Klinsmann also discussed some of the players who didn’t make the 27-player roster he called in, going into detail about the decision to not call in the likes of Eric Lichaj, Sacha Kljestan and Tim Ream.
“It came in too late for him, but it’s good that he broke in (at Aston Villa), “Klinsmann said of Lichaj. “If you look at certain positions, who are they kind of front-runners. Look at the central midfielder position. Michael Bradley, a Jermaine Jones, a Maurice Edu, a Kyle Beckerman.
“Then you have a Sacha Kljestan that you have to tell ‘You know what, sorry. You’ve had a good season but you’re not passing one of these four right now with their elements’. Then you don’t do them a favor to call them in.
“Like in Italy, it worked out great but we had to play (Kljestan) in a wide position and that’s not his position. He kind of sacrificed himself for the group,” Klinsmann said. “But now, bringing him here to be a fifth guy of two positions, then you’d rather him have a good break after a long season. That’s sort of how you juggle things with these players.”
Klinsmann wouldn’t come out and say that Lichaj was still behind the pack at fullback, but pointed to him needing more experience.
“All the outside positions we have a special eye on obviously,” Klinsmann said. “What he needs now is games. And Bedoya needs games. Who knows what happens now at Rangers. We have kids up in Scandinavia like Josh Gatt. We’ll observe it. That’s the good thing now about having Andy Hertzog and Mattias Hammann. They are all over the place in Europe. They go to those places. In Nordsdjaelland, they went to see Michael Parkhurst play against Clarence Goodson. It helps having a presence in Europe now with these guys, to look after them.”
Another player who was a bit of a surprising exclusion from the current camp was Bolton defender Tim Ream, who Klinsmann praised before revealing that, at the moment, he isn’t high enough on the depth chart for a call-up.
“Tim’s situation is similar to Sacha’s,” Klinsmann said. “They are players who are right there, but they can’t pass the four guys in front of them. Right now, Tim is not passing Gooch, Carlos, Clarence and Geoff Cameron. They are our four players locked in there as of today.
“I don’t know about tomorrow, but as of today that’s the situation,” Klinsmann said. “Now, if I put Tim on the standby list, he’s ready for the situation. I know if I called tomorrow, A.J. DeLaGarza or George John, they’re right here and get the job done.
“I told them, we observe everything, you deserve a big compliment, and we have you right in our sights. But the guys like Gooch and Boca, they’re not giving in right now.”
When asked about Freddy Adu, one of the standouts of the recent Under-23 Olympic Qualifying tournament, Klinsmann didn’t mince words about what the Philadelphia Union midfielder needs to do to earn a national team look.
“What we expect is that you put your stamp on your team, and there needs to come more,” Klinsmann said. “Freddy is not considered in that group because we need to see more. We need to see killer passes. We need to see goals. We need to see really creative elements because you’re an attacking midfielder.
“So you’re measured on what comes out at the end of the day. How many assists, how many goals you score. It’s not just playing.”
