3 Things Jurgen Klinsmann Should Test in USMNT Friendly vs. Iceland
The United States men's national team begins its important 2016 schedule on Sunday at the StubHub Center as the participants in the annual January camp play Iceland.
First-team regulars like Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Matt Besler are available for selection, but Sunday's match and the one five days later against Canada mean more to the young prospects and role players based in Major League Soccer.
The game will also serve as a good test for those in the U23 squad preparing for March's two-legged Olympic qualifying playoff with Colombia.
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Below we look at three things USMNT boss Jurgen Klinsmann should test in Sunday's friendly.
Find a Consistent Full Back
Klinsmann and the USMNT will face a major problem throughout the next 12 months if they can't discover a pair of full backs who are able to thrive on a consistent basis on the international level.
Right now, Klinsmann's best option is to keep DaMarcus Beasley out of international retirement for as long as possible and have him play left back. On the right side, a still-raw DeAndre Yedlin may be the best option based off the USMNT manager's recent roster selections. If he wants to expand his horizons, Klinsmann could call in Eric Lichaj and Jonathan Bornstein, but those two have as good a chance of getting called into camp as the exiled Benny Feilhaber right now.
Tim Ream, Jonathan Spector, Timothy Chandler, Greg Garza and Brek Shea are all decent options, but none of those players stood out a ton in 2015.
With the opportunity to rise to the first team in front of them, Brandon Vincent, Matt Polster, Kellyn Acosta and Eric Miller should all receive playing time in some fashion.
If Klinsmann opts to play veterans Brad Evans and Michael Orozco on the defensive flanks, he will erase the whole meaning of the January camp. Evans and Orozco are nice to have in camp, but neither is the future of the team at full back.
Acosta and Polster are both defensive midfielders by trade, but both U23 players were listed as defenders when the roster was released for January camp. With a surplus of defensive-minded midfielders in the talent pool, the pair could use the positional switch to separate themselves from the pack fighting for the full back positions.
Vincent may be too green for the international level, but if he replicates anything close to what his college teammate Jordan Morris did with the Yanks in 2015, he's worth having a look at. At 23, Miller is the oldest of the bunch in contention for a starting spot on Sunday. He would be the wisest choice on the left with Polster over on the right with Matt Besler and either Steve Birnbaum or Tim Parker next to the Sporting Kansas City man.
If Klinsmann fails to get solid production out of his full backs, he will have to go back to square one again and call on ol' reliable Beasley.
Let Jordan Morris Loose
Be honest. After all the hype surrounding Morris' professional future over the last few months, you want to see him do special things in the first international match of 2016.
The Stanford University product and brand-new Seattle Sounders homegrown signing is fresh off a training stint with Werder Bremen, where he assisted on a goal in a friendly match.
With the search for a backup to Altidore still ongoing due to injuries and inconsistencies, it would be nice to see what Morris can produce after going through a whirlwind of emotions in the last month.
If he handles the pressure of leading the line on Sunday, Morris could move up the forward depth chart in a heartbeat. The only players standing in between Morris and Altidore at the moment are Aron Johannsson when he gets healthy, Bobby Wood and Gyasi Zardes.
With Zardes as direct competition for the upcoming friendlies, Morris has a chance to prove to Klinsmann that he is a better goalscorer than at least one of the players directly ahead of him at the moment.
If Morris continues his upward trajectory, he has a chance of making the roster for the Copa America Centenario in June. But if he fails to display the same confidence he did during the college season and against Mexico on April 15, he will face a long process to reach the top of the depth chart.
Find Out What to do With Lee Nguyen
Lee Nguyen has been in his own version of USMNT purgatory over the last year or so. The New England Revolution player has done enough to make the 23-man squad, but he has rarely seen action on the pitch.
Since his return to the Yanks in November 2014, the 29-year-old has made four appearances mainly as a substitute. With other creative players like Darlington Nagbe ready to take his spot, Klinsmann needs to figure what exactly he wants to do with Nguyen.
As much as Nagbe seems like the sexy pick to start in the playmaking midfield role of whatever experimental formation Klinsmann rolls out to the pitch on Sunday, Nguyen has the potential to be a difference-maker for the Yanks moving forward with his creative ability. But he has to play more than five minutes in a game to show Klinsmann that.
If Nguyen fails to display a creative attacking intent in the first 45 to 60 minutes of the match against Iceland, Klinsmann can easily bring in Nagbe to make up for the lack of production. But before Klinsmann fully commits to Nagbe, he should give Nguyen a fair shake.
Joe Tansey covers U.S. Soccer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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