Klinsmann’s young team mirrors one Bradley took to South Africa in November 2010…
Neil W. Blackmon and Jon Levy
Check one. Mic check. Check Two. Mic Check.
Is this thing on?
World Cup cycle time. Check one.
The United States begins the long and winding road of another World Cup cycle- let’s call it “The Road to Russia, maybe”– this evening in beautiful Prague. I’ll give the Americans this: they certainly have chosen some resplendent venues for their first friendlies of the new World Cup cycle. Prague. Ireland. It’s enough to make a man want more vacation.
The only thing for certain? We don’t know much of anything and won’t know much of anything until a couple summers from now. The early portions of World Cup cycles tend to be remembered for what they lack and what fails to happen more than what does happen– Benny Feilhaber’s wonder-strike at the 2007 Gold Cup notwithstanding. More often, we remember them for “the lack” – 2011’s failed Gold Cup Final, despite a two goal lead being the most recent memory, coupled with the lack of genuine belief within the US Soccer community at the time that the manager, Bob Bradley, was still the right man for the job.
Speaking of Bradley, the early portions of World Cup cycles also tend to lack experienced players. Bob Bradley capped more players than any manager in US history during his tenure and Jurgen Klinsmann, managing with an ever-expanding player pool, is following the Bradley blueprint.
In November 2010, Bob Bradley called the following players into a friendly at South Africa:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Dominic Cervi (Celtic), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
DEFENDERS (7): Gale Agbossoumonde (Estoril Praia), Nat Borchers (Real Salt Lake), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabaek), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Logan Pause (Chicago Fire), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (3): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Teal Bunbury (Kansas City Wizards), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)
Impressed as a fresh face for Bradley in 2010…World Cup starter, 2014.
If you are scoring at home- that’s six (of 18) American players who were seeking a first cap (in bold) and, for good measure, the first two homegrown US development academy products to earn a camp or call-up (Agudelo, Agbossoumonde). Bob Bradley…innovator.
The roster also included five holdovers from 2010’s group-winning World Cup side (Guzan, Goodson, Bornstein, Spector, Findley) to compliment the new faces. It’s a good blend of youth and salt, but…
What happened? Juan Agudelo makes his star-turn, scoring the winning goal and doing the Erika Tymrak (Did I do that?) goal celebration before Tymrak made it cool.In the process, Agudelo becomes American “new toy” of the year. Fans clamor for his inclusion on the next eight or nine rosters. Some don’t let go until the World Cup camp thirty is named. Agudelo does not make the US team, has a cycle where he floats in and out of the soccer wilderness and equally in and out of the team periphery.
Meanwhile, much more quietly, two other players we aren’t too familiar with: Alejandro Bedoya of Fort Lauderdale and Mikkel Diskerud of Norway, play extensively. Neither score but they do receive among the highest “player ratings” in my post match review( linked here). Both warrant further looks, and you can see, based on how Diskerud commands the ball in the center of the field, why he is so coveted by Bradley. They aren’t the talk of the team that day, but, unlike Agudelo, both start World Cup qualifiers for Jurgen Klinsmann and both make the World Cup roster. One, Bedoya, plays extensively in Brazil.
But another way to look at it is this: for as much excitement as fans had over the US team selected for that South Africa match, only Guzan, Bedoya and Diskerud ultimately made that World Cup team. And Tim Ream and Robbie Rogers- two of the players many publications, including ours, were most excited about entering that match– never play in a World Cup qualifier and don’t sniff invites to the thirty man camp last summer.
Early World Cup cycle matches are, in fact, like a box of chocolates.
The South Africa friendly wasn’t the first match of the 2014 World Cup cycle for the U.S. (a couple of US Soccer money grabs at home in the aftermath of the World Cup preceded it), but it was clear Bradley felt the November match in South Africa represented the time for new beginnings. Applause to Jurgen Klinsmann for following that example to kick off the 2014 cycle.
First TYAC Preview of the World Cup cycle. The usuals and then the particulars.
