What's bull is thinking any player is really picked because of anything other than a coach's preference and what that coach values. All the talk about incumbency is just trying to justify the guys Berhalter called up and started as if there is some greater logic or methodology behind it. None of them were incumbents when Berhalter picked them, so he obviously didn't start out thinking you have to go with whoever played last game. We really do not have a set 11 right now and any coach could pick anyone they wanted. Berhalter could pick someone else at any spot he wants to and frankly is likely to. He sure didn't keep all the incumbents who were playing when he took over. Pretending this is some conspiracy of incumbency doesn't really hold up to the facts. Also, watch those incumbents disappear as guys like Adams and Brooks get healthy and guys like Reyna get called in. Over the next year or so a lot of these guys who apparently have locked down their positions due to incumbency bias or whatever will be seen as the stop gaps they truly are. A healthy US team over the last 18 months would have looked very different than what we have seen.
I think you can probably put together a list of like 10 players still in the pool who have been first choice for the USMNT for at least an additional year under managers prior to Gregg Berhalter, though most of them broke through under Dave Sarachan, and I can understand thinking it's not possible for players to have established any kind of incumbency advantage during the Sarachan era, given the amount of youth, experimentation, and uncertainty there. Here are the players who started the most under Dave Sarachan: Adams, Miazga, Trapp (8 starts each), McKennie (7 starts), and Steffen (who started by far more than any other keeper in that period). Add to that Pulisic who became a regular starter at least under Bruce Arena if not earlier; Brooks and Yedlin who became regular starters under Jurgen Klinsmann; and Bradley and Altidore who became regular starters under Bob Bradley. All of those players more or less held onto first choice status throughout those managerial spells, at least when available, up until Berhalter was hired. Seems to me that if you believe in such a thing as an incumbency advantage, then anyone from those lists who's still first choice right now (Steffen, Adams, Brooks, McKennie, Pulisic, and maybe Altidore and Yedlin) has some sort of incumbency advantage going for them that predates Berhalter's tenure. Guys like Long, Ream, and Morris who have only become regular, first choice starters under Berhalter -- less so.
oh, i have no doubt sarachan broke with continuity. but i see an arena-berhalter continuity in: Guzan Johnson Hamid Yedlin Ream Brooks Gonzo Bradley Arriola Pulisic Jozy Zardes several of these players are precisely the sort of entitled incumbents we get in arguments about. "why does he [get selected] [start]?" you seem to be suggesting that sarachan's experimentation excuses berhalter going back to the well. this does not hold any analytical water. Gold Cup final (L): USA: 1-Zack Steffen, 14-Reggie Cannon, 19-Matt Miazga, 23-Aaron Long, 13-Tim Ream (16-Daniel Lovitz, 83); 8-Weston McKennie (capt.), 4-Michael Bradley, 10-Christian Pulisic; 11-Jordan Morris (15-Cristian Roldan, 61), 17-Jozy Altidore (9-Gyasi Zardes, 64), 7-Paul Arriola US-Canada first game (L): 1-Zack Steffen; 2-DeAndre Yedlin (16-Nick Lima, 73), 23-Aaron Long, 13-Tim Ream (capt.), 5-Daniel Lovitz; 15-Cristian Roldan (9-Gyasi Zardes, 73), 4-Michael Bradley, 8-Weston McKennie; 11-Jordan Morris, 19-Josh Sargent, 10-Christian Pulisic (7-Paul Arriola, 60) vs US 1, Mexico 0 2018 Steffen Moore CCV Miazga Lichaj Weah McKennie Trapp Adams Acosta Zardes the clear difference is setting aside 2018 like it never happened - which is how GB does it, how he's handled Sargent and Weah and others -- GB went back to the incumbents from the Russia cycle. he then hmmmmmmmmmmm started getting russia cycle results. you now have guzan who was in net for many of the 2018 cycle horrorshows back in as the 2 or injury 1. whether you want to call it "experience" or "continuity" or "incumbency" bias, we like to go back to the well. we treat experienced players as somehow superior to alternatives. you only disappear if you retire or fall apart. it doesn't matter if a group of kids could come in, weather mexico for a half, and get a demonstrably superior result, it's back to the well. you can count how many 2018 people are in the GB lineups or on his bench. you can also admit that a supplemental set of people became His People as of January 2019, regulars like Lovitz and Roldan who are in the call sheets in pen regardless if they have ever had a decent game in the shirt. so in either sense -- the sense of carryover from russia cycle, or the sense of locking in his initial favorites -- yes, incumbency bias. sargent could have 2 goals and weah 1 from their rookie NT year and they get treated like llanez. his people have racked up 10-15 caps. the new prospects are lucky to get a few. if you want to quibble about whether a year of more interesting caretaker selections should be treated as somehow interrupting their status, you actually prove my point. you have to acknowledge that year had some of the more interesting results this cycle, eg Mexico and France. and you also have to acknowledge that in terms of the conservative bias i am pointing out, soon as GB was in, revert to 2018 names. bradley comes back. guzan comes back. sargent gone. Horvath gone. Weah gone. there has been limited openness, but usually at positions like LB which are a nightmare.
i mean, you name a personnel debate and it's usually either 2018 pushbutton holdovers Bradley Zardes Guzan Ream Yedlin Brooks Jozy or people who inexplicably got a job early 2019 Roldan Lovitz
What in the world? No, I'm simply pushing back a little against the notion that most of Berhalter's starters have only emerged during his time in charge (and it sounds like you agree with me on that). I'm saying instead that we have a decent number of players who have been first choice for the US for more than two years now if you count the Sarachan era. For instance, let's take Paul Tenorio's prediction of Berhalter's Best XI right now after speaking with him: Steffen; Cannon, Long, Brooks, Dest; Yueill, Adams, McKennie: Pulisic, Reyna, Altidore If you count the players who started most often in a given position during the Sarachan era, then that lineup has 6 players who have been first choice for us for more than two years now (Steffen, Brooks, Adams, McKennie, Pulisic, Altidore). And if you count the backups at those positions, like Guzan, Yedlin, and Bradley, then yes the pool of incumbents is even larger.
