Last week, US men's national team head coach held a media call in which he went over a big chunk of his team's depth chart – mostly for now, but also with an eye to the future. And apparently, I misheard a big, crucial chunk of what Arena said, which resulted in some bad info in my column on the presumed, 70-man US depth chart.
I didn't hear Bruce say that. I did hear his comments earlier in the winter about Johnson being pretty good on the wing, and read Johnson's own words about his preferred position, as related to AmericanSoccerNow:
"He was just asking me what my best position is and where I feel most comfortable. I said I am playing on the wing," Johnson said. "Sometimes it is hard to adjust in three days to a different role of playing and a different position. Sometimes it sounds easier than it is. I told him I feel more comfortable if I play the same position as I do for my club team with the national team."
As a result, here's the left back depth chart and blurb I constructed for last week's column:
LEFT BACK
- Jorge Villafana (Santos Laguna)
- Eric Lichaj* (Nottingham Forest)
- DaMarcus Beasley (unattached)
- Greg Garza (Atlanta)
- Jonathan Bornstein (Queretaro)
- Matt Besler* (Sporting KC)
- Edgar Castillo (Monterrey)
- Taylor Kemp (D.C. United)
- Robbie Rogers* (LA Galaxy)
- Justin Morrow (Toronto FC)
- Tim Ream* (Fulham)
I think Fabian Johnson's best use in the current US pool is at left back, but Arena said he'll be a midfielder or winger going forward. Fair enough!
Villafana was very impressive for the US in January camp, Lichaj and Garza were specifically namechecked by Arena in today's presser, and while Beasley is long in the tooth, you know very well he's a guy you can put on the field in Central America and he won't be intimidated. He was mentioned as well.
Yes, that's the legendary Jonathan Bornstein on that list, too. He's been the best US left back in Liga MX for several years, and obviously he has high level international experience as well.
Those asterisks, by the way, indicate guys who will show up in other positions on this depth chart.
Johnson has played mostly left wing and a little bit of left midfield for Borussia Mönchengladbach this year. That really is his best position, and back in 2014 after Landon Donovan had been cut, and before either Christian Pulisic or Darlington Nagbe or Paul Arriola were part of the USMNT picture, and with then-coach Jurgen Klinsmann refusing to play a central playmaker like Benny Feilhaber or Sacha Kljestan, left wing in a 4-2-3-1 or left midfield in a 4-4-2 really would have been the best spot to use Johnson.
Times have changed, though. It looks very much like either Feilhaber or Kljestan will start as a No. 10, and Pulisic's name should be written in pen, in sharpie, in blood, and carved directly into the starting lineup for the next decade. There is no shortage of wing depth or high-level creativity in midfield any longer, and thus the US no longer so desperately need Johnson's creativity higher up the pitch.
What they need, and what Johnson has specifically asked for, is continuity.
“I met with Fabian in Germany this past month and I asked him the same question,” Arena said in a Facebook Q&A from December. “His answer to me was, ‘I can play either position. I just would like to play one of them and have a little consistency in where I play with the national team.'"
We saw what continuity can do for a team's defense this past summer at the Copa America when Johnson lined up at left back from the start alongside John Brooks and Geoff Cameron in central defense, DeAndre Yedlin at right back and Michael Bradley at defensive midfield. That group was the primary reason the US allowed just two goals in three group stage games against Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay before card accumulation forced a few lineup changes.
Johnson was excellent defensively all tournament long, which was a reversal from his all-attacking performance at fullback in the 2014 World Cup – his positional struggles led directly to late goals against Ghana and Portugal. He has pretty clearly evolved since then, even if he doesn't play much on the backline for his club any longer.
And the US have obviously evolved as well. So consider this a reaffirmation of my vote for Fabian Johnson as the starting US left back vs. Honduras on March 24, and then a couple of days later in Panama. Consider him the No. 1 option at LB henceforth, and a "break in case of emergency" option at right back, right midfield, or left wing. Consider this my apology for getting the depth chart wrong in the first place.
And consider this XI the US team I want to see when qualifying resumes:
Provided, of course, that Cameron and Tim Howard get healthy, and that everybody else can stay healthy.
Lots can change between now and the end of March, but Fabian Johnson being the best choice for the US at left back is unlikely to be one of them.
