The Chelsea defender, who is on a season-long loan at Dutch club Vitesse, was left off the roster for this month’s friendlies against Cuba and New Zealand.
Speaking in a Facebook Q&A, US national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has stressed that Chelsea youngster Matt Miazga needs to be starting games regularly while on loan at Vitesse to earn a recall to his squad.
Miazga, 21, was handed his senior USA debut in a 6-1 World Cup qualifying win over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines last November after enjoying a breakout 2015 season with the New York Red Bulls, establishing himself as one of the top defenders in MLS as his hometown club clinched the Supporters’ Shield and reached the Eastern Conference finals.
His impressive displays subsequently earned him a £3.5 million move to Chelsea in late January, but the American centre-back went on to feature just twice for the Blues over the second half of the campaign before new manager Antonio Conte opted to send him out on a season-long loan to Dutch club Vitesse on the final day of the summer transfer window.
Over a month later, however, the New Jersey native is still waiting to make his first start for the Eredivisie outfit, having so far been restricted to only two substitute appearances in the league and one Dutch Cup cameo.
His recent lack of club action means the 6ft 3in stopper has not been called up to the US squad since earning his second cap in a 3-1 friendly victory over Puerto Rico in May, with Geoff Cameron and John Brooks solidifying themselves as the team’s first-choice centre-back pairing in the meantime.
Klinsmann still sees the youngster as a big part of his plans for the future, but despite praising him for deciding to make the jump to Europe at this early stage of his career, he has also stressed that he must be getting regular playing time in order to be considered for selection again.
“Obviously Matt is a huge, huge prospect that we have,” Klinsmann said when asked about Miazga’s international future during his Q&A. “He’s under contract with Chelsea and now he’s on loan in Holland, and we are waiting for him to take a starting role in his new environment, in his new club.
“Once he is in a starting position and he gets games week in, week out, hopefully we get him in the flow and then down the road he will be back with the senior national team.
“But this makes us very happy because he took that risk leaving his comfort zone and now trying to prove himself in a not so easy environment, so this is a good thing and we can’t wait until he starts games and then we’ll take it from there.”
Miazga certainly has the ability to shine for Vitesse judging by his performance on his Premier League debut, when he starred in a 4-0 win at Aston Villa in April, but a poor 45-minute showing in the following weekend’s 1-0 loss to Swansea City showed that he still has a lot to learn before he is ready to contend for a place in Conte’s side.
Whether an impressive season in the Eredivisie will be enough to convince the Italian of his worth remains to be seen at this point, but it should at least ensure that he finds his way back into Klinsmann’s squad sooner rather than later.
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