Photo by Thomas Eisenhuth/ISIphotos.com
By AVI CREDITOR
HARRISON, N.J. -- Jurgen Klinsmann's coaching staff is slowly starting to take form.
After Martin Vasquez became entrenched as Klinsmann's second-in-command, the U.S. national team manager announced the addition of Chris Woods as the goalkeeper coach.
Woods, who holds that same role for Everton and will continue to despite his new international obligations, will be with the national team through the 2014 World Cup, Klinsmann told reporters prior to Monday's training session at Red Bull Arena.
"That is a big step for us," Klinsmann said. "A player like Bill Hamid or other goalies here will tremendously benefit by the experience of Chris Woods."
Tim Howard has played under Woods, a former English international and one-time member of the Colorado Rapids, since joining Everton in in 2006.
"At a certain stage in your career you think you're at a certain level, but when you look back, you're not," Howard said. "When I went to Everton I knew a lot, and now I'm realizing how much I've learned under him. I was very raw, and I've certainly become a very complete goalkeeper now."
Woods first joined the national team for the September friendly against Belgium. He was asked to rejoin the team for Saturday's match against Honduras and Tuesday's encounter with Ecuador, and Klinsmann received the green light from Everton manager David Moyes to add him permanently going forward, although the Associated Press reports that his contract is not officially completed with U.S. Soccer.
"He's been fantastic for my career," Howard said. "He's one of the best in the world, and he has an amazing reputation."
Woods will be charged with maintaining Howard's status as a top-notch shot-stopper while also bringing the best out of who lingers in the U.S. goalkeeping pipeline. Players such as Hamid, Chicago's Sean Johnson and Philadelphia's Zac MacMath, for example, figure to be prominent players in the future as the United States seeks to groom its next generation of goalkeepers.
"It seems like behind Tim Howard there was not a lot happening the last couple of years, which makes it not that easy," Klinsmann said. "We hope that with Bill coming in and the experience and environment of having Tim Howard next to him is almost like a mentor. He fits in our picture of developing an Olympic team."
One player who remains on the outskirts of the national-team picture is longtime Howard backup Brad Guzan, whose club situation at Aston Villa hasn't afforded him the playing time necessary to remain on Klinsmann's radar.
"The backup right now is Bill Hamid," Klinsmann definitively said on Monday. "He has tremendous talent, but obviously he's very young and not ready to be the next goalie yet. We see a lot of up-side in his game, but we are very careful in his development. The most important thing is that he plays for D.C. United every game.
"He came into camp because Brad Guzan is not playing. I sent a message in my first get-together that 'The most important thing is that you guys play. If you are on the bench somewhere, it doesn't matter in Europe, in the MLS or in Mexico, you have a problem coming in here.'"
