Thoughts on Graham Zusi and Landon Donovan after the U.S. Men’s National Team Win over Honduras in Salt Lake City, 6.18.13

Going into the June 2 friendly against Germany in Washington, D.C., Jozy Altidore hadn’t scored in eleven straight U.S. men’s national team appearances. He broke that streak with a stunning volley against Germany and proceeded to score critical goals in the three World Cup qualifiers that followed, most recently netting the only goal of the game in the U.S.’s win over Honduras in Salt Lake City. Altidore went from being the main story of the U.S. men’s national team to being the main story of the U.S. men’s national team, just for different reasons.

The media fixation on Altidore probably speaks more to the shallowness of the U.S.’s striker pool than anything else. But after three straight qualifying victories, U.S. fans can be excused for ignoring their team’s deficiencies. With six of the U.S.’s ten final-round CONCACAF qualifiers having been played, the Yanks are leading the hexagonal, two points ahead of Costa Rica and five ahead of Mexico, their closest pursuers. The final round is, in fact, shaping up to be easier for the U.S. than the semi-final round, in which three Group A teams (the U.S., Jamaica, and Guatemala) beat up on one team (Antigua and Barbuda) but couldn’t distance themselves from each other. Given that three of the six final-round CONCACAF teams will go to the World Cup, and a fourth will participate in a two-game play-in series against the Oceania champion, the U.S. will now likely have to average only about a point and a half a game to advance to Brazil next year.

So, the U.S. is in a good position in this final round, and its players and coaches should be commended. As for the players, Michael Bradley, DaMarcus Beasley, Graham Zusi, Eddie Johnson, Clint Dempsey, Fabian Johnson and Altidore have distinguished themselves in these qualifiers. As for the coach, Jurgen Klinsmann has shown a willingness to experiment, and his creative moves have paid off. His most notable decisions have involved the U.S. back line. He’s paired Matt Besler with Omar Gonzalez in the center and played natural midfielders Beasley and Brad Evans as outside backs. That unexpectedly appointed group has largely been responsible for the U.S. holding their opponents to a single goal in the last five qualifiers.

All of that said, the U.S. will need all the outfield quality it can get when it (presumably) goes to Brazil next summer. The recent friendly loss against Belgium was a reminder of the daunting skill and depth of highly ranked FIFA teams, which the U.S. can’t match. I like Brad Evans’s grit, smarts, and willingness to do whatever his coaches ask of him as much as the next guy, but how is he—a 28-year-old middling MLS performer playing out of position—going to do against world-class strikers? He was exposed a number of times against Panama and beaten more than once against Honduras, most notably in the 84^th minute when Roger Espinoza blew by him on a counter attack, only to hold the ball up (as if taking pity) and wait for his teammates.

Which brings me to the subject of Landon Donovan. I find it difficult to believe that some, including Jurgen Klinsmann, have doubts about whether he could help the current U.S. A-team. To take a representative example, check out this May 16 article in The Guardian, called “Landon Donovan: should USA coach Jürgen Klinsmann bring him back?” The writer (Elliot Turner) pointedly asks of Klinsmann’s decision about Donovan: “Should we care?” Turner goes on to mention that, while Donovan is the U.S.’s all-time leading scorer, Donovan’s fellow players might feel “aggrieved” at his decision to take an extended vacation last winter and spring, that Donovan is 31, that “you either love Donovan or you love to hate him,” and, finally, that Donovan is “not indispensible” to the U.S. national team. I suppose that last shot means that we shouldn’t care if Donovan gets the call for the next round of qualifiers.

What Elliot fails to mention, what almost every writer and commentator fails to mention when the subject of Donovan and his value to the current national team arises, are the chances Donovan creates for his teammates. One shining exception to this rule is Matthew Doyle, aka The Armchair Analyst, who last October wrote this about Donovan’s 2012 club-team play: “Donovan is insanely efficient. He creates just under three chances a game; only one other player in the league (Robbie Keane, which probably says something about their chemistry) creates as many as two. Guys who are having Best XI caliber seasons — Mauro Rosales, Felipe and Brad Davis come to mind — aren't within shouting distance of LD.”

Last season, Donovan was second in MLS with 14 assists, behind only Graham Zusi, who had 15 on the year but who averaged fewer assists per minute than Donovan. It is true that Donovan had just a single assist for the U.S. national team in 2012, but his 2013 MLS assist numbers prove that he still has the ability to create for his teammates. Watching him and Keane play off each other last year was MLS at its best. And as for all-time USMNT statistics, Donovan is not just alone on the assist mountaintop, he’s alone on the entire mountain. He has 48 assists 144 appearances. Cobi Jones is number two on the list with 22 assists in 164 appearances, and the great Claudio Reyna is number three, with 19 assists in 112 appearances.

If you’re still convinced Donovan can’t add significant value to the U.S. team, go take a look at the current USMNT roster and try to maintain that conviction. The roster includes Edgar Castillo, Maurice Edu, Joe Corona, Terrance Boyd, Brek Shea, Michael Parkhurst, and Danny Williams, along with six goalkeepers. Yes, Donovan is not directly be competing for some of those players’ positions, but (goalkeepers aside) does a player’s normal position really matter much to Klinsmann? Did anyone envision two months ago that DaMarcus Beasley and Brad Evans would start together as the U.S.’s outside backs in World Cup qualifiers? If you really want to get creative, and get your highest-quality players on the field, why not move Zusi, who can run box to box all day long, to right back in place of Evans and put Donovan on the right side of midfield? Then you’d have the U.S.’s top assist-makers working off each other down that right sideline, with the equally dangerous Beasley and Fabian Johnson on the left.

Donovan has been named to this summer’s Gold Cup preliminary roster, made up largely of USMNT B-team players, young hopefuls like Jack McInerney and Mix Diskerud and veterans like Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Oneywu attempting to get back onto the A-team. The roster has, however, a significant number of current A-teamers, including Beasley, Besler, Gonzalez, Herculez Gomez, Eddie Johnson, and, most significantly, Zusi. I look forward to seeing how Klinsmann uses Donovan and Zusi together. I doubt if he’ll move Zusi to right back given the preliminary roster, but I for one would love to see him start a backline of Zusi, Beasley, Besler, and Gonzalez, with Donovan ahead of Zusi on the right. That back line, and that right side combination of Donovan and Zusi, could give the U.S. its best chance to advance deep into the World Cup finals tournament in Brazil next year.