Young America prepares for upcoming European tests

As the football world heads into the International break, the U.S Men’s National Team has put together a squad for upcoming fixtures against England and Italy with the same philosophy they’ve had for the past few months: Youth.

With the exception of elder statesman, goalkeeper Brad Guzan, there is not a player over 26-years-old on the roster for these upcoming matches. This has been a recurring theme for the U.S, as it moves past the heartbreak of not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

With testing fixtures on the horizon in England and Italy, manager Dave Sarachan is probably not expecting too much from his squad in terms of results but hopes to get his young, talented roster accustomed to playing for the national team.

One of the new faces that will be getting their first cap for the United States has a familiar surname for fans of the team. Jonathan Klinsmann, the son of former U.S manager Jurgen Klinsmann, should make his first appearance with the national team.

Klinsmann got the late call up after Zack Steffen, the Columbus Crew keeper, strained his hamstring in the Crew’s MLS playoff match against the New York Red Bulls. The 21 year old Hertha Berlin player, has featured for the U.S. Under-20 team since 2015 earning 19 caps, most notably in 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup where he was the starting keeper for the tournament.

While the young German-American is a talented goalkeeper, the inclusion of seasoned veterans Guzan and Club Brugge’s Ethan Horvath means he probably won’t see much playing time in the upcoming fixtures, if any.

It is important, however,  to see him get acclimated with the senior team and to start making his claim as the future keeper for the national team. While his time with the US this week won’t cap tie him to the USA, it will give him his first taste of wearing the Stars and Stripes.

As the United States prepares, Sarachen continues to search for the right mix of formation and personnel in the midfield to avoid constantly chasing the game.  There are some very talented pieces that the USA manager has to choose from in the form of Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic and even Kellyn Acosta.

McKennie, the Schalke midfielder, especially looks like a piece that the United States hopes will be a cornerstone of their midfield for the next ten years, especially as he functions best as a defensive midfielder (a position that the United States has been lacking for a long time).  McKennie has only six caps with the senior national team so the North Texas born midfielder should continue to gain more comfort with the squad.

Like McKennie, much of the midfield squad brought in for these fixtures have very caps to their name.  This is exactly why it is also important to see how well a relatively seasoned player like Christian Pulisic will gel with all of these young players.

Pulisic is the heart of this team both right now and for the future but he has been mostly absent from the national team picture for a majority of this year. Whether due to injuries or club commitments, the Borussia Dortmund winger has not been featured for his country since March, a 3-0 victory over Bolivia, so it will be interesting to see how easily he fits in with new youth that has joined him on the senior team.

Pulisic spent the past few years being there to absorb knowledge from senior players like Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore. Now, while still only 20-years-old, America’s talisman will be expected to help bring younger players such as newcomers Romain Gall and Marky Delgado along.

Sarachan will learn quite a bit about his young team from these upcoming fixtures. England and Italy should both be difficult tests to pass but like the old phrase goes, “Only Iron sharpens Iron.”  If rumors are true, this also may be Sarachan’s last go around with the national team, as it seems increasingly likely that a permanent national team coach will be named soon.

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