It is a team stacked with attacking talent and loaded with players who already have senior national team experience. Now that Caleb Porter has picked the players who will try to qualify the United States for the 2012 Olympics we can finally get to see what all the hype is about.
Brek Shea is the only guaranteed starter for the U.S. Olympic team. (Photo by Brandon Wade/Getty Images)
Led by Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo and Freddy Adu, the 19-man roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers is stacked with offensive firepower that will have the Americans heavily favored to emerge from the qualifying tournament as champions, and certainly as one of the two teams to qualify for the London Olympics.
This group isn’t likely to take qualification for granted. Not when you consider it was just a year ago that a highly-regarded US Under-20 national team failed to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup (Four members of the current Olympic qualifying squad were on that team).
The team’s recent dominant 2-0 victory against Mexico in a friendly in Frisco, Texas, served notice that Porter has built a team capable of not just advancing to the Olympics, but destroying the competition to get there when qualifying kicks off on March 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.
So what do you need to know about this US Olympic Qualifying team? Here are five things you need to know:
SPEED TO BURN
With speedsters like Shea, Joe Gyau, Josh Gatt, and Kofi Sarkodie, this team can flat-out fly. The team is based around possession and passing, but when the opportunities are there to break out, this US team has arguably more speed than the senior team has at the moment.
Porter will look to stretch defenses with speed on the wing, while their midfield triangle generates chances and controls possession with the space they create. One of the most important things Porter has done with this squad is stress the importance of pressing all over the field, which speedy players can turn into stifling defense. If players like Shea, Gyau and Gatt can force teams into turnovers, the US team’s counterattack will be unstoppable.
CREATIVITY TO SPARE
Freddy Adu (left) gives Caleb Porter plenty of attacking options.(Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
When the Americans dominated possession against Mexico's Under-23 national team earlier this month, it was something we had never seen before. How did it happen? You can start with the creative trio of Freddy Adu, Joe Corona and Mix Diskerud. All three are sharp passers and skilled on the ball and they help the US team maintain possession while creating chances for the forwards.
Porter’s 4-3-3 is effective not only because he can deploy two highly-skilled creators in the middle of the field at the same time, but also because his defensive-minded midfielders are skilled. While Amobi Okugo is a safe bet to serve as the anchor in the midfield triangle, Porter isn’t afraid to play three offensive-minded midfielders in his triangle, so long as he believes they will do the defensive work to keep the ball and win the ball back. This will be one of the interesting things to watch about this Olympic qualifying team.
DEFENSIVE DEPTH A CONCERN
Porter is bringing six defenders to the tournament, and while several of them are versatile enough to play multiple positions, depth is still a concern. Ike Opara and Perry Kitchen are expected to hold things down in the middle, while Zarek Valentin provides depth all across the back-line.
Kofi Sarkodie’s emergence helps matters, but a real wild card in the proceedings is Josh Gatt, a natural right winger who has also played fullback on the club level. He’s dangerous going forward and should get a chance to shine in the qualifying tournament.
PICKING A FORWARD LINE WON’T BE EASY
Porter’s 4-3-3 formation has room for three forwards, but the roster has six players who could all make good cases for being starters. Shea is pretty much the only player you could call a sure-fire starter in the most important matches of the tournament. Terrence Boyd is a solid target forward option, while Agudelo can work any of the forward slots.
Gyau is a wild card. His speed and ability to beat defenders on the dribble make him a serious threat, but which of the three aforementioned forwards do you bench for him? Adu is another option at forward. Porter has deployed him as a wide forward throughout the recent Under-23 training camps, and he's become a regular starter. Porter could go with a more athletic forward line against weaker opponents, and then turn to a more technical trio against the tougher opponents in the tournament, like Mexico.
AUDITIONS FOR THE OLYMPICS START NOW
The harsh reality is that several players on this Olympic Qualifying team aren’t going to make the Olympic team. The presence of age-eligible stars like Jozy Altidore, Timmy Chandler and Danny Williams, coupled with Porter’s ability to bring in three over-age players, means as few as 12 spots could be left for players to vie for.
