We need to see more of Reyna after he returns, see if he can play 90 and if he is what he used to be. I wouldn't say he's a near lock right now, he was one before the injuries.
There’s basically no scenario where a healthy Reyna isn’t a lock. He looked fine when he came back from the injury in March during qualifying and there’s no reason to expect that he won’t be the same player. It’s more about just staying healthy.
Given he’s seen no playing time this window, and that he barely played in qualifying, Roldan very much seems like he’s on bubble but that it’d be very easy for someone to pass him. If I had to bet I think he won’t make it. I think Berhalter loves the guy and everything he brings (as do his teammates), I just think he’s not going to make it given how little he actually plays. The 4th 8 I’ll guess will end being 1 of Tillman, Mihailovic, or Pomykal.
L'Equipe reports that FIFA hasn't made a decision on whether teams will bring 23 or 26 players to World Cup. Lots of talk at team seminars before draw about taking 26 players ... but it isn't a sure thing at all. More discussion expected next week. IFAB AGM is Monday in Doha.— Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) June 9, 2022
I thought it was funny. Nevertheless, Brooks is one of the better defenders in the Bundesliga, and I cannot believe he can't find a place as a substitute in Gregg's 23/26. Brooks is kind of slow, so I don't have a problem with him not starting. But he has WC experience, he was one of the better players at WC 2014 and the Copa America Centenario. With Miles Robinson's injury, it is a little bit funny that he still doesn't get called up.
My 23 right now based on club form¹, considering injured players' expected² club form when returning: #1 Pulisic (LW/LAM) #2 Aaronson (CAM/LW) #3 McKennie (B2B/CM) #4 Weah (RW/CF) #5 A. Robinson (LB) #6 Reyna (RAM/RW/LW) #7 Dest (RB/RF) #8 Adams (DM/RB) #9 Pefok (ST) #10 Arriola (RAM/RF/LF) #11 Brooks (LCB) #12 Ream (LCB) #13 Wright (ST) #14 Yedlin (RB) #15 Zimmerman (RCB) #16 Carter-Vickers (RCB) #17 Mihailovic (LAM/LW) #18 Richards (LCB) #19 S. Johnson (GK) #20 Musah (RM/CM) #21 Ferreira (ST) #22 Cannon (RB) #23 Roldan (RM/RAM) #24 Moore (RB) #25 Palmer-Brown (CB) #26 T. Tillman³ (CM/LAM) #27 Morris (LW/RW/ST) #28 de la Torre (LM/CM) #29 Ebobisse (ST) #30 Lennon (RB/RW) #31 McKenzie (RCB) #32 Scally (RB/RW/LB) #33 Turner (GK) League strength & strength of rivals/club considered. Positions as played in club. This is an experiment to see what I get, I'm NOT advocating for this to be the Final 23 (or 26). I had no idea what the result was going to be once I started. ¹ Club form as in the last 2 months, except for injured players or players just recovering for injury. ² Expected returning form of players currently/until recently injured based on what they showed before injury and severity of it. ³ Tim Tillman has not declared for the USA yet. --------------------------------Pefok/Wright-------------------------------- Puli/Aaronson----------------------------------------------Weah/Reyna ------------McKennie/Mihailovic---------Arriola/Musah------------- -----------------------------Adams/Roldan--------------------------------- ARob/Scally-----JAB/Ream----Zimmerman/CCV----Dest/Yedlin ---------------------------Johnson/Turner/?------------------------------- The 3rd keeper is in the air, since neither Steffen nor Horvath have played enough recently. One of them should be #3. Arriola over Musah is an anomaly, Musah has played the equivalent of a bit over two games in the last two months, for Valencia, and he's not looked good for them. Musah is a much better fit in the MMA midfield, of course, with his role of support DM --a role Arriola couldn't play. McKennie and Mihailovic are not interchangeable roles, since the latter goes wide on the left and is not a distributor. The JAB/Zimmerman pairing wouldn't work. Neither JAB/CCV. So Richards would be a much more logical option. Also, I don't feel JAB is half as good for the NT as he is for his club. The biggest drop in quality is from Adams to Roldan. We must pray Adams remains fit. The second biggest drop is from Antonee to Scally. In a way, even more scary, since Scally is already mediocre as a RB --but he has some experience playing the LB role, in his club, unlike Cannon or Yedlin. Dest also has that experience, but he should be the starting RB. If 26 are allowed, the other 3 would be: Richards, Ferreira, Cannon Another mid could make more sense than a 3rd mediocre striker or a third option RB. But this is based on club form, for the national team the Yedlin vs. Cannon decision is going to be a tough one. It's more likely to be Richards, Morris, de la Torre. PS: Pefok and Wright are also guys who look better with club than with the NT. I wouldn't be surprised with Ferreira becoming the #1 option.
