On Sunday, Coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced the 26 man call-ups for this weeks camp. The US Men’s National Team plays Mexico in Columbus, Ohio on Friday then travels to Costa Rica for an away match on November 15. The first two matches in the final qualifying stage for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Hex as its referred to is a round robin play for the still standing six teams in the CONCACAF region. The US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, and Trinidad and Tobago will play each other is a home and away series starting this week. The rest of the matches will be played in March, June, August/September, and October of next year. The top three teams will qualify for Russia. Because CONCACAF has 3.5 spots allocated, a the fourth place finisher in the Hex will get a home and away series for one last shot at qualifying. Below is an outline of the camp roster and how I see each position going into the two matches.
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Who Didn’t Get a Callup
Most camps under Jurgen Klinsmann have had some head scratchers or downright controversial decisions. However, this time around there really isn’t much controversy. There are some players who are missing but not the earth shattering stuff we have seen before. So just who is missing?
Geoff Cameron – Clearly the top player not in camp. But no hidden agenda on this one. Geoff is injured and just not able to go.
Darlington Nagbe – Not a surprise he is still in the doghouse for skipping the invite last time around. However, he has also not shown that much when he has played for the MNT. He still has time to make his mark for the qualifying stage and make his case for inclusion in Russia. Look for him in March.
Kyle Beckerman – Kyle has been a mainstay for the MNT for many years and has earned 58 caps. But he is 34 years old and likely past his prime. He could still see some time in the rest of the Hex as a late defensive substitution but its clearly time to move to the next set of players.
With the game Friday night in Columbus, this will mark the 10th time that the MNT has held a WC qualifier in the friendly confines of MAPFRE Stadium. In those matches they are an imposing 7-0-2. And about as important as that record, is their goals allowed. In eleven total matches the MNT has played in Columbus (two friendlies in addition to the qualifiers) they have ten shutouts. A pretty remarkable feat! So with the game looming the end of the week lets look at the camp roster and how that may shake out for the actual starting eleven.
Goalkeepers
Four keepers were called to camp. Tim Howard, Brad Cuzan, Evan Horvath, and William Yarbrough. Don’t look for anybody other than Tim Howard in goal. He has already been named starter for the Mexico match and given that Cuzan hasn’t been getting any minutes for his club team I don’t see him playing against Costa Rica unless he has a really outstanding camp.
Defenders
Matt Besler, Steve Birnbaum, John Brooks, Timmy Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johsnon, DeAndre Yedlin, Micheal Orozco, and Cameron Carter-Vickers. This is a solid group of players with some varied skill sets. Who ends up playing will depend on three factors. The formation Klinsmann wants, how the players look in camp, and his own preferences for certain players. I suspect that they will roll out in a 4-4-2 shape. In that approach, I expect to see a back four of Yedlin, Gonzalez, Brooks, and Johnson. Although it wouldn’t shock me to see him start Orozco (for the life of me I don’t see what Klinsmann sees in him). And perhaps he holds Orozco for Costa Rica.
If I were king for a day I would have the US playing a 3-5-2. In that formation I would start three center backs – Gonzo, Brooks, and Besler and make Mexico play wide and try and cross from the outside. Good luck trying to score in the air with those three in the middle!
Don’t expect to see anything shocking with the back line. They played very well in Copa America Centario and in the friendlies since then. No reason to change much. The one outlier we might see is if we get to one of these matches where its late in the game and the outcome isn’t in question….we just might see a brief appearance by Cameron Carter-Vickers to get him cap tied. Although I think its more likely we see that in the matches in March.
Midfielders
Right now this is a deep group which gives Klinsmann lots of options depending on what he thinks is the best approach to containing Mexico and still have the right tactics to be able to score. So here we have Alejandro Bedoya, Christian Pulisic, Micheal Bradley, Germaine Jones, Sacha Klejstan, Graham Zusi, Julian Green, Lynden Gooch, and Caleb Stanko. The first question that will have to be answered in camp this week is the fitness of Germaine Jones. If he is even at 85% then I think he has to be on the field, even if its for just the first 60 minutes. Assuming that he is fit and that Klinsmann goes with the 4-4-2, then expect to see Bradley, Jones, Pulisic, and Klejstan or Bedoya.
In my 3-5-2, I am playing Yedlin/Klejstan and Johhson wide in the back, Bradley and Jones as defensive containment, and Pulisic wide just behind Wood. This is a very fast outside lineup with guys that have the speed to support the attack and to track back defensively. If we had a lead in the second half then I move Yedlin and Johnson back and switch to a 4-4-2. Subbing out whomever is most tired in the back between Gonzo and Besler and bring on Zusi.
Forwards
The guys called into camp are Jozy Altidor, Jordan Morris, Bobby Wood, and Aron Johannsson. But it looks like Morris may not be able to play, at least in the Mexican match. Hard to know who will get called in to replace him if that’s the case. Although clearly the two forwards going in are Altidore and Wood and I expect them to get the majority if not all the minutes in these next two matches. The interesting thing if Morris is indeed out for both matches will be if Klinsmann goes with one forward to save one for the second match? I doubt that will happen but I wouldn’t shock me to see only Altidore on the field Friday night.
So there you have it. My take on what the starting eleven will look like in the 4-4-2 that I expect Klinsmann to go with and a 3-5-2 I would like to see. Just for kicks here’s a look at a hybrid between those. A 4-5-1.
—————-Altidore—————-
Johsnon——————————–Pulisic
——Jones——————Kjlestan–
—————–Bradley—————
Chandler———————-Yedlin
———-Brooks—–Gonzalez——
——————Howard————
This is an interesting lineup for a couple of reasons. First, it gets our best players on the field in a shape and in positions they are used to playing. Johnson is such a strong attacking player that much of that is wasted if he is a fullback. He just has to be too cautious going forward. Second, Chandler has been playing outstanding defense in the Bundelisga and is ready to handle the pressure from Mexico. And lastly a right side of the field of Pulisic, Klejstan, and Yedlin is scary good and would give Mexico all kinds of problems. The downside of course being that you miss having Wood taking feeds from Altidore. Good to be in a position to have to make these kinds of decisions. Ten years ago we didn’t have the depth to have to worry about this!
Can’t wait for Friday night. Get your game face on and hang on for the ride. Its going to be a tough 90 minutes of some great soccer!
Soccer Analyst
Steve is an avid fan of all things soccer and the O’s. Originally from the west, he grew up in the Baltimore area. He returned to the west for college where he earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University and spent 36 years working at the Idaho National Laboratory prior to retiring in 2013. It was during his school years in Baltimore where he learned to play soccer and that developed into a life long passion. He played competitively for over 40 years and was a four year starting goalkeeper at MSU. He also coached and refereed in the Idaho premier soccer and High School programs for many years.