Bearing that in mind... I think Pomykal should be given a chance to make the case over Busio. And Brooks over Long. And Scally or DeJuan Jones over Yedlin or Bello. Those strike me as plausible battles for spots on the team.
I think there is that battle to be had in terms of central midfield. There are people who've locked down roster spots for Busio and de la Torre, and I'm not sure if that's the case or not. We have to put McKennie back in there from the group this window. Would both Busio and de la Torre have both been in this recent squad if McKennie was fit? Maybe not. Different skill-sets, for sure. Pomykal is an odd duck. He's not a stat collector. He went pro prior to the 2017 season. His debut was in the 2016/2017 Champions League. To date, for his career, he has 4 goals and 3 assists across all competitions. That's it. Part of that is a lack of ability to stay healthy, but part of it is just how he plays in his "free 8" roll at FCD. If people are looking for a playmaker in midfield, it ain't him. He's the guy who gets the ball to the guy who provides the assists. A connector. Who's an equivalent? Darlington Nagbe? In the last 2+ seasons, Nagbe has only 3 assists. Mihailovic went pro in 2017 as well. 13 goals and 28 assists. He's 23. So is that what we actually are looking for? A playmaker?
I don't think Mihailovic can play the hybrid 8/10 position we use in the 4-3-3. He is a more plausible candidate for the 11. We use guys that play it in strikingly different ways. Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Aaronson, Arriola. So there is certainly room in the inn for a guy like Mihailovic. But he would be competing with Aaronson for the last spot. Not plausible. At the hybrid 8/10 Pomykal would be competing with Busio. Much more plausible. An no I don't see Greggg altering how the team is set up to accommodate Mihailovic's skill set. The current setup reflects the particular qualities of its key players. As it should.
I totally get what you're saying with regards to Pomykal's fit verus Mihailovic. If we go to a 26 man roster (as apparently is being considered by FIFA), Mihailovic is perhaps the kind of guy that can get in there. A guy with a different skill-set than Berhalter currently has in the group. Although, we have to fit Aaronson back in...........................and if we have both he and Reyna, what do we use Mihailovic for?
A bit emotional after last night. Don’t like posting like that. I will now and allI have to say is who we shouldn’t bring. Steffen if he is not playing. Ditto Turner at Arsenal. It would be sending a message for the future, and we wouldn’t be able to rely on them anyway so it’s a win win. Goalkeepers have to freaking play. Stop. Does anyone here truly trust Steffen after what we have seen over the last 5 years? No real progress. Same issues. Poor reaction time and decision making. Same keeper he was in Columbus IMO. Consistently inconsistent. Can’t have that if you want to succeed. It’s a BIG PROBLEM IMO. Biggest one GB faces. Tell him his spot is in jeopardy unless he gets a loan. Tell Matt if he isn’t playing ditto. US Men’s team, we are 8 months out and it’s a big problem. Horvath plays he starts. End of story. Who to bring? Anyone have any friends who are trustworthy keepers?
I saw of his matches in Belgium. Still has that high upside, but still has so much to learn. Don’t think he can make that jump that quick. Next cycle he could easily blow up.
It’s not going to happen. These guys have a week between their last game and the kickoff of the opening match of the World Cup. Every team is going to be dealing with more injuries, especially small nagging ones that players would’ve healed from during a normal 3 week pre-camp, than usual. Hopefully our injury luck (which, admittedly, has been particularly bad) will revert back to the mean.
The best thing about this World Cup is the next one is only 3 1/2 years away, not 4 like it normally would be.
We should only bring in players that clearly have attributes that would be helpful at WC2022. It does not matter at this stage if some prospect is above average in whatever lower level league they are playing in, if their skillset won't translate then no sense in wasting time on them at this juncture. See 2019, 2020 if a refresher is needed. Defense: Brooks and Sally succeed against top tier players week in and week out. I assume Richards is already in. Midfield: Williamson and Dotson have the athleticism to augment MMAA. Wide Attackers: I don't see anyone new that could help. Forward: Bobby Wood looks like he is back to the old Bobby Wood so far. If he stays healthy...
Correct. I am at the point where I think that guys should strategically "sit themselves" for an extra week leading into the World Cup. Hard to refuse to play for your employer who pays you, though. Would hope it could be positioned as minutes management. It would just be devastating to be any of these players and pick up and injury in the 1-2 weeks of the final matches pre-WC. Seems like an ideal time to feign a knock!
Bobby Wood isn't jumping over Sargent and Dike, much less the guys already in the squad. And I guess Zardes, but I don't know what Berhalter's position on Gyasi is at the moment.
Nah, you could've inserted Pepi's name for Wood, but since he was scoring for fun he was in. Wood has to do the same, but if he does hell yeah bring him in.
I don't look at Pomykal as a playmaker. His primary value propositions are: Ball progression Ball-winning So, he's essentially a backup for Yunus Musah At his best, I think he does an equal or better job progressing the ball as Gianluca Busio and Luca De La Torre, but he's a better ball-winner than both. Obviously he needs to stay healthy and have an extended run of good form.
i agree thats the door in, particularly if we take reyna as primarily a cm. we would still be able to use reyna wide, but just considering him an 8 first that makes the wings pulisic, weah, aaronson and (with morris not looking very good at all) arriola may be close to a lock as #4. even assuming a 26 man roster though its not super likely we use one of those 3 "extra" spots for a wing. its like the letters they just start with on "wheel of fortune" now- a 5th cb, 5th 8/7th cm and 3rd st will overwhelmingly be the template. especially factoring in a cb who can cover fb or dm, a 6/8 hybrid, a striker who can play wide/vice versa, etc. a presumably wide attacker in greggs system who could play 8 isnt a really strong need. a player like sands on the other hand is going to be valuable way beyond his actual ability. roster building is freaking tough, yall. im not at all convinced an expanded roster simplifies anything.
My top looks: Reyna in the midfield Pomykal Dike Fourth Centerback Battle Royale Weah at striker (even though I don't think he's going to be better at striker than winger) Give Sargent another run
i dont disagree with any of your post, im just trying to focus. horvath (assuming he keeps the job) and slonina are so scary though. after all this time, system tweaks, player turnover etc the idea of essentially a new gk is just terrifying. full disclosure im a big steffen guy, but youre absolutely right. if hes not loaned/sold and starts right away (not like its going to be more than a handful of matches anyways) its so hard to justify. same for turner. bottom line, if youre not having an existential crisis over the gk position right now youre not at a level of soccer crazy i can get with.
i think the "problem" with reynolds (and moore, for that matter) is do you really want to back up dest with another primarily attacking back? especially when thats the only real backup plan on the left, too (bello). thats why i think we default to yedlin/cannon. it would be super if we could consider a 2 years in the future scally, but we need to have some defense in our fb pool.
I'm still holding out hope for Hoppe under Mallorca's new coach. From what I have seen from him at both Shalke and the GC, I think he has the off-the-ball movement, instincts, work rate and touch to help us. I'd like to see him at the 9 because he's not making the team as a winger. Love Pomykal, think he is one of the 4 or 5 best American 8s, when healthy. Hope he gets a run of games. Haven't seen Jonathon Gomez mentioned but he looks very good playing 90 against grown men in the Spanish second division. Wouldn't surprise me if he gets his debut in La Liga this spring, and gets a chance to win the starting job this summer.
The main question for me is how many of the A team guys are getting the summer off. If none are then you are only getting a look at a handful of guys. But if a ton are you can cast a much wider net. If the A team guys get the summer off I'd probably do something like the below (which is probably a few guys too many). GK: Horvath, Johnson, Slonina LB: Vines, Jones, Gomez RB: Scally, Cannon, Yedlin CB: Brooks, Long, CCV, EPB DM: Sands, Cerillo CM:Roldan, Busio, LDLT, Pomykal, WIlliamson, Tessmann, Mihailovic WF: Paredes, Morris, Arriola, Ledezma, Konrad FW: Pepi, Dike, Pefok, Sargent, Ferreira
Much better passer than Musah and covers way more space. Unfortunately has wide range of form due to health issues. At his best I'll take him over everyone not called Weston.
Yes. That was a bad decision to not have more time off before the tournament. Maybe the U.S. can benefit from that chaotic situation somehow?