No rest for the weary. I don't like to dwell on defeats; better to ponder a hopefully brighter future. I can't complain about the US effort in this 2014 World Cup. They gave us compelling soccer, great heart, and a good performance to get out of the Group of Death and to push a very tough Belgium team to the limit. We suffered from an early injury to a key player who was irreplaceable from our player pool and we still gutted through four tough games.
As a long-time US soccer fan, I've been overjoyed to see people flocking to the US team's banner, moreso than any WC before and I'm glad that this team has delivered a compelling and exciting performance. I don't really believe in "This Is The Turning Point" type stuff -- it's a long, slow growth curve -- but I do perceive that things may have accelerated a bit. Of course the large majority of people watching WC games will fade away until 2018, but some will remain. That's what progress looks like for us and that's a good thing.
Anyway, I don't want this to be a real post-mortem thread, as I imagine there will be other places for that on this forum. Instead, I want to kick off a preview thread what's going to happen over the next four years and what sort of changes we might see.
Manager & Staff
First of all, Jürgen Klinsmann signed an extension through 2018 last December and also signed on as the US technical director. There was some loose talk before the WC that if we crashed out badly he might be shown the door. I didn't think that would happen and it's obviously not going to happen now after a respectable run in the WC. As TD, he'll have more influence over our youth national teams, youth coaching standards and curricula, and the Development Academy, which is the USSF organization that involves the top youth clubs in the country, including MLS clubs. It's hard to know exactly what he'll be doing with those initiatives, but they certainly fall under the purview of TD in general.
A key question going forward for Klinsmann is his technical staff with the national team. He suddenly dumped his longtime assistant Martin Vasquez in March. Vasquez was perceived to be a Klinsmann blind spot, a hapless assistant who followed him from Bayern Munich with a (very unsuccessful) stop as the manager of Chivas USA in between. His choice of Berti Vogts as a short-term advisor seems to have been the catalyst for installing Beckerman as the DM in the formation behind Jones and Bradley, which was effective in consolidating our team defense and allowing Jones and Bradley to roam more freely.
Vogts probably won't be around next cycle, but I think it's important to keep an eye on who fills out Klinsmann's staff. I think Klinsmann will always be a better motivator and big-picture guy than a true X's and O's guy. I'm not saying he's a tactical idiot or anything, but I don't think it's his strength. It wasn't Vasquez's strength either. So hopefully he chooses wisely.
Schedule
We have an extremely busy cycle coming up with the special 100th anniversary Copa America being hosted in the US in 2016. Here are the key dates for us going forward:
2015
1/9-1/25 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in TBD
5/30-6/20 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand (if we qualify)
7/7-7/26 CONCACAF Gold Cup in TBD (probably USA)
I'm going to ignore U-17 World Cups because I think they're mostly pointless and not particularly relevant. But I do like U-20 World Cups, which I think are more of a legitimate gut-check of a generation's talent. There's certainly a gap between "good with the U-20s" and "ready for the NT", but three years out we could identify some talents who will be ready by 2018. Julian Green is age-eligible for this tournament, by the way, but he's "cup-tied" because he played in qualifiers for Germany.
The 2013 Gold Cup winners play the 2015 Gold Cup winners for CONCACAF's place in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Since we won in 2013, we can avoid a playoff if we win in 2015 as well. The 2015 GC will be of interest as the first competitive matches of the cycle and the first real test for new players.
2016
spring, TBD...CONCACAF U-23 Olympic qualifying
6/3-6/26 Copa América Centenario in USA
8/5-8/21 Summer Olympics (U-23) in Rio de Janeiro
Jun-Oct - 2018 World Cup qualifiers, CONCACAF semifinal round (based off of last cycle)
I'm really hoping that we qualify for the 2016 Olympics. I think that the Olympics are a great experience for rising U-23 talent and a good proving ground and springboard to the full team. I think we have a pretty strong group coming together, so I'm hopeful.
The other big event is the 2016 Copa America. The US will probably put together a reasonably strong team, not sure how other countries will treat this tournament. Should be fun either way. We certainly won't lack for opportunities to test players.
Last cycle the World Cup semifinal round began mid-year 2016 and I imagine the format will stay the same. The change to a first-round group stage (from which the top countries were exempt) was well-received as it allowed the smaller countries more meaningful games.
2017
winter - CONCACAF U-20 Championship in TBD
summer - U-20 World Cup in South Korea
6/17-7/2 - Confederations Cup in Russia
summer - 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Feb-Oct - 2018 World Cup qualifiers, CONCACAF final round (a.k.a The Hex)
Another U-20 cycle will conclude in 2017 and it's far too early to say anything about this group. Keep in mind, though, that Brooks, Yedlin, Green were young enough to be eligible for the 2013 team so there could be usable talent for 2018 here.
