I’d say that its much less a "what have you done for me lately" business and much more of a “what (fantasy) could you do for me lately that this other guy who has shattered my previous fantasies of what he could do for me lately could not do”
1 agree 2 i think he visibly wore down as the tournament went on. in the team for the first time, first start in the second match, then after zim went down it was clear he was going to have to play every minute from there on- it was a lot to throw on him. i think theres some validity to of being suited to a 3 man backline rather than 2. last night he was holding on for dear life, no doubt. i think he could have a place in the team, but i think its pretty specific- as a fifth cb/cdm. 3 agree
Because Championsip level FB who is a suspect defensively isn't a lock starter and should be replaced ASAP.
I learned how seamlessly some posters can transition from being bashers/haters of the manager, certain players and the team's prospects in general, to writing as if they were expecting the success the whole time (or to looking forward optimistically with nary an acknowledgement of their previous mis-diagnoses - props to those who've owned up). There is some serious ideological and polemic dexterity on display here.
you could be right, we may not see him much. then again- hes the only one other than pulisic whos been through qualifying. he doesnt seem completely fit (he certainly wasnt for much of this cup run). he brings things other guys dont- and a lot of these guys people presume are ahead of him are pretty ridiculous and/or unrealistic at this time. we have guys who have played a handful of minutes (at best) in first teams (ledezma*, konrad), weve got promising kids in mls (cowell, possibly clark*)- but i dont think arriolas position, his likelihood of making a roster/possibly playing has changed at all. you can say there are 9 better than him but thats a) an exaggeration, b) premature and c) irrelevant. until morris is back and pending where we use hoppe beyond this janky roster hes no lower than 5th. what we think and what gregg does are two separate things. and gregg just spent a month playing him ahead of gioacchini and roldan, didnt even bring mueller in. if you think hes going to go with one of those other options hes never had in camp, well...good luck with that. *its possible berhalter will play an actual attacker in the middle someday, but until that happens im assuming these guys will be pushed outside
The biggest thing I've learned from this successful Gold Cup is that it's going to be brutally difficult to pick a 23 player squad for qualifying. I assume Berhalter will go for something like 30 in September, with a few extra MLS guys even beyond that on standby. A lot of us discussed this previously - but without attrition due to injury or poor form, it's tough to see how the second tier European crew who didn't play this summer - de la Torre, Green, CCV, de la Fuente, etc. - jumping immediately into World Cup qualifying contention. None of the Nations League or Gold Cup players really eliminated themselves from contention, except for maybe Yueill (but I think he'll stick around as a squad player).
I had my criticisms with Berhalter, Ill own up to them, Im happy to be wrong. It was mostly related to his call ups and wasting minutes on people of questionable talent when I felt we had better, but, you get those results, and they are convincing, and its hard to counterpoint. Regardless of wasting minutes on guys like Lewis, Yueill, Trapp, whoever, the wheat separated itself from the chaff no matter what I wont be griping over names on the roster I think are questionable unless Lewis makes the 23. I hardly think I was ever on the point of crucifying him, though, like Klinsmann. I am absolutely thrilled with the mental toughness that Greg has brought back to this team. I've always felt it was a good trait to admit when you're wrong. That's viewed as "flip-flopping" now.
