Some Choice Cuts to Be Made
Suppose, for a moment, that when the United States roster for the World Cup is announced on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” Monday evening, it is Steve Sampson in front of the cameras, not Bruce Arena.
What would the coach who suffered through the Americans’ three-loss performance at France ’98 do if given the chance to pick the U.S. team for Korea/Japan ‘02?
Not surprisingly, Sampson’s roster of 23 players differs only slightly from the one Arena, his successor as national team coach, is expected to unveil Monday.
Nonetheless, there are significant differences, and Sampson identified two areas where Arena could run into difficulty at the World Cup.
One is in his choice of starting goalkeeper. The other is in the weakness of his outside defenders, the right and left backs.
Both coaches agree that Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller are the top two goalkeepers, but whereas Arena seems likely to take Tony Meola as his third keeper, Sampson prefers Tim Howard.
“The likelihood of a third goalkeeper getting any playing time is remote,” Sampson said. “I really feel that Howard is a future goalkeeper for the national team and he could gain a lot more by the experience. That’s not taking anything away from Tony, who certainly has been exceptional in MLS, but at some point you’ve got to use some of those 23 spots to build for the future.”
Keller and Friedel each believes that he should be the starter and both have made a good argument by their play. There were rumblings of discontent when Arena couldn’t decide between them during qualifying, and now there is the possibility of open revolt from whichever one is left on the bench.
“I don’t think either one of them will be quiet this time around, but hopefully the lessons of the last World Cup will help them in that regard,” Sampson said, alluding to ugly scenes when some of his players turned against him in 1998.
“This is the single greatest decision that Bruce has to make. I think what he has to do is go with his gut instinct, pick who he believes is the very best player for the moment and hope that the other behaves himself and acts professionally.”
The problem with the outside backs is just as thorny. No matter who Arena has played in the two positions, deficiencies have been evident. The players chosen have lacked either physical size and strength, speed, tactical awareness, experience, or any combination of those factors.
“I don’t seen any other answers for Bruce in MLS or overseas,” Sampson said. “Bruce has to work with the players that he has. Hopefully, in training they can work on covering in behind players, so that one player doesn’t get exposed one on one.”
The U.S. is a long way from producing, say, left backs of the caliber of Italy’s Paolo Maldini or Brazil’s Roberto Carlos.
“But those are the [type of] players we’re matched up against,” Sampson said. “It all comes down to speed. We have not been able to match the physical speed of [opponents] who typically play in the wide positions, representing the top 10 or 15 teams in the world.
“Typically, they are extremely fast, extremely dynamic, and because of that we tend to show a little too much respect and give them too much space because of our lack of pace.”
Sampson will be going to the World Cup as a color commentator alongside Andres Cantor for the Futbol de Primera Spanish-language radio network.
Three other players he would take to Korea but Arena remains uncertain about are defenders Greg Vanney and Pablo Mastroeni and midfielder Brian Maisonneuve.
Vanney, he said, is needed as cover for David Regis, the probable starting left back. “I think Regis is getting on in years,” Sampson said. “David has got good speed but he’s been injured on occasion. I really believe that Greg Vanney, although he hasn’t been exceptional, just going to the event will gain an awful lot from it.
“One of the biggest question marks with Greg is, does he have the pace? If Bruce decides to use [Jeff] Agoos centrally and Regis isn’t in form, then I think it makes sense to take a look at Vanney.”
At right back, Arena is expected to employ Tony Sanneh, who has the size but not the savvy. Sampson agreed that there really is no other clear option, not even his own choice in 1998, Frankie Hejduk.
“Hejduk has one advantage in that he has speed,” Sampson said. “But he has deficiencies in the air, deficiencies in getting forward and crossing well.
“But if you’ve got [an opposing] player where you just have to match speed with speed, then Hejduk’s your choice.”
Sampson also would prefer to see Mastroeni on the roster rather than Arena’s probable choice, Carlos Llamosa.
“Although he [Mastroeni] lacks a lot of international experience, I think he’s proven in a short amount of time that the pressure doesn’t bother him,” Sampson said. “I think he’s got as much, if not more, speed as others in that position. I think he plays out of the back beautifully and he can play in the midfield too.
“Llamosa, although I believe he’s a mature player and he brings a sense of calm back there, recently I’ve seen a slowing of his pace. Three or four months ago, I would have selected him.”
Sampson also favors taking Maisonneuve.
“His experience in the ’98 World Cup will bring that side of it to the team,” he said. “He won’t be shocked by the event. He would be my choice to take [Chris] Armas’ spot. He has the physical size and I think he’s one of the best tacklers of all the players in the national team program. People think that he’s slow, but he’s not. He’s deceptively quick and his speed of thought is so very good.”
One player not on Sampson’s list is DaMarcus Beasley.
“Beasley has a lot of promise,” Sampson said. “But I think he’s young. I think he’s a little slight, physically. He’s got incredible speed and he’s definitely one for the future, but at this point I wouldn’t use up one of my top 23 [choices] for him.”
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*--* Uneasy Pickings Steve Sampson’s 23 selections if he were picking the U.S. World Cup team: GOALKEEPERS--Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard DEFENDERS--Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, David Regis, Pablo Mastroeni, Tony Sanneh, Greg Vanney, Gregg Berhalter, Frankie Hejduk MIDFIELDERS--Claudio Reyna, Earnie Stewart, Chris Armas, John O’Brien, Cobi Jones, Brian Maisonneuve, Eddie Lewis FORWARDS--Clint Mathis, Brian McBride, Josh Wolff, Landon Donovan, Joe-Max Moore
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