Series: Czech Republic lead 2-0. The first meeting everyone loathes to remember. Jan Koller. Fifth minute.
The second meeting, against Bradley’s USMNT, a 4-2 Czech win in Hartford in the Send-Off Series 2010. Panic buttons mostly not engaged.
This is the first meeting between the two nations in the Czech Republic.
Weather: Upper 50’s, humid and dry at kick. Slight chance of rain.
Lovely stuff, really. I’d take that in September.
Remember the glory days? Pavel chain smoking stogs before Juve matches? They aren’t here.
Jon Levy on what will we see out of Czech Republic…
Remember the glory days? Pavel Nedved chain smoking stogs before Juve matches, wearing that sports coat that Brendan Fraser tried to make cool in School Ties?
We better at least see an organized team that can keep the ball against a young, experimental lineup on its own home turf, because this team starts Euro 2016 Qualifying early next week against the Netherlands. The Oranje finished third at this summer’s World Cup; Czech Republic watched that tournament on TV.
It’s been an underwhelming eight years for our bohemian opponents; two World Cup cycles characterized by anonymity have followed from a 2006 World Cup that started so brightly against the US, but would ultimately be remembered by all Czechs as a massive underachievement from one of their best teams ever. The team on the pitch Wednesday will be far from one of the best Czech teams ever, though it should be filled with a respectable European level of class and technique. Be assured that in this rare case I mean to use the most boring forms of those terms possible.
This match should bring us yet another partial reboot of an already mediocre Czech Republic side, and that fact prompted me to look at the preview for the friendly these two teams played four years ago. In said preview I wrote, “Michal Bílek is trying to put his stamp on the national team by auditioning a cast of anything but regulars prior to a World Cup that his team will miss out on. It’s a far shout from the thrashing that Pavel Nedved and his compatriots put on the USMNT four years ago on the grandest stage, but Bílek will be looking to find a few gems that can slot in and make a difference in Euro qualifying.”
And while Bílek did find some quality players to help his team to one of the least memorable Euro group wins ever in 2012, he certainly did not find any “gems” or “difference makers.” That’s why English Premier League geriatrics Tomáš Rosický and Petr Čech can still lay claim to being the lifeblood of this squad. So it should come as no surprise that new coach Pavel Vrba comes into this match looking to live up to his reputation and craft an exciting attack out of what’s been one of the Europe’s most boring national teams in recent years. The raw talent is there, all over the pitch. You’ll see it retain possession and make the right passes in this match, but I question whether Vrba can get this team to truly put the foot on the gas so early in his tenure.
Neil W. Blackmon on what to watch for from the United States:
Most of it in the introduction. No thesis statement here. Here’s the team for the match, in case you missed it, first time cap possibilities in bold. Some thoughts on each group below.
Goalies: Cody Cropper (Southampton), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Nothing to see here. Cropper manned the US net at the 2013 U-20 World Cup. He is bald, so looks the US goalkeeper part, but he’s not in the same ballpark for me as a Hamid or MacMath or any of the young US keepers in MLS, to be frank. He’s also another from the “reactive” school of US goalkeeping, which if fine, but it would be nice if someone was a bit more sweeperish. Either way, Guzan and Rimando will split time, per the boss.
A cycle where Fab Johnson can be a star…
Defenders: John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Greg Garza (Club Tijuana), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Michael Orozco (Puebla), Tim Ream (Bolton).
Ream being back is actually more interesting to me than Garza’s inclusion. Garza is a shiny new toy and people will want to see him play, but it’s the Bolton Wanderers club player of the year who fascinates. If he wasn’t good enough coming off the campaign in England to warrant a 30 man camp invite- why is he good enough to invite now, when he’s barely in early season form? And how far is he down the Besler/Gonzalez/Brooks totem pole, really? And why does Klinsmann talk so often about proactive and not reactive soccer but not attempt to utilize ball-playing defenders more often? End of rant.
For Fabian Johnson, probably the first match of a cycle where he’ll be a bona fide star. Better be. Ditto John Brooks, who needs to find consistency first.
