I wavered on that decision, and tomorrow I might pick Konrad over Arriola for that reason. For the record, I personally rate Konrad over Arriola. But let me tell you why... At the end of the day, Arriola captained the Gold Cup championship team. He must have some sway, even if it’s a locker room charm, which helps this team. In short, this is a “personality selection” meant to help bridge the Gold Cup and Nations League team into one team. Meanwhile, I firmly would plan to call up Konrad for the next round of qualifiers. And part of the benefit of leaving Konrad off this roster is to continue to let him build up steam at OM. Now, if I absolutely needed Konrad would I still call him in? Absolutely. I’m over this, we don’t want to upset the clubs nonsense. We’re trying to build a winning team too. But I think when we play the long game here... and we see that the main priority of the next camp is the successful integration of the NL and GC, at the moment, I see Arriola’s inclusion as important, and I can wait until the next round for Konrad. That said, one thing I like about this new Berhalter is that he’ll mix it up sooner than we might think. For example, did any of us expect George Bello to get the start against Mexico? I sure as hell didn’t. That could have back fired in Berhalter’s face, and we would have said, why did you change up a winning formula, you idiot. But Berhalter took the risk and integrated the younger player. So, to your point, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Berhalter drop Arriola for Konrad. Simultaneously, I get the logic that it’s more important to blend these teams than integrate Konrad immediately into this team and it can’t wait another month.
fyi davies starts for bayern...pulisic is likely to be a backup and may not play a meaningful game from the nations league final until wcq I wish I was joking but I am serious.
To me Pulisic should start even if he is on the bench in MLS. He has attributes no one else can provide for the team.
Makes sense -- I just would like to avoid "leadership call-ups" for players who; frankly, are nowhere near the level necessary to be on the A national side. Calling in an aging player who is no longer at the level but once was elite to be a leader in the side is way different than calling up someone like Arriola.
It makes sense... But I think it has to be a gradual stepping down. Maybe that’s an overly precautious take on my end. But that’s how I would play it. Again, let me emphasize, this isn’t like me selecting Weston McKennie. I might completely change my mind tomorrow on this selection. But when I think of the main goal, besides the 9 points... we need to now bring together these two championship teams. I don’t know what kind of message it sends when we don’t include the captain from the championship team, at least for the first round of call ups. Just my .02 but that’s my logic. Besides, Arriola wasn’t great. But he didn’t embarrass himself either (minus a couple goals he should have had but players miss goals all the time too). Meanwhile, I believe that Yuiell and Lewis showed that they weren’t up for this level... even against the lower tier competition. And for that reason, they’re dropped for a good long while.
-----------------------------Jordan/Zardes-- ----------Pulisic/KDLF-------------------------------BA/Weah------ ---------------McKennie/Musah----Reyna/Lletget------ -----------------------------Adams/Acosta------- ---Jedi/Vines---------------------------------------------Dest/Cannon---- -----------Brooks/McKenzie----Robinson/Zimmerman---- -------------------------Turner/Horvath/Steffen---- Plus seven: Sargent, Pepi, Hoppe, Richards, Torre, Pomykal, Guzan
Let me add that I know there are a lot of posters on here who are not high on Konrad. For the record, that’s not me. I’ve consistently regarded Konrad as an elite prospect and I’m thrilled to see him make that next leap. I want him in this program. But, I also believe we have to see this for what it is... he’s not the priority right now. Getting the best out of these two teams that just won championships is a mission essential task. Therefore, there will be a lot of new guys who I want to see, who I’ll have to wait to see, because they’re not the priority right now. That said, we’ll see. Guys like Konrad, Cowell, Clark, Pepi, and Richards are knocking on the door, and it’ll be hard not to include them sooner than later.
