Joe Paterno wasn't one of us. He was a football coach, and damn good one a that, but an outsider to the world of soccer. He may have won 409 games with Penn State and made himself one of the most storied characters in the history of collegiate football, but he definitely wouldn't have known Kyle Beckerman from David Beckham.

With the January camp behind us we take a look at the 21 players on the roster and give you our winners, losers, and those that maintained the status quo.

Forwards

Agudelo, Juan
Agudelo injured his right ankle during a scrimmage on Jan 13 and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

Article by Pedro Gomes
As yet another January camp enters the United States Soccer history books, let us take a quick look back at what has transpired and what we have learned from the camp.
Rosters:
Typically US roster announcements are desperately anticipated, usually overly analyzed and this camp was no different.

Jon Levy The Yanks are coming off what's becoming the typical Jurgen Klinsmann USMNT performance when faced with less skilled competition. They possessed the crap out of ball, moved it well in their opponent's half, but failed to generate clear cut scoring chances against a well organized defense. But they did get a pinch of [.

The U.S. men's national team kicks off 2012 in Arizona, taking on Venezuela at University of Phoenix Stadium in its first match of the year (9 p.m., Galavision/ESPN3.com).

The friendly comes as part of the culmination of January training camp, and it provides Jurgen Klinsmann a chance to see some of the players he has yet to observe in international game situations on a competitive stage.

The U.S. men's national team will play its first match of 2012, and an MLS-heavy squad will take the field against Venezuela on Saturday night in Arizona with many players looking to impress Jurgen Klinsmann and work their way into the full senior team mix.

Some familiar faces are back in the mix as Benny Feilhaber and Ricardo Clark are in camp, while Heath Pearce joins them as the only players on the camp roster with more than 30 caps.

We are nearing the end of our Three Questions series, and I hope you have found it insightful and useful during the offseason. We'll end the series tomorrow and Tuesday with the MLS Cup participants, prior to the 2012 Superdraft. ...
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It's no surprise with so many talented players having come through the U.S. system that there would be a lot of guys who have shared the same field together and then separated as their careers progressed. Well, it's reunion time here in Phoenix, and a review of the roster reveals several players who have won national championships together, MLS Cup titles, U.

What started as a rumor on the ECS message board can now be confirmed: Brad Evans has been called into the United States national team camp as they prepare for games against Venezuela and Panama later this month. The source was of the confidential variety, but I can assure you that it's highly reliable and is someone who is in position to know.

New England Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber is among the 20 players called in by U.S. Men's National Team head coach Jürgen Klinsmann for the team's annual January training camp, which will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 3, in Phoenix, Ariz.

The annual camp held in January for players in their offseason is a largely domestic-based group that includes 18 players who ply their trade in the United States.

The Houston Dynamo announced today that centerback Geoff Cameron has been called into the US Men's National Team's annual January camp. This is a whole bundle of good news, the main piece being that the knee injury Cameron sustained in the first half of MLS Cup, the one that kept him from clearing Landon Donovan's chip for the game-winner (and we all know that absent the injury, that would have been cleared, right?

Like moaning and whining and pitching fits over Klinsi's January call-ups!!! YAY!!!!G - Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)D - Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), A.J. DeLaGarza (L.A. Galaxy), Omar Gonzalez (L.A. Galaxy), George John (FC Dallas), Zach Loyd (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland), Heath Pearce (Chivas USA)M - Kyle Beckerman (

The annual January friendlies are set for the US Men's National Team and now the roster is out. Fans will finally get to see the likes of FC Dallas defender George John and LA Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez in action for Jurgen Klinsmann as well as MLS Rookie of the Year CJ Sapong.

Out of the 20 players called up, only two were not from MLS.

And the invites are in...or out rather.

Geoff Cameron gets his long-deserved invite...

Jurgen Klinsmann will undoubtedly run a different January camp than his predecessor Bob Bradley did. That, and the US goes on the road for not one but two matches against Venezuela and Panama. (Really looking forward to that Panama affair.

Philadelphia Union

Tweet from Freddy Adu: "Happy Holidays to everyone. Love the holiday season."

In Goal.com's survey of the Eastern Conference there is this review of the the Union's 2011 season in a sentence: "Another season of incremental growth for a young squad still in need of a couple of pieces to compete for MLS Cup.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

The tradition of holding a January camp for mostly MLS players looking to break through into the U.S. naitonal team is going to be maintained during the Jurgen Klinsmann era and the German manager will be putting together his first January camp very shortly.

STARTERS
You can now go buy your own copy of the movie Rise & Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story on DVD.
dN
The whole city of Manchester has been dark for over 24 hours now. Pitch black. Are they all dead. They probably want to be as both United and City were bounced from the Champions League yesterday.

Starrting: Juan Aguedelo, Brek Shea, Jeff Larentowicz, and Kyle BeckermanThe off-season ritual of heading to Europe for some extra training is no longer just the extra-curriculars of David Beckham and Thierry Henry. Now young Major League Soccer players and U.S. National Team players are getting time with clubs all across the continent.

By JOEY SAMUEL

When he took the job as head coach of the US national team, Jurgen Klinsmann urged players in Major League Soccer to keep playing at a high level throughout the offseason.

It appears as though they are listening.

Amobi Okugo became the latest American to earn a training stint at a European club on Monday when he joined SC Freiburg, sources told SBI.

Securing victory over Slovenia was nice. And scoring three goals was even better, but until World Cup Qualification begins, the results still do not matter. Rather, it is the performance of individuals and how they help to shape the team's formation and tactics that are most important to evaluate as the pieces come together for Jurgen Klinsmann's US National Team.

