Add in Green, Alvarado, Gall, and Sabbi. When is the camp, even if a short window, where 25ish Euro guys get a shot like the MLS guys do in January? What makes it worse is that Berhalter used this years January camp as the basis for the team. There are at least 7 MLS guys on this roster that have proven they arent good enough. So why not look for better players. Did people not see Zimmerman vs the Galaxy? He is just another Gonzo. If you are going to bring in Morales and Yueill, why is Trapp needed? What did Yeuill do in the last camp that got him called back over the Euro guys that didnt? Why is the bar so much lower for MLS players?
It's evident from rhetoric that Berhalter's loyalties, confirmation bias, system dependency, and possibly MLS conflict of interest; are going to continue to be major problems for this team going forward. In a vacuum it's not a bad roster, but sounds like he got bailed out by MLS' scheduling, and maybe some poorly/well-timed minor injuries. In any event, looking forward to seeing Dest, Robinson, Gonzalez, and Pomykal for the first times. Sort of the case for Sargent, Morales, and Roldan again. I want to see what Roldan's useful performances off the bench against Mexico and Jamaica meant. I do unfortunately expect to see a lot of Trapp. Don't know who else plays that hub as the #6. Have significant issues with a hack like Lovitz getting a spot over Hollingshead or A. Robinson. That left back spot is going to continue to be unsatisfactory w/ him and Ream manning it. Mueller is better than Baird. And Zardes is hanging around over players with more potential like Novakovich.
I suspect Horvath isn't involved based on club situation. As far as I'm concerned, a backup in the Belgian league............................can't expect USMNT inclusion. At any position. Horvath has to regain his starting job there or move on.
Yes, Ream plays in Europe. However, he is who he is and isn’t going to develop anymore. Friendlies are a great place for him. My argument is more that Weston, in my opinion, does not Bebi fit from this call up as it is pretty much camp cupcake part 2. Keep it MLS/low level Europe and let guys like Weston chill with their teams
I agree. However, was the reason he is not here categorically because he is not in MLS? Are there tactical, pragmatic, logistical or whatever issues that are possible reasons?
Re: Trapp - I know, I'm slow. But, it took me a while to figure out, after watching Bradley v. Mexico, that if we're going to play a sole 6 with two 8/10's, that 6 has to be a ball winner/destroyer - not a traffic cop.
Initial gut level <expletive> responses: Lovitz Trapp Roldan Baird Morris Zardes These guys just seem like absurd jokes at this point. I knew better than to expect Zardes to be absent from the sheet, but still Lovitz? Baird? Give me an <expletive> break. Morris, he needs to be out of the pool for a while. Trapp? Embarrassing. Roldan? My god man, please. Pleasant Surprise Responses: Dest. Wow, he paid attention! Morales: Appreciate him turning over this rock. It's been sending out "turn me over" vibes for at least a year, finally somebody with the USMNT noticed. Sargent: Not getting the minutes, but the call up underlines that maybe he gets the talent. Overall thoughts: It's a mix of good and bad, some positive signs that he's paying attention to things that some of us had come to worry he didn't care about at all. On the bad side, he clearly has a totally warped, and MLS biased eye when it comes to evaluating talent. Guys like Baird, Roldan, Lovitz, and Trapp are non-entities, and we need to move on, that he is persisting w/them after three separate camps as we move onto a fourth is deeply alarming.
No Omar...... so for me i'm happy with this roster. But what if TFC didn't have a game, I'm wondering if Omar/Jozy/Bradley would have been called.
Here's my take on it. The three extra players beyond the maximum 23 are all from MLS because most other leagues won't send useful players to be guest players.
Thanks! I didn’t realize. That’s makes a difference although I’d still have not called in the 3 MLS players as they clearly are not ready for this level.
