@WMckennie against SC Paderborn 07. 💪💙⚽ #S04 #SCPS04 #mckennie pic.twitter.com/aQLOdXEOg4— maaj1904 (@maaj1904YT) July 16, 2017 887658715230474240 is not a valid tweet id
GK: Howard, Guzan, Horvath CB's: Cameron, Brooks, Besler, Miazga WB's/FB's: Yedlin, Chandler, Fabian Mids: Bradley, Williams, Jones, McKennie, Saief, Tillman, Arriola, Nagbe, Pulisic Forwards: Wood, Jozy, Clint, Dwyer
I think it's much too early to forecast 23 or even 16 players for Russia 2018. McKennie (not even a rookie), Tillman (who I've never heard of) and Saief (who needs to recover from surgery and shine in Belgium) are hardly sure bets. Chandler has been unimpressive for the USMNT and seems to relish playing even less for us than Fabian (who Arena considers a MF). Dwyer is unproven internationally. Jones is fading and may not get his second wind next year. I love Clint but he may only be a sub next year. If all the questionable players are eliminated or left out, then what remains is pretty paltry. And I don't expect them to go far in the WC, even though I consider Arena a better coach than Klinsmann, who was atrocious at enabling our team to play their very best.
Much can happen between now and next summer, injuries and emergences etc.. Bruce's 23: GK: HOWARD, Guzan and Horvath DEF: YEDLIN, CAMERON, BROOKS, BESLER, FJ, Chandler, Gonzo, Ream, and Villafana MID: MB, PULI, NAGBE, Jones, Arriola, Bedoya FORW: JOZY, WOOD, Demps, Dwyer, Morris
Not sure why you find that funny or incredulous. I think Bruce will want a back up mid with some bite. We have seen all the auditions from January camp and Gold Cup and no one distinguished them self. It is difficult to project how an older ball player will react to the ravages of time, but Jones played quite well against Seattle in his first game back from injury. He is a fighter and I can certainly see Arena having more trust in him than a Dax or Acosta to help hold a lead.
Jones is done, past it. He'll get injured again before the World Cup. Did you watch him against Panama? He'll be what, 36 years old in 2018? Too old for his position and type of player he is.
You may well be right. That is why this is just a guessing game as Bajoro said. Frankly, I did not expect Dempsey to be able to come back and be a contributor. It must be amazing to have such a surety of your knowledge to state as a fact that Jones will be hurt. Maybe you can share tomorrow's lottery numbers with us too.
Well, if Jones is playing a starting role alongside Bradley then it'll be a short stay in Russia. Jones is like an older car. Repair it many times but keeps breaking down.
I would hope Jermaine isn't a starter either. If he continues to play as he did last Saturday, he may be Bruce's pick for that back up role.
I guess it's time to make best guesses GK: 1. Howard, 2. Guzan, 3. Gonzalez *4. Hamid RB: 1. Yedlin, 2. Chandler *3. Zusi LB: 1. Villafana, 2. Ream *3. Garza CB: 1. Brooks, 2. Cameron, 3. Besler, 4. Gonzalez *5. Miazga CM: 1. Bradley, 2. Nagbe, 3. Acosta, 4. McKinnie *5. McCarty L/RM: 1. Pulisic, 2. Johnson, 3. Arriola, 4. Saief *5. Rowe FW: 1. Altidore, 2. Dempsey, 3. Wood, 4. Dwyer *5. Morris
Russia is a whole 'nother year away, thats another year for Jones to get even older and even slower than he already has become. No thank you. I'm hoping that some of our younger European based mids can have a good season and earn a spot.
Sure but that's what this thread is about. Anyhow, I'm ambitious. I like youth. I see McKennie being a legit option(he's better than Acosta too) and I'd peg Tillman as the next in line to break thru in the Bund this season. And since we have pretty much zero AM creativity outside Pulisic, a Tillman type could be extremely valuable. You haven't heard of him. I'd point you to his YA thread. Has two starts and rave reviews for Bayern Munich this preseason. Bayern btw rejected a bid for him from Barca one transfer window ago. A top, top prospect who appears to be on the cusp for a top 5 club in the world.
