Yedlin had some sort of surgery today. If he's out for the Gold Cup, then that will be good news for: 1. The portion of the US fanbase with a strong desire for Tyler Adams to be played at right back (assuming he's even healthy). 2. Nick Lima
3. Perfect window / opportunity to call-in S. Dest. He has been getting minutes at LB with Jong Ajax so he would potentially help fill 2 positions of need. Coach B can also Sr. cap him to the USA and bring a hell of a lot more fan excitement to his roster.
Here's another writer's take: https://sbisoccer.com/2019/04/projecting-the-usmnts-23-man-gold-cup-roster Goalkeepers (3) Zack Steffen, Ethan Horvath, Sean Johnson Missed Cut: Bill Hamid, Brad Guzan, Alex Bono, Jesse Gonzalez. Defenders (8) DeAndre Yedlin, John Brooks, Tim Ream, Matt Miazga, Antonee Robinson, Aaron Long, Eric Lichaj, Daniel Lovitz. Missed Cut: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Nick Lima, Reggie Cannon, Walker Zimmerman. Midfielders (8) Michael Bradley, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Wil Trapp, Paul Arriola, Cristian Roldan, Sebastian Lletget. Missed Cut: Kellyn Acosta, Marky Delgado, Darlington Nagbe, Julian Green, Lynden Gooch, Duane Holmes. Forwards (4) Jozy Altidore, Gyasi Zardes, Andrija Novakovich, Jordan Morris Missed Cut: Timothy Weah, Josh Sargent, Dom Dwyer, Christian Ramirez, Bobby Wood.
Here's my take: Goalkeepers (3) Zack Steffen, Ethan Horvath, [ ] Missed Cut: Sean Johnson, Bill Hamid, Jesse Gonzalez. Central Defenders (4) John Brooks, Matt Miazga, Aaron Long, [ ] Missed Cut: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Tim Ream, Zimmerman, Palmer-Brown Central Midfielders (5) Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Morales, Wil Trapp*, [ ] Missed Cut: Nagbe, Sebastian Lletget, Michael Bradley Outside Back/Wing (6) Fabian Johnson, Tim Chandler, DeAndre Yedlin, Antonee Robinson, Duane Holmes, Paul Arriola Missed Cut: Nick Lima, Reggie Cannon, Eric Lichaj Attackers (5) Christian Pulisic, Jozy Altidore, Timothy Weah, Bobby Wood, Gyasi Zardes* Missed Cut: Andrew Wooten, Andrija Novakovich, Josh Sargent * Familiarity with Berhalter's system is the key reason Red = most want to see get exposure to USMNT setup [ ] = indifferent between any of those in the Missed Cut list
I do believe that one of Weah and Sargent will be at the Gold Cup, and the other will be at the U20 World Cup. The scuttlebutt folks on the USYNT boards have heard is that Weah wants to go to the U20 World Cup. Sargent has already been to one, so it's not really all that important to him. That U20 roster will be announced this Friday supposedly. So we'll know soon. Its unlikely that a player goes to both events. It has happened, but rarely. I personally take Novakovich over Bobby Wood, but that's a close one. I'm not particularly enamored with either.
That makes sense to switch Sargent and Weah. I think that Wood has been a loyal and effective soldier for the USMNT (with the emphasis on effective). Now that he's going through a tough patch and assuming he's uninjured, it would be good to give him an opportunity to knock some rust off and potentially provide a showcase. At the very least, he should get some exposure to the new setup. Novakovich can also play with the U23s, no? Outside of Pulisic, it's not readily apparent how to differentiate between our options although we do seem to have quite a few of them. I'd love to get Sebatchieu in the mix as well.
Novakovich slightly too old for the U23s. Have to be born in 97 to be eligible. Andrija born in fall 96. Not many U23 forwards are excelling. If we want to take one to the Gold Cup it would be Jeremy Ebobisse of Portland. [Then there's the U20 brigade of Soto, Sargent, Weah, etc. who are all eligible. Jesus Ferreira of FCD will presumably be eligible soon] There will presumably be U23 events this summer/early fall as we head towards Olympic qualification in October.
Thanks. Wood is likely going to have to get a loan or get sold over the summer so I'd like for him to have an opportunity to showcase vs. CONCACAF talent - I also think he's as good a striker as we have and always puts in a good shift.
