Knock, knock, knocking on Berhalter’s Door: Guys on the Fringe

Over the course of the last year, Roldan has gone from a guy I couldn’t see contributing to one of the guys I hope is called in every time. Selfless, total team player. The guy just make plays and contributes. I guarantee that Seattle would falter if he wasn’t on the team.

He has earned an inside track to Qatar in my opinion. Nothing but respect.

 

I’ve never really rated Roldan. But he’s been playing fairly well and he’s a team player, like you said. As long as he continues to contribute, as he did in the last game, I can see him make the final World Cup roster. Might not play much, but he’s a good utility guy.

 

Lest we forget, Sergnio Dest is starting for Barcelona...........AND only 20 years old. He is currently the best right back in the region. People talk about Scally being young and improving. [I'm totally in favor of starting to integrate him.] But they don't say the same about Dest. They act like Dest is the finished article. Sergino will go thru some learning periods too.

I don't know what the situation is right now, but at the start of the year, Sergino Dest was listed by transfermarkt at the most valuable right back in the region by a country mile.

Taj Buchanon, who I like a helluva lot, isn't a right back. Taj Buchanon, by the way, is older than Dest. Taj is 22.

Its a position that Mexico isn't particularly strong in, hence their recruitment of Julian Araujo.

Most valuable players in CONCACAF at the start of the year......................

 

uhh this is the fringe players thread...for me hes an obivous option at a position of need. but hes rarely even mentioned at all so maybe i am more vocal about him thatn i should be....

but i will repeat i think the wing play/attack of the team is the biggest weakness and he brings what i think the team needs there.

going by club...theres no way to justify a callup...but CP is injured, morris injured, weah underperforms, etc etc down the line......

yeah he could be a dud...i gueess...but pepi was just a totally unvetted player brought in and involved in 4 goals in the second half...

its also a benefit bc other teams havent scouted them!!!!

i havent watched full games of him....but hes getting fouled 3 times a game....which is very high. so he's obviously not just highlights....before his last golazo he was voted team player of the month...he's getting accolades, playing well, recent rumors of italian interest, etc....

if he does move to an italian club or better league he will be the same player he is now but all of a sudden he will be higher on everyone's depth chart? i dont get that way of doing it.

if the wing play was actually good and the players werent injured or underperforming then yeah.....i would get leaving him out of the team.

im titally looking at it player vs player not club vs club....THATS why i would consider calling him in. for instance, arriola vs sabbi is a no brainer lead pipe lock for sabbi at the moment...sure sabbi could come and not play well...that would change things....but its a gaurantee arriola will come in anot play well....so i prefer the untested player in this case.

 

Oh I’m not saying Dest isn’t the best right back in CONCACAF, just that I don’t even know who would be second on that list behind him.

That and while Dest is clearly our best right back, playing for Barcelona isn’t what it used to be, at least for now.

And while we have lots of options behind Dest, quite a few of them currently are not in the best club situations.

 

It's totally different by now. Brooks isn't the best of anything. He is a fringe player on our MNT. Shouldn't be even called actually.

 

Brooks is the best passer, on the back line, by far. Not sure how he’d be considered a fringe player. He has downsides (dealing with forwards with pace and quickness), but I sure would want him in the starting line-up against any tier 1 power. Against some countries in our federation? Maybe not. But if we end up playing an important game against a European or South American power, I’d want him as a starting CB with Robinson.

 

His so called downsides are so horrible that the only thing that worse than that is his attitude. His passing is very overrated, Richards is as good passer and also quick and fast. I'll take Miazga over Brooks without hesitation.

 

I mean if that’s the case why do you think Brooks plays for a Champions League team in a top 5 league, while Miazga plays for a team fighting relegation? And he’s a top 5 league for the first time since 2018/2019.

 

I don't care which Brooks is playing for his club, the one on our NT is horrible. And Dest isn't that far away from him btw, but he is 20, was played on the left, etc. But Brooks doesn't add anything and won't get younger, he is done. Kick him out now before he made major damage. Miazga is a solid player that always gives everything for the NT, good enough for Concacaf.

 

I’ve wondered a lot about Miazga. I can’t help but feel that he feels like the odd man out, but I suspect he feels his play over the years warrants inclusion.

The scant footage I saw of him during gold cup, he looked a bit neutral in his demeanor. He probably feels he was heading to become a mainstay on the National team, but he might feel his chances of making this upcoming World Cup team are at risk. That can’t be a good feeling.

 

I think he will be called. He is playing pretty well in La Liga which is by far the strogest league where are our CBs are present. Better than anyone in Europe except for Richards, the only CB raising his level is MRob whom Miazga compliments pretty well. Brooks who is his primary competitor coming down. I'm not sure he will be playing in October, but there is absolutely no reason to drop him.

