Wisdom and Worry: Altidore not called in for qualifiers

Photo credit: ISIphotos.com 

 

The latest of the Juergen Klinsmann surprises came earlier today when the roster for the most important qualifiers was released: Jozy Altidore and Terrence Boyd left off the squad. This is potentially the most important snub in Klinsmann's short history with the US squad. Instead of those two players we have Alan Gordon and Kyle Beckermann. 

As soon as the national team players were announced on the web, Twitter and Facebook erupted with anger, surprise and contempt. How is it that one of the best forwards US has isn't called up for these games? Why does Alan Gordon get the call? 

Jozy Altidore has enjoyed perhaps his best start to a season in his short career: 8 goals in 7 league games and a goal in cup competition. And yet, for all his accolades in recent European play, Altidore has not scored for the national team since a penalty kick versus Slovenia in November 2011. He has looked a bit lost at times with the national team and not much of a threat. Some argue that this is because he has had no service in the US squad compared to the total football practiced in the Dutch league. Whatever the reasoning might be, the truth is that he is too valuable to not be a supersub at the very least.

Then we have Terrence Boyd. The German-American was surprisingly left off the squad despite having a standout first season with Rapid Vienna, including a key goal this past weekend. The 21-year old has 5 goals in 9 games in league play so far this season. If anyone can offer a last-minute change of pace, it is definitely Boyd.

Then there is the inclusion of Alan Gordon. The 30-year old has hardly made an impression with the US squad and has been spotty, at best, with his whirlwind MLS career. Gordon started with the USL version of the Portland Timbers and joined the LA Galaxy in 2005. He was with the Galaxians during the initial phase of the Beckham experiment and had good moments with the team. It wasn't until his recent form with San Jose that his career really made a positive change. With 9 goals this season in the high-scoring team, although not starting every game, his stock seemed to rise with the US coach. But is he really a better option than the near-record-setting Chris Wondolowski?

The addition of Brek Shea and Klye Beckermann also prompt some head scratching. Shea has been nursing injuries lately and not playing much for less-than-perfect FC Dallas. Beckermann enters this team in a bit of a surplus role as defensive midfielder, considering that Bradley, Jones and Danny Williams could all feature with the squad.

If this were just a friendly it would be called an Alan Gordon experiment (thanks, Grant Wahl). But this isn't that kind of game--two games in fact. A failure to win at Antigua and Barbuda this Friday would set the stage for a must-win match versus Guatemala next week. And if things turn out badly it would mean missing out on the final Hexagonal tournament, and yes, no World Cup 2014. Really? Yes. 

So not having Altidore or Boyd will remain what it is: wisdom in picking the right players at the right time and a worry that this could by Klinsmann's last couple of games with the US national team.

Chicharito versus USA

It was an interesting conversation on twitterworld today: why doesn't the US have a Chicharito (Javier Hernandez). Someone that scores for a big-name team (Manchester United). Someone that scores for the national team (11 goals in 20 appearances). Someone that has done these things by age 22. This conversation came out of an impressive goal that opened the scoreboard for Manchester United in Premier League play today and was followed, nearly simultaneously, by Mexico-hating and Altidore-hating and the depreciation of US Soccer.

But is this truly the case? US soccer journalists argued that Altidore, for example, is someone that made the jump to Europe at a very early age to one of the more successful teams in the Spanish Primera. "Jozy" Altidore set up two of the more significant goals for the USA at the World Cup (passes to Bradley versus Slovenia and Donovan (versus Algeria). He scored once in his inaugural season for Villarreal and was subsequently loaned (without playing) to Xerez (spring 2009) and then to Hull City of the Premier League for the 2009-2010 season. There, Altidore scored twice in Cup competition and once in league play. Keep in mind that Hull City was relegated the same season and that were limited in scoring opportunities. Also, at Villarreal, Altidore has to contend with Borja Valero, Rossi, Nilmar, and Jefferson Montero. He will nearly always be on the bench when paired against Rossi and Nilmar. For Chicharito, the main contenders are Berbatov, Rooney, Owen and Macheda. Owen and Rooney have been injured quite often this season and Macheda isn't as experienced as Chicharito. Hence the increased playing time. Also, Rooney can double as an attacking midfielder in a 4-3-1-2 scheme or as a center forward in a 4-3-3 scheme.

But this wasn't only a comparison against Altidore, it was a comparison against the US development of strikers. Young forwards such as Kenny Cooper, Eddie Johnson, Charlie Davies, Freddy Adu haven't made a good impression in Europe or have seen their careers derailed by injuries (Cooper, Davies). Can we fault them for that?

Then there's the standout stars that often score but are not taken into consideration when Chicharito Hernandez scores: Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. Donovan is on vacation but he's a prolific goal-scorer internationally (record-holder, possibly unbeatable in the foreseeable future) and in Europe (with Everton). Dempsey scored a goal today just a half hour or so after Hernandez' tally. "Deuce" Dempsey is likely to see a move out of Cottage Craven at this point and only the sky is the limit. Oh, and the ascent of Stuart Holden with Bolton is also impressive (2 goals this season and a Premier League best 11 of the fall 2010). Not a forward, but a goal-scorer and playmaker making a difference in the top league in the world.

The future holds promise also: Agudelo, Salgado, McInerney, Luis Gil, Perry Kitchen, Bunbury and so on. Who's to say they can't have a breakout year and make the jump to Europe by the end of 2011? Who's to say they can't be selected to the Gold Cup and impress with their skills?

So here's the point: Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez is an incredible player with impressive talent, but the US has experienced goal-scorers and young lads like Altidore (contender for a starting position in La Liga) and Agudelo (impressive performance with the Red Bulls and scoring in his first national team appearance). It will be USA vs Chicharito at the Gold Cup this summer and it's too early to come to conclusions.

MLS 2009 Attendance stats week 9

You can now follow me on Twiter. I'm not really sure what that means but I thought it might be worth noting. MLS games have been sort of scrambled the past couple of weeks due to midweek play. That messes up my analysis and it takes me a little while to collate everything so that it makes sense on a "weekly" basis. On that note, I wanted to update everyone on what's been happening with fans at stadiums. Where on the one hand you have expansion teams (Philly, Vancouver) selling out seats ahead of their respective start dates (2010 and 2011), on the other hand we have classic teams like Dallas trying everything to bring fans to games.

Indeed, a recent game day deal included free stuff and other considerations. Seattle, meanwhile, has expanded their MLS capacity from 27700 to 32000. This tinkers with my relative attendance analysis but I'm trying to coalesce the two seamlessly so that it works. So what do these very different turn of events mean? Either a honeymoon phase with Seattle or a reluctance of having a poor team in Dallas. Go figure. FCD has to do something soon or they risk losing their franchise. Their one advantage over other markets? Pizza Hut Park. Yes, the "Hoops" have their own home.

I also wanted to show a time series of the eastern conference attendance. After an early fall out during their second week of play, most markets have stabilized and/or recovered. Case in point, look at the defending champs, Columbus, bounce back to ~15K. Chicago's low attendance also bothers me, as does New York's fan base. Red Bull Park could become another Pizza Hut Park next year if the NYRB ownership team doesn't try something new. Otherwise, let's play with the names... Have some pizza with your red bull drink.