Meet the new boys. Vastly different from the old boys.
With Friday's announcement of this January's USMNT camp roster, Jurgen Klinsmann has turned the page to a new World Cup cycle, and done so with an eye on youth. So let's start there:
1. Who are these guys?
You're talking about Julio Morales, Marc Pelosi, Dennis Flores, Oscar Sorto, Christian Dean and Alex Bono. Maybe Jon Kempin, too.
The answer: A bunch of guys who are too old for the US U-20s (who have their own camp this month, followed by the CONCACAF U-20 Championship) but young enough to be part of the 2016 Olympic qualifying effort. They are all, in other words, born after January 1, 1993.
Klinsmann has said it's a priority to get back to the Olympics after missing out in 2012. As such, it looks like a couple of these guys got preference over more established talents -- Harry Shipp, Kelyn Rowe, Andrew Farrell, Matt Hedges and Luis Robles, to name five -- that are too old for Olympic qualifying.
2. So what spots do they play?
Flores is a pure attacking midfielder who should probably be considered a modern No. 10 (think "Lee Nguyen"). Sorto's a right back for the Galaxy, though he spent all season playing for Los Dos. Dean got 123 minutes last year as a left-footed central defender for the Whitecaps. Bono is a goalkeeper from Syracuse who's a part of this year's Generation adidas class, while Kempin is a Sporting KC Homegrown 'keeper who had five saves while conceding seven goals in 315 regular-season minutes this year.
And Morales? He spent half of 2013 with Chivas USA, scoring a pair of goals -- and missing time to represent Mexico at the 2013 U-20 World Cup. Since then he's moved to the Mexican second division.
He played 46 total minutes last season.
3. You didn't mention Pelosi
Ok, let's talk about Pelosi. He plays attacking midfield, left midfield or left back for Liverpool's reserves, and was at one point considered one of that club's top prospects. But he suffered a broken leg in February 2013, came back 14 months later and has yet to nail down a spot.
Pelosi was clearly the best talent in his US youth national team cohort. That said, his cohort lost to Uzbekistan at the 2011 U-17 World Cup, and that group of '94s hasn't exactly exploded with high achievers. It's telling that Liverpool felt fine about letting him train with the USMNT for a month instead of holding onto him -- he's clearly not about to break into the first team or anything.
He was born in Germany, by the way.
4. Perry Kitchen, defender. Explain that
Let's remember that positions are fluid -- just because a guy's listed at defender here doesn't mean that's the only spot he'll get looked at in camp. Kitchen was one of the better central midfielders in the league last year, but there are legitimate questions as to whether he can play that role in the way Klinsmann prefers.
Wil Trapp -- who is also young enough to be on the Olympic team -- is more of a conductor in the Kyle Beckerman sense, spreading the game around and plugging that gap in front of the backline. Kitchen plays the role more like Osvaldo Alonso, ranging far and wide to break up plays. That means he doubles as both a destroyer and an occasional final third threat.
Can Kitchen adjust his game? Perhaps. It will probably have to happen for D.C. United first, however.
As for Kitchen in central defense... I'd expect it to be a short-lived experiment. He reads the game and distributes well, but is an absolute liability in the air. Will Bruin should tithe 10 percent of his earnings to Kitchen in perpetuity.
5. Is Tesho Akindele really international quality?
Yes, but for Canada. Eventually. He and Ethan Finlaycan discuss it over poutine.
Bonus Question: Are you out of your comfort zone?
The formation is proactive. The approach is out of the comfort zone. This is a benchmark.
