Is there any potentially elite young talent out there? Last World Cup if we’d qualified, I was pretty sure Adams and Mckennie had a good shot at breaking into the team post qualification. anyone like that out there? Tournament is 7+ months away.
Bringing in new players into the pool is a waste of time unless it’s a 9 who is scoring goals at an impressive clip. This team lacks cohesion. Greg has already built impressive depth in this team; we don’t need more depth pieces. We need a lot of reps between now and the World Cup for our top 15-16 players. One of the reasons the old US teams managed to play greater than the sum of their parts is that the top group played a ton of games together and had enormous team cohesion compared to other national teams. This is a weakness for this team, and I don’t blame Gregg for that given the compressed qualifying schedule, injuries, youth of the team, etc. That problem is exacerbated by the fact that we will have fewer opportunities to schedule non-Concacaf, strong competition in the run up to the Finals compared to previous World Cups. I’m skeptical that we can play greater than the sum of our parts in this World Cup.
Well, Id say we have 11-12 roster spots locked in right now, probably 10-11 that should be free-for-alls right now. Its abundantly obvious we need to phase out some of the "try hards" from qualifying, and bring in some "ball hards" instead.
I’d say there are about 15 roster slots that are locked barring injury. Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Reyna, Dest, Weah, Aaronson, Zimmerman, Robinson, Jedi, Acosta, Richards, Musah, Steffen, and Turner.
I'm with you but a poor season for Acosta probably puts him in jeopardy, as it should. To me, he's pretty inconsistent but so are the young guys so it doesn't seem right to hold it against him. Weah, for example, can look like a world beater one game and struggle mightily the next, but there's no way he's not in my team.
The thing about Acosta is the options behind him at the 6 are not good, plus he has the versatility of being able to play multiple positions. I just don’t see him not making it.
There's definitely still time for players to step up. Let's keep an eye on Frankie Amaya, for example. It's most likely Acosta is going to Qatar but I don't put him in the same tier as the others.
dike, minutes for horvath, slonina, scally, balogun- in that order. after noting that brooks should be in the team period, thats the end of the list.
The main issue is we have a 4 game window this summer, a two game window in September, and that’s it. And if we’re scheduling games against Argentina this summer we probably aren’t rolling with a B and there will probably only be a handful of new faces.
Well, if someone pushes the issue, that doesn't matter. Pepi came out of nowhere, and he got his first minutes in qualifiers. It can be done. I agree it is unlikely, but not impossible.
I would agree with this. Completely shocking that there is not a single 9 on the list. Lets be honest... it is difficult to win consistently when you are getting next to nothing from your strikers. Ferreira has played the best recently and he isn't even a true #9. If anything is going to come back to haunt us in the WC based on the qualification process it is the fact that we are no closer now to knowing what we should do at striker. Perhaps we should embrace the false 9 like Man City has? Just play one of your best all around players there and let them roam a bit. I actually think Gio might be able to play that position well: CP - Gio - Aaronson Wes - Adams - Musah Jedi - MRob - Zimm - Dest Not Steffen* * I have been hearing a lot on Sirius lately that GB is very adamant about taking club form into account when calling up players and giving them minutes. Then why are we starting a guy who hardly ever plays? Honestly seems like serving as the backup at Man City hasn't paid many dividends for Steffen. Hopefully Turner will heal and return to form and GB gives Slolina a look as he continues to get minutes for Chicago. Obviously not to start in the WC but perhaps in a warm up match. Finally, Scally has earned a serious look IMO. The ability to play both LB and RB is super important because it frees up a roster spot for someone else w/o worrying about running thin on the bench at back.
I think they need to seriously look at guys who can create something from nothing to come off the bench. I like Aaronson, and he's definitely in my team, but he's not that guy. Reyna may be the only one that is, and he's a sure fire starter for me. Maybe Weah, but he's pretty hot and cold. Someone pacey with the dribbling ability to beat guys or get fouled in good spots. A potential game winner.
Given the performances by the center forwards, I hope that Berhalter and Musah are burning up the phone lines (or, more likely texting) with Balogun.
Hope for no more injuries. Bring in Haji Wright. You gotta give Dike, Sarge and Hoppe another look I guess. Dike is still injured I believe. Hopefully one of Sarge/Dike/Hoppe get hot before the WC Experiment with playing Reyna at the 9. Scally is obvious. Open competition at keeper between Steffan, Turner, and Horvarth. I don't think there is enough time for the newer MLS flavor forwards to make an impact.
Here's my list of outsiders to bring in for a look: Djordje Mihailovic - he's been lighting it up in MLS. It's actually shocking that he hasn't been called in, and I would have been calling him up the past few windows ahead of Luca De La Torre and Gianluca Busio. John Brooks - I still think he's the best CB in our pool. He's had some up-and-down performances in WCQ games throughout his career (including some absolute shockers), but generally speaking, he has showed up and delivered in tournament formats on real fields (2014 World Cup, 2016 Copa America, Nations League). I hope he gets brought back in the fold -- there's no scenario in which Mark McKenzie is a better option at CB than Brooks. Paxton Pomykal - He's a big wild card for us. If he can stay healthy and produce with his club, he brings an extremely unique blend of ball progression and ball-winning ability. He'd be a logical backup to Yunus Musah as a #8, and is versatile enough to fill in on the wing, which is valuable for a tournament roster. Daryl Dike - If he can get healthy and into form, he has perhaps the highest upside of any striker in our pool. Josh Sargent - Similar to Brooks, he is a former USMNT regular who has been cast aside in recent WCQ windows. He brings a lot of intangibles to the squad, so if none of our strikers are banging in goals, he's the guy I'd want on the field for his pressing and link-up play. Jozy Altidore - I'm going to keep banging this drum. If he can stay healthy and score some goals for New England, he would not be a bad choice as a 3rd striker to bring to the World Cup. A super-sub you throw on in the 75th minute when you need a goal -- someone who can win balls in the air, link with teammates, and finish if given chances.
If there ends up being a 26 man roster, and he gets hot for New England, i absolutely roll the dice and put Jozy on the roster. With 26 players you can afford to take the risk.
Jones, Pomykal and Scally are the only ones that interest me of the names mentioned. The one I'll add is Richy Ledezma. He can play either the creative 8 or as one of the attacking mids for us. He's just getting back to the bench for PSV, so with a good summer he should be playing this fall
Good thinking re: Richie Ledezma. A lot of fans have forgotten about him, but he is a silky smooth midfielder and could be a dark horse if he gets back into PSV's squad.
Also, watch out for Edwin Cerillo - who might be out playing Acosta in MLS as a 6. Especially if there's a 26 man roster, you want to find a bit more depth behind Adams
Id be for sending a feeler for Balogun. It's that time, and we are THAT bad at the 9 to take a chance.
Well, I was hoping that Balogun commits to the U.S., and has a breakout start to the season. In that order.
We have essentially a full MLS season for those guys to make a case. There really isn't much time for young Euro-based guys who aren't currently playing. Richie Ledezma? He's barely playing for PSV's reserves. After returning from injury, he's played 275 minutes this season. That doesn't mean I don't think he'll eventually get fully healthy/fit and push for a USMNT place. Why not? That can happen. I just don't see it happening for the World Cup. Partly because de la Torre has staked a claim. We have to fit Aaronson and McKennie back in. So barring injuries, where is there a spot for Ledezma anyway? It's hard making room for Mihailovic and guys actually excelling at the moment, much less Richie Ledezma. I don't think we're going to have many late charges amongst young players, because hell..................the USMNT is already those young players. It's not like 2002 when it was a veteran laden group and it was a big deal that late-charging 20 year old DeMarcus Beasley made the team. Those youngsters are already in the group. If a player like that is going to make the team, it's going to have to be in a position of need. Can Jonathan Gomez pass the likes of Bello into contention as Antonee's backup? I guess so. He doesn't have much of a platform right now in Spain, so its gonna have to be in some summer friendlies. In that same LB vein, Berhalter seemed to really like DeJuan Jones' performance in the winter camp. Maybe he'll get a look too. But surely Joe Scally should be ahead of both of them. He can play both RB and LB. Can I knock one of Yedlin and Cannon out to make room for Scally. Yes. I can do that. A #6 is another area of need, so I like the folks that are looking for guys to compete with Acosta. I'm just not sure any of them will be up to it. Edwin Cerrillo? Shrug. We can name lots of names, but in order to do so you have to kick somebody out. Like...............who do you have to kick out of the squad to name that player. So if you name Haji Wright for some inexplicable reason..................are you kicking Pefok or Pepi out of the current squad to make room for him? Really? Really? You sure? And surely Sargent, Dike, and others are definitely ahead of Wright in the queue.
We've been doing it. Its a little awkward to do it while he's excelling in England U21 camp as they're working towards the U21 Euros...................... Same with Tillman. Guys like this are "nice to have," but we can't really plan for them to veer wildly off-course right now. Tillman in particular has said "I'm in germany camp for a reason."