@UncagedGorilla horvath, gall and sargent are all tricky for me due to playing time. i think steffen and horvath 1 and 1a and then its a pretty steep dropoff. theres literally no one after that i could even muster the interest to argue is better or worse than anyone else (from guzan to johnson to mls flavors of the week). i want to be clear i think hes better than every non-steffen, full stop. but for a keeper i would not go with a guy not playing. if he got league cup matches, a few rotational starts (say 15 appearances) id consider that- but brugge isnt rotating at all. and if he does play as little as it looks like i would go with a lesser option. thats position-specific. gall and sargent are in the same boat of not getting/not looking like theyre going to get more than garbage minutes. sarge started a league cup match, gall got a random league start (where he at least showed why its pretty ridiculous hes NOT playing), but outside of that its cameos. and i dont mean 30 minute appearances off the bench, i mean 83rd mintue subs. thats the only reason i keyed on "gall is doing well". he had one strong match in the last ten or so where hes used very, very sparingly. the difference in the two is i see gall (even in a best case scenario) as a bench option for us while sarge is damn near necessary. honestly he doesnt deserve a call either (in a vacuum). i dont see a non-injury increase in sargents immediate future, hannover may not play soto 200 minutes this season- toye and ferreira are maybe safer bets in giving us options than either currently. but to stay close to a point- sargent is, personally, my only exception of the three absolutely worthy players who arent getting CLOSE to the minutes needed in an even vaguely functional national team. gall and horvath (especially) are in equally "bad" (aka getting screwed by the club teams) situations, but in terms of the usmnt we need sarge the most. and its not only by a little. eta: let me give one example the other way- if i could pick a team to play mexico with no regard to results/injuries/club situations etc john brooks is the only cb id have to consider for a minute before putting chris richards in the started 11- and you get two cbs. all im saying is there are realities of playing time, experience (playing first team against adults- not ridiculous excuses for bradley "experience") that you do have to factor in. i feel like a lot i post gets taken as "criticism" a lot more than it actually is. or more specifically im commenting on bad situations, not what i think are "bad" players.
Good to see Boyd, Pomykal and Sargent. Roldan over Hyndman? Guzan over Horvath? Zardes over literally any prospect? Ugh...
Not directed specifically at you or this post, but I don't get why some people are demanding guys in Europe get first team minutes. Sure, that's ideal, but as has been mentioned previously, Landon/Beaz weren't doing anything in Europe (LD had already failed) when they were called in and playing for the US. There's just such a contradiction with the "use your eyes" excuses with the simultaneous "they aren't even playing in Europe!". People gotta pick one! That said, it seems the Europe omissions are somewhat minor. Yes, I'd take 5 of em (CCV, Miazga, Holmes) over the Trapp/Lovitz/Baird ilk, but it's Egg...we can't expect too much. The depressing thought is this - If Toronto wasn't playing, something obviously Egg has no control over, we'd probably subtract Morales and two others, and add in those illustrious 3 Lions. I shudder thinking about that roster.
I could still see Siebatcheu happening. Kind of reminds me of Tillman and my screw up with him 20 months ago. Guys in that 20-21 area (looking it up, just realized that Siebatcheu is 23) that are kind of good to very good prospects but not at all proven probably hope they can make the jump and get on their home nations radar, and otoh, Siebatcheu hasn't really had that first productive pro season in Ligue 1 yet, so maybe Berhalter is also waiting for that to happen before he considers a call up?
Horvath appears to be a big snub, but until he fixes his club situation (not saying its his fault) it's going to be a problem. Maybe would have been nice for him to get out of the situation at Brugge for a bit and enjoy some time with the US, but he's kind of up a creek at the moment. Lots to like and some duds on this roster. For me, a whole lot of how I feel about it will depend on who is selected for the match squads. Pretty easy to grab a very impressive or a very underwhelming 18 from this bunch.
That may be so, but I really don't see the point in flying guys over from Europe unless they are first choice, or close to it, for the manager. None of those guys are, so might as well let them stay with their clubs.
True, but is it really a snub for Robinson not to be called? I'd argue instead of it being a Robinson snub it's a Lovitz gift.
i always use bradley not playing his second season at roma while being still being a crucial player for the nats. i guess all i can say is our guys now dont have the foundation bradley had pre-roma. its not a matter of euro vs mls (or wherever), its about playing. the problem we have is we have a lot of players who- as you say by the eye test- are at the "correct" level but arent playing. i dont think sarge is out of his depth, but hes not playing. im not saying he HAS to play. im saying its a problem expecting players who dont play to produce. i dont know that 3 all timers are the best (or most fair, i should say) example to use, though. no one would argue toye and sargent are close to the same level of talent/potential, but playing time (even with the difference in club level) closes that gap a lot. how would you chose between aaronson and ledezma? you just have to sort of make shit up. thats all any of us can do.
Both of these responses are crap. They also are making the argument that there is a clear bias toward MLS players. Apparently, if you are foreign based, you need to be clear starter. We saw how that worked at the Gold Cup. The bench of MLS players was crap!!! KInd of weird that this was never an issue prior to 2017. These are friendlies. They should be used to build the team and prepare for the future. There is no reason you cant get all the players (excluding goalkeepers) on the field over the course of two games, especially when there are only 5-6 clear starters in the bunch.