When ESPN's Jeff Carlisle first broke this story on Monday, NASL and MLS fans had to take a second to pick their jaw up off from the ground. No player from the modern NASL era (that is since it's rebirth in 2011) has made the USA men's squad. You have to go back to 2006 to find the last time a player from USA's minor league system has made the men's senior team.
The positives from this piece of news may be obvious. Miguel Ibarra certainly deserves this honor. He has had an outstanding season for Minnesota United and, if it weren't for the exploits of his strike partner, Christian Ramirez, would be a shoe-in for league MVP. Not only does his skill and work ethic warrant an in-depth look from Klinsmann and his coaching staff, his technique makes him the exact type of player Klinsmann covets. Ibarra's pace, dribbling, and ability to pick a dangerous pass in the final third are the type of tools Klinsmann's players need to create his ideal team: a high-press possession-happy squad.
The cynic in me would be remiss not to point out that these next friendlies, coming approximately 3 months after the World Cup ended, are possibly the most meaningless friendlies the team will play. USA's next "meaningful" competition is the 2015 Gold Cup: a tournament comprised of Caribbean, North and Central American squads that provides little in the way of competition for USA. Aside from Mexico and Costa Rica, opponents will pose few problems for America's B-team. That's all to say that it doesn't really matter who Klinsmann's calls up to the squad; most players are far from guaranteed playing time in any major competition.
But there's an even bigger curiosity about this decision to bring Ibarra into the team. Was there no other American player in all of MLS, or for that matter one playing aboard in Europe or down south in Mexico, that didn't deserve a call-up ahead of an NASL player, albeit arguably the best NASL player? In the past, Klinsmann has made a point of not calling up Americans playing in England's Championship, the league just below the Premiership, to the national team. The coach has stressed the importance of American's playing soccer in Europe, against the best players in the world, and many of his roster moves have indicated that Europe's 2nd rung won't cut it.
So why bring up an NASL player? If the MLS isn't good enough, certainly the NASL isn't even worth a mention.
To begin to answer this, it's important to consider other roster moves Klinsmann has made recently. Against the Czech Republic last month, Klinsmann called up young American Jordan Morris, who's currently playing for Stanford. That's right, a college sophomore made the squad.
How do we make sense of a coach that spurns England's minor leagues but embraces an NASL player and an amateur? While I'd love to throw around blanket statements about Klinsmann's roster decisions, it might be worthwhile to take each decision on a case by case basis.
For the World Cup, Klinsmann took youth and inexperience over veteran, tested players. Landon Donovan and Clarence Goodson would have been solid choices and given USA a backup plan. But that's not what Klinsmann's looking for. "Good enough" isn't good enough when you're trying to build your organization into one of the best in the world. Picking Deandre Yedlin and Julian Green over Goodson and Donovan were controversial calls at the time, but the choices proved to be inspired. Both players were big talking points among media members after their World Cup performances.
Green's playing time and extra time goal against Belgium were a signal to other European players with American ties that they could make an immediate impact on a national team on the upswing if they choose to play for USA. Yedlin's outstanding performances at both left defense and left midfielder forced scouts and European teams to re-evaluate some of the young talent that MLS has to offer, which should in turn provide more opportunities for young Americans to make the move to top European clubs.
Green's playing time and extra time goal against Belgium were a signal to other European players with American ties that they could make an immediate impact on a national team on the upswing if they choose to play for USA. Yedlin's outstanding performances at both left defense and left midfielder forced scouts and European teams to re-evaluate some of the young talent that MLS has to offer, which should in turn provide more opportunities for young Americans to make the move to top European clubs.
All of these moves are meant to lift the profiles of certain players and punish others for their lack of ambition. Sometimes those aims seems to be at odds, like how Klinsmann slighted MLS when he overlooked Donovan while simultaneously elevating the league by rating Yedlin so highly.
What does this all mean for Ibarra? Both the Ibarra and the Morris selection seems to suggest to all U.S. players that they have something to work towards. They are decisions that say to the players "Hey, even if the MLS passed you up that doesn't mean this is where it ends for you." For NASL players especially this is a signal to them to not give up on a potential assignment for the national team. Klinsmann is still watching everybody, and if you put in the effort then you'll get your chance.
And that's really the common thread in all of these decisions. Snubbing England's second tier while embracing America's says the same thing to those players: don't settle and keep pushing yourself. For those in England that means they still have work to do. For players like Ibarra and his teammates it means that there's still something to play for if they put in the work.
While this decision might mean Ibarra's not long for the NASL, the decision is more about the lower leagues in general than just one player. If Klinsmann can inspire all those in the NASL to push themselves that much harder with one roster choice, it'll be a boon to the league, the entire USA soccer pyramid, and for Klinsmann's team USA.