Midfielders: Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), Brek Shea (Stoke City)
Hyndman stirs the new toy drink, for me. He’s Schellas’ grandkid, so there’s some American soccer lineage there, and at 18 he’s starting for Fulham in the Championship. Many are slotting him into the starting lineup for Russia/Wherever they end up hosting the World Cup assuming Putin doesn’t blow up Europe in 2018. I refuse to do so. But it will be nice to see him play.
Staple in the center this cycle? Diskerud hopes so.
Bedoya and Diskerud, back where they started, have tenure and will be integral in this cycle if healthy. Julian Green has been loaned to Hamburg, which is a positive thing because it’s a step up from the Bayern reserve side and will allow him to play against higher level competition. Anyone reading Green’s loan as a failure on the kid’s part- feel free to stop reading. All parties wanted the loan and there’s zero shame on not being able to “break in” as a regular on one of the best teams in the universe. He’s nineteen years old, people.
Alfredo Morales gets a nod instead of say, Sacha Kljestan, who is 28 and may be out of national team time. It’s somewhat shocking, to anyone who saw a 22 year old Kljestan play at the Olympics, that he may never make a World Cup team. But life and soccer aren’t fair.
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Joe Gyau (Borussia Dortmund II), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Rubio Rubin (Utrecht), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich)
With Cameron a late scratch, Altidore gets the armband and a chance to play, which are two things that don’t happen for him at Sunderland. Jordan Morris was the story on Twitter when the selections were made– he’s the first college player called up to the senior team since the 1990’s— which is a testament to his prodigious talent but also to the progress the US have made. I don’t think he skips Stanford’s early season matches to not play. For more on Morris– read Will Parchman and read him happily.
Wood has a cap, and likely won’t play.
Joe Gyau is the guy in the group who can help most now. He’s off to a nice start at Dortmund, which, by the way, is a special club and a great place to develop. He’s fast, can help provide the US width at the top of the attacking third, has skill on the ball and likes to sweep onto it from the hashmarks out. All these things are things the US lacks up top, for the most part. And they are different than Aron Johannsson, who is the only player in the pool with a similarly special skill set at this juncture. And Johannsson, as you may have heard, hasn’t been healthy since the spring…
USA Player to Watch: The New Kids, obviously.
Just remember to curb your enthusiasm a bit. Want a guarantee? Someone will play really well who won’t make the World Cup team in four years. But you’ll spend a couple demanding his presence.
Pilar gives the Czech Republic hope that the dog days and darkness since 2006 are past them…
Jon Levy with the Czech Player to Watch: Václav Pilař
Pilař might be as close as former national team coach Michal Bílek came to finding the future of Czech football, so of course this dangerous winger/attacking midfielder has been plagued by injuries and the inability to secure a roster spot at his home club. Wolfsburg saw the flashes that earned Pilař this lofty position in our preview post back in 2012, but the dude can’t stay healthy or find any kind of consistency at club level, so the Bundesliga mainstay keeps loaning him out. That said, three goals in fourteen national team appearances isn’t bad for a young winger (he’s still just 25), and when your best performances for country were on the big stage in Euro 2012, you’re bound to keep getting chances with the national team. Pavel Vrba will hope to coax a slightly late bloom out of Pilař, and John Anthony Brooks will hope the American fullbacks do enough to keep the quick little dude out of the 18 yard box.
Prediction: USA 1 – 2 Czech Republic
I’m hoping this young American squad can build possession through the midfield, and I know that’s what Juren Klinsmann wants to see (unless we get “settle for whatever” Klinsmann who managed the Belgium match), but I think this Czech team with a Euro Qualifying-ready squad will be too much for the young Yanks. I’m tapping match captain Jozy Altidore to lead from the front and bag a goal on one of relatively few opportunities.
Still, enjoy the match, and Go USA!
Jon Levy and Neil W. Blackmon are Co-Founders of The Yanks Are Coming. Follow them on Twitter at @nwb_usmnt and @TYAC_Jon.