Why should he? Careers are short and he's shown more respect for the game than USSF brass. His priority should be having the best career possible and if that doesn't include carrying a second rate organization, so be it.
GK: Steffen, Horvath, Johnson RB: Yedlin, Lima CB: Brooks, Miazga, Long, Zimmerman, CCV LB: Robinson, DM: Bradley MF: McKennie, Adams, Roldan, Lletget, Mendez/Dest/Ledezma RF: Pulisic (CPT), Arriola FW: Altidore, Sargent LF: Weah, Amon Long will probably be tried at LB in the next camp and could fill in for Robinson if he got hurt. No reason to waste a roster spot on anyone else unless someone breaks through. Adams could play DM if needed, no reason to bring Bradley's not as good twin (Trapp). If Bradley gets hurt in the group stage, then just swap Trapp in for the knock outs. It is possible Bradley is backing up Adams. The Mendez/Dest/Ledezma spot is for whichever of those three we feel need to be cap tied quickest. We might have to take all three for the group stages and swap them out later if needed. I was always a big fan of Fabian Johnson but the writing is on the wall. Bedoya, Besler, Zusi, Rimando, were not called in to the last camp. Some special exception was made for Bradley (assumed they needed a place holder for Adams I guess), but all the older players were left out. Have to assume Fabian, Chandler, Williams, Cameron are in the same boat. Earnie and Gregg want to win the Gold Cup on the way to 2022, not win the Gold Cup then start on 2022.
My totally reactive guess based on January, a near 50-50 split between MLS and Europe (bold = Europe): Steffen, Horvath, Johnson Yedlin, Lima Brooks, Miazga, Zimmerman, Long Robinson, Garza Bradley, Trapp McKennie, Adams, Lletget Pulisic, Arriola, Weah, Baird Altidore, Wood, Sargent 1. Berhalter raids Adams, Weah, and Sargent from the U-20s. If Sargent falls back into the Werder Bremen reserves, then that opens a spot for Zardes or Ramirez. 2. At this point, Berhalter doesn't seem likely to choose between Bradley and Trapp. 3. Baird is definitely the 23rd man in this group. Berhalter clearly likes stretching the field, and Baird could be the lucky beneficiary.
Corey Baird isn’t good enough to be in this team. He’s a nice role player in mls. He’s not in a first choice 23 camp.
I have a hard time projecting him to a competitive roster based on his Jan. camp performance, but in fairness to him he didn't play striker or wide left which are a lot more conducive to his success. Would highlight his strength of ball striking and mitigate his ability to get to the end line off the dribble and play in a cross.
That could be the roster. If Baird is involved at all, and I don't think he showed any ability to play the wing for us, it will be in the group stage and he will be replaced for the knock outs. More likely Lewis, Amon, Holmes, Gall, or even Ebobisse would have that spot. Lewis, Amon, and Ebobisse play on the left and the other wingers you listed are right footed (but all have played on the left).
Both FJ and TC are clearly starter quality for USMNT but are working back from injury and I’d let them ease into their club situation. Same with Williams as DM.
If we’re looking at WT/MB as a spine player, we should absolutely have Morales as well. He’s a better player than both although whether he fits exactly what GB is looking for is open to interpretation.
Corey Baird was very good at doing what Berhalter wanted him to do. He might be on the group stage roster at GC.
Why would we want a Bundesliga starter when we could have our pick of average MLS 6s? The greatest is after 4 years of trying to build a team that works around MB (and obviously failing miserably), we are still pushing forward with the. exact. same. effort. Zero reason why Adams/McKennie can't handle the middle of the field, but it seems clear to me we're going to keep MB/WT in the starting 11 any way possible.
Will the Gold Cup rules enable mid-tournament squad changes? If so, then players like Baird are definitely going to make the initial 23.
My 40: GK 1. Steffen, 2. Horvath, 3. Johnson, 4. Guzan Contender(s): Bono, Miller, Yarbrough, Klinsmann, Hamid RB 1. Yedlin, 2. Lima, 3. Chandler Contender(s): Cannon, Rosenberry, Moore, Lichaj, Olosunde CB 1. Brooks, 2. Miazga, 3. Long, 4. Zimmerman, 5. Carter-Vickers, 6. Alvarado, Contender(s): Palmer-Brown, Glad, Trusty, McKenzie, Parker LB 1. Robinson, 2. Johnson, 3. Garza Contender(s): Lovitz, Villafana, Saief, Sweat *Piere takes #1 if he commits. DM 1. Adams, 2. Trapp, 3. Bradley, 4. Morales, 5. Canouse, 6. Delgado Contender(s): Parks, Davis, K. Acosta, Williams MF 1. McKennie, 2. Nagbe, 3. Lletget, 4. Mihailovic, 5. Roldan, 6. Green Contender(s): Corona, De la Torre, Guido RF 1. Pulisic, 2. Arriola, 3. Baird Contender(s): Gooch, Holmes FW 1. Sargent, 2. Wood, 3. Novakovich, 4. Wright, 5. Ramirez, 6. Zardes Contender(s): Ebobisse, Dwyer, Altidore *Siebatcheu takes #2 if he commits. LF 1. Weah, 2. Amon, 3. Lewis Contender(s): Gall, Sabbi, Picault
Something for Gregg to think about when selecting this particular roster is it's a full tourney for the U.S. after 2 years without an official competitive match. That means if a player competed throughout the tourney or even a couple games against minnows they may qualify for a work permit in the UK even if they were brand new beforehand. The EPL are making the biggest bids to MLS to prompt transfers that bypass the single entity system. So let's say a Chris Mueller gets off to a good start to the season (he's impressed in preseason from what I've heard). He'd be a good pick to take up among the last few spots on the roster. It's added impetus to play the likes of Long and Roldan so they can move before it's too late. Lewis and Mihailovic I imagine don't have the WP issue, but they need to raise their transfer fees. Lima is a given. Maybe Zimmerman also. If you have a healthy MLS contingent early on in a cycle it can set you up to have a healthy European one later when it matters. As much as I stick up for MLS players here, that's really one of my goals. Return the assembly line from the American leagues to Europe.
