5 Things you need to know about this year's US world cup team

World Cup season is rolling around, which means I'm more excited than a polar bear at the zoo on fish day. Here are 5 things you need to know about the US Men's national team heading into the tournament.

5) Coach Jurgen Klinsman is the best coach the USA has ever had.

Two things I know about Germans: a) They all drink good beer, and b) they can ALL play soccer. Klinsman is a former German striker, and one of the best players that country has ever produced. Since becoming the coach of the US men's national team two years ago 21-10-7 (Yes you can tie in soccer, get over it). That’s a pretty incredible record, albeit against lesser competition than you will see in the World Cup.

Still pretty much the same guy as a coach

Klinsman was tasked with changing the culture around soccer, and for the most part he has succeeded. He brought in some new players and got more out of the old ones. With Klinsman at the helm the US is beating the teams they are supposed to beat, and surprising a few teams they have no business beating. Make no mistake, we are still underdogs going into this world cup, but right now the US has a puncher's chance to play with and beat the best.

4) This team starts and ends with Michael Bradley.

There are a few big names on the team even casual observers will know: Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard. Without question though this team’s most important player is midfielder Michael Bradley. Bradley has been on the team for several cycles and took some shit last tournament because he is the son of former National team head coach Bob Bradley. Make no mistake about it, Bradley is one of the most talented players the US has ever fielded.

Bradley’s role is that of central midfielder, and he’s the engine that makes this team go. He’s the team’s best passer, best ball handler, most creative player. On top of that he’s the most tenacious and disciplined defender on the US squad. As far as sports analogy goes, the closest I can come is that of the point guard in basketball. He keeps his team organized, transitions from defense to attack, and he’s the one guy on the team where you know if the ball is at his feet good things are going to happen.

Check out his highlights from a recent game at Mexico-this is one of the best individual games I’ve ever seen played. Disregard the Coldplay?

3) Intriguing talent, depth-

We are only a few weeks out from the world cup and the final roster-or starting 11 is still not set. This is due in part to the culture of competition that Klinsman has installed, but also due to the depth of talent the US has available.

Can I use the hot girl scale here to keep your interest? Of course I can, you're welcome. We have one 10 on our roster, and that’s the aforementioned Michael Bradley. 

Michael Bradley is Kate Upton, flawless.

We have several 8’s on our roster-Dempsey, Howard, the bedredlocked Kyle Beckerman-guys that are very good in their roles, but not good enough to be stars.

These guys are the Jennifer Lawrence of our team(who I love by the way, but I’m trying to keep this as superficial as possible)

The rest of the guys on our squad fall somewhere between 5’s and 7’s. Unspectacular, hard workers who on a given night you would still probably go home with.

Who works here-Pink? Could get weird and might be fun.

I'm losing focus-but this is the girl from those Nationwide Commercials, because. Did you know she also sings the little "Nationwide is on your side" jingle at the end? This has nothing to do with soccer, but if she had a TV show I'm watching.

Anyway.

Point is there are a lot of good-but-not-great guys on this team and that lends to a lot of options. Tactically speaking it can be a very difficult to defend, and plan your defense if you don't know WHO you're going to be defending. Players like Graham Zusi, Fabian Johnson, Mix Diskerud and Jermaine Jones-these are talented players that not a lot of people know about from around the world. Could easily see one of them pulling some heroics and shocking people come tournament time.

2) The USA actually has some goal scorers-

The US this year has a few attacking options if (when) Jozy Altidore starts to suck. Altidore is exactly the kind of forward you would expect the US to have. Heck of an athlete: big (for a soccer player) strong, fast and admittedly not much of a soccer player.

The US needs to play through Altidore because are they not talented enough to possesses the ball in pretty triangles like Spain. The way around this is to play through a holding forward- back to the goal, stop the ball and keep it there until the other attacking option (Dempsey, Bradley) come underneath for a more creative play. Kind of like playing inside out in basketball-the defense has to adjust to pressure the ball and that leaves openings elsewhere. This makes Altidore important because he’s the most physically equipped to handle this sort of role. Problem is he’s prone to bouts of disappearance-he’s either brilliant or you won’t be able to tell he’s on the field.

In years past it has been Altidore, and little else. This year however, the US grabbed a few kids with dual citizenship- from Iceland Aron Johannson, Germany’s Terrance Boyd and Jullian Green. The type of creative attacking talent the US has just not been able to produce. We also may bring American Chris Wondolowski-who is unspectacular but does nothing but score garbage goals-kind of like a guy who is really good at offensive rebounding and put back buckets. If Altidore stinks expect Klinsman to pull the plug quickly.

This guy comes off the bench, and may turn out to be a star. Shhh. Don't tell Germany.

1) Question marks remain along the back line-

Attacking talent aside, coach of the year and a genuine super star in tow, if the US concedes easy goals they don’t have much of a chance. Definite starters in the back include Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler in the center-and two still yet to be named backs on the outside. I’ll compare the back four in soccer to an offensive line in football. Chemistry and communication are absolutely vital. Is it unsettling to still not have this figured out two weeks away from the cup? Absolutely it is.

Besler and Gonzales are huge-Gonzalez especially stands at 6’5-so you would figure they are going to dominate in the air. On the flip-side both these players are very young and playing in their first world cup, and have seen lapses in concentration cost their squad. These two will have to raise their games and limit mistakes in order for the US to have any hope of beating the top squads this year.

You see the problem with being big in soccer is those dang little fellas...

As a side note defending will be so important because the Americans are in the “Group of Death”-featuring Germany, Portugal, and Ghana. Germany is the second ranked team in the world and immensely talented at every position. Portugal is less talented, save Christiano Ronaldo who is like the Lebron James of soccer right now. Ghana is not as tough, but is always a problem for the US for some reason.

In conclusion this one of the most talented US sides to ever take the field for a world cup. Question marks remain, but the talent and coaching is there.

Stay tuned for world cup coverage brought to you by Hammertime Sports!

This has to do with soccer. You know Alex Morgan, but may I introduce you to Sydney LeRoux, US forward. Super talented goal scorer, tattoo-babe who could probably kick your ass. You're welcome, again.