Yes this is a blatant ripoff of the "Rank the USMNT center backs" thread, but that's because we now have enough depth at winger for it to be necessary. It's a young pool with lots of potential and with new names being added... We started off with Christian Pulisic (23), our new Captain America. Then Gio Reyna (19) came along with just as much promise (happy birthday Gio) nicknamed The American Dream by Haaland. Early in qualifying Brenden Aaronson (21) provided big goals. Recently Tim Weah (21) was given a shot and impressed. But wait that's not all: Jordan Morris (27) the old man of the group(!) is now back from injury. Paul Arriola (26) always covers ground like a madman. We have Konrad de la Fuente (20) dribbling in France. Alex Mighten (19) is rumored to be switching from England to the US. Jesus Ferreira (20) often plays as a winger for Dallas. Kevin Paredes (18) looks promising in MLS. Forwards Matthew Hoppe (20) and Nicholas Gioacchini (21) have both been used as wingers by Gregg. Chris Mueller (25) is heading to Scotland this winter. Tyler Boyd (26) still exists in Turkey. Dante Sealy (18), Brian Gutierrez (18), and Cade Cowell (18) are playing with the U-20s... maybe Paxten Aaronson (18) or Caden Clark (18) could play out there too? Richie Ledezma (21) is almost back from his injury. Don't give up on Ulysses Llanez (20) just yet. And let's not forget Jonathan Lewis (24)!! Okay I'll stop at 22 names, already stretching a bit... Whether the US takes 4 or 5 wingers to the World Cup next year, there will likely be some painful cuts... What are your current winger rankings? How many wingers are you taking to the World Cup? Which ones? Best dark horse candidate to come out of relative obscurity and make the World Cup roster?
My current rankings: 1. Pulisic 2. Weah (moved up after Mex) 3. Reyna 4. Aaronson 5. Morris (back from ACL) 6. Arriola 7. Konrad 8. Mighten (rumored) 9. Ferreira 10. Hoppe Cutoff after 4 or 5 for the World Cup, depending on whether it's a 23 man roster as usual or more like 25...
1. Pulisic 2. Reyna (should be a ACM) 3. Weah 4. Aaronson 5. KdlF 6. Everyone else... I like Hoppe but he is not playing would love to see him as a #9 for us. Morris is just coming back not sure if he can return to form. I hear good things about Mighten.
8 votes and we already have one Konrad over Aaronson! I don't think anyone should count out Jordan Morris if he comes back from his injury the same way he did last time... if we're talking 2022 World Cup roster (what the poll is for) and not right now, he should have a decent shot to make it.
I stand corrected! I think Morris is a good shout as well, especially if Reyna ends up being more of a CM or we carry five wingers. Probably my pick for #5.
I got to watch KDLF several times when I worked in Valencia and Barcelona before the pandemic shut everything down. It still reminds me of the Marseille matches of his I have watched. Fearless one on one. Defenders need help with him. Looks super dangerous. Production and passing doesn’t seem to match what he looks like, very passive otherwise when he doesn’t receive the ball and long stretches where he doesn’t exist. He definitely has something. He is not out of place on the pitch for OM and can look super at times. He is still young and it just may take him a few years to really mature. It’s hard not to see him as a contributor to the Nats one day. A regular one that is. The question is when?
I say Puli, Weah, Aaronson, Reyna. But, Reyna is also an 8/10. I wouldn't want to mess with the MMA midfield, but I'd say Reyna would be the 1st guy to sub in if one of them is unavailable. (If Adams was out, I'd slide Wes back and insert Reyna).
I love the idea of Dest at AW. With Yedlin, Scally, et al, we should be fine covering RB. It would be super interesting to see Sergino up in the attack full time.
I don't see Ferreira as a winger for the USMNT. Konrad is a wild card, but not sure in this cycle. Otherwise, it's pretty easy.
Great summary. That list explodes with potential. Of the wildcard guys, I'm really pulling for Gioacchini and Ledezma.
I think the biggest thing the growing depth at winger will allow us to do is try Reyna in midfield and Weah at the 9. Weah might be our 2nd string 9 behind Pepi. Which I wouldn't complain about. If we bring 5 wingers but include Reyna as a potential midfielder and Weah as the backup 9 we can still bring 8 defenders (which is absolutely needed), a bigger target 9 like Dike, and 5 more midfielders - MMA, Busio, and Acosta. That would work for me.
I assume Reyna will be lining up at AM or false 9 (somewhere central) by then. So my ranking is: 1. Pulisic 2. Weah 3. Aaronson 4. Konrad The top 3 have been the same for a while for me because I have been on the Reyna-to-the-middle train for many months. If Morris returns to his best form, I’d bump Konrad for him because he is better at crossing and tracks back well. About the only thing “Morris at his best” does worse than Konrad is beat players off the dribble, IMO.
weah, aaronson, pulisic and sabbi for me. but i will still finda way to get more of these players on the roster reyna as a CM for one. maybe play pulisic at striker to get another winger on the roster. morris is likely going too. he can play striker as well.
Totally forgot about Emmanuel Sabbi... you think a guy playing in Denmark (looks like he has 2 goals 2 assists in 14 games for Odense this season) still with zero USMNT caps one year out from the World Cup, is one of the four best wingers in the US pool? If that's the case I sure hope there's a December/January camp and he's in it....
Put me in the Dest/Musah camp for wing attackers. Dest is elite, if we actually played him there, he would be in the top two for the nats. Musah would also be in the top 4-5 for us. I think Reyna is better suited centrally. Weah is finally putting it together now that he is healthy. seemed in the past he was a bit jittery...still connecting the dots, but now he's settling down and the game is coming to him. I love Aaronson's game...he reads the game so well and can combo at a high tempo...makes great runs off the ball. Top 5 for me...I'd rather see Reyna centrally Puli Dest Aaronson Weah Musah In a year or so I could see Cowell on the fringe as a winger, but I'd much rather see him develop as a 9.
I like Aaronson and think he will be invaluable moving forward, but he is listed at 5'10" 150 lbs. I am always careful to judge the size of our teens, as they havent fully developed (usually), but he is now 21 and needs to gain another 10 pounds minimum. at 5'10" and that weight, its a high center of gravity, and he is getting manhandled by our resident CONCACAF thugs way to easily. You can argue that no one can size up to Jamaica, but Aaronson needs to firm up a bit. He can get away with this in Europe at the club level, but he needs to prioritize his size.
We’re just too deep at winger and too shallow at CM to not move Reyna inside. Puli Weah Aaronson Morris (assuming a return to form)
We don’t have enough quality wingers, sorry to pop your fantasy balloon. LOL. For me, a qualified winger has to be fast enough, quick enough, skill enough to beat few defenders to create chances. So here is my cut: 1. Pulisic 2. Konrad 3. Maybe Dest (from the Barca games, he needs to improve finishing in the box) 4. Maybe Weah (needs to improve dribbling) Reyna and Aaronson are 8/10. For others? Probably bar is higher than their level now.
I think we may end up taking 5 (or possibly 6). After MMA & Acosta, I am not thrilled with our CM depth, and we do not really have a CAM type. Aaronson & Reyna have both been doing it for club lately. I could see going a tad lighter in CM and heavier with wide guys as a result of some iur wides being CMs as well. And forwards. Weah, and maybe Morris can play some CF, where we are not exactly overflowing either.