Does the Gold Cup hurt the careers of USMNT's European-based players?
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Version 0 of 1. There’ll be no club versus country tug of war over Timmy Chandler’s services this summer, but his coach at Eintracht Frankfurt says the defender’s call up to the USMNT’s Gold Cup squad is “not a great situation.” And after speaking with Jürgen Klinsmann before the squad was named, he admits there was nothing he could do about it. Thomas Schaaf has questioned the impact of a packed summer schedule on international players such as Chandler. In any four-year cycle, the men’s summer includes a World Cup, the Olympics, the European championship, a Copa América, the Confederations Cup and two Gold Cups. (Africa and Asia hold their tournaments during the northern hemisphere winter.) While that cycle leaves every second summer free for the majority of European international footballers, a US player like Chandler could find himself without an extended summer break for the foreseeable future. Last summer was spent at the World Cup. This summer he will be stateside for the North American tournament. Next summer, he could be in back in Brazil for the Olympics and the summer after, darting back and forth across the Atlantic for the Gold and Confederations Cups. Then the cycle begins again. Chandler’s USMNT team-mate Fabian Johnson recently told the Guardian that the World Cup had been been disruptive to his preparations for the Bundesliga season with Borussia Mönchengladbach, and that it wasn’t until he returned from the winter break that he felt he had caught up. Related: USMNT's Fabian Johnson interview: 'I always felt American, I just grew up in Germany' The Gold Cup has the potential to be even more disruptive. If the US makes the final, players like Chandler and Johnson will have barely two weeks to prepare for the Bundesliga season. Those involved in the second division will miss the opening round altogether. By comparison, there was a gap of more than seven weeks between their World Cup exit and the beginning of the new season in Germany. “The World Cup finishes earlier,” said Schaaf after Saturday’s draw at Hertha Berlin. “So you certainly have more time to prepare than after the confederation tournaments.” When asked if he had discouraged Chandler from attending the tournament, Schaaf replied: “I spoke to [Jürgen] Klinsmann and the situation is really just that if there’s a request for a player, we have to accommodate that. We have to try to manage this as best we can, so that we nevertheless always look and see when there’s an opportunity for rest and recuperation. “Between [the Holland and Germany friendlies] and then going to the Gold Cup, Timmy will have a two week holiday. “It’s certainly not a great situation. He didn’t have a great preparation last year and this year won’t be much different. So it’s difficult for the boys to have a break, to regain their strength, and then on the other hand be available for the team, the club.” It’s a club-centric – and Euro-centric – view, and one that gets shorter shrift with each passing year. Even Australian players can these days fly home from Europe for international matches with a minimum of fuss. But what are the alternatives for the North American competition? Holding the Gold Cup during the northern winter might be easier for German coaches to stomach, given their league’s winter break, but wouldn’t go down well in England, Spain or Italy. Moving it to World Cup years is obviously out of the question, and holding it in Olympic years, as the European Championship is, would mean it could only be played once every four years. That would starve fans west of the Atlantic of opportunities to see their best players in action, and this at a time when Fifa is trying to extended the game’s footprint. The European leagues could, of course, reduce their fixtures, though that would deny game time to the many professionals not playing at international level. Schaaf might not be pleased with the Chandler situation, but US fans will be. The Frankfurt-born, Frankfurt-raised son of an absent father from New York did not take part in the last Gold Cup, and in the past has often turned down invitations to play for the US side. That reluctance has been seen as everything from a young player not wanting to get offside with his former club, to a snub by a player holding out for a spot in the German national side. There were also suggestions he didn’t feel fully comfortable playing for a country he hadn’t had a strong connection with. He has only limited contact with his US family. Perhaps, then, he had to deal with his past before he commit to his future. Whatever the case is, he is not only cap-tied to the US now, but happy with how things are. “There’s a great atmosphere within the team, like the sort of feeling you often only have as part of a family,” he told the Guardian before the recent friendly in Zürich. “That’s why I still feel good about being there and I’ll never regret the decision. “They’re more laidback [in the US locker room than in a German one], I think. They all have fun together, but they know that when they’re out on the pitch, it’s time to get down to business and that’s important. “I never had doubts. It was clear to me right from the start, after being invited by Bob Bradley, and so I’m still really happy to be here. I’ve never regretted the decision.” |