The highlighting event, if we qualify, is the Confederations Cup. If we qualify, we'll probably send a lesser squad to the Gold Cup, which will also serve as one of the qualifying events for the 2021 CC.
And the real story here is the Hex, when our qualifiers get real.
As a long-time US soccer fan, I've been overjoyed to see people flocking to the US team's banner, moreso than any WC before and I'm glad that this team has delivered a compelling and exciting performance. I don't really believe in "This Is The Turning Point" type stuff -- it's a long, slow growth curve -- but I do perceive that things may have accelerated a bit. Of course the large majority of people watching WC games will fade away until 2018, but some will remain. That's what progress looks like for us and that's a good thing.
Anyway, I don't want this to be a real post-mortem thread, as I imagine there will be other places for that on this forum. Instead, I want to kick off a preview thread what's going to happen over the next four years and what sort of changes we might see.
Manager & Staff
First of all, Jürgen Klinsmann signed an extension through 2018 last December and also signed on as the US technical director. There was some loose talk before the WC that if we crashed out badly he might be shown the door. I didn't think that would happen and it's obviously not going to happen now after a respectable run in the WC. As TD, he'll have more influence over our youth national teams, youth coaching standards and curricula, and the Development Academy, which is the USSF organization that involves the top youth clubs in the country, including MLS clubs. It's hard to know exactly what he'll be doing with those initiatives, but they certainly fall under the purview of TD in general.
A key question going forward for Klinsmann is his technical staff with the national team. He suddenly dumped his longtime assistant Martin Vasquez in March. Vasquez was perceived to be a Klinsmann blind spot, a hapless assistant who followed him from Bayern Munich with a (very unsuccessful) stop as the manager of Chivas USA in between. His choice of Berti Vogts as a short-term advisor seems to have been the catalyst for installing Beckerman as the DM in the formation behind Jones and Bradley, which was effective in consolidating our team defense and allowing Jones and Bradley to roam more freely.
Vogts probably won't be around next cycle, but I think it's important to keep an eye on who fills out Klinsmann's staff. I think Klinsmann will always be a better motivator and big-picture guy than a true X's and O's guy. I'm not saying he's a tactical idiot or anything, but I don't think it's his strength. It wasn't Vasquez's strength either. So hopefully he chooses wisely.
Schedule
We have an extremely busy cycle coming up with the special 100th anniversary Copa America being hosted in the US in 2016. Here are the key dates for us going forward:
2015
1/9-1/25 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in TBD
5/30-6/20 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand (if we qualify)
7/7-7/26 CONCACAF Gold Cup in TBD (probably USA)
I'm going to ignore U-17 World Cups because I think they're mostly pointless and not particularly relevant. But I do like U-20 World Cups, which I think are more of a legitimate gut-check of a generation's talent. There's certainly a gap between "good with the U-20s" and "ready for the NT", but three years out we could identify some talents who will be ready by 2018. Julian Green is age-eligible for this tournament, by the way, but he's "cup-tied" because he played in qualifiers for Germany.
The 2013 Gold Cup winners play the 2015 Gold Cup winners for CONCACAF's place in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Since we won in 2013, we can avoid a playoff if we win in 2015 as well. The 2015 GC will be of interest as the first competitive matches of the cycle and the first real test for new players.
2016
spring, TBD...CONCACAF U-23 Olympic qualifying
6/3-6/26 Copa América Centenario in USA
8/5-8/21 Summer Olympics (U-23) in Rio de Janeiro
Jun-Oct - 2018 World Cup qualifiers, CONCACAF semifinal round (based off of last cycle)
I'm really hoping that we qualify for the 2016 Olympics. I think that the Olympics are a great experience for rising U-23 talent and a good proving ground and springboard to the full team. I think we have a pretty strong group coming together, so I'm hopeful.
The other big event is the 2016 Copa America. The US will probably put together a reasonably strong team, not sure how other countries will treat this tournament. Should be fun either way. We certainly won't lack for opportunities to test players.
Last cycle the World Cup semifinal round began mid-year 2016 and I imagine the format will stay the same. The change to a first-round group stage (from which the top countries were exempt) was well-received as it allowed the smaller countries more meaningful games.
2017
winter - CONCACAF U-20 Championship in TBD
summer - U-20 World Cup in South Korea
6/17-7/2 - Confederations Cup in Russia
summer - 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Feb-Oct - 2018 World Cup qualifiers, CONCACAF final round (a.k.a The Hex)
Another U-20 cycle will conclude in 2017 and it's far too early to say anything about this group. Keep in mind, though, that Brooks, Yedlin, Green were young enough to be eligible for the 2013 team so there could be usable talent for 2018 here.
The highlighting event, if we qualify, is the Confederations Cup. If we qualify, we'll probably send a lesser squad to the Gold Cup, which will also serve as one of the qualifying events for the 2021 CC.
And the real story here is the Hex, when our qualifiers get real.