Gold Cup review of player pool.... I’ll use a key of + 5 / - 5 to signify how much a player’s stock rose or fell. Matt Turner + 5 Turner put in a legendary performance all tournament long, and I think it’s a shame he didn’t win the player of the tournament award. Personally, I don’t see how he hasn’t earn the #1 spot after this. Steffen is a good goalkeeper. But is he that good? I don’t think so. Turner needs to start looking for jobs in Europe because you can’t convince me that he can’t start in the EPL playing like that. Miles Robinson + 5 Let me start by saying, I was not high on Miles at the start of this tournament. And I think he started slow. But he kept getting better and better. By the time he played Mexico, I thought I saw the second coming of Eddie Pope out there. Miles Robinson should be feeling mighty confident that the spot next to Brooks is his position to lose... even if Richards breaks out. Kelyn Acosta + 5 Despite a bad PK giveaway against Martinique, Acosta had a good tournament. Then, he played Mexico. Jesus. Acosta is the Mexecutioner. Very Jermaine Jones in his prime level performance. If you want to go to Europe... that’s how you go to Europe. Shaq Moore + 5 I think he ran out of gas by the end of the tournament but damn... He came from out of nowhere to all of a sudden making a case for the national team. Clubs should take notice. And if he can build off this performance... he might be a surprise inclusion even if right back is our deepest position. All heart! Matthew Hoppe + 4 It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see him at CF but he stood out where we needed him to play. Hoppe has heart and attitude and I liked that part of his game that I did not see so much with Schalke even. Let’s all hope he finds the right club situation. Sam Vines + 3 Even if Bello gets the praise for what he did against Mexico... let’s not forget that Vines also played in that game and shut down Tectatito for 60 minutes as well. Plus, Vines was a consistent and reliable starter all tournament. Maybe or maybe not can he hold his own against France, England, or Belgium, but he can hold his own in CONCACAF. Gyasi Zardes + 3 I won’t say that Gyasi is my starting CF, but I will say that I came away very impressed with Zardes and I realize that he will be useful in qualifying. Truly, it’s his leadership presence and his willingness to outwork everyone on the field that makes him valuable. In a sense, he makes everyone else look better. And I like that. George Bello + 3 I thought Bello was going to have to go back into the incubator after this tournament. But when you shut down Tectatito and still offer some offense... you move up the charts. Clubs should come calling for him. The potential is there. Cristian Roldan + 2 I was not a Roldan fan going into this tournament. Let me say, he changed my mind. Now, I won’t get carried away with that. He’s not in my 23 and certainly not in my best XI, but he might be a reliable contributor during WCQ. Eryk Williamson + 2 Up until the second half of the Mexico game, I was about to say, “alright, pass.” But damn. A fire got lit under his ass and I said to myself, okay, here’s a player. One thing he did is made it really hard for De la Torre to receive another call up. Williamson seems to have the same vision, touch, and passing, but he’s a lot stronger than De la Torre. Plus, he just spent a month with Berhalter. And that’s going to give him an edge. Niko Gioacchini + 2 He gets that extra point because he was a game changing substitution. Even though he needs to sort out his club situation... Berhalter should remember that if he needs a player who can add that spark off the bench, Gioacchini can be that guy. Gianluca Busio + 1 He had pluses and minuses but for his age, I think you give him a passing grade. He’s definitely not one that we have to have right now, but we should be optimistic about his future. James Sands + 1 He had rough moments for a young player, but if you didn’t see the potential, you weren’t watching. Fans will probably wish we could have seen him at the 6 but Acosta had that locked down and we were desperate for a reliable center back. Walker Zimmerman + 1 It’s a damn shame about his injury or this number would be higher. One thing is that his injury coincided with Miles stock skyrocketing. Sebastian Lletget 0 it was a Lletget level performance. Like Arriola, he provided a lot of leadership and anyone who thinks we won’t see again is kidding themselves. But I think he’s removed himself from the lock list. Paul Arriola 0 it was an Arriola level performance. A lot of heart and hustle without the final product. Still, you don’t captain the champion side and get dropped forever from the team. Expect to see him again. Reggie Cannon - 1 didn’t cement himself like he would have wanted Daryl Dike - 1 injury hurt him but expect him to bounce back Donovan Pines - 1 December/January call up will be his best bet to receive another call up Jonathan Lewis - 4 don’t expect to see again Jackson Yuiell - 4 he’s about to go on a long hiatus from the national team. He seems to be going through some mental challenges. Hopefully he pulls out of it for his sake. But it’s probably a hill to high for him to climb to be back this cycle Henry Kessler - NR Sean Johnson - NR Brad Guzan - NR
The only way I see Yueill making an impact on this team is if he develops that attitude he showed glimpses of during the Olympic qualifiers and learns to develop a tenacious defensive mentality. Plus, he has to improve his passing. Casually passing the ball 5 yards in front of a player may be something you can just wipe away in MLS, but it can kill you in international play. But I won’t say he can’t do it because those are all things I thought Acosta struggled with and has improved.