That's a good point and one that stopped happening under Klinsman for whatever reason. Could be it was just the missing generation and no one would have done differently. One day someone will write an investigative piece on the reason for that generation.
It never occurred to anybody here that Klinsmann didn't want players to go to Europe, did it. Klinsmann was much smarter than many realize, even if he wasn't the best football manager. He took good care of himself.
Anyone see that Yahoo news story on Cordeiro's presser? Apparently the Confed Cup is officially junked and Cordeiro intimidated that the Gold Cup could be junked after the '21 iteration in favor of a combined Copa American of both confederations? Interesting, that's really critical considering we're losing access to the Confed Cup.
Germany just dropped 3 key "old" players from their roster for the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Hummels, Boateng and Mueller. They want to go young. France won the WC with a young squad. GB should take a close look at what Loew just did, and get rid of some old tired legs from the USMNT roster. It would be a very smart move.
The good news is that Berhalter has only called up 3 field players older than 27 in his 3 months as boss. The bad news is that Berhalter is not aspiring for popularity in those 3 holdovers, as they are Bradley, Gonzalez, and (to a lesser extent) Ream.
They have in certain tournaments in the past, if you'll recall, and then allowed up to 6 roster switches for the knock-out stage. I don't know if it's decided that they will continue to do that this summer.
New Gold Cup roster predictions, post-March friendlies: GK: Steffen, Horvath, Johnson. Tough cuts: As much as I love Guzan, Atlanta has had a terrible start to the season (though not Brad's fault). Also Hamid has a shot. RB: Adams, Yedlin. Tough cuts: Lima, Zusi, Chandler. Man, I love Zusi, he's just the man. Wish we had room for him. Lima and SJ have had terrible start to the season. CB: Brooks, Long, Miazga, Zimmerman. Tough cuts: I admire Gonzalez and Ream, but I think it's time to skew younger. Wouldn't mind Besler coming back though. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Erik Palmer-Brown are still a bit young at 21. LB: Fabian Johnson, Antonee Robinson. I really want to see Fabian back in the fold, he is one of our best when he is on. Will need him for qualifying. This is hardest position to predict, major weakness (as always). Tough cuts: Garza, Villafana. CM: McKennie, Bradley, Trapp, Lletget. Tough cuts: Roldan, Canouse, Danny Williams (if healthy). W: Pulisic, Arriola, Weah, Green. Think Julian can still offer this team something. Tough cuts: Saief, Lewis, Nagbe, Kelyn Rowe. F: Altidore, Zardes, Morris, Sargent. Tough cuts: Bobby Wood (has kind of stalled), Novakovich (think he is still young and has room to grow), Ramirez, Ebobisse, Dwyer. (As stated above, if Siebatcheu wants in, we need to bring him.)
Bradley and Lletget aren’t WC quality and we need to move on. If chandler and morales are healthy and playing, they absolutely should be included. Holmes is also playing quite well and should get a look. Everyone talks about how club doesnt matter (usually when pushing for a minor leaguer) but that gets thrown out the window for Bobby Wood. The guy shows up for us in big matches - he was a leading scorer and scored against quality opposition. I don’t think Green is good enough although he hasn’t looked bad for the USMNT.
Bradley and Lletget have been two of the best players for us over last few friendlies - they are both close to a lock. Morales hasn't played for US since May 2016 (friendly v. Puerto Rico). He's never been anything special, don't see why he will get a chance now. Chandler is still injured, has been out for much of the season. No need to rush him back for Gold Cup.
Three interesting takes... people really don't think there is a MLS bias? Bradley and Lletget are locks because they were better than Trapp and Baird. Gonzo and Ream got looks and are fondly remembered for their service while Ream didnt perform well and Gonzo is probably the worst center back to ever play for the usmnt. Morales grinding it out in the Bundesliga isnt even considered because Arena/Sarachan ignored players like him.