All. Hands. On. Deck. Im talking the whole party, LDLT, Busio, Scally, one legged Gio Reyna. Anyone who has the capacity to be useful comes. Hope Richards and Adams injury is not serious. If theyre even 35 minutes fit, they come. Steffen/Turner, I assume Steffen is number one but he is just about as fragile as they come. Defense, gotta pair Zimmerman and Miles, have to. That is our chemistry 1-2 CB pairing even despite the Miles error against Canada. Midfield, everyones favorite guessing game. Reyna better get robot legs for this game if it feels like the hamstrings are not gonna be ready by then. Hoping that LDLT's emergence has allowed us to move on from at least Roldan, maybe Lletget. Biggest question mark..........forwards. Forwards are collectively not with it right now. Dike SHOULD be gaining fitness at that point. Even if hes 30-35 minutes fit, he comes. Forwards need to be Sargent, Dike, Pepi, Pefok, and you know what? I think I roll with Pefok up top against Mexico. GK: Steffen, Turner, Slonina D: Zimmerman, M Rob, Richards, Long, Dest, Cannon, Scally, Jedi M: Weston, Musah, LDLT, Busio, Adams, Acosta W: Pulisic, Reyna, JMo, Arriola, Weah F: Sarg, Pepi, Dike, Pefok Starting 11? that depends entirely, entirely on results. The Panama and Costa Rica game will likely look completely different than the game against Mexico. Against Mexico? I ride all the horses, all the guys with the third lung, this game beckons the MMA set. This game demands Zimmminson. The problem is, I have absolutely no idea how to get Reyna, Pulisic, and Weah on the field all at the same time. Theyll all get their minutes, but I think I take the same posture with Pulisic as a sub (depending on Reyna's fitness). V Mex: ---------------------------------Steffen--------------------------- ---------------------Zimmerman-------M Rob----------------- Dest-----------------------------------------------------------Jedi ---------------------------------Adams----------------------------- ----------------Musuh---------------------Weston--------------- ------Weah----------------------------------------------Reyna---- --------------------------------Pefok--------------------------------- I sub CP on as my first sub for whoever of Weah and Reyna need it more at the 60th.
I like the roster. I hope that Reyna is healthy. That will really help. Pefok deserves another shot, he is pretty clinical in the area if he gets service. And he is tall: 6 foot 3.
We've built enough depth in the player pool and Gregg Berhalter has played enough players together that I would bias toward form in picking my roster for the next window. There were too many guys in this window who were out of form, either due to being out of season or club woes. That said, based on what I know today, here are the 23-24 guys (depending on Reyna's health) I'd be looking to call up for March: GK -Steffen -Turner -S.Johnson DEF -Dest -M.Robinson -Brooks -A.Robinson -Cannon -Yedlin -Zimmerman -Richards MID -Adams -McKennie -Musah -Acosta -De La Torre WING -Weah -Pulisic -Aaronson -Reyna? (if healthy) -Morris ST -Pepi -Sargent -Pefok A couple notes: I have not been a big proponent of Luca De La Torre historically (even shared in another thread that I thought Djordje Mihailovic shoudl have been called up ahead of him), but he looked good tonight. Really progressive at advancing the ball forward -- reminded me of Paxton Pomykal. Luca gets picked ahead of Sebastian Lletget and Gianluca Busio. Pefok is like 3rd or 4th in the scoring charts in the Swiss league, and his physicality could be an asset against the teams we'll face in March. He edges out Gyasi Zardes as our 3rd striker. Josh Sargent has been in the dog house, but I would've continued to call him up the past few cycles including this one -- he still brings a lot to the table and his work rate is good, even if he isn't banging in goals regularly. If Daryl Dike were healthy and in-form, he'd make this roster. Bring back John Brooks.
Panama's got some serious athleticism that we are going to have to contend with. Thinking defensive and midfield lines are going to be pretty much the same. Its all about rotating Pulisic, Weah, and Reyna. Same with our forwards. If Pefok is just haggard after Mexico, I think the best guy for this game would be Pepi against Panama. Then back to Pefok for Costa Rica, with heavy consideration to using Dike as a battering ram as well.
BIIIIGGGGG news coming out about Costa Rica right now playing COVID positive players against Jamaica. Hold on to your butts and get the popcorn ready
If we win versus Panama, both Costa Rica and Mexico are pointless. If we tie Panama, then we have to concern ourselves with possibly dropping to fifth. At that point, the game at Costa Rica becomes more important, because a tie versus Panama and a tie @ Costa Rica likely puts us in at least fourth (and very probably fourth given Panama's easy window). Costa Rica would tie us on points with a win versus Canada and El Salvador, but I really doubt they are making up 8 on goal differential even with us losing to Mexico in this scenario. It'd be great for sequencing to get a point or more in Mexico. A win makes the Panama match only need to be a tie. A tie means if we tie Panama, there's a decent chance we only need a tie in CR for the auto bid. But at the end of the day, what Mexico does is likely pointless -- they have us, @ Honduras and El Salvador so they are going to be Top 3 even as they stumble. Two of our games reduce our key opponent point totals and that makes them more important.
I actually think they should be docked points. How many teams have left players home and lost points due to COVID? But there's no chance in hell they do get docked.
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Medical Committee Chairman Dr Guyan Arscott has confirmed that six persons from the Costa Rican delegation, including two who played against the Reggae Boyz in their Concacaf World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19. Dr Arscott told The Gleaner in an exclusive interview the players and officials tested positive COVID 19 on arrival in Jamaica on Tuesday. “One player was isolated because his test was deemed to be relatively new,” he said. The Reggae Boyz lost the game 1-0 to the Costa Ricans. If CONCACAF doesnt, FIFA will IMO. This rumor has legs.
