Player availability, preparation time affected by league
Weighing the short term against the long term is a constant process for a national team coach, who must balance player development with the stark realities of results.
As yet, U.S. mentor Steve Sampson is cautiously optimistic that Major League Soccer can hasten the former while not spoiling the latter. But sufficient disquieting moments and disturbing trends surfaced during U.S. Cup ’96 to ponder how deeply the first season of MLS will affect the national team.
Since last summer, eight U.S. internationals have left foreign soccer for MLS:
Paul Caligiuri, John Harkes, Alexi Lalas, Tab Ramos, Eric Wynalda, Marcelo Balboa, Cobi Jones and Roy Lassiter. Mike Burns played several months in Denmark as part of his MLS deal.
Obfuscating the situation is Sampson’s preference to play a 3-5-2 formation, with two-man markers and a sweeper backing up a five-man midfield. It is a scheme favored by some players, especially Bundesliga veteran Thomas Dooley, but is painfully dependent on finding players to fill the wide midfield slots.
“Most college defenders play man-to-man,” says Sampson, “and so naturally are more comfortable in that role. Ideally, we would be able to play different systems equally well, changing from one to another based on the opponent, or availability of players because of injuries or other factors.
“The 3-5-2 system is a wise option if you don’t have a lot of time to prepare a team, which I can see happening to us early in the qualifying. The flat back four takes a great deal of understanding and cohesion among players, especially the defenders.”
Sampson’s options at U.S. Cup ’96 were limited by the unavailability of certain players due to injury: Ernie Stewart, Joe-Max Moore and Mike Lapper. Stewart, as he demonstrated in last summer’s Copa America, is ideally suited to the flank in a 3-5-2 setup, and Lapper is a classic man-to-man defender although his dearth of pace is a worry.
The same problems of injuries will surely crop up during qualifying, and adding to Sampson’s concerns were somewhat lackluster performances by Jovan Kirovski and Claudio Reyna, players expected to shoulder much of the offensive load in the years to come.
Like Moore, their immediate futures lie in Europe, but the MLS dichotomy is this: While it has unveiled rising stars like Brian McBride and showcased former internationals like Robin Fraser, it has gnawed away at the abilities of certain players who’ve come home after seasons in foreign leagues.
Lalas bolts for Birmingham
In the case of Lalas, his spotty play and recurring rifts with New England head coach Frank Stapleton surely spurred his pursuit of a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Lalas, who played only 45 minutes four years ago in Barcelona after suffering a broken leg on the eve of the Olympic tournament, bolted Foxboro faster than you can say “Birmingham.”
Several players stated they enjoyed returning to the national team, “where everybody works hard for everybody else,” clearly implying such isn’t always the case with their MLS teams. In the year since Sampson officially took over from Bora Milutinovic, most players have flourished in a more aggressive mode.
“Bora used to tell us, `If we lose position, we are dead, and if we lose possession, we are dead”‘, says Wynalda. “With Steve, it’s `Go forward, but if we lose the ball, get your a– back.”‘
If playing regularly in a competitive league is supposed to hone U.S. players for international matches, MLS is several notches short of providing tough competition. The speed of play, and more importantly, the speed of thought are noticeably sluggish in many MLS matches.
“I think, initially, their reaction to close players down, their reaction to the ball, was slower than I was ever accustomed to with this team,” says Sampson. “And a lot of it is because they’re playing in a new league.
“But again, I have to reiterate, we knew this going into it. I predicted this would happen. We just have to work through it. We have to support the league, because it’s really the future of not only soccer in this country, but the U.S. national team.”
Wynalda, hampered by a shoulder injury at U.S. Cup, only rarely showed the explosive acceleration that dusts defenders. Defender Jeff Agoos, who has been moved from the middle to the outside by D.C. United head coach Bruce Arena, got scorched on the first Bolivian goal, and many times during U.S. Cup was a step slow to make an interception or get in a tackle.
Mike Burns started the MLS season alongside Lalas in the Revolution defense, but he’s been moved to midfield, where he’s more effective. For the U.S., he could man-mark or play defensive midfielder in a 3-5-2.
Players have moved to new positions
Several players may be showing the draining effects of starting a new full season right on top of a previous one. In this category are Ramos, Balboa and Harkes. All performed capably in the U.S. Cup, yet seldom stamped their mark as clearly as they did last year.
Is this due to fatigue, or normal problems of adjustment from club play to international matches, or something else? “They are playing out of positions from which they normally play with the U.S. national team,” says Sampson. “The level in MLS I’m sure will improve and the sooner the level in MLS rises, the better off it’s going to be for the national team.”
Harkes has moved to the left side of midfield for D.C. United, and if Sampson goes to a 3-5-2, he might be the best choice to run the left flank. Cobi Jones played there at the Copa America and has more speed, but is weaker defensively.
Says Balboa, “I play attacking midfield for Colorado, Burnsie plays more in the middle, Caligiuri’s a man-marker in the middle. A lot of us are playing in positions we’re not used to playing for our club teams. It takes a little time to get adjusted.”
In time, the U.S. players will adjust quickly when leaving their MLS teams for national team duty. They seemed to make the switch efficiently in beating Scotland 2-1 on May 26, but were often out of sorts in U.S. Cup.
The U.S. had all it could handle with a young Irish team, was unable to break down a resolute but hardly world-class Bolivian defense, and needed one of Brad Friedel’s most brilliant national team performances to tie Mexico, a team it routed 4-0 in the U.S. Cup one year ago.
MLS goalkeepers far below foreigners
The duel between Keller and Friedel is one Sampson must watch closely, especially if Keller is unable to obtain a transfer from Millwall. English Second Division soccer isn’t sufficient to keep him sharp enough for international competition, irregardless of his excellent training habits and superb physical tools.
A solid performance in the Olympics may move Keller ahead of Friedel. Right now, they’re just about even. No doubt Keller is capable of dazzling displays, which the Olympic team needs to have any hope of advancing to the second round.
Friedel looked a bit rusty against Bolivia as Jaime Moreno nutmegged him in the second minute for the first goal. But he showed a panther’s reflexes against Mexico, being beaten only on a wicked free kick and a deflection.
The ex-UCLA goalkeeper has one more year on his contract with Turkish club Galatasaray, which next month starts its run in the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Aside from outsider Juergen Sommer, Sampson has no other options. Most of the MLS goalkeeping has been pathetic. Only ex-international Mark Dodd would even rate the merest whim of a look, and World Cup ’94 U.S. captain Tony Meola is out of the picture.
By mid-July, the U.S. team will know its six-game schedule for the next round of qualifying play. Until the MLS season finishes in late October, Sampson’s time with the national team will be brief.
“I’m confident that if you give me 10 days with this national team, we’ll be back on track,” says Sampson. “But the federation can’t have high expectations and to expect this team to play significantly better, especially defensively, than it did in U.S. Cup without additional training time.
“Most of our players are playing in a league, let’s be honest, that isn’t up to the caliber they played in Europe [or Mexico]. It will get better. But in the meantime, we’ve lost some ground.”
by Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney