Pre-match: USA v Jamaica WCQ 10/7/21

I don’t see any universe where if healthy, we don’t see Brooks and Yedlin called in the next window. Maybe Yedlin? But he provided a great assist on the go-ahead goal.

 

- 1st things first: Bring in more guys. An injury to our right back shouldn't force us to play Yedlin all 3 games and at times have Acosta and Adams out of position.
- Hopefully guys who were called up and got injured or, em, sent home (Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Dest, em, McKennie) are ready to go.
- Hopefully a lot of guys who weren't called in because of lack of playing time (or injuries prior to callups) play a lot this month and give Berhalter tough decisions to make on the roster (Musah, Busio, Hoppe, Richards, Cannon, Dest, Miazga, Palmer-Brown, Tessman, Zardes etc).
- Sounds like we are losing Araujo to Mexico based on changes he's made on his social media platforms...but if we haven't, I would try once again.
- If we are anywhere close to healthy, I don't imagine we'll see many new faces. Pomykal (only 1 cap) and Scally are the players who we haven't seen that interest me.

With a deeper squad, I expect us to be able to rotate the lineup and subs without weakening us as much as we did in the first half against Honduras.

I am more hopeful about the next window. I think starting and ending at home will help, and Costa Rica and Jamaica haven't played well to start qualifying.

 

I'd call 30 for the next window:

Locks (11). Turner; M. Robinson, A. Robinson, McKenzie, Yedlin, Adams, Acosta, Lletget, Roldan, Aaronson, Pepi.

Lock if healthy (6): Steffen, Dest, Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Zardes.

Near locks (7): Horvath, Cannon, Brooks, Ream, Richards, Musah, Hoppe.

That is 24.
GK: Turner, Steffen, Horvath
FB: A. Rob, Yedlin, Dest, Cannon
CB: Miles, McKenzie, Brooks, Ream, Richards
CM: Adams, Acosta, Musah
CM/AM: Reyna, Aaronson, Lletget, Roldan
AM/WF: Pulisic, Weah, Hoppe
CF: Pepi, Zardes

6 spots left. 5 if McKennie gets his head on straight. Contenders:
FB: Moore, Bello (Vines still hurt)
CB: Zimmerman, CCV
D/M: Sands
Attackers: Arriola, Gio, Sargent
CF: Sargent, Pefok, Altidore

Blanking on CM help and we could use a #10 type (Pomykal?).

 

There are definitely times when it makes sense to make nice with a player's club. That was almost always the case right up until this window.

Now? Nothing but qualification matters. Nothing.

 

while i dont expect it to have any practical effect ill point out that with this one window we now have @16 players more experienced in concacaf qualifiers than brooks was when it started.

i feel yedlin and ream were both included in part to being among that literal handful of players to have ever played a qualifier, and imo- having served that purpose- both should be phased out of the team asap.

i feel cannon is a better defensive rb then yedlin, moore better offensively and dest sort of his own thing (with scally, reynolds and possibly araujo in the wings). there are any number of cbs who are better than ream- i dont know that donovan pines would have had much trouble against an el salvador team that was somehow less threatening than we were who didnt press in any way, either.

but we all know gregg loves him some ream, and while most of this site has been ripping yedlin relentlessly all of a sudden one good shift and an assist have him competing for the starting job so what do i know? never change, bs!

 

One unfortunate question of interest is: which players will Jamaica be allowed to bring to the first match of the next window? Difficult to predict the state of COVID-19 and of FIFA-EPL relations.

 

We better hope England doesn’t red-list us or Panama.

 

fifa needs to put their foot in the epls ass just like uefa did

 

The EU has red listed the US as of a week or so ago. This could be catastrophic if FIFA doesn’t step in or governments don’t make an exception.

 

The EU red list actually has no operative effect, they are more like guidelines/recommendations which countries use to set their own policies. Mostly what countries that have changed have done is to require people to be vaccinated.

The UK is obviously not part of the EU and their red list is a separate thing. If no accommodation is reached we'd be without Pulisic, Sargent, Steffen, and Robinson vs Panama (who is on the UK red list).

 

We'd almost definitely be better off than Jamaica if the UK red list is still affecting October games. Losing Pulisic and Robinson would hurt, but we've clearly shown we can get by without Sargent and Steffen.

 

Arriola stopped trying? If he did it was because he was injured. He missed several games for DC United after the Gold Cup. You can say a lot of things about whether he's a good enough NT player, but you can never say he stopped trying.

 

It's so tough to tell who we'll have on this roster because of all the uncertainty on injuries.

Pulisic, Dest, Weah, and Steffen, and Renya are all locks if healthy and we have don't have a good idea of the status of some of them. Zardes is pretty close to a lock if he's healthy but it's unclear if he will be.

Of the remaining players I think the players who are locks to get called up if they are healthy are: Turner, Horvath, Robinson, Bello (there's not really anyone else at left back), Robinson, Brooks, Acosta, Adams, Musah, Aaronson, and Lletget.

Then there's another of players who I consider near locks assuming they keep playing with their club teams: McKenzie, Richards, Roldan, Pefok, and Hoppe.

At right back I think we'll see one of Cannon, Yedlin, or Moore and it will just depend on whose playing with their club. I think Scally could called up as well and Araujo if he were to commit.

I would guess we see Arriola too, assuming he's healthy.

McKennie is an open question but I bet we see him.

And I think we'll need at least one of

I think Sargent is out for this next window unless he looks really good for his club over the next month. Sands too as he just did not look like he's athletic enough for this level. Ream is an open question but I could see him coming as the 5th center back behind Robinson, Brooks, Richards, and Mckenzie.

So I feel like we are looking at something like the following for next window.

GK: Turner, Steffen, Horvath
RB: Dest, Yedlin, Scally
LB: Robinson, Bello
CB: Robinson, Richards, Brooks, McKenzie, Ream
CM: Adams, Acosta, McKennie, Musah, Lletget, Roldan, LDLT
FW: Pulisic, Aaronson, Hoppe, Pefok, Pepi, Renya, Weah, Arriola

 

I’d probably bring in Busio. He could be useful as a sub against a bunker.

 

Going into October, should we also be concerned with all the injuries our starts are picking up? They seem to be made of glass.

 

As a result of Jamaica's 3-0 home loss to Panama, a lot of people are talking about Jamaica as though they are don't belong with the rest of the teams in the Ocho. But those aren't the only games Jamaica has played. They almost got a tie on the road in Mexico before losing 2-1 on a goal in the 89th minute. And they did get a tie on the road in Costa Rica (something that we last accomplished 36 years ago). I think this is going to be yet another nail-biter.

 

Given that Jamaica only has 1 point, they're gonna have to come out and attack a lot more.

 

A huge question for us will be which team shows up: The one that sucked royally for 225 minutes or the one that scored more goals in a half than they ever had in an entire away WCQ game before. On paper, we should beat Jamaica at home. I mean if we can't then we're in serious trouble to qualify. But we can't assume that merely because the team played one brilliant half of soccer, the rest of the games will be at that level. I wish it weren't so but I could see this team coming out against Jamaica flat like it did against all three opponents last week, and if it does Jamaica could surprise us. I hope Gagg learned from the lessons of the past window and the Hondo game in particular.

 

OUT / LIKELY OUT: Weah, Reyna, Morris, Long, Ledezma, Williamson, Vines

COUNTING THAT THEY’LL BE IN: Dest, Pulisic, Zardes, Arriola

DUAL-NATIONAL: I’m not counting Araujo, Balogun, or other dual-nationals until they commit.

IN: I expect to see Weston McKennie back in.

MY ROSTER​

Note: (*) Not in the first window but back in from NL or GC.
Note: (+) New Player... or New-ish.
note: (Y) carrying a yellow.

GOALKEEPERS
1. Matt Turner, 2. Zack Steffen, 3. Sean Johnson
...Turner is the #1 until Steffen proves he’s better again. Johnson plays, so he’s in.
...Ethan Horvath needs to earn a #1 spot to be included again

RIGHT BACKS
1. Sergino Dest, 2. DeAndre Yedlin (Y), 3. Reggie Cannon(*)
...Cannon has the most experience behind Yedlin and Dest so he gets the nod for depth.
...Bryan Reynolds and Joe Scally are saved for the back half of qualifying, or unless needed.
...Shaq Moore is in reserve. Kyle Duncan and Aaaron Herrera are buried.

CENTER BACKS
1. John Brooks (Y), 2. Miles Robinson, 3. Mark McKenzie, 4. Walker Zimmerman, 5. Chris Richards(+)
...I would go with the same center backs for continuity except I’d replace Richards for Ream.
...Unless we have to have Ream, he’s just taking a spot from someone who would benefit from it.
...I’m counting Sands as a 6 who drops in at as an advanced CB.
...Carter-Vickers, Miazga, and Palmer-Brown are on standby and need to prove they belong.
...Long is out.

LEFT BACKS
1. Antonee Robinson, 2. George Bello
...We all know Antonee is the #1. Dest can play LB if necessary. So can Acosta so we can just bring 2. But if we brought 3... I would take DeJuan Jones who is probably ahead, right now, over John Tolkin and Kevin Paredes who have the higher ceilings.
...Bello was poor against Honduras but we don’t cast him out for one bad game.
...Vines is out.

HOLDING MIDFIELDERS
1. Tyler Adams (Y), 2. Kelyn Acosta, 3. James Sands
...It’s a bit generous to include Sands again, but I don’t think it’s a good move to cast him out just yet. And remember, Adams is carrying a yellow. We have to be mindful of that.
...Jackson Yuiell is probably the alternate - like it or not.
...Any of Durkin, Tessman, Otasowie, Johnny, etc. are on the outside at the moment.

ADVANCED MIDFIELDERS
1. Christian Pulisic, 2. Sebastian Lletget, 3. Cristian Roldan, 4. Yunus Musah (*), 5. Weston McKennie(*), 6. Gianluca Busio(*)
...For the time being, we need Pulisic back in the midfield. He needs to be somewhere where he can get more touches on the ball. But, he might play some wing too.
...I’m counting McKennie as a player we have to bring back in because he was kicked off.
...I’m excited to have Musah back and Busio should be ready to go. Because of McKennie’s escapades, I have Musah as the starter for now.
...Roldan and Lletget should be locks due to continuity.
...Hopefully we’ll be better prepared this window and not have to play Acosta and Sands out of position to cover.
...I strongly considered both Luca and Green, but due to space, I cut both.
...Booth, Flach, Cappis, and others aren’t ready yet.
...Ledezma is still out.

WINGERS
1. Brenden Aaronson, 2. Konrad de la Fuente, 3. Matthew Hoppe(*), 4. Niko Gioacchini(*), 5. Paul Arriola(*)
...As mentioned before, I’ve got Pulisic lining up in the Adv. Midfield role now, but that can change and he can go back to LW.
...I’m waiting on Caden Clark. Same for Bassett and others.
...Hoppe and Gioacchini need to be brought back in. And they’re probably more wingers than forwards.
...Arriola is there for grit and experience.
...Morris, Reyna, and Weah are out.

FORWARDS
1. Ricardo Pepi, 2. Jordan Pefok (Y), 3. Gyasi Zardes(*)
...Pepi is leading the line, but evidently this team needs Zardes leadership at least off the bench.
....Dike is the close cut. But he could be back soon. Same with Ferreira....If Zardes is still out, then, I would call in Dike.
...I’ve dropped Sargent until he figures himself out.
...Cowell and Wright will have to wait.

Vs Jamaica
——————Pepi—————-
Konrad———————-Aaronson
———Musah———Pulisic——-
——————Adams—————
Jedi———————————Yedlin
————Brooks——Miles———-
——————-Turner——————

Subs: McKennie (Musah), Pefok (Pepi), Dest (Jedi), Roldan (Aaronson), Hoppe (Konrad)

At Panama
—————Zardes—————-
Hoppe————————Arriola
———-Lletget——-Acosta——-
——————Adams————-
Jedi——————————-Cannon
———McKenzie——Miles———-
——————Turner——————-

Subs: Gioacchini (Arriola), Pefok (Zardes), Aaronson (Hoppe), McKennie (Lletget), Busio (Acosta)

Vs Costa Rica
——————-Pepi————————-
Konrad—————————Aaronson
———Pulisic———-Musah————
——————Acosta———————-
Jedi————————————-Dest
————Brooks——Richards———-
———————Turner———————

Subs: McKennie (Musah), Bello (Jedi), Sands (Acosta), Zimmerman (Brooks), Lletget (Konrad)

NOTES:
...The goal of this window is 9 points. We have two home games that we can and must win.
...And we need to prove that we can win away again against Panama which will be tough.
...On personnel, after this window, we should have our whole core exposed to World Cup qualifying. And I’ve got some new and old guys in the mix that weren’t in last time, but I’m keeping experimenting to a low. In short, I want to build some chemistry.
...We’ve got to come out for all 3 games with laser focus.
...No guys carrying a yellow should play against Costa Rica... saving them for the Mexico game.

 

3 game window, right? With normal rotation this simply is not a big deal. Sargent is not even a starter in my view, and Steffen was not the game 1 starter in this last window, prior to catching covid. So again, missing Pulisic and Robinson would be akin to normal and necessary rotation.

 

A look at the first window roster, to determine open slots for second window...

GOALKEEPERS
1. Matt Turner - locked to return
2. Zack Steffen - locked to return
3. Ethan Horvath - should be dropped due to club situation.

RIGHT BACKS
1. DeAndre Yedlin (Y) - locked to return.
2. Sergino Dest - likely to return, but to be determined based on fitness.

LEFT BACKS
1. Antonee Robinson - locked to return.
2. George Bello - locked to return despite poor showing (due to Vines injury).

CENTER BACKS
1. John Brooks (Y) - locked to return despite poor showing.
2. Miles Robinson - locked to return.
3. Mark McKenzie - likely to return (although CCV, Miazga, and EPB are arguably better)
4. Walker Zimmerman - likely to return.
5. Tim Ream - excessive. Dropped.

MIDFIELDERS
1. Tyler Adams (Y) - locked to return.
2. Kelyn Acosta - locked to return.
3. Cristian Roldan - likely to return.
4. Weston McKennie - likely to return despite disciplinary issues.
5. James Sands - likely to return despite poor showing. Cover at the 6 and CB.
6. Jackson Yuiell - should be dropped.

ATTACKERS
1. Christian Pulisic - locked to return. Should be healthy.
2. Brenden Aaronson - locked to return.
3. Sebastian Lletget - locked to return.
4. Konrad de la Fuente - likely to return.
5. Gio Reyna - unlikely to be fit. Dropped.

FORWARDS
1. Ricardo Pepi - locked to return.
2. Jordan Pefok (Y) - likely to return.
3. Josh Sargent - dropped due to poor form.

CONCLUSIONS
*Counting locked and likely to return / total players from past roster*

GK (2/3): We need to drop Horvath and add Guzan or Johnson. They play. Horvath doesn’t. Guzan gets the nod due to his WC experience.

RB (2/2...need 1+): We’ve got one who will be touch-and-go until the rosters are announced and another who is carrying a yellow. We will need to add some right backs.

LB (2/2...need 1+): We have 3 legitimate options at left back, and one is hurt. Expect to see the same faces. But I would want to bring in one of Tolkin, Paredes, or Jones (my top pick) for depth and exposure purposes.

CB (4/5...Richards is a lock). 6 center backs was probably excessive. We have Miazga, CCV, and EPB who are knocking on the door, but I expect continuity to win out unless a situation cannot be ignored. That said, Richards for Ream seems obvious.

M6 (3/3...drop Yuiell). Adams, Acosta, and Sands. That should be locked for now. We definitely need cover here because Adams is carrying a yellow and Acosta is going to play a lot regardless. On that note, Acosta needs to be predominantly a 6; which makes Yuiell excessive.

M8 (0/3). McKennie needs to be brought back in; and so does Musah and Busio.

10 (3/3)... I’m dropping Pulisic back into the 10 because I think we learned that either Pulisic or Reyna need to be in the midfield. Then, Lletget and Roldan can continue to support the cause.

R/LW (2/4 or 5)...Here is where we need to add. Konrad and Aaronson are in. Reyna is hurt so he’s out. So Weah, Giocchini, and Hoppe are favorites. Arriola will be competitive. We could see Clark or Cowell or Ferreira, but it’s not likely.

FW (2/3)...I think we need to drop Sargent until he sorts things out. I’ve got Pepi as a lock to return. I’m undecided on Pefok, but for now, I have him returning too. Then, I would want to bring in Zardes or Dike back in.