Union

Ahead of last week's end of the season press conference, we posted a piece that looked at all of the different midfield lineups the Union fielded in 2011 (there were 26 of them). MLSsoccer.com published a piece yesterday with quotes from Nowak defending his use of so many different lineups and formations.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

A few more U.S. national team players will be extending their trips to Europe.

Real Salt Lake's Kyle Beckerman and the Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers have had training stints arranged with Bundesliga club Kaiserslautern by U.

The United States were able to gain a victory on European soil in their final friendly of 2011, defeating Slovenia, 3-2, in a rematch from the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
Mike Woitalla of Soccer America covers the United States' 3-2 victory over Slovenia.
It's what we've been waiting for since Jurgen Klinsmann took the helm in July: An entertaining, attack-minded performance from the USA.

After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of the United States National Team players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5 average, 10 perfection). This week Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the USA's 3-2 victory over Slovenia.

1. Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Jermaine Jones, and Kyle Beckerman will hold down the Sorry. Forgot who was coaching. Jurgen Klinsmann (obviously influenced by our latest P2010 Index) cools it on Beckerman and gives the nod to Edu and Bradley in central midfield. The back line will look a bit of a throwback, with Cherundolo,Onyewu, and Bocanegra all starting Timmy Chandler will hold down left back.

Tim Howard (GK) - Lindemans Framboise: Sweet and sour temperament, but effervescent as usual. Made some crucial saves that kept the match level for 70 minutes.Timmy Chandler (LB) - Weihenstephaner Hefe: Typically a refreshing bit of German goodness, but on this occasion a little too light when something stronger was called for.

By Jon Levy I'm going to be really nice to Jurgen Klinsmann and describe his first six matches in charge as "underwhelming." Far more severe adjectives could be applied, especially after the disappointing performance against France. Alexei Lalas nailed it, as he often does, in calling the team out for not even attempting to rise [.

Last Friday we witnessed the US National Team in a tepid display against France. If you missed it, count yourself lucky as it was rough to watch. Tomorrow the team will have a chance at redemption against Slovenia. We're likely to see much of the same though. Jurgen Klinsmann hasn't done much to reassure fans of anything in the past months string of friendlies.

As the U.S. men's national team struggled through yet another 1-0 loss in an international friendly, Twitter was afire with criticisms of the team and the new boss. The most damning criticism might have been this: that the team played ...
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Tough one.

Can't call them "snap judgments" because they took way too long. TSG's Tuesday will be along shortly with the official review.

Here are some thoughts that I want to spill out on the screen. We'll give it the "Good, Bad, Ugly" treatment because it works well here.

Gloves?

The United States played another dull and creatively challenged game against France last night, losing 1-0 in a game in which the U.S. managed just two shots on goal. The loss it the fourth in six games under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann with all four losses coming by the same 1-0 scoreline. The honeymoon period is quickly coming to an end for Klinsmann with the United States suffering from a severe offensive drought having scored just two goals in six games.

PARIS, France – The United States Men's National Soccer Team's struggles to generate offense continued on Friday as they fell 1-0 at Stade de France and are now 1-4-1 under head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

The Americans kept the French quiet during the first half, but the home side came out with renewed life in the second period, keeping the visitors pegged back for much of the final 45 minutes and eventually finding the back of the net.

1. Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Jermaine Jones, and Kyle Beckerman will hold down the Sorry. Forgot who was coaching. Jurgen Klinsmann (obviously influenced by our latest P2010 Index) cools it on Beckerman and gives the nod to Edu and Bradley in central midfield.

The U.S. men's national team returns to action later today in Paris, where the Americans will take on France (2:55pm, ESPN).

Jurgen Klinsmann will look to help the U.S. team post its first win in Europe since March of 2008 (against Poland) by beating a young French team that is expected to field an experimental squad against the United States.

The United States is set to face its biggest test of the Klinsmann era with a visit to France on Friday in an international friendly. This is just the third meeting between the two teams with France winning the previous two games 6-0 and 3-0 in 1979.

France
France has already qualified for Euro 2012 so expect France coach Laurent Blanc to give some younger players much needed experience.

Don Garber spoke to reporters today to announce the league's best XI and talk a bit about the 2012 season. The only Seattle Sounder named to the Best XI was goal-keeper Kasey Keller. Keller, in his final professional season, anchored one of the league's top defenses. He led all league goalkeepers with 18 wins and made a career-high 110 saves.

Cherundolo is one of three players on the U.S. roster who is the captain of his club team
Here's all the news and notes you need to get prepped for the USA's first match against France since 1979, and the first ever in the famed Stade de France. A few to get you started ..

MLS announced today their Best XI today in a teleconference where Don Garber read the names. MLS Reserves had similar names on the list, but not quite an exact match. The MLS Reserves set up its own criteria and considered all players under it.
Considered these selections was the effect these players had on their team, their individual efforts, statistical prowess, presence in the locker room and ultimately how good they were throughout the season.

Ives Galarcep writes of the coaches that will lead the Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo into the MLS Cup, and their ability to make adjustments and put their team in position to win games and titles.
The halftime break can mean different things to different teams. It can be the welcome respite for a group coming under fire, or the poorly-timed break that a surging side hates to see.

Now that the finalist for the 2011 MLS Awards are out, it's time I share how I voted with everyone. I'm a firm believer in the need for transparency in award voting if for no other reason that if you submit a crazy ballot, you should be accountable for your choices.

We were allowed by MLS to select two choices for each category from a pre-selected list.