27-man roster for June matches

Tillman listed as a mid. Not a bad roster, all things considered.

 

Unless Ebobisse switches, he's clearly a better forward than Arriola and Morris. Portland really screwed him playing him out of position all those years.

 

No real surprises. New faces appear to be Tillman, CCV, and Wright. Seems like this was the last real opportunity for new faces so guys who didn’t make it I think are generally out of the picture till next cycle.

Most surprised to see Bello given it doesn’t seem like Berhalter trusted him during qualifying so I thought we may see someone else. Nice to see Scally even though his inclusion was expected.

I didn’t expect to see Brooks so not surprised at his absence.

Richards must not be ready to return yet though McKennie is.

 

I wonder if Busio is out of the running at this point.

 

I'm glad that Tillman, Wright and Scally are there. Disappointed that there is no Ledezma. At this point we all knew that Brooks and Sargent were not a part that doesn't mean it's not at least a little disappointing.

Overall, this is a strong roster.

 

Had we not all known about Tilman, that would have been the big surprise but with already knowing that, this was one of the more predictable rosters we've seen. I think beyond players working through injuries, this is the squad Berhalter considers his top selection. I know I may have a couple others I would pick as we all do, but I think it is hard to say there is anyone Berhalter considers a part of his plans moving forward that is not injured or on this list. Anyone who isn't on the list or would have been if not for injury will have to really light it up somewhere to get a shot before Qatar.

Also, quibbles about a few picks aside I am glad he's taking the route of keeping the same guys together and giving them more time to develop chemistry over calling in a bunch of players he isn't going to pick anyway.

 

LDLT is clearly ahead of him for that fringe spot in midfield because he appears to be Musah-lite. Busio doesn't really look to be a like-for-like replacement for any starter.

 

So I imagine the two dual nats talked about were Gaga and Tillman, and now Gaga joins the U20's, might be the case that another 1 or 2 guys that some expected to be here end up being a part of the U20/U23 qualifying camp instead. They overlap enough to make it impossible to do both, and the staff is definitely focused on qualifying and not just WC prep and NL.

 

He doesn't really fit the ball advancing 8 profile, right? LDLT was sooo much better and I think we know what we want in that position.

 

Anyway, seeing Tillman and Djorde in the midfield part of the roster it seems to me that we could be seeing the 4-2-3-1 as a new wrinkle. The plan, I suspect, is to smoother Iran and Wales with a pressing high line.

 

Is Sarge still hurt? I’d rather see him than Arriola.

 

Omission of Brooks is disappointing if not surprising, and is part of the Gregg rollercoaster I guess. The center backs should be interesting to watch. No real passers among them.

 

I'm ambivalent:

positives:

- Scally
- Wright
- Generally strikers, w/ what was available
- Horvath over Johnson
- Mihailovic


negatives:

- small roster w/ injury questions for 4-game camp w/ mix of game-type
- lb alternative options (Scally's not left-footed)
- 6 alternative
- 8 alternative options
- no Brooks
- only 3-4 true cb's
- no Sonora
- Morris shouldn't be here until he re-establishes w/ club

So moderately more negative than positive, which is a good description of Berhalter's tenure in general.

 

Berhalter says Busio, Pepi, Sands left off to give them time to recover post-Euro season. Mentions Williamson, Tolkin, Vines, Paredes, McKenzie, Brooks, Johnson as guys who were in consideration but not called up.

Happy with Slonina decision, not called because of his form.

— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) May 20, 2022

 

Basically the roster is what folks should have expected it to be. We don't have many games left in this cycle. It was always going to be mostly the crew that got us here plus a few of the guys competing for the last roster slots.

Why did people need more evidence that Brooks isn't going to be part of this squad? He's out and that was determined quite a long time ago. Some day we'll find out why. Maybe he slept with the star forward's wife like John Harkes did?

 

I hope Tillman proves me wrong but right now, I think that he's overrated.

 

Paredes? What has he done to earn a call up?

 

Curious, whose post here do you think expresses surprise (rather than disappointment) about Brooks?

 

By the way......................when you take a step back and look at it from afar, that's a VERY young roster for a pre-WC camp.

 

Yup and that doesn't include Dest & Reyna who are both out with injuries and are locks to be on the final WC roster, should they be healthy.