Goalkeepers (3) Creditor: Steffen, Horvath, Johnson Ives: Steffen, Horvath, Johnson dhc1: Steffen, Horvath, [ ] Central Defenders (4) Creditor: Brooks, Long, Miazga, Ream Ives: Brooks, Long, Miazga, Ream dhc1: Brooks, Long, Miazga, [ ] Central Midfielders (5-6) Creditor: McKennie, Trapp, Adams, Lletget, Roldan, Bradley Ives: McKennie, Trapp, Adams, Lletget, Roldan, Bradley dhc1: McKennie, Trapp, Adams, Morales, [ ] Outside Back/Wing (5-6) Creditor: Yedlin, Arriola, Garza, Lima, Lewis Ives: Yedlin, Arriola, Robinson, Lichaj, Lovitz dhc1: Yedlin, Arriola, Robinson, Johnson, Chandler, Holmes Attackers (5) Creditor: Pulisic, Altidore, Zardes, Morris, Ramirez Ives: Pulisic, Altidore, Zardes, Morris, Novakovich dhc1: Pulisic, Altidore, Zardes, Weah/Sargent, Wood Both Creditor and Ives are remarkable similar with the only difference being that Ives likes some European based outside players (Robinson, Lichaj and Nova) while Creditor pretty much only looks at MLS. How both favor all three of Bradley/Roldan/Lletget over Morales and Garza/Lima/Lovitz/Lewis over Fabian Johnson/Chandler/Holmes is beyond me. Finally Creditor choosing Morris & Ramirez over Weah/Sargent/Wood/Nova is borderline criminal....... if one assumes that both have access to Berhalter's thoughts, that's a real bummer. MLS players in squad (underline): Creditor: 14 Ives: 10 dhc1: 4-7
Very good roster. Keep in mind that Bobby Wood has missed the last 7 matches with knee problems and seems to have been shut down for the rest of the season. He is not scheduled to be in Saturday's lineup and only one match day remain after Saturday.
Our wounded: Adams Yedlin Wood Jozy Fabian Johnson Chandler Williams (he'd be on my list if he wasn't out)
We know what Wood can do. We don't know what Novakovich can do, a forward who's actually scoring goals in Europe.
Europe doesn't mean anything. Fortuna Sittard is ranked #481, which is below most of MLS. Granted that their offense is much better than their defense but playing for a team ranked that low is a far cry from playing in the B1 (although Hannover is by far the lowest team, ranked at #218). I'm intrigued by Nova but it would be good for the USMNT to help Wood get into a good club situation.
With the rosters I see presented I "think" we can win the Goal Cup or at least place second behind Mexico. With all the names suggested we still do not have any central defenders that can/will shut the door on good teams but that is not too much of a problem as there is only one good team in the tournament, Mexico, and one team that might be good but has a lot to prove, The US. After that the only way one of those gets beaten is they lie down and do it to themselves. (But sometimes that can be fun ) That is something that both teams have shown the ability to do in the past. Realistically neither the US or Mexico should have any other team get within two goals of them unless they just stand around and watch the other team play. But, again, both the US and Mexico are VERY able to play dead at the most inopportune times. Having said all that I cannot come up with a roster demonstratively better that those presented and every roster presented should win pretty easily up to the final. That is it seems impossible to field a roster strong enough to win for sure or weak enough to fail to get to the final. This is CONCACAF and there is a real drop below the top two to third and, after Costa Rica, a gulf wider that the Gulf of Mexico the get to what's left. WE have maybe eight or nine players (at least two or three are goalkeepers) that are really good enough to play at a decent international level and then we have enough players that are OK to fill in. That is actually plenty to win in world soccer BUT our top players are really not that good with one or two exceptions. “A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing.” – Bill Shankly I know the above sounds negative and I hope I have reason to eat my words but so far Greg B has not shown any ability to get more out of the team than the sum of their parts and no ability to come up with a system that allows our top players to shine or manages to protect the poor ones. Of course there has not, yet, been a meaningful match under the new coach but we have not exactly shown well in the friendlies.
They are both in Europe, which was the point. If you're going to call in guys from Europe, Weah/Sargent are the young guys, Nova and Wooten are the ones producing, and Wood is the USMNT veteran who has not been doing anything at his clubs for the last 2-ish years. I'm tired of constantly "trying to get him in a good club situation". He needs to do it himself at this point. I'd rather call up Soto from Hannover, a young guy with potential that's in their plans for the 2.Bundesliga, whereas Wood's likely gone (or will end up like Aron Johansson). Interesting you bring up rankings, because you'd think Eredivisie clubs would be all over Americans if it were a simple matter of club ranking... But it's not, and you know it's not. Eredivisie clubs target people who actually have a modicum of technical and tactical skill, which is why Gyasi Zardes can score 19 goals in MLS with shanked clearances off his kneecap, and can't get a sniff in the 2.Bundesliga, France, or the Eredivisie. I'd love it if we could start sending over our Ebobisse's to get Eredivisie development, and it'll be a crying shame if we don't call up a producing striker in the Eredivisie because we're constantly trying to save BW's career.
There is no way you can compare Wood's efforts in B1 to bottom of the table Eredivisie or B2. If and when Wood plays at B2/MLS/Championship, I'm confident that he'll become the same productive scorer that he's shown he can be in the minor leagues. MLS is roughly equivalent to the B2/championship and lower levels of Eredivisie so there's limited reason for our players to go there. More importantly, MLS may pay more than those leagues - IIRC the Galaxy were offering higher amounts of money to Llanez and Mendez than B1 teams. I'm still glad they went to elite programs instead but money usually talks.
