Brian Sciaretta on Gold Cup Fiasco

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Since the World Cup Jurgen Klinsmann had 13 friendlies to prepare his team for the 2015 Gold Cup, and there’s no escaping the fact that he failed to have his team ready to win the continental championship.

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This is frustrating. Why can't we find a solid back four and a decent core lineup in 13 friendly matches?

This also really pisses me off:

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First, where is the attack from wide positions? That has been a problem for a while and the result at the Gold Cup was to keep pressing with Alejandro Bedoya (a central player for his club), Gyasi Zardes (a forward), and DeAndre Yedlin (a right back). It should hardly come as a surprise that these options have not resulted in consistent results.

The reliance on Timothy Chandler remains a mystery. While it is true that Chandler was out of action against Jamaica (presumably with an injured knee suffered against Cuba), he is still the national team’s top right back.

Chandler has 124 Bundesliga appearances on his resume but at what point is that no longer enough to start for the national team? At what point must he produce for the national team to keep his spot? Why, despite commitment issues and poor play, does he keep getting chances when players like Eric Lichaj remain on the outside looking in?

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Ignoring Lichaj, ignoring Feilhaber, ignoring Ream (basically). All positions of need, yet for some unknown reason (besides "being a little bit behind other players") Jurgen refuses to call these people up and give them a chance to prove they are better than our other options. I mean Brad Evans played well last night but is he a better RB than Lichaj?