by Sean Maslin
It is amazing what some California sun can do. Prior to Sunday’s match against Panama, there wasn’t much that U.S. Men’s National Team supporters could be pleased about. The team was win-less in their past nine matches and had given up 9 goals in the second half during that same time frame. If a poll had been taken among USMNT supporters the question as to what player had a great series of friendlies would have been met with a response of “no one” and a series of expletives.
But a lesson seemed to be learned on Sunday which is that these are friendlies and that players and teams will go through growing pains. It is better to take ones lumps in friendlies by learning what players can work and what players need to go back to their clubs and have some fine tuning than to learn it in a match of importance. Ask Greece about the difference between a friendly and a qualification match for a major tournament.
So after an interesting, but disappointing defeat against Chile and an uplifting victory over Panama what have we learned about the USMNT going forward? What players have shown that they can make a difference and what players need to spend more time with the club?
Here are a couple of players that have helped their cause with Jurgen Klinsmann and three players that might need some work:
Three Players On The Rise:
1.) Gyassi Zardes– Sunday’s man of the match, at least in the eyes of the supporters, Zardes had a coming out party at the StubHub Center. Perhaps it was the home cooking, but Zardes brought a dimension to this team that they had not seen since Charlie Davies made the Spanish look lost in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
The Zardes-Davies comparison is important because like Davies, Zardes has the speed on the outside to break up defenses for Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey. This was on full display on Sunday when the Panamanian defense had no answer in matching not only his pace, but his passing in space. Los Angeles Galaxy supporters have known this for years with his work with Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan. The rest of the country found out on Sunday.
Going into MLS 2015, what will be interesting to watch is if he can up his production now that Donovan has retired. The addition of Steven Gerrard helps the Galaxy but it does not address the loss of Donovan on the attacking end. That falls to Zardes. Much more will be expected of the 23 year old who scored 17 goals last season. How he responds to the added pressure will dictate his future with both the Galaxy.
2.) Miguel Ibarra- The NASL got quite possibly the best publicity Sunday when Ibarra became the first NASL player since Perry Van Der Beck of the Tampa Bay Rowdies 25 years ago.But Ibarra did not just make a token appearance with the USMNT on Sunday, he helped lead the attack and showed poise and confidence against a very dangerous Panama attack.
For Ibarra the big question will be continuing to maintain superior while playing in essentially the second division of North American soccer. Minnesota United showed at times they could play in any league in North America. But they sputtered late in the season, losing to the New York Cosmos in the NASL Playoffs. It is rather simple: for Ibarra to continue making appearances with the USMNT the Minnesota United need to continue to perform well. A US Open Cup berth would not hurt.
3.) Brek Shea- Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Brek Shea has come back to the United States looking to change his career. His goal against Chile was certainly a confidence boost, but his form and ability to adapt to the left-back position against Panama was more impressive. Without as many attacking obligations in the standard 4-4-2 Sunday, Shea could focus more on tracking and marking.
If the long-term goal is to use Shea in the wing-back position then he will need to go to a place where he can play and learn. That clearly was not happening at Stoke so the move Orlando City SC should help. Orlando SC Coach Adrian Heath is also a firm believer in maintaining defensive shape and staying in position. While coaching OCSC in USL Pro last season, he helped develop one of the league’s stingiest defenses.
Three USMNT Players Who Have Some Work To Do:
1.) Bobby Wood- Any time your forward looks afraid and lost on the pitch it is never a good idea. Against Chile he looked like a player completely out of his element and generally not able to play on the level with Chile. That is bad news when most of the players play in the Chilean Primera Division, a quality league but not an elite league.
The good news for Wood is that while his international career might have taken a bit of a hit during this recent international break, his club situation may have improved. After having troubles with his former club 1860 Munich Wood signed an agreement with FC Erzgebirge Aue who are in the German Second Division. Erzebirge may be in a relegation fight but they can give Wood something that he needs: minutes. He has made just 6 appearances with 1860 Munich this year so the chance to go to a club that has only 18 goals means he will get a chance to show what he can do.
Wood needs to not worry about the US Men’s National Team and pay more attention to his career.
2.) Deandre Yedlin-This is only a slight downgrade because he really did not have a terrible performance in either match. But for someone who made such a high-profile move to Tottenham he still is not doing the basics on defense. Look at his performance against Mark Gonzalez of Chile, who was able to fool Yedlin with simple dummy moves and delayed runs en route to his brace two weeks ago.
While Yedlin still shows promise because of his attacking skills, he has to pick his times when he makes those runs. Particularly against Chile he made many questionable runs when he should really be deferring to the attacking midfielders. Again, these are growing pains for a kid who is still just 21. But he still needs to make tremendous strides at learning the fundamentals on defense if he wants to live up to the standards set by USMNT Coach Jurgen Klinsmann, let alone those of Tottenham.
3.) Nick Rimando-Looked a little shell-shocked in the second half against Chille and made several curious calls late in the match. While there were much larger problems going with the USMNT during that match, Rimando did not have a very good match. Panama was much better but that also seems to be due to a more resolute defense (as well as Panama playing 7 U-20 players).
The real question for Klinsmann is if he really wants to continue going with three goalkeepers over the age of 30 going into the next cycle. While Rimando is a very good MLS keeper, he does not have the upside of a Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson, and Cody Cropper. A lot seems to be depending upon what Tim Howard chooses to do.
Klinsmann seems to like to talk about younger players making an impact for their club team getting chances. When will Sean Johnson or Bill Hamid get a real chance to prove they are the future of the USMNT?
More USA v Panama
Zardes proves himself in front of home crowd
USA puts it all together against Panama
