It will reportedly take place in Qatar, with one match over there, a closed door scrimmage against a Euro Club, and then a second friendly back home. Discuss who you think should be called up here
U23’s will be holding a camp as well, correct? Guessing that roster would be too convoluted, so I’ll just take a stab at a squad that includes all. GK: Guzan Johnson Gonzalez Def: Long (if no transfer) M Robinson Zimmerman Mckenzie Glad Vines Cannon Duncan Lima Mid: Yueill Pomykal Aaronson Bradley Lletget Dotson Wing/Forward: Arriola Morris Jozy Zardes (I don’t like it, but he’ll be called) Ferriera Mueller
GK's: Matt Turner Jesse Gonzalez Brad Guzan Matt Freese JT Marcinkowski CB's: Miles Robinson Ike Opara Aaron Long (if no transfer) Justen Glad James Sands Walker Zimmerman (if no transfer) Auston Trusty FB's: Ryan Hollingshead Reggie Cannon (if no transfer) Nick Lima (if no transfer) Hassani Dotson Kyle Duncan Aaron Herrera Julian Araujo CM's: Sebastian Lletget Paxton Pomykal Brendan Aaronson Russell Canouse Joe Corona Jackson Yueill Brandon Servania Keaton Parks (if available) Christian Cappis (if no transfer) AW's: Jonathan Amon (if available) Paul Arriola Chris Mueller Jonathan Lewis Sebastian Saucedo Jesus Ferreira FW's: CJ Sapong Gyasi Zardes Jeremy Ebobisse Mason Toye Should cover senior and u-23 interests well. Some could participate in both camps/games and they could help each other prepare.
My Joint Senior/u23 Camp (* = u23) GK Gonzalez Turner Freese* Ochoa* Alternates: Guzan, Johnson, Miller, Hamid, Scott* Comments: We need to go younger. Horvath looks like he’s stalling, and we know what we have in Guzan. Likewise, there’s no real point in aging, Johnson and Hamid, who never really took their game to the next level. Let’s let Turner and Gonzalez duke it out for the #1 spot in goal. Meanwhile, Freese and Ochoa are my insiders for the #1 spot for the u23’s. RB Cannon* (Thompson) Herrera* Araujo* Alternates: Thompson, Rosenberry, Anderson*, Duncan*, Lennon* Comments: I want Cannon to go abroad, but right back is desolate after him. Although, I want Herrera to get a chance at LB, he makes my cut as a RB due to lack of depth in the position. CB Long (Opara) Zimmerman M. Robinson* Glad* McKenzie* Alternates: Opara, Parker, Trusty*, Keita* Comments: Long hopefully transfers to Europe, which that should provide an opening for Opara. Zimmerman is on the inside; and Miles, Glad, and McKenzie will he competing for starting spots for the u23 and back up for the senior. LB Lima Hollingshead Vines* Bello* Alternates: Gasper, Villafana, Kobe*, Real*, Lindsey* Comments: Anyone but Lovitz, please. Honestly, let’s see what Lima and Hollingshead can do. Meanwhile, Herrera might be on the left side if Cannon stays, otherwise it’s Bello vs Vines for that spot. My money would be on Bello. M6 Yuiell* Sands* Dotson* Cappis* Servania* Alternates: Cerrillo Comments: We have got to figure out our future in this position. Therefore, all of Sands, Dotson, Cappis, Servania, and Yuiell make the cut. Note, Cappis might not be able to go, and in that case, I’ve got no one else filling in his spot. In other words, Cerrillo has a big mountain to climb to get in. M8/10 Lletget Nagbe K. Acosta Delgado Pomykal* Aaronson* Amaya* Bassett* Mihailovic* Busio* Alternates: Roldan, Leyva* Comments: I doubt Nagbe is called in, but he’s still one of the most important missing players in the US pool. I don’t bother with Roldan who has proven not good enough. Meanwhile, I really want this to be the Pomykal-Aaronson show. R/LW Jordan Morris Paul Arriola Fafa Picault Emmanuel Sabbi* Jesus Ferreira* Jonathan Amon* Alternates: Corey Baird, Jonathan Lewis*, Thomas Roberts* Comments: Morris is the most in form player in the US pool, and Arriola is still good enough to be included. Meanwhile, let’s introduce/reintroduce Sabbi, Amon, and Ferreira. Also, Picault’s speed is worth looking at again. FW Jozy Altidore Gyasi Zardes Jeremy Ebobisse* Mason Toye* Comments: Okay, I had to think hard. No, I don’t really want Zardes here. But I do think he’s a good leadership influence, and of the unfavorables (Lovitz, Roldan, Trapp, etc) he’s still my favorite. Mostly though, I want to see if Ebobisse or Toye can contribute.
