Jurgen Klinsmann talked about the fitness of his players after the USMNT's loss to Chile on January 28th, and now one of his players is responding.
Klinsmann noted after the game that "if part of the group is not prepared physically for international games, the whole team will suffer."
These comments came just a few weeks into January's training camp, when most of his players had just taken time off from a long MLS season. Chile was the first match of the 2015 year, as well. But Klinsmann hasn't backed down from his comments just yet, saying "my comments aren't meant to criticize anybody, it's just where we are right now. It's understandable."
Matt Besler, a member of Sporting Kansas City and the US National team, addressed the concerns of his coach on Friday:
“I think it’s unfortunate that a player has to answer questions about fitness. I won’t say anything about his comments. He can say whatever he wants.”
The defender played 90 minutes in the US National team's 2-0 win over Panama on February 8th, a game that took place just about a month-and-a- half removed from the 2014 MLS season.
“My goal is to be in my peak fitness on March 1. That’s when my season starts. It goes from March to December. So on Jan. 15, we devised an offseason plan for me to hit my peak fitness on March 1, and I think that’s what most of the guys did."
Besler added, “If the expectation is different, that’s something that needs to be discussed so we know going into a camp where we need to be.”
Matt Besler also stated that "fitness is not an issue for me," during his remarks. Klinsmann hasn't responded to Besler's opposition in public, and it is still unknown if he ever will, or if the matter will be handled behind closed doors.
The US Men's National team will take on Denmark on March 25th.
