USMNT 2022 Cycle: Depth Chart

LOL at this funded-byMLS list

 

Putting Jozy above Tim Weah and BW alone is ridiculous. How much time would Jozy get for PSG? Or anywhere in Germany for that matter?

Tell me, what separates an “Attacking mid” from a “Winger”? Or a “defensive mid” from a “central mid”? And then what type of team has attacking mids, central mids, defensive mids, and wingers? How is Pulisic not our best winger AND our best “Atracking midfielder”? Probably because it allows Doyle to extend the visual depth pool and select random MLS losers.

Also Weston Mckennie should be number one CM and DM. Doyle basically plays games by selecting a player only once, but then splits up the possible positions.

Also placing CCV below all those guys is ridiculous.

Kenny S is a leftback.

 

I have some disagreements with Doyle's list, but I think it's pretty reasonable on the whole. He seems to privilege guys who are getting consistent minutes and have a track record over guys who might have more upside but aren't currently getting consistent minutes, whereas we on BS tend to do the opposite a lot of times. Thus, Long over CCV and EPB, Sweat over D. Acosta., or Altidore over Sargent.

 

Depends on confidence level. I have more confidence in the players than our federation.

Are we going to be better and have more talent than ever? Or will we just be replacing older guys with players around the same talent level we've had before. Short version: How many guys are Pulisic and McKennie level? Weah looks like he might be someday.

I'd take another Dempsey-level talent, Donovan etc. But we need players who can play for UEFA CL teams.

Players good enough for mid-table sides in top 4 leagues? Or a lot players capable of playing in UEFA CL squads? Mexico doesn't have this either.

I remain cautiously optimistic. And try not to get overly excited until a player gets first team minutes. Reserve at Man United, [insert Bundesliga club] means nothing.

 

I wouldn't get to excited about a few veterans ahead of youth as the gap is very small and it won't take much other than a couple months of first team minutes for the chart to be upended.

 

From the article:

“...this is just me surveying the field and trying to figure out who's legitimately in the pool over the next six-ish months..”

If you read the article instead of just the list, it’s Altidore is a more than reasonable pick.

As for CV, as he explains, he didn’t make the 18 for Spurs, did poorly for the Nats and can’t pass. So within the framework he’s using, why would he rank ahead of the other guys?

I love to argue and disagree about players - it’s way I come here. If you think Weah and CV have more upside than guys ahead of them, we’ll obvioulsy they do. Or if you think the parameters Doyle set up are useless, great. But if you are going to engage with the picks, context helps

 

My only real issue is the weird inclusion of Joe Corona, see nothing he brings. I can nit pick here and there but thats the glaring issue.

 

What I don't get is why Acosta is above Nagbe.

 

The problem as others have mentioned is an inordinate focus on MLS depth lifers that are really more camp cupcake then top 3-4 options on the depth chart. He touches on handfuls of prospects but generally ranks them too low or doesn't even mention them. Not sure how you can rank American Forwards and not mention dual national Siebatcheu for instance, who has more talent than any of our forward options though of course he isn't ours, yet (some might quibble with Weah not being #1, but I want to see Weah do it across a whole season like Siebatcheu did last year (all be it in a lower league).

When mentioning wingers, you have to mention guys to keep an eye on like Taitague and Tillman, the former because he was up next behind McKennie until injuries derailed his 2017-2018 and he may flame out due to those injuries but if he stays healthy, he'll be moved up to Schalke's 1st team or loaned out to a similar club by midseason or the end of the season at the latest. Tillman seemed ready to join the US, before seemingly dancing into neutrality again, but he's still an excellent option as well w/the ability to play centrally too. He's not mentioned. Durkin is a kid, but he has more talent as a central mid then any of the defensive oriented options he mentions other than McKennie, guys like Bradley and at this point, Arriola, just put the idea down and walk slowly backwards away from them.

The Forward group is quite silly w/a focus on failed options. On the defensive end in some cases he has the next up bench depth at the bottom instead of right behind the starting options (guys like CCV, EPB and Glad should be right behind JAB and Miazga, Parker's interesting, but Ream has either been cursed with bad luck, bad partners, or just flat out can't play effectively for us.

