The day that many Rose City supporters have been dreaming of has finally come true: Darlington Nagbe is a United States citizen. After years of waiting and hours spent learning the ins and outs of the American Citizenship process Portland Timbers supporters finally have themselves a potential United States Men’s National Team player.
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It might be a bit presumptuous to say that Nagbe is by far better than anyone in Jurgen Klinsmann’s current rotation, but the 25 year old should certainly make things interesting. Since being drafted by the Timbers with the second overall pick in the 2011 Major League Soccer SuperDraft Nagbe has become one of the most consistent midfielders in the league. He has made over 154 appearances for the Timbers with 145 of those being starts.
Players at his age in MLS are often very easily discarded and perhaps had Nagbe been selected by a team not in their expansion he might have been discarded earlier. But the Timbers patience has paid off with a polished winger who is one of the league’s most accurate passers. It is an interesting transition for a player who was thought to be a scoring touch away from being one of the top forwards in MLS. Of course he did not do himself any favors after scoring a bullet in his rookie season.
The scoring touch never really came (although he does have 20 goals in 4 seasons) but the technical ability did come. What makes Nagbe such an exceptional player is that a player with his speed would bolt towards goal. But Nagbe has the awareness to see what is going on around the pitch and can make deliver service into forwards without hesitation.
That trait, the ability to pick a player out in space and make the educated pass into an attacker, is something that the United States sorely needs. In the 2015 Gold Cup U.S. forwards were roundly criticized for their inability to finish their chances. But much of it had to with service. Passes that should be within a foot of an attacker were often 3-4 feet ahead giving defenders to end the play.
Assuming that Nagbe can make the adjustment to the international game he will be a welcomed addition to the player pool. The question is now how will Klinsmann use him. With the Timbers he is often used in a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 as a right winger. Although Klinsmann has used Gyassi Zardes and DeAndre Yedlin in the position they are both better suited in other positions. Klinsmann may also switch him to center attacking midfielder with Michael Bradley moving into the center midfield role.
Where Klinsmann uses Nagbe is not nearly as important as him simply getting minutes with the USMNT. With someone of Nagbe’s technical ability and experience he should provide at the bare minimum depth during the early part of World Cup Qualification.
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