When players take trips abroad to do "training sessions" many people on this board sagely say, well, it's actually kind of a trial in disguise. Same principle here. Are there new players? Well then it's an expand the pool camp in disguise.
In the Valley of the Sun ☀️ pic.twitter.com/JQ5y3bGuOI— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) January 8, 2022
Some Saturday News: @austheboss3 is joining us in Phoenix 🇺🇸— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) January 8, 2022
I can't say definitively but this is the part that makes me a bit nervous. I see big European teams come play games in their preseason and look terrible. I see guys transferred out of season and have to wait weeks before they get regular minutes because everyone says they aren't fit enough. And then they get minutes and look rusty or not up to their normal standard for multiple games. I think it is a real issue with many examples and we're gambling that it won't have any negative effects if we rely on these players heavily. All I'm saying is we didn't have to take this chance if it were not for past decisions. I hope it all works out.
from their perspective or the usmnts? ill try to split the difference- when mckenzie was barely getting off the bench for his club while miazga was starting regularly for his. im sure its irrelevant somehow that their respective leagues are the belgian pro league and la liga, though...but it shouldnt be surprising to anyone mckenzie was shaky against honduras and poor against panama. but sure- miazga could have been poor too. you asked. outside of current form at any given time miazga has been a better player than mckenzie (actually i think its more accurate to say mckenzie has been overtly worse multiple times- but neither are ideally starters). i think its valid to question the decision to not only prefer mckenzie (full stop), but especially when you do factor in not only form, but a significant disparity in playing time.
I'm not bogging down into the 463 arguments over specific players this generates, just saying the guys in the camp right now are out of season and relying on out of season players is a risk. Maybe we just roll with Brooks and Richards since they are playing and in season. But then we ask them to play three games in a window, which Berhalter has been reluctant to do. I think considering what we see over time with playing out of season guys, I'm not sure we aren't heading into this next window with a lot of out of form players if we rely on the guys from MLS in this specific window. And just maybe this is something that we could have foreseen since we've known this is how the schedule is laid out for some time.
It was foreseen, and so Camp Greggnog and Camp Cupcake were initiated to keep the out-of-season players fit--at least physically.
I think the two camps for MLS players helps but also won't most of our competition be in off season form or are the Central American leagues in season?
I've been making the point that relying on out-of-season players is a risk since this tournament began. We saw it to an extend even in September, and we'll see it in this window most of all. But the guys that we're going to have to rely on as first-choice starters that are out of season are the CBs, most likely, and that's pretty much it. Maybe just one, as Richards is looking good. Which means that we're talking about specific players. The rest are backups. That's why I mention Miazga and CCV, as those are really the guys that we're talking about, here. When was the right time in the past to have brought in either of them? Now, if a bunch more of our European guys go down (as they have), then we have to rely on more out-of-season players, and that's bad, but then that would be the problem in any case.
The Honduran and Salvadoran leagues follow a similar Apertura/Clausura format as Mexico and will have just gotten their Clausura season started again when this window comes up.
Looks like Dejuan Jones is making a good impression in camp, while I don't think he will make the qualifying roster, its nice to see that we have some real depth at the LB position at last.
According to Berhalter today, at least a few players in this Camp Cupcake have "asymptomatic" cases of COVID-19. Something, of course, to monitor over the next few weeks, since (1) I presume that even asymptomatic cases will have to sit out if they catch it in late January and (2) we don't want it to spread through the entire group of 20 players lol. Gregg Behalter on the #USMNT dealing with COVID this month and how it affects January - both this current camp and later for the qualifying roster. pic.twitter.com/U4LbD5dRhb— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) January 10, 2022
Guessing that at least one of them is a center back given that they called up Trusty. Could probably figure out who precisely by looking at all the photos/videos that have been released.
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...up-qualification-window-opens-in-late-january some good stuff here. Scrimmages are against Phoenix Rising, Grand Canyon University, and Sporting KC.
Assuming Morris gets called up I would love to see him be the old Morris. I like Reyna central and Weah out right, and for me the old Morris was much better than Arriola as a backup.
I mean if Weah isn’t available I wouldn’t be against putting Arriola on the right for 60 minutes against Canada, ask him to press relentlessly and then bring in Morris once he’s worn them down.
Or is it, start Morris for 60-70 minutes, hopefully score a few goals, and then sub on Arriola to defend for the final 20-30?
I’d rather hope everyone is healthy and Arriola is not part of the equation. To me there is nothing he does better than either of the other two except not get injured. And of course, if Reyna is still out on the wing by Qatar, it may all be moot.
Both ideas have merit, but given Gregg's MO, it's far more likely that Arriola would start to wear out the defense with Morris to come on and finish it off than the reverse. Especially on the road.
Honestly I’m mostly just super wary of Davies on that side and I feel like we can use all the defense we can on that side. That and Morris might not be back to full speed/fitness quite yet. And I want to press Canada aggressively if we can.