On March 5th the US men’s national soccer team played a friendly against the Ukraine. Because of the recent turmoil in the Ukraine the game was played in Cyprus. The US lost 2-0. Both goals were products of defensive breakdowns by the center backs. The team played poorly all day. Nearly every player turned in a bad performance. Because the game was played only 4 days before the start of the MLS season there was only one MLS player in the squad, Clint Dempsey. Because of the lack of MLS players many of the usual starters for the US didn’t play in this game. The entire starting back line of Evans, Gonzalez, Besler, and Beasley wasn’t available for the game. Michael Orazco and John Anthony Brooks started at center back. Both players played poorly and were beat numerous time. Tim Howard made a few spectacular saves and really made the back line look better on the day. John Anthony Brooks is still a very young player. He is still less than a year removed from receiving his first US cap in Bosnia last August. Brooks showed in this game that he isn’t ready to play on the international level yet. This poor performance probably ensured that he will not be on the US world cup squad. Orazco was also very poor next to Brooks in the game. He is a veteran of multiple world cups but he hasn’t been called in for national team duty much recently. He is also probably out of the picture for the world cup squad. Geoff Cameron started at right back in the absence of Brad Evans. Cameron is the best right back defensively in the entire US pool right now. Whoever plays right back for the US in the world cup is going to have to defend against Schweinsteiger and Ronaldo. It will be more important for the starting right back to be a good defender. Offense should be a secondary concern for that position. Because of this Cameron, who has been playing well for Stoke City in the English Premiere League, should start over Brad Evans in the world cup despite Evans’ role in world cup qualification. Edgar Castillo and Fabian Johnson both saw time at left back. Both played ok and both are still in play to go to Brazil and start. Both are better offensively than defensively, but both have been better than the aged Beasely. It is unclear what Klinsmann’s plans for the left back position are at this point. Jermaine Jones started at center defensive mid and played the way he normally does. He had an ok performance and it looks like he will start in the world cup. Bedoya played another solid game at right mid. He has been seeing more time there that Zusi lately. Zusi played more than Bedoya during world cup qualification and he remains the better player. Zusi also has shown great chemistry with Altidore which has led to a few goals. Clint Dempsey started at center attacking mid his usual spot. Dempsey played an uninspired game. He didn’t create many chances and he wasn’t involved enough. Dempsey has been playing poorly lately. After his transfer to Seattle in August he didn’t play well. Then in a recent loan to Fulham he also played poorly. Many fans are saying that Dempsey shouldn’t be starting for the United States. Dempsey was great for club and country in 2012. He is a veteran and he has played many games with the current starters on the national team. Dempsey can create chances for himself and teammates. He diffidently should start in the world cup. Jozy Altidore had a few scoring chances in the game. He has been very bad on a very bad Sunderland team this season. Altidore was in bad positions frequently in the game. He didn’t generate many chances mostly he just poached. Due to Altidore’s bad season it is time to start exploring other options at striker. Altidore is still the number one option, but Aron Johansen and Juan Agudelo need to be given opportunities with the national team to see what they can do. Johansen and Agudelo are both having good seasons in the Dutch league this year. If one of them plays great in some upcoming games they might just become the starting striker in the world cup. The US played great in the first 10 months of 2013. They won every game of the gold cup, finished first in the hex, and won friendlies against Germany and Bosnia. The team played very impressively. Recently in friendlies against Scotland, Austria, South Korea, and the Ukraine the team has played poorly. Often not every player was available. Some fans may be panicking because of the upcoming world cup but this isn’t a big deal. A new MLS season is starting so some of the MLS players can use this opportunity to play well. The US still has a bunch of friendlies before the world cup to get right. It is common for a team that is playing well leading up to a world cup to play poorly in the world cup and vice versa. The US could easily play the way it did for most of 2013 once they get to Brazil. Despite the recent performances of less than full strength teams and the poor form of some critical players there is no need to panic at this point.
