The first two World Cup 2018 qualifiers are right around the corner -- St. Vincent & the Grenadines on Nov. 13 in St. Louis and at Trinidad & Tobago four days later -- but U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann faces a host of issues.
Injuries and poor form are part and parcel with the process of putting a team together. What complicates matters is that the MLS season has ended for seven of the USA's eight MLS starters in the Concacaf Cup. Just three of the 11 starters against Mexico played last weekend, and that includes Fabian Johnson, who is in Klinsmann's doghouse.
"Either they didn’t make the playoffs or they just lost now in the playoffs in the first round," Klinsmann told USSoccer.com in an interview, "so that makes it tricky for us to keep them going until we meet up on Nov. 8 for the St. Louis game against St. Vincent & the Grenadines. To give them training plans, to make sure that they keep going for players like a Jermaine Jones, a Kyle Beckerman, aChris Wondolowski, a Mix Diskerud, a Lee Nguyen, and others is now really, really crucial because they are not playing games anymore prior to the World Cup qualifiers.”
Other notable players whose MLS seasons have ended includeMichael Bradley and Jozy Altidore of Toronto FC, Matt Besler andGraham Zusi of Sporting Kansas City, Gyasi Zardes and Omar Gonzalez of the LA Galaxy and DaMarcus Beasley of the Houston Dynamo. Indeed, every MLS starter from the Concacaf Cup against Mexico has finished his season except Seattle's Clint Dempsey.
The injury situation isn't dire, but Klinsmann is monitoring five players.
“We have Geoff Cameron coming out in the last game of Stoke, but he should be OK," he said. "We had Brad Evans get a hamstring issue, so that will be tricky for him to catch up. Rubio Rubin, our youngest striker, is injured. Aron Johannsson is not playing because of injury right now. So we have all over the place some issues, and we need to find solutions for that. Hopefully, they get back as quickly as possible, and if they can’t make it than other ones will have to step in and get the job done.”
As Klinsmann lamented, he also has to evaluate the situations of players not currently starting for their clubs abroad.
"John Brooks is one of them and Ventura Alvarado is another one," he said of his two starting center backs at the Gold Cup. "So it’s tough for some of our players to get regular playing time and that influences our situation prior to the World Cup qualifiers. That’s just normal, but it’s sad to see because you want the youngsters to come through and to put a stamp on the team but they cannot do it if they sit basically on the bench in their club teams.”
"Either they didn’t make the playoffs or they just lost now in the playoffs in the first round," Klinsmann told USSoccer.com in an interview, "so that makes it tricky for us to keep them going until we meet up on Nov. 8 for the St. Louis game against St. Vincent & the Grenadines. To give them training plans, to make sure that they keep going for players like a Jermaine Jones, a Kyle Beckerman, aChris Wondolowski, a Mix Diskerud, a Lee Nguyen, and others is now really, really crucial because they are not playing games anymore prior to the World Cup qualifiers.”
Other notable players whose MLS seasons have ended includeMichael Bradley and Jozy Altidore of Toronto FC, Matt Besler andGraham Zusi of Sporting Kansas City, Gyasi Zardes and Omar Gonzalez of the LA Galaxy and DaMarcus Beasley of the Houston Dynamo. Indeed, every MLS starter from the Concacaf Cup against Mexico has finished his season except Seattle's Clint Dempsey.
The injury situation isn't dire, but Klinsmann is monitoring five players.
“We have Geoff Cameron coming out in the last game of Stoke, but he should be OK," he said. "We had Brad Evans get a hamstring issue, so that will be tricky for him to catch up. Rubio Rubin, our youngest striker, is injured. Aron Johannsson is not playing because of injury right now. So we have all over the place some issues, and we need to find solutions for that. Hopefully, they get back as quickly as possible, and if they can’t make it than other ones will have to step in and get the job done.”
As Klinsmann lamented, he also has to evaluate the situations of players not currently starting for their clubs abroad.
"John Brooks is one of them and Ventura Alvarado is another one," he said of his two starting center backs at the Gold Cup. "So it’s tough for some of our players to get regular playing time and that influences our situation prior to the World Cup qualifiers. That’s just normal, but it’s sad to see because you want the youngsters to come through and to put a stamp on the team but they cannot do it if they sit basically on the bench in their club teams.”
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