I am going to go ahead and cheat, one super optimistic roster assuming Euro breakthroughs and one super depressing roster assuming we rely on grizzled veteran has been never were vets and never will bes. The truth as usual will be somewhere in the middle. GK: Howard, Guzan Horvath FB: Villafana, Yedlin, Chandler CB: Cameron, Brooks, CCV, Gonzo MF: Pulisic, Nagbe, Bradley, Arriola, Saif, McKennie, Johnson, Hyndman, Tillman FW: Wood, Altidore, Dempsey, Morris GK: Howard, Guzan, Rimando FB: Zusi, DMB, Yedlin, Villafana CB: Cameron, Brooks, Gonzo, Besler, Ream MF: Bradley, Pulisic, Jones, Bedoya, Dax, Acosta, Zardes FW: Wood, Altidore, Dempsey, Dwyer In general I think the recency bias of the MLS heavy Gold Cup is weighing a lot of these rosters. There is zero chance all the Euro prospects break through, but there is a 100% chance that at least one or two do, given how many are knocking on the door and how many opportunities there are over 9 months. McKennie is likely due to a combination of actually being with the first team now, being super good and playing a position of massive need for us.
Nice work. Couple of questions for you or anyone who knows: What is Hyndman's health status? I thought he looked sharp last year. Even though it was against weak competition, he's an aggressive attacker and could be a problem for opponents who find their hands full with Dempsey, Pulisic, Altidore, Wood and Nagbe. What's Tillman's eligibility status? Didn't he recently represent Germany at a youth level? My gut tells me that Arena will pick up one to three players who, up till now, have not up to now represented the US men's team. The World Cup team will look significantly different than the Gold Cup finals team.
Hyndman returned to training in early July. From what I can tell he has not even appeared on bench in preseason yet so he might still be rehabbing. Tillman has represented Germany at multiple youth levels from U15 to U19. I am unsure if he would require a one time switch or not.
I'd like Tillman to switch to the USA, but I watched him play 3-4 months ago in a two-legged German youth semi-final, and he was the 3rd best American on the field. We don't need another Julian Green situation where we take a player who's clearly not ready to the WC because he's a dual-nat, so we can cap-tie him.
Well, put me in the show-me category. I won't be predicting breakthroughs, though there will surely be 1 or 2. GK = 3. HOWARD; Guzan, Horvath. Alt = Hamid. FB = 4. YEDLIN, FJ; Villafana, Zusi. Alt = Chandler or Lichaj. Mid = 8. BRADLEY, PULISIC, NAGBE, WILLIAMS; Bedoya, Jones, Arriola, Lletget. Alt: Acosta, Rowe, Zardes, McCarty. Fwd: ALTIDORE, WOOD; Dempsey, Morris.
I agree. But I'm not sure how much Bruce Arena does. In 2002, Cory Gibbs broke into the starting lineup on St. Pauli who were bottom of the BL at the time. He never even got a look. After the WC he was clearly capable of playing at the international level. Bruce obviously did a lot more right than wrong in 2002. But it would have been good to have Gibbs along.
I am all for using the final-ish roster spot to entice and cap-tie dual nationals. Just because Julian Green isn't all we have thought he might be doesn't invalidate the practice. If we do it five times and get one superstar out of it, that's all I want.
Alright, putting money where my mouth is GK: Howard, Guzan, Horvath D: Brooks, Gonzalez, Besler, Yedlin, Villafana D/M?: F Johnson, Cameron, Saief M: Nagbe, Pulisic, Bradley, Acosta, Zardes, Arriola, Bedoya F: Altidore, Wood, Dempsey( 1st Offensive Sub off bench), Morris (2nd Offensive sub off bench) We always have a player out of “No where”: Miazga or EPB *** Any Injury to Yedlin means Chandler makes team.