Steve Davis' weekly column, drilling down on five hot topics in American soccer
1. Signs that Jurgen Klinsmann is coming around
Since coaching is such a talker in the U.S. Soccer scene, two quick thoughts on Tuesday’s consequential happenings within the men’s program:
For the senior team it was “job done” in Ohio, where Jurgen Klinsmann’s bunch got the wheels back on the road in the drive for Russia 2018. No, all of the program’s ongoing issues didn’t suddenly go away, but there are signs that perhaps Klinsmann is “getting it.”
The real achievement from Tuesday happened before anyone kicked a ball up at a nervous Mapfre Stadium. See, the United States was always going to beat Guatemala at home; plenty of us said so well before kickoff.
The only real possibility of misadventure was about Klinsmann and his penchant for curious, wandering choices in personnel and tactical arrangement. So early Tuesday evening when Klinsmann delivered a lineup devoid of any real head-scratchers, all looked bright and sunny, and the runway to relatively easy victory was clear.
Tuesday’s lineup and positioning looked sensible; players were generally stationed in spots of comfort, in roles the fill for their clubs. And isn’t that what the Klinsmann critics want? Nobody believes the United States has so much talent that bumping Germany or Argentina from their high perches in the current world order is just a matter of putting the right man in charge.
Rather, what most of us want is this: provide the best possible chance of success to whatever talent does exist. We want Klinsmann to stop out-smarting himself, stop attempting to build a better mouse trap. In the big picture, sure, experiment with personnel and kick the tires on lineups and combinations. But when it’s business time, when the matches matter, lean toward the “sensible” rather than the impractical or experimental.
Which brings us to the second thing to talk about …
2. Andi Herzog got one thing right Tuesday with his under-23s
Things will surely go wrong, even when coaches put the best guys in their best spots. It happens. After all, the other teams do put 11 guys on the field, as well.
So when things do go wrong, say so! When the van starts swerving all over the road, don’t smile and tell us everything is fine, that what you see is some optical illusion. Don’t give us nonsense! That’s something of a Klinsmann specialty.
Well, late Tuesday night at Toyota Stadium, U.S. under-23 manager Andi Herzog got one thing right, at very least:
That man was hacked off.
In the post-game news conference, Herzog said he was “disappointed” with the failure to reach the Rio Olympics. But his tone and expression was more “incensed” than “bereaved.”
He wisely bit his tongue, unsure of what might spill out if he removed the verbal restrictor plates. What did this say about the bigger picture of U.S. Soccer development? Herzog checked his simmering emotions. “It is not the right moment to discuss this here, because I am real emotional and don’t want to say anything without calming down,” Herzog said. “It’s real disappointing.”
That last part trailed off, as Herzog was clearly fighting not to be too hard on his players. Or maybe on himself. Or maybe on choices that had certain players in Ohio rather than in Frisco, Texas. Hard to say … he certainly wasn’t elaborating.
“It just wasn’t good enough,” he said in annoyed summation.
A lot of mistakes were made along way, as the United States once again got left behind in the Olympic soccer party. This part, at least, Herzog got right. He looked like a man who wanted to immediately get back on the practice field, like he wanted to start putting things right. Right then.
3. Diving into the DC United problems … one of them, at least
Watching D.C. United come apart over the last few months – Ben Olsen’s team hasn’t been anything to shout about since late last summer – has been instructional in some ways. (Well, unless you’re a D.C. United supporter, in which case “instructional” surely isn’t the word you would choose.)
Olsen wants to play Nick DeLeon, who spent his first four MLS seasons as a moderately productive wing midfielder, as a central midfielder. I won’t spend a lot of time dissecting what is and isn’t working with DeLeon centrally stationed. Matthew Doyle, the Johan Cruyff of American soccer analysts, has done that quite well in this piece. Rather, I’ll say this about Olsen’s attempt to squeeze sweet lemonade from a lime:
Olsen’s attempt to mold DeLeon into something he isn’t feels very “MLS 2004.”
Back in the league’s first decade, teams did this occasionally, attempting to take a player who had spent most of his life on the touchline and convert him to someone who could suddenly, magically, deal with something completely different. Pressure arrives from different spots and passing angles change dramatically in the middle. As one MLS central midfielder told me once: “People think they can play in the middle, but it’s tight in there!”
But this was MLS circa 2004, which meant budgets and rosters were “tight” in their own way. The player acquisition chips available today were just a twinkle in Don Garber’s eye. There were no Designated Player spots. There was no TAM or GAM or allocation funds, etc.
