The Best Starting XI for Jurgen Klinsmann's USMNT in 2015

Jurgen Klinsmann and the United States men’s national team head into 2015 with plenty to prove. Despite advancing out of the proverbial “group of death” in the 2014 World Cup, the team was thoroughly outclassed by Belgium in the Round of 16 and then finished the year winless in their last four matches.

In 2015, Klinsmann will have his hands full. After two games in early February against Chile and Panama that will round out the team’s annual January camp, the USMNT will play Denmark and Switzerland on the road in March, Mexico at home in April and then play the Netherlands and Germany back in Europe in June.

After that, the team will spend the summer defending their Gold Cup title with a berth to the 2017 Confederations Cup on the line.

Here’s a breakdown of the best roster options Klinsmann currently has at his disposal.

Goalkeeper

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With Tim Howard on sabbatical until at least next fall, the gloves will fall into the hands of the more-than-capable Brad Guzan. Since winning the job from Shay Given at Aston Villa in 2012, Guzan has proven himself a top-class goalkeeper and even deputized well for Howard on the international level several times in the last few years.

Backing up Guzan is Real Salt Lake’s Nick Rimando, who has also played well for the U.S. on several occasions, including the 2013 Gold Cup.

Starter: Brad Guzan

Defenders

With the international retirement of DaMarcus Beasley, Tijuana’s Greg Garza will be getting the next shot at left-back. Despite having little international experience, Garza has done well when he has gotten the chance, starting three of the U.S.’s five post-World Cup friendlies.

"

Greg Garza you got next.

— Usry (@RobUsry) December 15, 2014"

The spot at right-back belongs to DeAndre Yedlin. About to move to Tottenham, Yedlin was a surprise inclusion on the U.S.’s World Cup roster, but quickly proved he belonged. Blessed with many natural gifts, Yedlin should continue to improve the technical and tactical sides of his game in Europe.

In the middle, Klinsmann has plenty of options. John Anthony Brooks continues to be an enigma, but one who shows plenty of promise. Since his game-winning goal against Ghana in the World Cup, Brooks has endured a benching by his club coach, only to work his way back into the lineup and make several Bundesliga Teams of the Week. This weekend, however, he once again showed his penchant for inconsistency, scoring an own goal and conceding a penalty—all in the span of two minutes.

Partnering Brooks should probably be Jermaine Jones. The Jones-as-a-center-back experiment is still in its infancy, however, and Omar Gonzalez will be there should anything go wrong.

Back-ups along the defensive line include Timmy Chandler out wide and Matt Besler and Michael Orozco in the middle.

Starters (from left to right): Garza, Brooks, Jones, Yedlin

Midfielders

In the middle, few pundits or fans agree with Klinsmann’s assertion that Michael Bradley is better as an attacking midfielder. Having seen Bradley as an effective No. 6 for the USMNT for years, seemingly everyone but Klinsmann knows that his best position is as a holding midfielder.

Partnering Bradley should be Mix Diskerud with Diskerud taking on the box-to-box duties. Over the past year, it’s been obvious that Diskerud has grown, becoming more tenacious defensively, while still maintaining his status as the U.S.’s most technical center midfielder.

On the wings, the U.S. is best served by playing Fabian Johnson and Alejandro Bedoya. With the full development of Yedlin as a right-back, Klinsmann is finally free to put Johnson in the midfield without sacrificing anything defensively. And Bedoya, while always a work horse, has finally started to show some of his attacking prowess this season with Nantes in Ligue 1.

Back-ups in the center of midfield include Geoff Cameron, Kyle Beckerman and Lee Nguyen—especially if the game calls for a true No. 10. Out wide, extra depth can be found with a fully fit and in-form Joe Gyau and Julian Green.

Starters: Bradley, Diskerud, Johnson, Bedoya

Forwards

Up top for the U.S., the future is still tomorrow.

While Rubio Rubin, Aron Johannsson and Terrence Boyd (currently out with an ACL injury) are all clearly the future, none of them have fully established themselves yet and the U.S.’s best two options at forward remain Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore.

Despite missing a good chunk of the season due to his World Cup commitments, Dempsey still managed to score 16 goals for the Seattle Sounders this year. He also led the U.S. at the World Cup, scoring two of the team’s five goals.

Altidore has obviously suffered through a horror show at Sunderland, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is still the U.S.’s best option as a target forward. At the World Cup, his injury only minutes into the Ghana game threw a wrench into the U.S.’s plans and the absence of his physical presence up top was palpable for the rest of the tournament.

Despite his struggles in England, Altidore has continued to prove his worth with the USMNT, scoring two of the team’s four goals since the World Cup.

Rubin, Johannsson and Boyd (once recovered) will all get their chance, but for now, the Altidore/Dempsey combination remains the best option the U.S. has.

Starters: Dempsey, Altidore

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