Everybody is available for the Mexico match, but the US does have the following players carrying a yellow card: Adams, Brooks, McKennie, Pefok, Steffen, Weah, Yedlin
I'm for saving Adams for Panama, but not McKennie (or Weah). Acosta did well against Mexico in the GC final.
You only have 26... if it's truly "all hands on deck" Gregg should at least bring 28, if not 30. Here's my 30: GK: Steffen, Turner, Johnson D: Zimmerman, M Robinson, Richards, Brooks, McKenzie, Dest, Cannon, Scally, Jedi M: McKennie, Musah, LDLT, Busio, Adams, Acosta, Roldan W: Pulisic, Reyna, Morris, Weah, Aaronson, Arriola F: Pepi, Sargent, Dike, Pefok, Ferreira GKs: Not that the third really matters but Sean Johnson over Slonina D: Not sure about Long who still hasn't played over other options like McKenzie, Brooks... even EPB M: Add Roldan even though I'm not a fan because why not, he's smart and versatile if limited W: Add Aaronson F: Add Ferreira as a different option Maybe go 32 and also take Sands and Vines, who the hell cares when it's life or death...
Added bonus that the MLS guys should be sharper since the season starts in late Feb (and a few guys have Champions League starting in 2 weeks), so that should be about a full month of seasoning for Zimmerman/Robinson and then also Morris/couple others left that are probably at the end of the bench. 6 weeks is a long time for younger players to find form too. I wouldn't be shocked if one of our strikers is suddenly on a hot streak come late March.
my 23 right now, fitness and availability permitting: 1 gk steffen 2 gk turner 3 gk slonina 4 rb dest 5 rb yedlin 6 cb robinson 7 cb zimmerman 8 cb richards 9 cb brooks 10 lb robinson 11 rb/lb scally 12 dm adams 13 dm acosta 14 cm mckennie 15 cm musah 16 cm de la torre 17 rw weah 18 rw/cm reyna 19 st pepi 20 st dike 21 st p-funk 22 lw pulisic 23 lw/rw aaronson depth/ideally zero minutes: 24 gk johnson 25 cb long/mckenzie 26 lb vines 27 cm busio 28 cm/rw roldan i dont care about the third keeper. cannon is close (to yedlin), but i dont think his case as a defensive specialist is compelling. theres no argument- none- that drops brooks below our 4th spot for me. similarly luca is fully ahead of busio, and i take roldan (over lletget) strictly for emergency cover at two spots. zardes, sargent and ferreira are not, are not, are not the answer (for the foreseeable future). that position is the biggest roadblock left not named gregg, and we have to move towards guys who have a scoring record.
We've gotten results for our last two WCQing visits to the Azteca. I seriously doubt we're going to deprioritize that match. Mexico isn't playing well at all, and this is a real opportunity. A point at the Azteca would provide us with a ton of wiggle room actually. i suspect what Berhalter is going to do is really prioritize the first two games, which would render the Costa Rica game meaningless. 1. Panama 2. Mexico 3. Costa Rica
Given that the defense is solid (when we use in form players) but we have trouble creating during the run of play, there are things that deserve to be TRIED — some next window, others after qualification. Reyna at AM seems a no brainer to me. Trying Scally, who would have performed better than Cannon last night. Trying some non-Zardes CFs again (or in the case of Hoppe, for the first time). I fully expect Pepi to get his groove back, but one of Pefok, Dike, Sarge and Hoppe MAY be significantly better than Zardes/Ferreira. We won’t know until they get a real look, the kind LDLT got yesterday.
The US should go for 3 points in Azteca. For the US, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to beat Mexico 4 consecutive times (Gold Cup, Nations League, Home World Cup Qualifier) as well as chance to being on the doorstep of Qatar.
Just for context, here are the players who have appeared in qualifying so far, along with the number of qualifiers they have started. GK: Turner - 8 GK: Steffen - 3 RB: Dest - 5 (+1 LB) RB: Yedlin - 3 RB: Cannon - 1 RB: Moore - 1 CB: M. Robinson - 8 CB: Zimmerman - 6 CB: Richards - 4 CB: Brooks - 2 CB: McKenzie - 2 CB: Ream - 1 LB: A. Robinson - 8 LB: Bello - 2 DM: Adams - 8 (+1 RB) DM: Acosta - 3 (+1 CM) DM/CM: Sands - 1 CM: McKennie - 7 CM: Musah - 7 CM: Lletget - 2 CM: Busio - 1 CM: De La Torre - 1 WF: Aaronson - 6 (+1 CM) WF: Weah - 6 WF: Pulisic - 4 WF: Arriola - 2 WF: Konrad - 1 WF: Morris - 1 WF: Reyna - 1 WF: Roldan - 0 [sub] WF: Hoppe - 0 [sub] CF: Pepi - 6 CF: Zardes - 2 CF: Sargent - 1 (+1 WF) CF: Ferreira - 1 CF: Pefok - 1 With the addition of another backup keeper, I assume that's essentially the pool we're drawing from here. But Scally, Vines, Long, and Dike are 4 other possibilities.
Watching Mexico last night, one thing they do better than we do lately is put crosses into the box. Lozano in particular put some nice balls in. Since that seems to be our primary mode of attack I wish Weah wasn’t the only player who is good at it.
McKennie isn't on a yellow. He already got 2 yellows (@ el Salvador and v Mexico) and was suspended for the game at Jamaica. Assuming we want Weah and Adams available for Panama, we can't play either against Mexico. The others aren't definite starters for Panama so if it makes sense to use them against Mexico, then the yellow card shouldn't matter too much.
Is Lozano even going to be available? He got stretchered off with an arm injury. Could have just been a shoulder dislocation though by the way he went down.