Today, there are far more resources, more player acquisition devices available to go identify and secure the right players. Yesterday, there was a lot more “making due.”
Just look at D.C. United’s opponent Saturday, FC Dallas. The team from Texas already had three good central midfielders in Victor Ulloa, Kellyn Acosta and Mauro Diaz. What did manager Oscar Pareja and technical director Fernando Clavijo do? They went and got two more quality central mids: Carlos Gruezoand Juan Esteban Ortiz.
United, meanwhile, did go get Luciano Acosta and Marcelo Sarvas. But that was just “hole plugging,” helping fortify the roster after Perry Kitchen bolted, and filling the team’s desperate need for a centrally stationed creator. Then …
Perhaps out of necessity, Olsen took DeLeon and asked him to be a central midfielder. That’s something clubs might have done back in … you got it … 2004 or so.
DeLeon is OK there. But OK doesn’t cut it in Major League Soccer’s 21st season, especially not when pretty much every club managed to get better in the short, just-finished off-season. Which is among the many reasons why D.C. United is winless in four matches.
4. David Beckham, Miami and an apparent stadium site
Miami’s MLS club is rolling out yet another “Mission Accomplished!” banner on its long and winding road toward an actual stadium. The David Beckham-led ownership group has apparently purchased land needed to build in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami.
For some good intel on this particular location and what it’s all about, check out the quick Overtown overview provided by MLSSoccer.com’s Ariel Castillo, a Miami native. Essentially, she says it’s an interesting, light industrial area. The downside is a lack of nearby nightlife, the restaurants, bars and other swell spots that enhance the scene.
“If they want that sort of central location vibe, like some of other MLS locations have, they are going to have to build it, and then hope they will come,” Castillo said on the latest MLS Extra Time podcast.
She also has good information on the public transportation element. It’s all at the 51-minute mark of the podcast.
As for me: I’ve written for years and years, and it’s been accurate for years and years: When it comes to MLS stadium announcements, tap me on the shoulder when they actually put a shoulder in the ground. Otherwise, it’s just talk – more “stadium announcements” have been wrong than right. Land purchase is a good step, of course … but it’s always dangerous to count your stadium chickens before they hatch. Just talking from experience here.
5. The Little Five
5a. The U.S. under-23s individual performances over two legs against Colombia were certainly a mixed bag. One that stood out (in a good way) for most people: Emerson Hyndman always seemed to have a good idea of what to do with the ball. And then he had the skill to execute it. It seems clear that Hyndman doesn’t see himself remaining at Fulham, where he has declined to sign a new deal. The West London address, his home since 2011 (when he was just 15) has been fantastic for native Texan … but it’s probably time to move on.
5b. Hyndman’s particular skill set – he’s a smaller player, very technically sound and tough enough, but not at his best trying to tussle and muscle in the midfield – is not wonderfully suited for second-tier soccer in England. (Or certainly not for the English third tier; a quick look at the Championship table shows that Fulham is much closer to relegation than promotion.) Don’t forget, Hyndman, still just 19 years old, also has a Portuguese passport due to his grandfather’s lineage; his grandfather is former FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman. France, perhaps? Or even the Dutch Eredivisie, a place where Michael Bradley once broadened his midfield game? Or Spain’s La Liga, a place that prizes what Hyndman does best: possess like your life depends on it.
5c. Can FC Dallas’Mauro Diaz get to 20 assists this year? He’s got four in four games, so the question is being asked as MLS Week 5 approaches. The league record is 26, but Carlos Valderrama set that gold standard in a day when assists were issued far more liberally. Past that, nobody else has gotten to 20. Landon Donovan was the last to get close, recording 19 assists in his final season, 2014.
5d. While we are still talking numbers and young FCD attackers: Since last June,Fabian Castillo has 5 goals and 5 assists in 19 regular season MLS matches. In that same time, Michael Barrios has 9 goals and 2 assists. Of course, teams do a lot to manage and contain Castillo, rolling extra defenders that way, etc. Still, something to think about, eh?
5e. Timing is everything in life, eh? Adding to the all the recent consternation over the U.S. men’s team’s struggles is this: Mexico is merrily doing what everyone on this side of the border wants for the United States, to forcefully dominate the region. Mexico has pranced throughsemifinal round qualifying, reducing the round to mere formality.