Does his club's ranking matter? He isn't scoring goals with other team's players against his team. He is scoring against better clubs, one would think. The rankings are also 5-year moving averages and the quality of FS this year has little to do with when they were promoted 5 years ago. The Eredivisie is in a dip in ELO and UEFA rankings across the board. With Ajax's run in the UCL, they should all move up quite a bit next year. I would think that is how it works. He scored against PSV who is ranked #39. It has to be harder to score for FS against PSV than to score for PSV vs FS. He also scored against Feyenord, #69. Using that logic, of course, you would want all your players on bad teams so they are playing against the best. That is the opposite of what is successful though, but I wouldn't completely dismiss a player on a low ranked club getting it done, somewhat, against the better teams. As always, if it is between Nova and any of the place holders we have called in lately, bring him. Don't see how anyone can argue he isn't worth a look with the new coach. Nova will be another litmus test of GB's willingness to call in guys outside the Top 5 leagues and MLS and former team mates.
Fair points, Patrick, particularly his ability to score vs. elite teams. I would like to see him but would like to see Wood a bit more. In any event, it looks like Bobby is injured so let’s hope Nova gets a chance.
You can certainly compare Wood's efforts in B1 to B2 or the Eredivisie. Why wouldn't you? You need to weigh the better competition against the production in the lower leagues. And not for nothing, Nova's 22, hasn't really gotten a runnout, and BW is a known quantity. I'm confident that Wood could score in a lower league also... so he should go there! Bobby's club career has been on life support for a long time. Just like Jozy's time at Sunderland, he hasn't been able to be productive in at Top 4 league. We can afford to experiment at the GC, and we should given our paucity of options at striker. MLS overpays and develops players worse than the Eredivisie, which is why guys like Ledezma left. Hopefully, FC Dallas and company begin to turn that around. If MLS is developing players for Europe like the Eredivisie, then there'll be little reason to go there ever, but until that happens, it's a possibly good spot for players to improve. Jozy's best years were while he was playing at AZ Alkmaar.
Agree with the Nova points, and it kinda leads to further questions about why we refuse to give players legitimate chances. We've pretty much failed nonstop for about 6 years now, and the program is in pretty much the worst place from a fan interest perspective than it has ever been. We don't play a real match for another year or two. Yet we're opposed to Nova because he's played 45 minutes for us and is having an ok, not great, year in Holland? He should be brought in and given multiple matches (ie. 3-5 of ~90 minutes) to see what we have. It's related to the discussion, but Klinsy gave Wood a TON of time, clearly seeing something I didn't at the time. He proved to be a good player, despite what has happened the last few years. Same thing for Nova as Morales, Williams, and basically all dual Nats playing in a league above MLS. This isn't a time to give players auditions (Wood), move around our best players, earn caps records, etc...We should be doing nothing but building towards 2022. Also, mostly unrelated, but Dest should be called in, and likely getting significant time. I am not optimistic.
Without Yedlin... GK Horvath, Steffen, Gonzalez (Guzan, Johnson) RB Lima, Chandler (Cannon) CB Brooks, Miazga, Carter-Vickers, Long (Palmer-Brown, Zimmerman, Alvarado) LB Johnson, Robinson (Lovitz, Morrow) DM Adams, Trapp, Bradley, (Canouse, Morales) MF McKennie, Pulisic, Lletget, (Roldan, Mihailovic, Nagbe, Delgado, K. Acosta) FW Wooten, Altidore, Zardes, Weah, Arriola, Sargent (Holmes, Lewis, Green, Novakovich, Green, Ramirez, Soto) GK Horvath RB Lima CB Brooks & Miazga LB Johnson DM Adams (CPT) MF McKennie & Pulisic RF Arriola FW Altidore LF Weah Notes: *Forward combo is a stab in the dark. *I’m not a Bradley fan, but he’s playing well for Toronto and for that reason he beats out Roldan. I just can’t see Berhalter not taking him. *Yedlin’s absence is a big hit, and I pray the idiotic thought that Adams is a RB is over. Because there is a lack of RB stepping up, Chandler sneaks in. *I could go with Zimmerman over Long. *Horvath sneaks in as #1 keeper for awhile. *Johnson needs to be recalled. *Formation is a 433. Adams protects the backline, McKennie runs the field, and Pulisic is the creator. *He’s awfully young, but Adams exhibits the most leadership characteristics of the group.
I'm not totally opposed to Chandler getting called back in (I think all potentially useful players should get a clean slate with a new coach), but according to Transfermarkt, he's played 16 minutes all season? I think it's tough to include a guy who's had that extreme lack of playing time due to injury and expect him to be fit and sharp for a tournament with quick turnarounds between games.