The end of European club seasons will dovetail with the resumption of U.S. World Cup qualifiers, a timely transition as Coach Bruce Arena makes final roster decisions before training camp opens next Monday in the Denver area.
Players outside of MLS have always comprised a key block of the squad and, with the Americans aiming to make a move in the CONCACAF standings with a June 8 home match against Trinidad and Tobago and a visit to Mexico three days later, Arena has kept a close eye on his pro exports.
From the Europe circuit, five important players, including three who missed the previous set of qualifiers in March, are in a good place ahead of their U.S. assignments:
—DeAndre Yedlin, 23, enjoyed his best season since breaking into the pros with the Seattle Sounders, locking down a starting job with Newcastle United, which finished first in England’s 24-club second tier, known as the Championship, and earned promotion to the Premier League next season.
Yedlin earned league-wide accolades for his work at right back and appeared in 27 league matches (21 starts). A thigh injury in early March sidelined him for six weeks, which, besides interrupting his Newcastle schedule, ruled him out of the national team’s victory against Honduras and draw at Panama in March.
With Yedlin and others unavailable, Arena made do with Geoff Cameron and Graham Zusi, respectively, on the right corner. Neither is ideal in that position. Yedlin, who excelled on the right flank at the 2014 World Cup, would inject speed, danger and soaring confidence.
–Like Yedlin, Fabian Johnson missed the March qualifiers because of injury. In his case, it was a hamstring, suffered in mid-March with Bundesliga side Moenchengladbach. The ailment pushed right up against the end of the German season, creating concern on the U.S. coaching staff as to whether he would gain any vital playing time before the June qualifiers.
However, Johnson returned from the two-month layoff last weekend in a substitute’s role and started the Bundesliga closer on Saturday, logging 74 minutes at right back.
One of the U.S. program’s best performers over several years, Johnson can fill a number of roles for Arena. He is perhaps most effective on the left wing, using his speed and skill to provide an alternative point of attack. In the March matches, Darlington Nagbe augmented the U.S. efforts. Johnson is also an option at left back, which was manned by Jorge Villafaña in each of the previous qualifiers.
—Christian Pulisic just completed his first full Bundesliga season by appearing in 29 of 34 matches, starting 15 and scoring three times. He was also a regular in the UEFA Champions League, starting six matches and scoring once.
And he’s still only 18.
No American has burst on to a big European stage to Pulisic’s degree. His pacey, polished play electrified audiences both watching him in person and on TV and live streams back home. A pivotal character in the March qualifiers, he will fill a starting role next month, but where? He was the playmaker against Honduras and played wide in Panama. Perhaps he’ll receive a taste of both again.
First, though, there’s one last assignment with Dortmund: the German Cup final Saturday against Eintracht Frankfurt in Berlin.
–No Americans featured every weekend in the Premier League, in part because the numbers there have dwindled to a precious few. But when he was healthy, Geoff Cameron was in Stoke City’s lineup on a regular basis.
A knee injury forced him out for four months, but he returned in time for the March qualifiers and started the last 11 league matches for Stoke City, almost exclusively as a defensive midfielder.
With the national team, Cameron is a model of versatility: center back, right back or midfield. How then will Arena use him for the upcoming qualifiers? Yedlin is more comfortable at right back. Michael Bradley is the primary defensive midfielder. Omar Gonzalez and John Brooks formed the partnership in central defense against Honduras, but the guess is that Arena will find a way to fit Cameron into the backline.
—Bobby Wood is slated to rejoin the national team after missing the March gathering with a back injury. Although he didn’t score on the club level the last two-plus months, he helped Hamburg survive a relegation scare up until the waning moments of the last league match and keep its place in the Bundesliga.
In his first season in the top flight, the Hawaii-born forward scored five times in 23 starts (28 appearances). Two came in a four-day span in December. He also pocketed four goals in four German Cup matches.
Wood’s return bolsters a U.S. frontline corps that includes Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey, who in March rebounded from a heart condition to score four times in the two qualifiers.
