So after a year of rotations, head-scratching selections, and youthful cameos from the likes of Jordan Morris and Bobby Wood, Jürgen Klinsmann has announced his 23-man Gold Cup squad, with what has turned out to be a conservative selection.
With a win in this competition guaranteeing participation in the 2017 Confederations Cup, Klinsmann is going for tried and tested, by bringing back the bulk of the 2014 World Cup squad, rather than taking a chance on youth at this early stage of the World Cup 2018 cycle.
Many of those who will eventually come into that conversation, such as Arsenal’s Gedion Zelalem, have just participated in the U20 World Cup, and Klinsmann has the secondary cycle of the Olympics next year to think of as he tries to build optimum depth and experience for 2018.
By that measure, the Gold Cup squad is fairly predictable, though as Landon Donovan can testify, Klinsmann has a track record of unpredictable selections, so one or two players from the provisional 35-man roster will have been nervous before the confirmation of his final 23, and the likes of Brek Shea and Matt Besler will have been right to be nervous, as they were omitted from the final selection.
Goalkeepers
You can maybe feel a little sorry for Bill Hamid as the odd one out. While Brad Guzan deserves his time in the sun during Tim Howard’s sabbatical, and Nick Rimando has routinely been the best goalkeeper in MLS, Hamid’s exponential improvement over the past two years has been marked enough that he might have thought he had a good shot at the third spot, but William Yarbrough’s Club Leon experience sees him round out the selection.
Defenders
The noteworthy selection here was Tim Ream – a player who looked to have dutifully followed the Klinsmann blueprint of playing in and persisting in Europe (with Bolton), without ever seeming to get commensurate call-up time. But he’s been given the opportunity now, while the likes of Matt Besler, who has struggled for fitness and form in the wake of the World Cup, miss out. So too do DaMarcus Beasley, called out of international retirement for consideration, and Brek Shea, who’s contributed to Orlando’s growing MLS momentum, but didn’t get the nod.
Seattle’s Brad Evans makes the final squad, and so too does Ventura Alvarado of Club America – who’s been favored in recent Klinsmann lineups, but not yet looked wholly convincing in the international set-up. And while Timmy Chandler has had his critics on his positioning at full-back, he’s in the squad, while Greg Garza did not do enough in the same position to convince.
Midfield
Again, it’s the absences rather than the selections that probably mark out what’s notable here, though the retention of Kyle Beckerman, who might have expected to be expendable in a more forward looking squad, is testimony to the solidity he adds to the USA line up, with no immediate replacement on the horizon – DC United’s Perry Kitchen ultimately being judged not ready for prime time. Michael Bradley’s selection was never in doubt, even before his recent spike in form, but Graham Zusi might be relieved that his form too has picked up in time for selection, after he, like Besler, looked terribly fatigued in the wake of Brazil.
Brad Davis marks another veteran presence who’s in the final 23 despite not having a realistic shot of playing in Russia, while at the other end of the age scale DeAndre Yedlin will get the chance to further his own rising reputation.
Forwards
We already knew Bobby Wood was going to be staying in Europe to try and parlay his Netherlands and Germany YouTube clips into a permanent contract, and the blunt-force weapon of Alan Gordon was always likely to be an approximate replacement for one of the first choice big forwards, but there’ll be no opportunity for Jordan Morris to burnish his reputation up front, or for Juan Agudelo to complete his somewhat circuitous comeback trail into the national team picture.
All three players were on the provisional roster. None will feature in the Gold Cup, unless US Soccer makes a dramatic disciplinary example of Clint Dempsey this week, after he ripped up the referee’s notebook in last week’s US Open Cup loss by his club team Seattle. At that point there might be an interesting insight into just how highly Klinsmann rates Morris, or indeed if Agudelo is destined to remain on the periphery.
Chris Wondolowski was associated with one of the most infamous missed chances in US soccer history when he had the chance to finish Belgium, against the run of play in last year’s World Cup, but he also arguably earned his spot on the team in the first place with a breakout performance in the 2013 Gold Cup. He and Aron Johannsson reprise their roles on the Brazil roster to round out the forwards behind Jozy Altidore, though Gyasi Zardes, listed as a midfielder, will be part of the conversation out wide when the USA play 4-2-3-1.
Zardes has matured significantly in the last year or so and has added smarts to his undoubted talent on the ball – he’s been one of the success stories of the experimental festival of the past year, and if all goes to plan should be a cornerstone of the team by 2018.
If all goes to plan, that is. Neither fans or Klinsmann will be holding their breath on that front, but this is a squad with few outliers and some bigger picture targets in mind. Klinsmann’s not taking any chances, or passengers.
Goalkeepers (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake,), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)
Defenders (7): Ventura Alvarado (Club America), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers)
Midfielders (9): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Forwards (4): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
