ur underrating aaronson I will also add this if reyna is as good as most think he is and he is a natural right sided winger(as he has almost exclusively played at dortmund (while with youth team too)....having the name jordan morris written in that slot can't possibly scare you away from that position to the point that you need to change positions. Fact is if he hasn't passed morris in two years its probably a bad sign. Also being the third winger when the top two are morris/pulisic isn't a terrible place to be. Both have very clear injury issues to the point where you can say pretty certainly both won't be healthy atleast a few times once qualifiers start. Heck pulisic is hurt now and probably shouldn't play in the next international window. It would be a bummer to have qualifiers start and have one or both hurt and then be like oh shoot we don't have a third one of those I guess we'll go with chris mueller lol.
I think most folks forget Tyler Boyd, who played ~25 games for Besiktas this season. Out of sight, out of mind. I think he's probably much higher up on Gregg's right wing depth chart than people realize, and certainly is a possibility for 2022.
Perhaps. I'm definitely not his biggest fan on this board. Reyna plays the right "winger" in Favre's Christmas tree formation, but the vast majority of the time, he comes in and plays centrally ... he evens rolls to the left-center a ton. He can absolutely play winger -- he did a lot with his youth teams. But right now, he's playing much more of a CAM in terms of real heat map, etc. Berhalter has also hinted at using him similarly -- as a winger that comes inside a lot. That's different than how Morris plays. If Reyna does come inside, I suspect that the actual CMs will play a more defensive role as the space would be very crowded and the team really far on the front foot. Sure. This is a Starting XI thread, so I was really just looking to who is going to start. Winger will be interesting. Pulisic, Reyna, Morris, Arriola, Weah, Boyd, Llanez, Aaronson, Pomykal could all probably play there in different ways.
Reyna may be a right-winger on paper but he doesn't play like one. He comes inside every chance he gets.
I agree. All three had very good seasons. All three should probably look to make a more permanent move. But, except for one coaching change that one time for Miazga, they have all quickly become starters at every loan destination.
The old, coaching change brings a fresh chance trick. Besiktas were not their usual quality, but Boyd was a big part of things at the end when they were playing better. Boyd seems streaky, but I've only been following him for 13 months or so. So, maybe it isn't streakiness, just a bad run of form under a bad manager. The more the merrier.
there is a lot of...hinted...I suspect...in that lol. which is code for 'he didnt say it but if he had and I was the coach what I would do'...which is different then what someone who is actually the coach will do.
We'll see. He is an actual "honest-to-goodness" right winger that's in his prime and playing for Besiktas. He could go the way of Kenny Saief, or in two years be a USMNT contributor. That's the thing with these prediction threads. There's no right or wrong answer. I'd be happy to suggest that right wing is a position that's "open for business." There's a spot there for a young player to grab ahold of...........whether its Weah, Ledezma, Aaronson, whomever. I prefer a lot of pace, though, as we don't have a lot of it in the lineups I'm seeing. Morris is a problem from a pace point of view. I think for WCQers we'll probably see Morris there until somebody else grabs the spot. I think some folks underappreciate how good Morris is when he's fully healthy.
Pretty much my roster with the exception of the other CB spot next to Brooks could be any number of guys and I'd probably lean towards Miazga as of right now. I think he's the best distributor of the RCB options and he has paired well with Brooks in the past. Between Miazga and Richards, Miles Robinson, Zimmerman, Long, EPB, CCV, surely one of those guys will start to separate in the next 18 months. It would be nice if EPB and Miazga found a permanent home with a decent level of competition. I think that front four (assuming Reyna is more of an attacking center mid) is probably the most talented attacking group we've ever put on the field together. The 2009 Confederations Cup group may still have the edge due to their collective experience at the time but talent wise, I think it's this group. I also think having a guy like Feilhaber to use in that tournament was a nice card to be able to play. I'm hoping Ledezma can be that guy for us in 2022. We need a mid that can do something unexpected to break down a bunker. Bottom line, this team could/should play a different and more exciting brand of soccer than we've seen from the USMNT.
Reading through The Athletic article and the press conference he did, it seems to be the general consensus is that Reyna is starting out on the wing for Berhalter. Nothing concrete, but there. In addition, it seems to be that Adams and McKennie will start as the "8s" -- Berhalter has all but said as much -- with a more defensive emphasis. Add in that Berhalter has tried to bring the RW inside more and it's not a stretch. But yes, a lot of inference. Not just by me but by reporters.
If we take Besiktas out of it ... have you seen anything from Boyd that makes him out to be more than a speedy, open field winger that seems more than capable versus inferior opponents but couldn't do anything at all versus better? In a US shirt, he disappeared against anyone reasonably good, and he seems to lack any real versatility. Perhaps he was on a down run or has improved in the last 9 months or so. I'm just not overly sanguine on Boyd's prospects relative to Morris (outplayed him all year), Weah (clear upside and outplayed him in a US shirt, IMO), Reyna and others.
