USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann places trust in fresh faces as new World Cup cycle dawns
PRAGUE
U.S. manager Jürgen Klinsmann turned to youth to help fill the void last week ahead of the 1-0 victory against Czech Republic. Klinsmann needed options with several regulars either injured or unavailable. He selected a crop of prospects angling for a place in the reckoning on a more permanent basis.
The temptation to look at his realistic assessment of the landscape as a one-off gambit based on circumstances makes sense on a few levels, but the assertion conflicts with how Klinsmann hopes to evolve his team over the next four years.
Klinsmann and his staff have spent considerable time over the past few years trying to cultivate a coherent program with connections from the youth levels through the first team. It is a work in progress at the moment as the Development Academy matures and the youth national team setups evolve, but the presence of talented young players in senior friendlies isn’t an accident or a response to availability concerns elsewhere, insists Klinsmann.
“When we decide something like that (to bring players into camp), it’s not a decision out of the blue,” Klinsmann said during a roundtable last week. “Oh, there’s a coincidence. MLS is busy. There’s only one game now instead of two games and things like that. It’s because when we feel a young player is ready to experience the next, higher level whether or not (he plays), then we bring the kid in. We have him be part of the environment, give him an introduction, get him connected to that different type of teammate on an older level and take it from there.”
In his dual role as national team coach and technical director, Klinsmann bears responsibility for the entire national team setup. He is judged primarily on those first-team results, but his remit is more sweeping. He is expected to usher a more expansive and uniform approach throughout the program during his tenure.
As Tim Howard’s heroics against Belgium indicate, the Americans have not yet reached those lofty objectives. This is a team steeped in pragmatism first and foremost. There is enduring value to that sort of pliability in tournament settings, but Klinsmann wants to cultivate a different, more proactive mindset as the next World Cup cycle commences.
U.S. winger Joe Gyau featured from the start in the 1-0 victory over Czech Republic last week. He was one of three players to make their full national team debuts in Prague.
The desire to advance and improve from within places a premium on moving younger players through at a brisk rate without impeding their growth over the long term. Klinsmann chose John Brooks and Julian Green for his World Cup roster ahead of schedule and watched them impact the proceedings with their fleeting and vital contributions. He selected a raft of younger players -- including Stanford sophomore Jordan Morris -- for the visit to Prague to accelerate their learning process. He even summoned Rubio Rubin when FC Utrecht would not allow him to join U.S. under-20 camp in Argentina.
Each of those decisions requires some form of assessment to determine how and when a player will receive his chance to impress. The potential additions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis in consultation with others, according to Klinsmann.
“We evaluate the kid,” Klinsmann said. “The soccer side is always very important, but is the kid actually ready for that? Is it coming too early? Emotionally, it may be too much. We feel like it’s all good (for them now), actually. They can deal with that. That goes back to a lot of conversations between (U.S. under-20 coach) Tab Ramos, Javier (Perez, U.S. under-18 coach) and myself and whoever that kid is with right now.”
By integrating younger players into his pool, Klinsmann hopes to expand the choices at his disposal, foster greater competition for places and rejuvenate his side. His willingness to assess the merits of dual nationals or name a college star -- albeit one reported to have scored in a scrimmage against the World Cup-bound Americans during their World Cup preparations -- in his full side stems from the same rationale.
“It’s fun to see that,” Klinsmann said. “It shows there are different ways to get to the next level. Everybody has his own way, if it’s through Europe, if it’s through college, if it’s through MLS. I’ve watched a couple of players in the NASL. They were very talented, but I thought for these kids, it comes a bit too early. This is our job in the national team environment: Our job is to look out there, no matter how we find them – dual citizenship or not – evaluate them and see when is the right time. Or maybe we build that right time personally.”
The timelines may change in each case, but the metric remains the same across the board. Klinsmann will find himself judged by his ability to identify players, nurture them and then transform them into regulars at the international level over the course of this cycle. His developing structures must hold the weight of pushing players through the system even as the flaws are sorted out along the way. His rhetoric must turn into consistent practice in competitive matches in order to make the efforts worthwhile.
For now, the strides are gauged by how these young players adapt to the changing demands and push their way into the reckoning for the remaining three friendlies this fall. On that account, the early returns hint at a positive step forward in the wake of the Czech win: Klinsmann said he expects many of the players taken to Prague will feature in the squad to face Ecuador and Honduras next month.