Another thing to add... winning these two tournaments... there will be tremendous pressure on this team to come out and collect all 9 points in the first round. But that’s going to be tricky. One, I hate the order of these games. We play the weakest team away, then play the second hardest team at home, then play the third best team away... all in a very short turnaround. Compare that to Mexico’s home game against Jamaica (a game they should easily win), then away at Costa Rica (that’ll be tricky but Costa Rica is in such a bad slump), then back home again against Panama. In other words, I would trade places with Mexico’s schedule in a heart beat. There should be no excuse for them not to easily collect all 9 points - especially because they really only have to focus on one game. Also, what about Canada? They get to play at home versus El Salvador and Honduras - two games they should feel confident to win... so trust me, they’re coming out for blood against us. I imagine that they think they can steal a point if not all three points. This is a very hungry Canadian side and I would not underestimate them. And we need to be ready to smack them back down to size. Meanwhile, what game do we prioritize? We can prioritize the first one... to send a message. But then do we have enough in the tank to battle against a very tough Canadian side 3 days later? Then, go on the road... to Honduras? Whatever the case, we’re not going to be able to go with the same XI for all three games. They’ll poop out by the time they play against a Honduran side starving to get points against us on their home turf. Now, I’m not saying we should be terrified. Honestly, I believe we have the depth to alternate our roster for all three games and win each of them. But it’s going to be tricky. Our players need to be absolutely dialed in. Enjoy the Gold Cup and Nations League win today. But go back home... hungry... ready to prove a point... This wasn’t a fluke. We are the dominant nation in this region and we want all 42 points.
The priority should be to make certain of holding serve all the time, especially against an upstart Canuck side, though secondarily, you really want to be able to take all three points from El Salvador on the road to relieve pressure to win matches on the road later and start qualifying off on the right foot. Then, with whatever we have left in the tank, try to secure at least a point if not more vs Honduras. So, in order of priorities, Canada at home, El Salvador, Honduras. Don't hold much back vs El Salvador, and hold nothing back to get the win at home, then try to get the best result you can with what you have left to work with in the last game. Don't worry about the October window until the September window is finished.
I wouldn’t trade places with anyone if El Salvador and Honduras both have Covid-limited crowds. As I see it — that basically gifts us the easiest setup of anyone. Doesn’t mean it’ll be a cakewalk but that’s a massive advantage. Do we have updates on this yet?
my 23 gk steffen gk horvath gk turner rb dest rb cannon cb brooks cb m robinson cb richards cb mckenzie cb sands lb a robinson lb vines dm adams dm acosta cm reyna cm mckennie cm musah* am pulisic am aaronson am weah st sargent st p-funk st hoppe *lletget pending fitness
If I was the coach Horvath Turner Steffen Robinson Richards Brooks McKinzie Maloney Dest Moore Scally Robinson Gomez/Bello Adams Acosta Sands/Flach McKennie Pomykal De la Torre Clark Aaronsson Reyna Pulisic Arriola De la Fuente Ferreira Hoppe Sargent Pepi
I suspect he has earned a default choice regardless of form for at least a few matches, if only for his own mental health.
That's a terrible roster, frankly. It seems like you've discarded just about anyone who has been around for a while but hasn't dominated. Exchanged them for a new flavor who has zero experience internationally and in some cases for a first team professionally. It's world cup qualifying. This isn't the time to try a plethora of wild experiments. If some of those experiments were ever a good idea, that time has passed with the Gold Cup anyway. Now we have to get serious.
So what, we should bring Yeuill and Lewis then? We need to bring in-form players. CONCACAF is MLS/USL level. Don't forget what happened in Couva.