I could go on, but the main issue is that he has way too much MLS lifer depth ahead of way too many kids, he doesn't even mention some kids, and some guys like Bradley have no business even being on the list in the first place.

 

I could cede your point, and his list becomes much more likely to reflect the short term future if we end up going with an MLS head coach because they'll prioritize domestics too heavily just from familiarity, at least early on. However, I'm looking at this more as a: Who are the guys here right now that need to be the first XI and next up guys if we're to grow a team that can begin peaking between 2021-2027? I don't see a point in giving loads of minutes to guys that aren't a key part of that team except in unofficial friendlies like Camp Cupcake where we can separate wheat from chaff in terms of domestic kids, and depth option vets in case of catastrophic injury.

The focus, to me, seems to be on building on the right choices we made under Sarachan and building chemistry w/the kids, not leaning back and relying on familiar MLS names of guys with low ceilings and only moderate floors but whom are less likely to make growing pain mistakes. Before the Gold Cup and if we fail to win that, Gold Cup Concacaf Playoff Game I want our kids making their mistakes in these fall friendlies as they get to know one another so they don't have/or are less likely to happen next summer. I want guys like Miazga and JAB super familiar with being partnered with guys like CCV, EPB and Glad so by the time of that tournament, if we have some injury attrition they don't play together like they've never met and our from other planets (a problem we saw throughout qualifying where communication breakdowns and lack of familiarity lead to a ton of idiotic goals and chances being surrendered).

I want our central midfield built in the same way, same with the wingers so we don't have gaps exploited by lack of familiairty and communication breakdowns. Put the kids out there, save the lifers for Camp Cupcake or for retirement. We need to focus on giving the kids these friendlies coming up so they're totally comfortable with one another come next summer. I don't want to see Tim Ream out there. I don't want to see Michael Bradley or Arriola first up. I don't want to see the same old forwards working together, I want to see Weah, Sargent, Novakovich etc working with Wood, and Altidore can just sit the hell down etc.

To my mind, the fall friendlies, kinda part two of our defunct world cup of losers idea that was flushed months ago, should be used to build up the rapport and chemistry of the kids that are the foundation of the next 8 years, not a chance for MLS lifers to try to stake their claim, and for vets to grab one last run. For me, it's get the heck out of there with that.

Of course it wouldn't shock me at all if my nightmare scenario is exactly how it plays out and and even worse version of the linked articles forms the bulk of the call ins? That would be par for the course after the aborted revolution we had that failed the past 10 months.

 

That's just a product of so many central midfielders being included, with none being duplicated in the "center midfielder" and "defensive midfielder" lists.

As far as I'm concerned, one could easily have put the "wingers," "attacking mids" and some of the forwards (those that aren't primarily CFs) into the same expanded pot.

 

A good point. I'd like it better if they put the best player at every position even if that means a lot of players are listed several times. A qualifying or tournament roster does that anyway and it also shows who might be a great bench option by being the number three guy at four spots.

 

So EPB is not a top 8 center back and Green, the guy who scored v France is not even on the list?

Why am I not surprised, its Doyle after all.

 

If we're looking for CMs in Europe, why Daniel Williams over Alfredo Morales? The latter has played more minutes (90 in the BuLi) than the former (68 in the EPL). Both are equally mediocre otherwise.

How many months has been EPB without playing a serious game? And sorry but summer friendlies are not serious games, whether for club or country.

 

Yep, that's SUM list.

 

Thank you for posting.

 

Who thinks Nagbe has anything to contribute? He was shown last cycle to be absolutely useless.

 

Doyle completely omits Julian Green. Hilarious!

 

Interesting. Other than Brooks the rest of the top 5 CBs he has are all current or former Red Bulls.

 

Nagbe got the assist in the T&T match.

Green has been too productive when with the NT to not be included.

 

Its a 460 minute sample, so I'm not sure that I agree.

 

If a player is succeeding with a small sample the normal thing to do is give the player more minutes.

 

Nagbe definitely has something to contribute and he wasn't useless. Bradley, Zusi, Omar, Jozy they were useless. People like to point at Nagbe cause he could be so much more than he is but he just isn't. However, just because he isn't more than what he is doesn't mean he's useless or bad. He provides a useful skillset to this team and in a tournament his versatility is even more useful.