 

A lot of clubs are contractually locked in to the players they have under contract....player/club connections dont just update in real time....if a player is on a downspell when they move clubs for example, they can end up down a level or two...or vice versa.....you cannot simply say club level = 100% equals = player level.....sometimes it is obvious a player will play for a top team but the time isnt right yet....it takes years to sort these things sometimes....haaland will play for a top 5 team but has been on BVB for 2 seasons.....is he the best striker prospect on the planet? yes.

 

Sabbi scores and MOTM again.

Just wanna say to all who question the Danish league....Jordan Morris was called up to the USMNT and did well vs Mexico from the NCAA!!!

if you're good, you're good....no matter the league

 

I mean Brooks was a game in and game out starter for Wolfsburg when they finished in the top 4 last year. And he looked pretty good for them last year. There was even chatter last year that had he not picked the United States, that he would have been getting consideration for Germany.

Indeed Wolfsburg was willing to pay $18.7 million to buy Brooks. Chelsea paid less than a third of that to buy Miazga from Red Bull. And part of the reason it was so hard for Miazga to move this year was that no club wanted to pay what Chelsea was asking for.

Haaland plays for one of the biggest teams in Germany, but also he could have played for a bigger club had he wanted to. He specifically picked them over clubs like Manchester United because he thought it was a better situation.

Generally club level is a pretty good proxy of player level, except for players who are younger or who have some reason they’ve been under looked or under the radar. Or they end up in a situation where they are playing for a club who doesn’t want to sell them to a bigger club.

Miazga is on the books for the of the biggest clubs in the world and spent last year on loan in Belgium, a league which is one of the most heavily scouted in Europe. He’s hardly under the radar or unknown. Now I hope he does well at Alaves and shows he’s a top 5 league player. But he’s still got to prove.

Brooks was not great last window but I don’t understand those who all of a sudden want to write him off or act like he’s terrible. The guy has been very good for the national team in the past, including in the Nations League over the summer.

 

If you call the worst player on the team "not great", yes he wasn't great. But actually both play and attitude was horrible. Nations League nobody but us treated like a real tournament.

 

That is not true, both Mexico and Honduras were very much treating it like a real tournament

And if you look at player ratings from Canada, no one had Brooks rated as the lowest rated player for the game. And even in the Honduras game, every rating I looked up had him rated similarly to Sands and Bello. So I don’t think you can plausibly say he was the worst player on the team.

Again it was not his best performance and he needs to do better. But the way people are talking about him like he’s terrible and he should be written off is ridiculous.

 

If he was the second worst in both games, he was the worst on average. His attitude should be also contribute to him getting kicked off. Neither he is needed in this games especially against Panama and Jamaica who are the fastest teams in the quals.

 

Agreed. Matt deserves more games.

 

To be fair, when Matt Miazga was routinely getting games..............Berhalter used him.
He started both the semifinal and final of the 2019 Gold Cup.
After the re-start, Berhalter started him in our friendlies against Wales, Panama, and Northern Ireland in 2020. He was on our roster with the "A" team for the Nations League this past summer, although only played garbage time mop-up duty.

Its clear that Berhalter has him in his pool.
With his club situation in a little bit of limbo, he wasn't involved in the first WCQing window.
I would not count him out of this upcoming window. Its hard to say, because we also have Richards to consider. I personally have my top 4 as Robinson, Brooks, Richards, and McKenzie. But Miazga isn't that far.

Our CB pool is deep enough that we can afford to take the "in form" guys.

 

I think the hardest thing for January camp will be that we have so many guys who I think will be looking to make moves this. Not all will go through, but just going off guys who have been the subject of reports/speculation think at least on the table for Turner, Bello, Che, Robinson, Paredes, Duncan (whose contract apparently expires), Jones, Acosta, Bassett, Dike, and Pepi. Obviously we want as many of these to happen for the good of the pool but I imagine it means the roster for January camp will be in flux till the very last minute.

 

I don't if Acosta will move this winter but I think the national team exceeded their rights and over used him this summer. He's practically played as many NT game as Rapids games. If I was thinking of buying him, I'd want some guarantees from the USMNT or from him. I think he'll stay with the Rapids though. Please tell me there is no Gold Cup or CONCACAF league or anything next summer.

 

Well I think the thing is if he went to Europe he wouldn’t be playing outside international windows. Whereas MLS often plays during windows, leading to guys missing games. I think he definitely wants to go abroad, it’s just a question as to whether the Rapids will get any offers worth their while.