Now you're just straw-manning people. It's a false dichotomy. Guys who've proven to be insufficient like Lewis and Yueill or others. - Lletget was our 3rd highest rated player at GC in the metrics. He's not on there. - Dike was the best striker in the Championship, then played with a separated shoulder in GC. He's not on the roster. - Zardes has been reliable, yet he's not on the roster. - Weah's performed solidly for club and country. Doesn't make it. - Musah's not on there for some reason. Don't think he'd accept? , etc. Meanwhile, Maloney, Scally, Gomez, etc.; come on down. And all these other players who haven't proven much for club or country. If CONCACAF is MLS/USL level, don't know why a superior team like the US would lower themselves to their level to where it would be a crapshoot. We just won 2 regional tourneys. So I don't know why the players who were sufficient in accomplishing that wouldn't just be retained, while dropping the others. There should only be a couple experimental spots for points in games where the results already been decided. They can't be loaded on the roster to the point we're leaning on them.
As a DC United fan I have watched both Arriola, Pines and Paredes play many games. Pines is just not ready. Paredes is a special player and he will be pushing players for inclusion within a year. As for Arriola, I think people underestimate his impact on a game I know I did at first. When you first watch the game you notice his limitation in not finishing or not being as clean as he should. As you take more time to see his play from a wider viewpoint, you start to realize that he is a player multiplier. What I mean by that is that his play tends to make others around him more effective due to his workrate, positional play and ability to be a constant thorn in other team's defenses. Arriola opens up space for others, constantly harrases defender and seems to find open channels to put the defense under pressure. I'm not saying he is anywhere near the best winger we have but don't underestimate what he brings to the table.
Zardes maybe but at some point, you have to call up the 18 year old, highest scoring American, in MLS. What exactly has Weah done, to solidify his place on the team? He plays for a top team in Europe but that doesn't mean he's a top player. He hasn't scored or gotten an assist, for the USMNT, since 2018. People are already talking about him going on loan to a smaller club.
I want to integrate Pepi during wcq'ing, but he's an alternate/roster extra guy to start out. Not a guy to supplant Zardes in the interim. Ferreira's also on there over Zardes. Neither of those players are helping us win now & Ferreira isn't high priority long-term. He hasn't played much for the USMNT since 2018, due to various circumstances that had nothing to do with football playing ability. When he has played he's been an asset. And he was an asset for a Ligue champion in France. That's exceeds our current standard for an American roster player. He may move up at Lille, getting further away from his injury issues and gaining seniority. If he has to be loaned or Lille needs a firesale for him to start so be it.
This would be my 23 as well with the possible exception of Cannon as the #2 right back. I would be fine with Cannon, but Yedlin played well in the Nations League final and Moore outplayed Cannon (in my opinion) in the Gold Cup. It also pains me to leave Zardes out of my preferred 23 given his effort and contributions during the last two games of the Gold Cup, but Pefok and Sargent have more talent (in my opinion) and are producing goals for their clubs. Both have also shown the willingness to work hard in national team games.
I'm still working on my lineups, but I think the philosophy in the fall is to build a team to get points, not to experiment. I expect the team to come from the top 25 players of the summer tournaments and fewer still will get serious minutes. While I don't think it will work this way, you could run out a first team for the first and third game and a second team for the middle game with some of the same players substituting. The pool will get opened back up in January, so if you're a fringe player, the best way to get to the world cup is to focus on your club team in the fall, rather than be an unused sub at the national team level.
Goal is for 3 points @elsalvador and 3 points vs Canada and 1 point @ Honduras and get players experience with each other. Starters get 2 games, no one gets more than 2 games. @ ElSalvador Aaronson-----Sargent-----Pulisic ------------------Reyna----------- -------McKennie----Adams----- Robinson—Brooks—Robinson—Dest -----------------Turner-------------------- Canada Reyna -------Zardes----------Pulisic ----------Letget-------- McKennie----------- ----------------- Adams------------------ Robinson—Zimmerman—McKenzie—Cannon -----------------Horvath-------------------- @ Honduras Hoppe-----Sargent-----Weah -----------Williamson------Lletget----------- ------------------Acosta----------- Vines—Brooks—Robinson—Dest -----------------Turner-------------------- Probably missed something. No idea really about goalkeeper.
Because there is no overtime, we may see tie games. You always hold serve and win at home and try for the win or tie on the road.