I was just thinking the exact same thing with regard to the GK situation earlier today. I'm fine with Guzan as one of the three GKs on the roster for non-friendlies. He's played in and gotten results in away WCQs and is in decent enough form in MLS. If Steffen can't go for any reason, I'm comfortable with Guzan. After that, though, it's really murky. I agree that at this point, Hamid and Johnson aren't going to take that extra step to become international quality, and Turner and Gonzalez look like the guys in the younger tier most worth looking at to see if they can take that step.
Shouldn't there be a u23 roster to get us ready for trials? It would have been interesting to see a u23 and senior team camp with a game between them followed up with a game of a combined team playing a Canada or Far East team or Latin American team. (Presumably the camp in Qatar forestalls this possibility).
I’d say: Jeremy Ebobisse and/or Mason Toye have a good shot at claiming a back up starting role at forward. Right now, Jozy is injury prone, Sargent is still raw, and Zardes is not good enough. So that leaves room for opportunity for one of these two to stand out if they can take their game to the next level. Paxton Pomykal and Brenden Aaronson are probably the two I’m the most excited about. Yet, they’ll be competing with Sebastian Lletget who will be wanting to cement his claim on the 10 role or at least the back up role over Roldan. I wish Darlington Nagbe would accept a call up, make Roldan irrelevant, and prove to be a worthy back up to can’t get healthy Tyler Adams. Matt Turner (or Jesse Gonzalez) would be my pick to be the #1 at this camp. The main thing I would stress would be to go young because we are in the middle of a depth crisis in goal. In defense, unless Long transfers, I’m pretty sure it’ll be Long-Zimmerman, which we already know, otherwise it should be Miles Robinson-Zimmerman. Moreover, Cannon should get the start at RB, but if he transfers, I want to see what Aaron Herrera can do. Even if he doesn’t transfer, I’d like to see Herrera (or Nick Lima or Ryan Hollingshead) on the left to make Lovitz the forgotten man. I really hope Emmanuel Sabbi and Jesus Ferreira can go. I doubt either will start over Morris/Arriola but it’s always good to have legitimate depth. And Sabbi has been doing great in Denmark. Still, these two might have to play I with the u23 instead. Also, I think a critical function is to find a legitimate 6. We have some young contenders for that role, James Sands, Christian Cappis, Brandon Servania, Ed Cerrillo, Jackson Yuiell, and Hassani Dotson. All of which are u23 eligible... Jackson Yuiell has the inside track, but James Sands has the most upside, IMO. I want someone from this group to make Michael Bradley and Wil Trapp irrelevant. I would say the others might need to focus on the u23’s. Mainly, I just want want from this camp to find legitimate alternatives...Someone better than these liabilities: 1. Lovitz (of note: I think the answer is a YA but we need to find a superior MLS option for back up) 2. Roldan, someone as back up for injured Adams 3. Trapp/Bradley 4. Zardes 5. Ream (of note: the answer here is one of the yanks abroad) Ideal two game Starting XI (hoping that Cannon and Long go abroad) game 1 ————-Ebobisse—————- Arriola—————————-Morris ———Lletget——Pomykal—— —————-Yuiell——————- Lima—————————-Herrera ———Miles——-Zimmerman—— —————Turner——————— Bench: Gonzalez (Turner), Glad, Hollingshead (Herrera), Sands (Yuiell), Aaronson (Pomykal), Altidore (Ebobisse) game 2: —————-Morris—————- Ferreira————————Sabbi ——Pomykal——-Aaronson—— —————-Yuiell——————- Hollingshead——————Lima ————Miles—-Walker——— —————-Turner—————- Bench: Gonzalez (Turner), Glad, Herrera (Hollingshead), Sands (Yuiell), Lletget (Pomykal/Aaronson), Ebobisse (Morris), Toye (Ferreira/Sabbi)
It’s pretty uncertain because he complained about not receiving call ups and it came out that he had declined call ups. Most I’ve heard is family reasons.
He is supposed to be out for 6 weeks I believe. That was from what three weeks ago? Therefore I think he could be ready but it may depend on how quickly he recovers from the surgery and whether (cough, cough, Tyler Adams, cough) he has any additional problems. BTW, everyone has been throwing out how slow our kids recover but McKennie is definitely the opposite of that. Every time he's been out he has recovered in half the time expected. Whatever he's doing should be copied unless it's just in his genes.
