It is very much in flux. Pepi is #1 for now but even he hasn't solidified it. Zardes, Hoppe, Sargent, Pefok and Dike have all been going through the revolving door to compete for that #1 spot along with backup spots. Be nice if a 2-3 start separating from the rest.
-GGG sees Hoppe as a winger -Sargent is in terrible form, I dont see him getting out of it anytime soon. Didnt even get called into camp. Will he get called in for November? Dont see why he would if he werent in a 3 game window camp. -Dike he's nowhere near the national team -Pefok, Not in last camp, has been in poor form lately. Not much of an upside with him.
That's the way I see it too. All of those guys are pretty close right now, and we'll probably roll with whoever has the hot hand at the moment.
I dunno, I see a group of struggling guys with major issues. I wouldn't expect any to be in good form come the WC. We need to grow our pool. Hoppe? Balogun? Weah as a backup?
To be fair to beerholder, he has admitted Hoppe is playing out of position on the wing. He may not see him as the best choice starting striker, but he still tries to get him on the field. And he has to balance it with what's worse - large drop off at wing or small drop-off at striker (or even large drop-off at striker, but with game in hand).
Because Gregg only brought like two wingers to the Gold Cup, Arriola who got injured within 15 minutes, and Lewis who it was deemed not good enough within 15 minutes (to Gregg, it was clear to the rest of us in Olympic qualifying).
Yeah, that's how I see it too. I was just agreeing with the sentiment that Pepi isn't fully locked in as the #1 option. I still want to see more from him to prove he is above the rest of the options. He might still just be the one who happens to be hot out of a bunch of mediocre options (like Dike might have been last spring).
If we want the CF to score and give the offense a spark, the only player who has done that lately is Pepi. However, it is hard to fault forwards in situations where the midfield is punchless, as it so often has been over the last few years—when it has lacked someone who is willing and able to progress the ball forward through the middle third and connect with the forwards. Who knows what any of our CFs would be able to accomplish with Musah, DLT, Reyna or Busio building the attack instead Captain Backpass. Given the kind of spark he provided at the Gold Cup, I hope Hoppe gets > 1 meaningful look at CF before the WC. Like a lot of people I have so much more confidence in our defense than our offense. And while I see the midfield as 75% of the issue, the CF spot remains worrisome. For all their chances, Zardes and Sarge have not proven to be reliable creators of opportunities. IMO Zardes is much better at holdup and distribution than he used to be, but I wouldn’t call him particularly good at it. (And I know there are people here who disagree with both halves of that sentence.) Sarge does just about everything well except the main job of a striker, and he is going through a real crisis on that issue. So Hoppe and others deserve looks. Pefok also deserves another look. If Dike regains some club form, I would like to see him get a ore looks as well. Maybe the replacement of Lletget with more attack-minded and attack-capable players will help Sarge and Zardes start to hit the back of the net, assuming GB keeps going with either or both. But given that they haven’t been tremendously productive, these other players deserve more looks IMO. This is particularly so because the selection problem is only going to get worse. It is looking like the Pulisic generation is the tip of the iceberg in terms of young talent, and some of it may be at CF. Going into WC in a year without a good understanding of today’s young strikers and their potential to contribute when the midfield is offensively functional, as new names rise to our attention in the interim, would be malpractice. You can’t treat that position (CF) as one in which you put a premium on avoiding turnovers. It is a risk and reward position. Without the risk you don’t get the reward.
I disagree about both Dike and Pefok. Both are clearly in the picture. Dike was out injured since the Gold Cup and only recently returned. So there wasn't even an option to call him up until the October window. Now that he's returned in MLS, he's back to his old tricks. I'll guarantee that he's called up to the USMNT again within 6 months. Pefok? He'll be back to. At forward we have an 18 year old MLS kid as our #1. He will be inconsistent. And folks are putting all of their eggs in the Pepi basket waaaaay too quickly. After that its question marks everywhere. I don't know if people realize this, but its been a long time since Matthew Hoppe has actually scored a goal in club soccer. So folks can criticize Sargent all they want, its not like these others in Europe are doing much better. Gioacchini hasn't scored a goal this season in LIgue 1. Our forward pool is so shallow, that we'll probably just go with the hot hand after Pepi. If Dike or Pefok or whomever is in good form, they'll be brought in. As Donald Rumsfeld once said...................... “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”
10 million Euro is about 12 million dollars. If true, the market has been set. Now we see where it goes from here. Stuttgart has jumped into the lead for Ricardo Pepi. The club has their €10 million offer accepted by FC Dallas. However the deal is finished, as Stuttgart has so far failed to agree with personal terms with Pepi. pic.twitter.com/3JLPRnxVIy— USMNT Universe (@UsmntU) October 26, 2021
Yeah, I have to imagine that if Dallas is settling for $12M, there's a decent sell on or achievable bonuses.
Look at us: "Settling" for $12 million. That would be the record transfer for domestic MLS players. More than Alphonso Davies, who lest we forget was named to the FIFPro World Best XI last year. [Just as a point of comparison, Orlando reportedly turned down $10 million last year for Dike.] If the market is 12 million, instead of 20 million or something crazy.................then it'll be really interesting to see who is involved. Clubs like Ajax, etc. can do that easily.
Supposedly the Stuggart report is untrue Regarding a report from Sky Germany suggesting Stuttgart have had a €10m (~$12m) offer accepted by FC Dallas for Ricardo Pepi: I'm told that is NOT TRUE.Pepi's agent, Jaime Garcia, also confirmed to MLSsoccer that the report is incorrect.— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) October 26, 2021
I mean, Davies had likely escalators up to like $18M or $22M or something like that. But yes, for an 18 year old striker who looks as good as he does ... I do expect the total sum to be higher than $12M once everything is included.
Final Davies transfer fee hit about 20 million due to performance objectives being met in first season.
It appears the Stuttgart news was lost a little in translation. As always, Buzz is the man to follow when things start hitting the fan at FCD. Thanks to @_steamedhams for finding the initial report on Pepi/Stuffgart. Appear to have agreed terms with Pepi this summer but FCD rejected the offer. Transfer Update: Alle Wechsel und Gerüchte im Überblick | Fußball News | Sky Sport https://t.co/fxMtrhYJUi— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) October 26, 2021
I suspect that Davies, if he was transferring this year, would go for more than he did a couple of years ago. (I'm not talking about hindsight but his transfer, in today's market with MLS's growing rep for player development/young prospects without knowing that he would become a $77M player according to transfermkt).
The optimist take is "we have several similar options at striker! More equivalent options than we have ever had!"
It seems the entire world is "interested" in Ricardo Pepi. So far we've heard about very few actually offers. Sampdoria. #ManCity are ‘interested’ in signing FC Dallas striker Ricardo Pepi (19), however a move to the Etihad Stadium is ‘probably out of the question’. FC Dallas are asking for at least €10M at the moment.[@SkySportDE via @Sport_Witness]— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) October 27, 2021