Artur will reportedly become eligible for citizenship in 2022, when he is 26 years old. REPORT: @ColumbusCrewSC central midfielder Artur says that he wants to play for the United States national team. Although he was born in Brazil, he has lived in Columbus for nearly 4 years while recording 91 appearances with the Crew. #Crew96 pic.twitter.com/fBj9300T60— Christian Pereira ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@CrewSoccer96) July 22, 2020
He's not Trapp, but for a DMid, he's much more a solid positioning guy with a quality skill set than the destroyer that the majority of USMNT fans desire. He's not a cover massive ground and own the midfield type.
So he is not really a 6? Because my 6 plays defense first. Sounds like one of those guys that I'm not going to be anxiously waiting for him to get his citizenship. So I'm here in South Florida, trying to follow Inter Miami, and I conclusively say, that I think Trapp is even worse than I thought he was for the US.
He's a 6. He's just not a rangy, destroyer type. He's not poor defensively for MLS, but he's not a defense first, standout MLS defender. Which I think means most people will be unexcited about him defensively.
So...I watched Artur tonight specifically. I think he’s pretty good. I’m not sure Nagbe is the better midfielder.
Big blow to the national team. #UPDATE The United States will slash its military presence in Germany by 11,900 troops, relocating some to Italy and Belgium in a major shift of Washington's NATO assets, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Wednesday pic.twitter.com/HJ2P1Wch3o— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 29, 2020
USMNT dual national prospects that you might not know, but should. Part 1 of the list 👇👇👇 #USMNT #OneGoal @drockIee27 https://t.co/33TmJL0rJ9— OneGoal (@OneGoalUS) August 2, 2020
Perhaps an interesting rule change.................... For dual nationals who get themselves captied as youngsters and are then stuck without a path forward, they can perhaps have an avenue to switch. FIFA is working on a rule that would let players switch eligibility if they played a max of 3 times for the first national team before they turned 21, and at least three years earlier.The new rule will take effect next month if approved. https://t.co/99j42Nzz1t— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) August 19, 2020
A dual-national name to keep an eye on. The last remaining yank in the UEFA Youth Champions League. CB Bryan Okoh of Salzburg. He's represented Switzerland at the U15 and U16 levels. Swiss-American and Houston native Bryan Okoh played all 90 minutes and scored the opener as RB Salzburg U19s progressed to the UEFA Youth League semifinals.They'll play either Real Madrid U19s or Inter Milan U19s on Saturday. https://t.co/nSF5Ps57Kz— Yanks Abroad (@usmnt_abroad) August 19, 2020
I approve of the rule-change. The old way led to a lot of shenanigans & false promises to cap-tie. Also must alter youth teams cap-tying players just because they didn't have citizenship before that point. That's even less of a commitment from nat'l teams & circumstantial for the player. Then they get it in early 20's or even before 18 staying in the different country but they're already screwed. Gonzalez would be foolish to not keep his options open. A call-up by Mexico would be fraudulent. He's been demoted to the bench w/ Monterrey. He needs to reinvent his career in MLS or elsewhere first to warrant genuine opportunities w/ Mexico & probably the US. He would still be a welcome addition. Our options for the 6&8 in the pool & style Gregg likes to play our limited.
Gonzalez has 3 caps for Mexico according to Wiki so maybe he can come back in with this change. It is unclear whether he'd be eligible since he already used his "1 time switch." I'd take him over Yuiell as Berhalter's DLP though not sure what the hell has happened to his PT with Monterrey.
I think it actually won't effect the USMNT all that much right now in 2020. Maybe in the future. The US doesn't tend to give less than 3 caps to many players of consequence. My mind immediately went to a player like Teal Bunbury, who we recruited away from Canada. Well, he has more than 3 caps. Perhaps this actually effects the African teams most of all. There are lots of young players of African descent that end up playing for Euro nations one or two times as youngsters. Then they're locked in. I saw Munir El Haddadi named as an example in the youth forum. Former hotshot prospect at Barcelona that got one cap with Spain. That cap was an injury replacement in a European Championships qualifier. So he was captied forever to Spain. After falling out of the Spain picture since, he has requested a switch to Morocco. That's been denied by FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. So I see THAT as the type of player that we should find an avenue for. I don't know if he's eligible in this case. But folks can probably think of a lot of players of African or Caribbean descent in the France, Holland, etc. pools that have gotten 1-3 caps. I don't know if "predatory capping" is the right word. Because in most cases, like that of Haddadi, they are highly touted prospects. Sometimes they develop to regular internationals, and sometimes they don't. What's an American example? I don't know if he's eligible for the switch.........................but Gedion Zelalem. Currently cap-tied to the United States after switching from Germany. Due to his terrible injury (suffered at a USYNT competition), he's completely fallen out of the USMNT picture. Why shouldn't he be able to switch to Ethiopia?