PHILADELPHIA – Geoff Cameron sounded like a broken record.
Over and over, Cameron went back to the same word to explain why the US national team have allowed just three goals in their past five games.
“I’m repeating the word organized,” he said, somewhat sheepishly, “but it’s a key word because one second, one or two passes, it can cost you.”
At this stage of Copa America Centenario, in need of a win or a draw and some help in their final group game against Paraguay (7 pm ET; FS1, Univision, UDN) to book a place in the quarterfinals, the US can ill afford even the slightest slip-up or break in concentration.
The organization Cameron harped on is buoyed by the relative consistency ushered in by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann in the buildup to the tournament. After what seemed like years of tinkering, Klinsmann appears to have settled on a first-choice backline made up of, from left to right, Fabian Johnson, John Brooks, Cameron and DeAndre Yedlin.
The foursome have played the last 225 minutes together, and might have had four full games to gel leading up to Saturday’s make-or-break match, had Johnson and Yedlin not been rested for the first half against Bolivia and Cameron held out against Ecuador because of a lingering injury. The result has been three shutouts in four games and two goals given up to Colombia, both on momentary lapses.
“There is far more stability there, far more consistency. That’s normal,” Klinsmann said. “That’s why you play a Gold Cup with a Ventura Alvarado and John Brooks. They go through that learning curve and you give them the right to make mistakes, which happened but very few. Then shape it for a moment like now, a Copa America, or towards the World Cup in Russia.”
Of course, plenty can happen before 2018. But there are indications that this group may be able to stick together as the US continue building through this tournament and beyond.
And while many US observers and fans clamor for Edgar Castillo to play left back or Eric Lichaj to be given a chance to prove himself in order to push Johnson higher up the field, Klinsmann said he’s content with the group as it’s currently constructed.
As it stands, he’s able to lean on two English Premier League starters – Cameron at Stoke City and Yedlin at Sunderland – and two Bundesliga standouts: Brooks at Hertha Berlin and Johnson at Borussia Monchengladbach.
“They give [Brooks] a lot of trust in Berlin. Cameron stepped it up at Stoke as well. This is a nice development to see,” Klinsmann said. “You have DeAndre maturing and becoming a man, in a certain way. At left back, because we don’t have the ideal solution, we go to Fabian and he says, ‘No problem with me. I’ll play left back, right back, whatever you need.’ He’s international level, no doubt about it. So suddenly you have a backline that is melting together. They are fine-tuning.”
Part of that is simply talking on the field. On- and off-field chemistry and complementary attributes contribute as well, especially between a center-back pairing in Cameron and Brooks who are starting to build a real understanding of how to best shield US goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
“[Brooks] was a young kid before, and you see the progress and the experience that he’s had in Germany,” Cameron said. “This year has been a fantastic year for him and I think he’s just showing his true caliber.”
Truthfully, the same could be said for the entire group. Though they only have 225 consecutive game minutes under their belt – a figure which should rise to 315 following Saturday’s clash with Paraguay – Johnson, Brooks, Cameron and Yedlin’s performances speak for themselves, according to Guzan.
“I think it’s a combination of organization and consistency,” he said, “but probably more than all of that is just our ability to be hard to beat in terms of being compact, being aggressive, determined to block shots, block crosses, stay with runners in the box. All the little things that maybe go unnoticed from the outside, the guys in front of me have been doing a great job.”