It really will be difficult to determine which 30 (or 40 or?) players to call in to each camp. One of my main questions is how will he treat those players that obviously have a future but Berhalter did not seem to feel were quite ready. I'm thinking of guys like Cowell, Pepi, Clark and others (add in several in Europe...Richards, Cappis,....). Does he have a camp with 30-35 guys and call in a few that he has no intention of putting in the 23-30 as a way to integrate them into the team. If you assume that the best 16ish (11+5subs) or so from this tourney will likely be called in, that makes 32ish players (several from this tourney are already in first 23, minus Yueill- Guzan...23+11+5-7=32).
In this case, I think some of those in that category would eyeing 2022, not 2026. We need help up top. We have some potential already...Dike, Sargent, Hoppe. One or all could be the answer but guys like Cowell and Pepi could end up playing a key role as well...or not. Either way, I can see Berhalter integrating guys like that with a timeline aiming at late winter/early spring for a debut. Perhaps even earlier. Any player that is in the team by spring would then have a legitimate chance to make the roster. For any very young player (virtually our entire roster), 6-8 months is along time and huge improvements can occur. for guys like that, I think his primary goal wouldn't be to get them a debut as early as possible but to integrate them into the team adn to make a determination of whether or not they fit into his plans by the end of this year. If they do, then the next step is to actually begin playing them and verifying that they really will be ready by the time the wc comes around.
Hoppe needs time with the A squad. I would really like to see what he could do when paired with talented, dynamic attackers. I saw his frustration with the vanilla approach of his attacking teammates. It led to some mistakes but, overall, his9vement and quick attacking nature is something we do not have a lot of in our pool.
Hoppe is one that I can see being a much better player in 6 months to a year's time. IMO, he is the definition of raw with huge upside. I thnk if he can fine tune a few rough edges he can be phenomenal. One more year, hopefully in B1 will do wonders. Even in B2, I think he will grow immensely, but he needs to be on a team with an offense that is more sophisticated than just "get it to Hoppe". I didn't watch him at Shalke, but considering they were one of the very worst teams in B1, i suspect that, at times, that would have been a decent description and at times, that is how he seemed to play with us. Someone made the comment about the game that he became more selfish as he tired in the game. I disagree. I think many of those situations where he shot (but should hve passed) were simply a reflection of his natural "striker selfishness" that needs a little bit of refinement. All the top strikers have it but there is also a time for the pass to an open teammate. There were also times where he was a little ragged in his passing and or decision making but they are all little things that can be improved.
maybe a slight exaggeration, but he’s definitely behind: 1. Pulisic 2. Reyna 3. Aaronson 4. Weah 5. Hoppe (only played wing this tournament) 6. Morris 7. Musah And likely behind: 8. Konrad (if he is getting playing time in Ligue 1, which seems likely) so maybe Arriola is in the mix at 9th best winger for now, albeit with some younger MLS guys fast on his heels.
The bar must be set very, very low if "putting yourself in a good position" but missing all of your easy chances qualifies you as a very good CONCACAF player
All fair enough, but none of this could possibly qualify him as a "very good CONCACAF player". I mean, come on...
One of the things we all should have learned from the Gold Cup is that consistent, team coordinated defensive pressure can absolutely disrupt the offense of any team in CONCACAF. That aggressive contesting of the ball and winning those duels overcomes a decent amount of talent and skill disparity. From reading some of these posts, I'm not sure that lesson has sunk in quite as well as you'd think.
Yes, I don't think that Sargent or Steffen are lock starters either. CP, Gio, Wes, Adams, Dest, Brooks are locks when healthy. And hopefully even Brooks will become replaceable by the WC.
THIS!!! [Hallalujah, since my biggest worry for WCQ was not enough depth for the number of games in a short span of time]
I think your point about Team Chemistry is so valid. Think about what that says that even Bruce couldn't save us. Bruce has had a history of taking over teams, and solidifying the base and producing results. From DC United, to the USMNT, to LA Galaxy (crazy how many forget the shambles LA was in, with Donovan and Beckham and not a threat at all), now NE Revs. Think about how bad team chemistry for the USMNT that not even Bruce could save it. Saw an article that Jurgen preferred a "tense" atmosphere because he thought keeping everyone on their toes produces results. Contrast that with Gregg who has gone out of his way to produce. Welcoming atmosphere. It shows by the locker room mentality of the players, how well they consider themselves a family while in camp.