Speedy open field winger that seems more than capable versus inferior opponents..........................is exactly what we need in CONCACAF for WCQers. Until other players win the spot, he'll probably continue being part of the group. TIm Weah doesn't play. I mean...........folks do understand that Weah has played about 25 games as first team professional. How many has he actually started? Very few other than some games against dreadful Scottish competition. [In my viewing, I can say that's lower than MLS level.] He's still a pretty unknown commodity. There's a reason that Lille just broke the bank for Jonathan David. What is Jonathan David? A forward/winger just like Weah. That should have bolted folks upright with concern. But anyway, I digress....................
Doesn't worry me. Lille is a highly competitive club and will be bringing in and selling players for big fees every year. They just had a club record transfer fee paid to them for a forward so getting David is just a replacement for him. Basically, if Weah can't cut it at Lille, he's not the player I thought he was. I think out of all of our young players who aren't Pulisic, he is the one I think has the best chance of having a Pulisic-level impact for a legit Champion's League club. The talent is there. He's an athlete and a soccer player which is something the US has always lacked. Injuries are a real concern but a Weah who stay healthy for the next two years would be a massive boost for the USMNT in my opinion.
I think Adams has a good chance to be that next year as well. He's another youngster that has to get back to health so that he can consistently produce. I almost never agree with Alexi Lalas. However, I always remember him saying that staying healthy and available for selection is a skill. By the way, in that same vein US U20 fullback Stuart Richie reportedly tore his ACL at Hannover this past week. The more things change........................
Agreed. Adams and Dest are also solid choices based on ability and opportunity. I'm a big believer in Adams. My broader point was that I feel like people are down on Weah and to a lesser extent, Sargent. I don't think that's correct for either of them. Just last summer, Weah was our best player at the U20 World Cup when everyone knew he was our best player going in. Meeting expectations at that level as a young man is not an easy thing to do. Similarly, Sargent was one of our better players at the last U20 World Cup when he was still U17 eligible. I would have liked him to have a better season at Werder Bremen but at the end of the day, 4 goals, 6 assists, and 1500+ minutes against grown men in a top 5 league is not something we've had many players accomplish at his age and position, basically only him and Jozy. Weah seemed on track to be a key player for Lille and had a successful stint at Celtic which is no small feat either. I think it's important both of them have a good year next year or I will start to worry but as of right now, I think Weah and Sargent are keys to our WC 2022 success.
I really don't see Weah and David as similar players at all. David's not a wide player -- Canada has played him out there but that's to force more strikers on the field. Weah I see as a winger across the board. Plus, Lille sold their star striker and bought a prospective one -- they actually went up in potentially attacking minutes up for grabs. I've seen Tim Weah play for the national team. Perhaps the injuries leave a permanent loss, but if not, I don't understand how people could have seen Tim Weah play and Tyler Boyd play against anyone not named Guyana and think Weah is the odd man out. I was very excited about Boyd, but I've yet to see him do anything offensively against even mediocre opposition. He's a better option than Corey Baird, sure, and I'm not eliminating him from the pool, but the winger pool is about to get very good is all.
I don't see Reyna as a lock starter. He plays our most talented position and needs to be a lot more aggressive and not just show he can hold the ball at a high level before I put him in an 11. In 2 years, he could still be in growing pains phase. Adams is a hard one to judge. His play slumped some, but he was injured, so hopefully he'll bounce back. Not really suited for Gregg's Regista spot, or he would play there already. A McKennie-Adams CM partnership probably doesn't have the final ball creativity I'm looking for (so I am anticipating an Aaronson transfer to BL level. But Reyna or Weah or Ledezma could be that player, also.) So it would be McK vs. Adams. I would go with McK, as of the moment. Not opposed to Sargent overtaking Zardes - just don't think that's happened quite yet and not sure if it will by then. Not sure if he's a lock starter on a bad German team right now. It's a question of when, though, unless someone like Akinola zooms by. Don't have any idea what to make of Chris Richards. Is his future as bright at Bayern as the papers say? Or does he get transferred to Grasshoppers later this year. We'll see.
I think that is the plan at the moment. The front 3-2-2-3 when we have the ball will look like: Robinson----------------Sargent-----------------Dest ----------------Pulisic-------------------Reyna---------- ---------------Adams------------------McKennie------- ------Brooks-------------Yueill-------------Miazga----- -------------------------------Steffan----------------------- But, I think in 2022, we won't play that ball dominant. But that is the shape in November most likely.