If Horvath is still stuck behind Mignolet at Brugge I’d try and work with them to call him in. Give him at least 45. Then remind him that he needs to force a move out. He was on the precipice cementing himself after a very good run of games in UCL and Europa League and after an up and down season. He was replaced by a local player with a much larger CV. He tried to battle it out and got nowhere. Now it’s time to go somewhere.
Emmanuel Sabbi is priority #1. He plays a position of need and he’s done well enough to earn a look. Unfortunately, Jonathan Amon is injured. Which, his career is in a nosedive at the moment. So, although, he would have made my roster; he gets cut because of injury. Next up would be Christian Cappis, although with James Sands, Hassani Dotson, and Brandon Servania; I think he gets crowded out. After that, a big maybe, and when I say maybe - I mean, a big long shot, would be Romain Gall, who once looked ready for prime time but fell off the side of a cliff. That said, if we could call in players who aren’t starters for their clubs and who would benefit from the camp. So I might ask anyways: -Ethan Horvath (would be a good choice) -Shaq Moore (although I think he’s starting now) -Fabian Johnson (probably not necessary) -Kenny Saief (probably not necessary) -Sebastian Soto (club situation/transfer depending) -Bobby Wood (he’s been getting some minutes with Hamburg so probably not doable, but it’d be good for his career) In all, I’m betting none make it though.
With NO YA, I’d call in... GK 1. Turner, 2. Gonzalez, 3. Freese*, 4. Ochoa* Note: I’m going young on this one. RB 1. Cannon(*), 2. Herrera*, 3. Araujo* Note: Cannon is a u23 but he stays with the seniors. Note: Rosenberry for Cannon if he goes abroad. CB 1. Long, 2. Zimmerman, 3. M. Robinson(*), 4. Glad*, 5. McKenzie*, 6. Trusty* Note: Opara for Long if he goes abroad. Note: Miles might have to play up. LB 1. Lima, 2. Hollingshead, 3. Vines* M6 1. Yuiell(*), 2. Sands(*), 3. Dotson*, 4. Servania Note: Yuiell playing up. M8 1. Pomykal(*), 2. Aaronson(*), 3. Bassett*, 4. Amaya Note: Pomykal and Aaronson playing up. Note: if Pomykal is unavailable. Try to call up Nagbe. If not him, Kelyn Acosta. 10 1. Lletget, 2. Mihailovic*, 3. Busio* RW 1. Morris, 2. Ferreira*, 3. Lennon* FW 1. Altidore, 2. Zardes, 3. Ebobisse*, 4. Toye* LW 1. Arriola, 2. Picault, 3. Lewis* Senior XI Arriola———Altidore———-Morris ———-Lletget——Pomykal——- ——————-Yuiell—————— Lima——————————-Cannon ————-Long——-Zim————— ——————Turner——————— Captain: Long Bench: Gonzalez, Hollingshead, Miles, Sands, Aaronson, Picault, Zardes u23 XI Lewis———-Ebobisse———-Ferreira ——-Mihailovic———Bassett——- ——————-Dotson—————— Vines———————————Herrera ———Glad—————-McKenzie——- ——————-Freese———————- Bench: Ochoa, Trusty, Araujo, Servania/Amaya, Busio, Lennon, Toye
I would like to see us leave Morris in Seattle to work himself up properly for next season. I would not call Altidore. He might come if they let him take his trainer. It's too early for Pomykal after surgery so I would not call him up. Yueil might be entertaining Europe so a call up would put his fitness in doubt with prospective buyers. I'd leave him in San Jose. Enjoy the flite to Qatar, guys. Should be fun.
worth noting that despite a few USSF junkets over there, there is no qatar announcement. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...orld-cup-venue-education-city-not-ready-qatar there is that story. a camp starting in january could be less than a month away. a game in qatar would be 6 weeks away. you then have to lock in a home friendly with training and have that happen early enough players can be gotten back to their teams with probably a week's cushion or two before their openers. MLS begins 2/29, just 2-1/2 mos away.
Actually I bet any player who is involved in the CONCACF tournament won't get called into January camp. It's more important that they work with their teams for games in February.
based on last camp cupcake i would say the opposite. he called a lot of his regulars. jozy and morris missed because we chose to let them go to club camp coming off their knee injuries. you also have to remember that we seem to be playing to win everything and with how the schedule is set up after this it would be march window and then into LoN and then from there into qualifying proper. there may be some off-window prep games for LoN. that's about it. i expect the regulars with perhaps some like pomykal or aaronson tossed in at the end of the roster where the euros normally go.
What non-MLS guys have ever been called in to Camp Cupcake? Every year there is speculation about YA's who could be called in. But, I don't recall that happening.