The striker that was promised had some horrible luck these last two years. His tree trunk legs and his pace plus his ability to scrap for 50-50s are things to look forward to. All he needs is more time playing in a system where the ball stays on the ground and hopefully one day he finds himself promoted. Don’t give up on Pepi yet either he is young.
So many teams use single-striker formations, there isn't as much room for a youngster to get minutes. In 433 and 4231, you've 1 striker position and 3 central midfield positions. Further compounding this is the financial investment typically made in the striker position. Vazquez wasn't going to get minutes over Josef at Atlanta.
Sargent and Pepi will be 26 and 23 in 2026 respectively. Both still young for strikers. So hopefully they take their careers to the next level. But I'd hope for someone with more sheer quality than both.
Most likely scenarios is that players like Sargent, Ferreira, and Pepi develop. Feel free to insert any young striker here; I'm not trying to exclude. None of them are anywhere near peak striker age. All of them have certain talents and I think all have more upside than people seem to think. Strikers need a lot of skills in terms of tactical feel, strength, composure, that simply take experience. Positions like winger are far more reliant on speed and ball skills, which can be developed earlier. I think there's a good chance 23 year old Ricardo Pepi or 26 year old Sargent or whomever is a vastly superior player to their current incarnation. Heck, some of these older strikers are not out of it, either. ------------- Second most likely scenario is play Weah and Pulisic (or similar) as speedy strikers and shift how we play. I'm not sure I expect that with Earnie around, though. And while Berhalter might be gone, there's no way Earnie goes unless he wants to.
What I wouldn’t give for a Memphis. Intelligent movement, physical strength, clinical finishing, looks like Lakieth Stanfield…the whole package.
Yeah, there are plenty of strikers that are good young, most of them seem to breakout at 23-24, and there's plenty of late bloomers. We don't need Robert Lewandowski. We can go pretty far with a McBride or a half step up.
A 14 year old will be 18 in 2026. There's not going to be a capable 18 year old striker for us. Even the 20-21 the U17 player ... that's Ricardo Pepi now. He's a MONSTER prospect, but 18-19 yo strikers don't play at the WC unless they are Kylian Mbappe. Our U20 team plays without a striker ... so that should tell you about the non-Pepi guys for 2026 in that age range. Our current young guys need to grow up -- Pepi, Sargent, Ferreira. I actually think Vazquez is a good shout -- I think he may struggle due to ball skills but there's something there.
He's not going to be a savior. He's a target striker. Very good in the air and strong. Holds the ball up well. Mobile enough. Can score some goals, but nothing you look at and say he's exceptionally talented. If it all goes well, he's a Pefok. I don't sense that Atletico rates him as a future first team player, which doesn't mean he won't become a USMNT caliber since our starting CF's aren't Atletico caliber, but it probably means he's not anyone to count on as the future of our CF position.
Pepi has all the physical quality you could ask for and he's having a tremendous season as a teenager in Holland. It's not remotely a stretch at all that he could be a Pulisic level #9 in four years.
We could've had--- -------------------Pulisic------Weah/Pefok----- --------------------------Aaronson----------- -----------------Musah---------------McKennie--- ---------------------------Adams----
Our best hopes are Sargent and Pepi. I thought Sargent clearly looked like our best of the 3 we brought to the World Cup (which I imagine most would agree with). I’d like to see Vazquez get a look and he probably will next year. And I hope Dike gets healthy and back into form. I don’t know if he’s the answer at striker, but I like the idea of bringing him at the end of games if we’re down a goal and things get more frantic.
Which I would love to see us try in the near future. I bang a lot on the "creativity" of MMA but no doubt they are truly very good (could become great) two way 8s. Adams is also obviously a fantastic 6. Having a 10 in front of that midfield could really take us to the next level if it works. Aaronson and Reyna are both perfect there.
As someone who follows the youth ranks fairly closely, Sargent and Pepi have been the best two by a mile. I agree with others that it is a later developing position and I think a guy like Dike who came from a more non-traditional path (and was in the same age group as Sargent and Akinola so didn't get much consideration) could still become something. He has a lot of the tools. I'll add that I think having two U23 forwards starting and scoring in decent Euro leagues is not the worst place to be and I don't agree with the Balogun or bust takes I am seeing. Add in guys like Dike and Vasquez who could still be something and will be about the right age for 2026 and Haji Wright and Pefok who should continue improving and we might just be alright. I certainly wouldn't count on someone who is an 05 or 06 saving the day come 2026.
Good lord. Who just saw that Messi goal? That's why there are only a couple of guys like that in the world.
would like to see him continue to develop but also get bigger and stronger …. Messi may be short but he is very powerful from the waist down ….
Balogun would join Pepi and Sargent as our top center forward candidates for 2026 if he joined the program. Ferreira, Dike, Vasquez, Pefok and Wright are all young enough to develop further. I think that just about exhausts the list of plausible candidate for the 9 spot in 2026. I would be surprised if someone else came out of nowhere. I do think we should explore playing without a nine, as we did when Reyna came for Ferreira.
First of all employ strategies and tactics where the forwards are set up and expected to score rather than just press all day. Cap Vazquez. Recruit Balogun in the near future. Hope a coach puts Weah at forward. Hope Wright and Sargent continue to improve. Hoping for a current u-17 player to be ready at forward in 4 years is a pipe dream. It's not as dire as you guys make it, unless you want Haaland or something.
Having a top quality 9 would be great. Also great would be a different tactical setup for when we don't have one. We act like there is no alternative but sticking a 9 at the tip of our attack but it's not.
I am still optimistic about Pepi’s future, and I think Sargent is okay, but I am not optimistic about much of the other guys except maybe Dike. I think it’s time to start looking at guys like Reyna and Weah in the false 9 role. We know the other options are not good enough right now, and have some time to experiment.
1- Halland wasn't developed by Norway so not sure why you think the US could,or would be able to do the same thing. 2- We didn't ask our striker to score because they weren't that good. It boggles my mind that some of you think Greg would have done the same lineup and tactics if we had a Halland or Kane.
Yup if you look at the 9s left among the elite teams in the knockout stage, there’s not a Haaland among them, Netherlands has Depay whose decent but hasn’t really played much at Barcelona this year. Brazil is starting Richarlison, who isn’t starting regularly for Tottenham and has 3 goals in the EPL this year. Spain is starting Asensio (who isn’t really a 9), France is starting a 36 year old Giroud (whose still decent for his age), Portugal is starting a washed Ronaldo who does no work and provides no movement, and Argentina has Alvarez who is the backup to Haaland at Man City (but a good prospect). England has Kane who is a very good 9, but that’s more the exception than the rule amongst the elite teams. Poland also has Lewandowski, but I consider them once of the worst teams remaining.