present. And Omar Gonzalez, who has had a great year-plus with Clausura champion Pachuca, is playing terrific soccer in a better league than MLS. If he isn’t on this roster, then it is yet another lesson that Klinsmann is only selectively applying his “I reward you for challenge yourself at the highest level” mantra.
Kartik:
I’d like to give Cameron-Vickers a full national team camp to see how he does.
The Yanks are in a tough spot if you look at the standings in a vacuum but given the opponents, they should get through. A road qualifier in some outlying haunt of the Caribbean begs Klinsmann to give some guys that aren’t usually in the mix a shot. Carter-Vickers, who is a chiseled piece of iron, might be a good guy to give a shot.
I’d give Matt Miazga a look too. Play your kids!
Levy:
I’ll stick with my previous theme.
Who’s the “Player Who Helped His Case in the Copa?”: John Brooks. And by a lot. Maybe more than any player at the tournament.Duh.
We’ll be sticking with this Brooks/Cameron partnership for a while now. Thanks.
Player Who Should Be Called Up: Omar Gonzalez. Dominant CB in a league where there are a bunch of really slick attacking players. He has to get back in the team.
If I felt the logical USMNT left back had made himself apparent I’d have selected him over Omar. But that hasn’t happened. So we’re likely still stuck with playing the team’s best player, Fabian Johnson, back there.
That said, I’m still not convinced Omar isn’t the best guy to slot in for John or Geoff if one of them gets hurt or suspended. Gonzo’s playing well in Mexico, and his game may have surpassed Besler’s and Orozco’s. Get him into some camp battles and find out.
Heizer:
I know he’s been hurt and struggled at his club because of it, but I’d bring Matt Besler. He’s positionally so good and he’s been one of the most consistent players in the USMNT under this manager. Reality is that alongside DeAndre Yedlin, John Brooks and Geoff Cameron, the US had a good Copa America defensively this summer, save the Argentina game. Klinsmann should stick with combinations. If he does, the US will continue to find success in that backline.
Omar Gonzalez will return to the National Team after not being in the Copa and will be a benefit for the team as they will need all the help they can get to get in the HEX.
Stay tuned for Part II, where we’ll talk midfield and forward.