Player Focus: Is Klinsmann or Schmid Right About Johnson and Evans?

When Jurgen Klinsmann announced his squad for the upcoming Gold Cup campaign the Seattle Sounders were given a reprieve.

Having been without two of their best, most consistent performers for the best part of a month due to a round of international friendlies and World Cup qualifiers, Eddie Johnson and Brad Evans were left off the USA roster, much to Sigi Schmid’s assumed relief.

But both players have different uses to Klinsmann than they do to Schmid. While Johnson leads the line for the Sounders, he’s been used on the right side of midfield by the US. Channeling forwards to the wings might be a relatively common tactic in football, but in comparison to Johnson, Evans leads a double life.

For Klinsmann’s USA side Evans is a reliable and consistent full-back, demonstrating a level of defensive nous that has often been missing across the national team backline. For Seattle meanwhile, Evans is a creative midfielder, leading the Sounders in assists for the season and contributing significantly to Schmid’s attacking philosophy at the Pacific Northwest team.

So who’s right? Is Schmid best served by deploying both players in more attacking positions or has Klinsmann managed to get the best out of Evans and Johnson by noting more than just goal threat to their game?

For Seattle Johnson has yielded a decent return in front of goal this season, netting four times in 10 league outings, putting him two behind the team’s top scorer Obafemi Martins.

However, by fielding Johnson on the right side of a midfield diamond Klinsmann doesn’t completely eradicate the former Fulham forward’s attacking potency, as demonstrated in the 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Panama, where Johnson found the net on his home pitch.

With Lamar Neagle and Obafemi Martins developing an understanding in Johnson’s absence, the USA international might be forced out to the wide areas as a result. Klinsmann has provided precedent in that regard and Schmid could push Johnson out to the wings in an attempt to stick with the attacking duo of Neagle and Martins for the time being.

But it is the comparison between Evans with the USA and Evans with the Sounders that makes the most compelling study.

Of course with players like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley at his disposal it’s difficult to envisage how Klinsmann would slot Evans into his midfield line, but by not doing so he eliminates his creative edge.

As already alluded to, Evans has provided more assists for the Sounders than any of his teammates this season, with four, putting him ahead of more obviously creative players like Mauro Rosales and Lamar Neagle.

Averaging 1.8 shots on goal per game, netting in his first appearance of the season, Evans himself is a threat going forward, something that Klinsmann is unable to call upon by playing him in a full-back position.

Schmid has used Evans across his midfield line, fielding him in the centre on four occasions and on the left and right three times each. In fact Evans has yet to be played out of midfield by the Sounders this season. His role for his club side is a fluid one, often given something of a free role to identify and exploit pockets of space in central positions.

Evans can’t compete with a player like Graham Zusi (the league’s assist leader) in the creativity stakes but his purpose in the Sounders side as a dynamic and versatile midfield presence has been a notable factor in Seattle’s charge for a play-off place in the West.

But while Evans' assists (4) and rating (7.15) might suggest the 28-year old is a prolific midfield ‘regista’ or quarter-back he is actually much more conservative than most of his team and league counterparts. Making an average of just 37.5 passes per game puts Evans behind midfield partners Osvaldo Alonso (52.8), Shalrie Joseph (41.2) and Servando Carrasco (41.1).

His average of one key pass per game also ranks him behind Steve Zakuani (1.7), Mauro Rosales (1.4) and Mario Martinez (1.2), making his assist tally all the more impressive. Sometimes versatility can hinder a player’s first-team prospects. It is often the case that if a coach isn’t sure where a player’s best position is they never become a permanent fixture in the line-up.

It is true that in some sense Evans fills the gaps for Schmid and the Sounders. To some extent he does the same for Klinsmann and the US. But it is Evans’ quality in a number of different positions, rather than his lack of a true position, that makes him so valuable to club and country. As it turns out, both Klinsmann and Schmid could be right.