I think a bunch of those kids have more to prove. Folks on these boards always hand over crucial USMNT roles to kids that really haven't done anything yet. We all understand why. We're desperately searching for the prospects to take us to the promised land. Josh Sargent? Scored only a handful of goals for one of the worst teams in the Bundesliga this season. He's a starter for the USMNT because we don't have anybody else, not because he's all that accomplished. Weah has to stay healthy and produce. The only time he's done so in club football is as a "super sub" for Celtic against really bad opposition. That doesn't mean any more to me than what any number of MLS players do on a weekly basis. That doesn't mean I'm "down on" Tim Weah, it just means I need to now see more. I need to see him perform in Ligue 1. If he does so, of course I want to include him with the USMNT. Gio Reyna? Its great that he's made his debut in the Bundesliga. But his last start went really badly. REALLY badly. I know folks have handed over the keys to Gio Reyna, but he has a lot more to prove. Chris Richards? The highest level he's ever played at is the German 3rd division. Not as good as MLS. Do Chris Richards' performances to date do more for me than those of say................Mark McKenzie? No they do not. He has to actually go DO SOMETHING at a higher level. Richie Ledezma, Alex Mendez, Chris Gloster, etc. are all playing in the Dutch 2nd division. Does that mean more to me than Brenden Aaronson or Paxton Pomykal in MLS? No it doesn't. I need to see them perform at the Eredevisie level. What I've learned in my long time as a fan is that resumes mean nothing. I don't care that you have PSV next to your name. If you're not playing for the first team, then you're not playing for PSV. Saying all that......................this is a prediction thread for 2 years from now. There are no right or wrong answers. What I do know is that there's a hell of a lot of movement in a player pool over 2 years. And actual performance matters; not predicted performance that may or may not ever happen. Why is Gyasi Zardes in the USMNT? Because the guy scores. He scores in MLS and he scores for the USMNT. We all know his faults. They're not worth re-hashing here. One can predict that Sebastian Soto replaces him all they want. Sebastian Soto has done squadoosh in his career. He could be the next Josh Sargent, or he could be the next European-based prospect that completely disappears. We don't know.
We are getting to know Gregg and there are several spots on the field that are showing two different profiles. As for winger, "run in behind" is a type of winger Gregg talks about as in the plans. That fits Boyd and Morris. The other is the winger that tucks in, becomes the 8/10 and lets the fullback overlap. That fits Pulisic and Reyna. Arriola and Weah are coming off serious injuries. Arriola is a run in behind type with more defense than any of the others. I don't know if the defense is a difference maker without having to defend the large amount of space around Bradley/Trapp. Weah is interesting because he can do both jobs. He can run in behind and tuck in. Assuming he plays again. But on the right, Dest can come into the half space and you can leave the winger out there and do what Morris has done in the Fall. Boyd was second choice then. But it is possible that Morris is not that good on the right and Boyd is better. Things for Gregg to figure out. But most of our wingers are better inverted on the left, which leaves an opportunity for Boyd.
I suspect that we'll install Pulisic on the left wing and build the entire rest of the squad around that. I remember when Bruce Arena said Landon Donovan was our best forward, our best winger, our best attacking midfielder, and he'd probably be our best fullback if we put him there. [He said this before Dempsey emerged.] He was probably right. So his job was to put Donovan in the position where he could have the most impact, and build around that. For the moment, that's what we're likely to do with Pulisic. He's HEAD and SHOULDERS better than anybody in this team. Right now in 2020 anyway. So the identity of our forwards, right winger, midfielders, etc. have everything to do with how they fit around Pulisic. That doesn't mean we put all of our eggs in that basket (because Pulisic seems injury prone at the moment), but we put a lot of our eggs in that basket. Pulisic is the straw that stirs the drink. Without him this is a pretty unaccomplished group of attacking players. Its more questions than answers. A big project for Gregg once we start again is to nail down how Reyna and Pulisic are on the field at the same time. Because I'm not yet convinced we know the answer. I'm not convinced Dortmund knows 100% where to play him yet...........................
No, but I don't think he exists yet. Gasper has some nice moments in various MLS games but rarely dominates them. Gloster is barely in the PSV first team, if he is at all. Danny Acosta is probably texting with girls. A couple of other guys are always hurt. We don't even have any left footed CBs under 30 that can play there. Kellyn Acosta is not an option. The best conservative LB option is probably telling Robinson to play conservative.
It's Ream. For all the hate, he's played decently well. But that's the placeholder. I'm desperately hoping for Robinson to be very good and stay healthy. Our other options are Dest-as-LB and Tim Ream. You can call it over-engineering and wrong, but it's pretty clear to me that we've been playing a wildly defensive LB primary because we have no good options. Hide your position of weakness and ask as little of them as possible.