US vs. Mexico 11/12/2021: the pre-pre-pre-match thread

I like an early thread. Aggressive. Good energy.

Bold, italicized, underlined, 72 point font. BRING SCALLY. No more dicking around, this is world cup qualifying. BMG coach can choke on it. We take him.

Gotta start the Zimmerman-Robinson backline. Thats our best pairing right now.

Outside backs pick themselves.

I like the midfielders and striker too, good stuff there.

Turner, well, obvious at this point now.

Who else we bring? Musah, Hoppe, Weah, KDLF, LDLT, Richards, Pefok, and Busio as go-to bench options. Will Vines be healthy enough to go at left back as depth? Hopefully.

I do think we gotta finally move on from Arriola, Lletget, Roldan, and Acosta, though. They proved this rotation theyre not up for this, and none of them bring anything that the other bench options can bring. I've seen their "experience", and no thank you. If you're going to bring new MLSers, make them Caden Clark, Cade Cowell, Kyle Duncan, and Paxton Pomykal.

 

I'm starting our bigs. I want Zimmerman and Brooks up for corners. Add McKennie to the mix and we will score off a dead ball. Up top I want speed. In the middle I want guys who don't shit their pants when pressed. In the back I want a shot stopper. At fullback I want one that stays home to cover Brooks.

-----------------------Turner
--Dest----Zimmerman----Brooks----Scally
-----------------------Adams
-----------Musah--------------McKennie
-----------------------Reyna
-------------Weah------------Pulisic

 

This should be straight forward: 3 goalkeepers, 5 fullbacks, 5 center backs, 7 midfielders, 5 wingers, and 3 strikers. 28 man roster.

Adams, McKennie, Dest, Brooks, and Yedlin on yellow cards.

Vines, Pulisic, Brooks, and Reyna should be back. Ledezma and Morris appear to be fit too but it’s soon for them. Ream should be back. We don’t know about Arriola yet.

The Roster....

Goalkeepers:
1. Matt Turner
2. Zack Steffen
3. Brad Guzan (rotate over Sean Johnson)

Fullbacks:
1. Sergino Dest (Y)
2. Antonee Robinson
3. DeAndre Yedlin (Y)
4. Joe Scally
5. Sam Vines (selected over George Bello)

Center Backs:
1. Miles Robinson
2. Walker Zimmerman
3. John Brooks (Y)
4. Chris Richards
5. Matt Miazga (selected over Cameron Carter-Vickers)

Midfielders:
1. Tyler Adams (Y)
2. Gio Reyna
3. Weston McKennie (Y)
4. Yunus Musah
5. Gianluca Busio
6. Luca de la Torre (selected over Cristian Roldan and Seb Lletget)
7. Kelyn Acosta (selected over James Sands)

Wingers:
1. Brenden Aaronson
2. Christian Pulisic
3. Tim Weah
4&5. Matthew Hoppe, Konrad de la Fuente (selected over Niko Gioacchini, Jesus Ferreira, Paul Arriola)

Strikers:
1. Ricardo Pepi
2&3. Jordan Pefok (Y), Gyasi Zardes (selected over Daryl Dike, Josh Sargent, Haji Wright)

Starting XI
GK Turner
RB Dest (Yedlin)
CB Richards
CB Miles
LB A. Robinson (Scally)
DM Adams - CPT
MF McKennie (Busio / De la Torre / Musah)
MF Reyna
RW Pulisic
LW Aaronson (Weah)
FW Pepi (Pefok / Zardes)

 

Nestor Araujo just got himself a red card tonight, so he will be suspended forbthe US match.

 

and Lozano picked up a limp. Dont know how serious thatll be

 

and Hector Moreno got one of the most generous yellows Ive ever seen. If there was such a thing as an orange card, that was it, lol. Straight up body check.

 

It’ll be a smaller roster with only two games. I would bet no more than 24 (since we apparently only have to dress two goalies).

 

and the cards are RAINING on Mexico in El Salvador! Now to Raul Jiminez

 

GKs: Turner, Steffen, Horvath

Central D: MRob, Zimmerman, Richards, Miazga, Brooks
Right back: Dest, Yedlin, Scally
left back: Jedi, Vines

midfielders: Pulisic, Reyna, Musah ,Aaronson, Weston, Adams, KDLF, LDLT, Busio

forwards: Pepi, Hoppe, Pefok, Sargent, Dike


-------------------------------Turner---------------------------

----------------Zimmerman--------MRob--------------------
Dest---------------------------------------------------------Jedi

--------------------------------Adams---------------------------
-------------------Weston---------------Musah----------------

----------Reyna---------------------------------------Pulisic---
--------------------------------Pepi--------------------------------

 

This is exactly the lineup I would play and I view Pulisic/Musah/Reyna as being able to swap positions.

