Since last year’s iteration, the concept of a January camp has been one of contention. Unimpressed with his side’s fitness levels, U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann was critical of his side heading into the start of the 2015 season.

Now, one year later, the gathering has returned, offering the USMNT a chance to both further develop the senior team as well as the level below.

The U.S. is set to take on Iceland on Jan. 31 before taking on Canada on Feb. 5. Overall, the pair of matches will cap-off a major training session that is expected to improve the fitness and form of players throughout the U.S. pool.

“When you do a January camp, obviously the goal is always to give them a head start into their season because they have a long break coming out of their MLS season,” Klinsmann said, “so we try to get them back on track and try to get them going and step-by-step give them a head start to 2016.

“Obviously we are also a little bit selfish because we scheduled in two games with Iceland on January 31st and against Canada on February 5th. We want to do well. Those are international games where we want to see the players step it up and to make their case, because we are going to go into a very, very busy year in 2016 with World Cup qualifying and the huge highlight of Copa America in June.”

On the senior national team side, the U.S. is preparing for those two vital World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala in March. After sputtering through 2015’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, the USMNT will be looking for good preparation ahead of the summer’s Copa America.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team faces a crucial Olympic playoff. Set to take on Colombia in a two-legged series, the next wave of internationals could miss out on a vital Olympic experience after failing to secure passage through CONCACAF qualifying.

With a major 2016 on the horizon, Klinsmann is utilizing the annual January camp to bring both units together to kickstart the new year.

“The make-up of the roster for the January camp in 2016 is a little bit tricky,” Klinsmann said, “because we have World Cup Qualifying on the horizon at the end of March. So one part will be the Senior Team players that we’re looking at for those qualifying games, and the other part will be for the Olympic team that also needs to qualify for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“We basically have two groups coming in; one under the focus of our World Cup Qualifiers and the other group under the focus of qualifying for the Olympics. So it’s going to be two groups, mixed together and working together side-by-side, and hopefully we see a lot of good stuff there with two exciting games at the end of the camp.”

Klinsmann is not just looking forward to getting the potential Olympic players prepared for the upcoming playoffs.

In bringing the U-23 players to camp, Klinsmann has the opportunity to integrate the next wave of U.S. talent into the senior setup. With friendlies against Canada and Iceland lined up, several youngsters can expect to see time alongside USMNT regulars and MLS stars like Michael Bradley and Matt Besler.

That idea gives Klinsmann the best of both worlds: preparing the team for the present challenge while also getting them familiar with what lies ahead in their international careers.

“Having a part of this group being part of the Olympic team, I think it’s a big advantage because we’re going to give them a chance to get already prepared towards those playoff games with Colombia at the end of March, which is hugely important,” Klinsmann said. “We want our Olympic team to qualify for the Olympics, to go to Rio de Janeiro and to have this outstanding experience down there, so having them in camp as well with us is huge and hopefully it will pay off.”