A tricky situation involving Jurgen Klinsmann and Juan Agudelo

There were talking points galore on the first legs of the four MLS quarterfinal playoff series. I tried to hit as many as possible in the SI.com review, which should be posted later today. (Update: posted here now.)

But I didn’t get to one issue that’s sitting out there, kind of by itself, like a shy kid at a big, fancy dance.

I’m talking about Juan Agudelo and asking this question: where do current events leave him?

Here’s the quick catch-up:

The U.S. international cannot get off the bench for his Red Bulls. File that under “highly surprising” considering the circumstances. His Red Bulls were without starting forward Luke Rodgers last week in Dallas. So, start the kid, right? He’s a U.S. international, for Pete’s sake.

Agudelo didn’t start. Didn’t even get off the bench.

Rodgers was back for the weekend biggie against Los Angeles. But the Red Bulls were light on attacking ideas. So, bring in the kid, right? A change of pace late, that kind of thing. Right?

Agudelo didn’t get off the bench. Again.

He’s played sparingly late in the MLS season while manager Hans Backe cleverly talks around the issue. All Backe ever says is something along the lines of “I always pick the best team.” That’s it. That’s the reason Agudelo is playing, according to the Red Bulls’ boss.

You may not care about the Red Bulls. They are very likely to be done for the year on Thursday, unless they can do something no club has this year: go into the Home Depot Center and beat the Galaxy.

But you may care about Agudelo and his overall development, especially as it relates to U.S. national team duty. So, read on … Because all this may be bigger than Agudelo and the Red Bulls.

So … where does that league young Agudelo for upcoming friendlies? The Red Bulls striker has been a national team regular under Klinsmann, but for how much longer? There’s a precedent that can no longer be ignored. Again, this is no recent thing: Agudelo has played 36 minutes in the Red Bulls last seven matches. Let that sink in. Roll it around on your tongue for a minute. Yuk!

There’s really only one explanation: Agudelo isn’t working hard enough in practice, and Backe is loath to reward a young player for anything less than daily, professional diligence. They guy is still a few weeks shy of his 19^thbirthday, after all, so some teenage sulking when things don’t go his way isn’t all that perplexing.

Remember this story from earlier in the year, and add it to the conversation:

During the summer Gold Cup, the story came out that Red Bull teammate Tim Ream noted how Agudelo seemed to find more fire in his belly for U.S. practices than he typically did for club sessions. Ream thought Agudelo could do more for his club, and he mentioned it to the young striker.

But Ream wasn’t getting through, apparently. So he asked Jozy Altidore to have a word with Agudelo, about how it all starts with daily training habits.

Well, seems that didn’t take either.

“I think he was a little discouraged, not playing as much as he likes [with the Red Bulls],” Ream told MLSSoccer.com Kristian Dyer at the time. “Going in with the national team, I noticed he definitely trains hard there. A couple guys, myself included, had a conversation with him just to let him know that you have to train just as hard here and you’re going to get your chances.”

I know a bunch of Red Bulls supporters have the pitchforks out for Backe, for this and for other reasons. And it may be true to that the coach has made some mistakes in tactical approaches and in personnel selection.

But the man wants to win, and that’s undeniable. And he wants the organization to succeed, for sure. That sometimes means sacrificing the short-term for the long-term good – and he wouldn’t be the first coach to sit a young player who simply isn’t getting it.