 

I would be happy with the lineup we used against Costa Rica with Pulisic and Reyna swapped in for Aaronson and Weah.

 

Oh, and Im also completely comfortable running players 180 minutes into the ground if necessary, as well. Chivalry is dead.

 

Plus it's three days rest, not two.

 

It's a two game window with 4 days rest between the matches Nov 12th against Mexico and Nov 16th at Jamaica. No need for squad rotation.

Questions---
Start Reyna in central midfield?
Start Brooks?
Start Steffen?
Call up Scally?

Players making a push---
Miazga
Dike

-----------------------Pepi-------------
--------Weah-------Reyna------Pulisic---
--------------Adams------McKennie--------
----Jedi----------------------------------Dest---
--------------Brooks----Robinson----
----------------------Turner--------

Double pivot to better shield Brooks

 

I feel like you can’t start Brooks and Zimmerman together. Not enough mobility. They have to partner with either Robinson or Richards.

 

1) I think no more than 24-25 with only 2 games in the window. Though I'd bring 26 again. Obvious A team for Mexico & then probably mostly A team at Jamaica. Only the noodle-legged, knocked, or suspended kept out.

2) Brooks has a bad back, is he gonna be healthy?

3) Scally call?

XI. Turner; Dest, Robinson, Brooks(Zimmerman if he is out), Jedi; Adams, McKennie, Musah; Reyna, Pepi, Pulisic.

Roster:
GK: Turner; Steffen, Johnson.
FB: Dest, Jedi; Yedlin, Scally, Vines
CB: Brooks, Robinson; Zimmerman, Richards, Miazga.
DM: Adams; Acosta
CM: McKennie, Musah; Busio, LDLT
WM: Pulisic, Reyna; Aaronson, Weah, Arriola
ST: Pepi; Zardes, Pefok

Yeah, I brought more than 25.

 

So no yellow card accumulation losses for Mexico correct? Besides losing Araujo

 

Or just not start Brooks. I don’t get why people insist that he’s a good player while also admitting that he needs special accommodations to succeed. We don’t worry about special coverage for Zimmerman, Robinson, or Richards. Why not just start them instead?

 

Dortmund and Chelsea each have 7 matches between now and the next break. When will Pulisic and Reyna be fit and how many starts will they each get?

 

Unfortunately, I don’t know if Reyna and Pulisic will be fit. Reyna just had a setback and Pulisic is so frail that you can’t count on him to ever be healthy.

Ideally, we get one back and in decent shape to start at that RW position with Aaronson locking down the LW.

 

First game of a two game window where we wont need to rotate much. Everyone available as long as healthy. We should see our absolute top starting 11 for this one with a chance to make a statement. Outside of injuries there is no excuse not to use every one of our best players for this match up. Should be one of the best games of qualifiers, looking forward to it.

I'm less worried about Reyna getting hurt again or not getting fit between now and then than Pulsic. Plenty of time for both to get back at it but overall Reyna has remained healthier and missed a lot less games than Pulisic.

 

Something tells me this might be a match where we might start Busio-Acosta-Adams...

 

For me, there's one question about the lineup for Mexico, but man is it a big question.

GK - Turner
D - A.Robinson, Zimmerman, M. Robinson, Dest
DM - Adams (O Captain, my captain! )
CM - McKennie, ??
F (L to R) - Pulisic, Pepi, Aaronson

The ?? is a basic, but tough question if everyone is fit - Musah or Reyna?

I just don't see you keep Aaronson out of the lineup. He's earned his place on the field. Pulisic also has to be on the field. He's our most talented attacking player. The question is whether you go with the MMA midfield after last night or whether you put Reyna in the midfield for his passing creativity and go with McKennie and Adams.

I thought about this on the drive to work today, and I think I go with the MMA midfield to start. If the game calls for more creativity, then sub Reyna for Musah. I like these problems a lot more than some of the lineup issues the US has faced in the past, but I go with the hot hands.

 

No chance (barring injuries). We will need Musah's ability to dominate the midfield and link to our forwards in order to beat Mexico. Musah is quickly turning into one of our very best players right in front of our eyes.