If you’re a conspiracy theorist, you will love these quotes emanating from two of the U.S. national team players who were cut at the final hurdle.
Both Michael Parkhurst and Brad Evans were back in action for their respective Major League Soccer sides on Saturday, just hours after missing out on a trip to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
As you would expect, both players were asked a multitude of questions about their time in California at camp and their responses were particularly frank and very intriguing.
Asked whether the USMNT head coach already had his mind made up about his final roster before camp even started, Columbus Crew defender Parkhust had the following to say to The Post-Dispatch after the Crew beat Chicago 2-0.
While Evans had a lengthy chat with the Seattle Times after playing for Seattle in their 2-2 draw with Vancouver on Saturday, he also wonders if Klinsmann’s mind was already made up before the 10 day training camp began.
“I don’t know. Part of me says yes. Part of me says no. I don’t know,” Evans said. “It’s something I haven’t even thought about. It’s tough to think about that (stuff). It can drive you nuts. I had no idea [the cut was happening]. We were walking into the locker room, got pulled aside and that was it. Chop, chop and you’re out of there. [Klinsmann] just said, ‘I have to make a roster decision today and you’re not a part of it.’ So that’s where we left it. I got up and said goodbye to the players and that was it.”
Both Evans and Parkhurst have plenty of reasons to be feeling pretty miffed about being left off the final World Cup roster. Despite his versatility Evans was ousted in favor of his Seattle teammate DeAndre Yedlin. The 20-year-old talent has only got two caps for the USMNT, while Evans has stepped in admirably on several occasions and bagged a crucial winning goal against Jamaica during qualifying for the 2014 tournament.
Parkhurst switched Europe for MLS over the offseason and has been solid and dependable for Columbus throughout the 2014 MLS season so far. He can operate at both right back and center back and would also give Klinsmann a versatile option in the backline, an area where the U.S. aren’t looking particularly strong. Instead Klinsmann selected 21-year-old John Brooks in defense, even though the Hertha Berlin youngster has looked shaky at times and has just three caps to his name compared to Parkhurst’s 25.
Parkhust and Evans have legit reasons to be peeved... but I’m not sure whether Klinsmann’s mind was made up before a 10-day camp where ever player, in theory, should have started on a clean slate, regardless of what they did in previous outings for the USA.
As we saw with Klinsmann’s decision to cut Landon Donovan, relying on past glories is not something the USMNT head coach is big on. Evans and Parkhurst were victims of that.