23 For January Camp
What? Klinsi Should Call Juan Agudelo? Absolutely
The 22-year-old's bold—and overly optimistic—attempt to play in the English Premier League came up short, stunting his development. But Jurgen Klinsmann could throw Agudelo a much-needed lifeline.
Editors note: A group of ASN staffers created a 23-man roster for the January U.S. national team camp, and with this post our roster is now complete. These are not our predictions—these are the players we would like to see named to Jurgen Klinsmann's squad.
I'M NOT GOING TO MINCE WORDS: I feel sorry for Juan Agudelo.
It's entirely possible that the 21-year-old striker thought he was doing the right thing—following a path his national team coach wanted him to take—when he left Major League Soccer and signed on with Stoke City of the English Premier League.
But when Agudelo failed to secure a U.K. work permit, Stoke loaned the Colombia native to FC Utrecht where he scored three goals over 14 games. Agudelo made a second attempt to get a British work permit, but when that was denied Utrecht parted company with the forward. He had an October trial with Wolverhampton but the English Championship club decided to pass, citing his lack of fitness.
All told, Agudelo hasn't played professional soccer since May. It's a terrible situation for a promising young striker who pushed himself to compete at the highest level.
It's safe to say that Agudelo has not exactly earned a call-up to January camp based on his recent form, but Jurgen Klinsmann should bring him in nonetheless. It would send a very loud message that the U.S. coach acknowledges and rewards players who are willing to step out of their comfort zones and push the envelope.
Klinsmann has done so before—most notably with Brek Shea, another MLS-er who tried his luck overseas and failed to catch on. Klinsmann named Shea to multiple U.S. national team rosters even though he was barely playing club soccer. The world didn't crash to a halt back then, and neither will it if Agudelo joins the senior team next month.
And besides—the stakes are incredibly low at this point in time. It's a January camp in the year following a World Cup. The team doesn't have a friendly for four weeks. And even if he doesn't see a minute of action against Chile (1/28) or Panama (2/8), a month of intensive training would undoubtedly benefit Agudelo as he maps out a career plan for 2015 and beyond.
Agudelo needs the boost. Do it, Jurgen.
2. Lee Nguyen
3. Robbie Rogers
4. Matt Besler
5. Gyasi Zardes
6. Bill Hamid
7. Matt Hedges
8. Luis Gil
9. Steve Clark
10. Charlie Davies
11. Perry Kitchen
12. Andrew Farrell
13. Miguel Ibarra
14. Jermaine Jones
15. Clint Dempsey
16. Kelyn Rowe
17. Graham Zusi
18. Omar Gonzalez
19. Sean Johnson
20. Wil Trapp
21. Mix Diskerud
22. Michael Parkhurst
23. Juan Agudelo That's our squad—please tell us what you think. We kept our list to 23 but it is very likely that Klinsmann will bring in more than that number. We left off Michael Bradley because he underwent foot surgery in late October, and as previously mentioned we didn't consider Chris Wondolowski, Nick Rimando, Brad Davis, or Kyle Beckerman for this roster because 1) they are well into their 30s and 2) Klinsmann already knows what each of them can do. The folks we did consider who just missed out include Steve Birnbaum, Chris Schuler, Dillon Powers, Chad Marshall, Jack McInerney, Maurice Edu, and Amobi Okugo. John Godfrey is the founder and editor in chief of American Soccer Now.
It's safe to say that Agudelo has not exactly earned a call-up to January camp based on his recent form, but Jurgen Klinsmann should bring him in nonetheless. It would send a very loud message that the U.S. coach acknowledges and rewards players who are willing to step out of their comfort zones and push the envelope.
Klinsmann has done so before—most notably with Brek Shea, another MLS-er who tried his luck overseas and failed to catch on. Klinsmann named Shea to multiple U.S. national team rosters even though he was barely playing club soccer. The world didn't crash to a halt back then, and neither will it if Agudelo joins the senior team next month.
And besides—the stakes are incredibly low at this point in time. It's a January camp in the year following a World Cup. The team doesn't have a friendly for four weeks. And even if he doesn't see a minute of action against Chile (1/28) or Panama (2/8), a month of intensive training would undoubtedly benefit Agudelo as he maps out a career plan for 2015 and beyond.
Agudelo needs the boost. Do it, Jurgen.
ASN's January roster
1. Tesho Akindele2. Lee Nguyen
3. Robbie Rogers
4. Matt Besler
5. Gyasi Zardes
6. Bill Hamid
7. Matt Hedges
8. Luis Gil
9. Steve Clark
10. Charlie Davies
11. Perry Kitchen
12. Andrew Farrell
13. Miguel Ibarra
14. Jermaine Jones
15. Clint Dempsey
16. Kelyn Rowe
17. Graham Zusi
18. Omar Gonzalez
19. Sean Johnson
20. Wil Trapp
21. Mix Diskerud
22. Michael Parkhurst
23. Juan Agudelo That's our squad—please tell us what you think. We kept our list to 23 but it is very likely that Klinsmann will bring in more than that number. We left off Michael Bradley because he underwent foot surgery in late October, and as previously mentioned we didn't consider Chris Wondolowski, Nick Rimando, Brad Davis, or Kyle Beckerman for this roster because 1) they are well into their 30s and 2) Klinsmann already knows what each of them can do. The folks we did consider who just missed out include Steve Birnbaum, Chris Schuler, Dillon Powers, Chad Marshall, Jack McInerney, Maurice Edu, and Amobi Okugo. John Godfrey is the founder and editor in chief of American Soccer Now.