I've identified approximately 50 players below who have made at least 2 appearances for us since 2021 in any noteworthy matches: i.e. WCQ, NL, GC knockout stage matches, and A-team friendlies. (I've also added Sean Johnson and Djordje Mihailovic, since given how rarely backup GKs play, Johnson's one start was as meaningful as any field player's multiple appearances, and Mihailovic likely would have made this list if he hadn't gotten injured recently.) Here's how I would group those 50 players based on Berhalter's lineup decisions in the past year or so. Locks (13): GK: Steffen - Man City (EPL) GK: Turner - Arsenal (EPL) RB/LB: Dest - Barcelona (La Liga) LB: Robinson - Fulham (EPL) CB: Zimmerman - Nashville (MLS) MF/WF: Aaronson - Leeds (EPL) MF: Acosta - LAFC (MLS) MF: Adams - RB Leipzig (Bundesliga) MF: McKennie - Juventus (Serie A) MF: Musah - Valencia (La Liga) WF: Pulisic - Chelsea (EPL) WF: Reyna - Dortmund (Bundesliga) WF: Weah - Lille (Ligue 1) Almost In (4): CB: Long - NYRB (MLS) CB: Richards - Bayern (Bundesliga) MF: De La Torre - Heracles (Eerste Divisie) CF: Ferreira - Dallas (MLS) In a battle (maybe 6 or 7 out of these 14 will make it): GK: Johnson - NYCFC (MLS)* GK: Horvath - Nottingham Forest (EPL) RB: Cannon - Boavista (Primeira Liga) RB/LB: Scally - Monchengladbach (Bundesliga) RB: Yedlin - Miami (MLS) LB: Bello - Arminia Bielefeld (Bundesliga 2) CB: Carter-Vickers - Celtic (SPL) CB: Palmer-Brown - Troyes (Ligue 1) MF: Busio - Venezia (Serie B) MF/WF: Roldan - Seattle (MLS) WF: Arriola - Dallas (MLS) WF: Morris - Seattle (MLS) CF: Pepi - Augsburg (Bundesliga) CF: Sargent - Norwich (Championship) Outside, but with a shot of breaking in (2 or 3 of these 13 might make it): RB: Moore - Tenerife (Segunda) LB: Vines - Antwerp (Belgium) CB: Brooks - out of contract CB: Miazga - Alaves (Segunda), on loan from Chelsea (EPL) CB: McKenzie - Genk (Belgium) CB/FB: Ream - Fulham (EPL) CB/MF: Sands - Rangers (SPL) MF: Mihailovic - Montreal (MLS)* MF: Tillman - Bayern (Bundesliga) WF: Konrad - Marseille (Ligue 1) CF: Pefok - Young Boys (Swiss Super League) CF: Dike - West Brom (Championship) CF: Wright - Antalyaspor (Turkish Super Lig) Long shots/probably can count 'em out (I'd expect 0 of these 7 to make it): CB: Robinson - Atlanta (MLS) - injured MF: Lletget - New England (MLS) MF: Willimason - Portland (MLS) MF: Yueill - San Jose (MLS) WF: Gioacchini - Caen (Ligue 2) WF/CF: Hoppe - Mallorca (La Liga) CF: Zardes - Colorado (MLS)
GK: Turner, Steffen, [Horvath/Johnson] RB: Dest, Cannon RCB: Richards, Long LCB: Zimmerman, CCV LB: JediRobinson, Scally LM: McKennie, Musah CM: Adams, Acosta RM: Reyna, DLT LW: Pulisic, Pepi CF: Ferreira, Wright RW: Weah, Aaronson
I'll wait until after the El Salvador match to post a 23 (and 26) man squad, but I don't think much has changed so far for me. Maybe EPB has been leapfrogged by CCV, but that's it.
I would solve the logjam at rb by dropping Yedlin and adding Scally even if some would consider it risky. I.e., take ARob/Scally and Dest/Cannon My reasoning: It's not like Yedlin and ARob (even Dest, for that matter) aren't "risky". We're just a lot more familiar with them, right? Isn't ARob a Ch/ship player, in essence? Between Yedlin and Cannon, it seems to me that Cannon makes more sense because he can play cb as well and is getting training at that spot in Portugal. Scally will be training very soon with a solid Bundesliga team and trying to win a spot from one of the 2 Germans ahead of him, left/right respectively. He should be in good conditioning. He is known for solid passing and clean tackling which is the opposite of risky. The drawback is lack of strong left foot for crossing from the wide left area the 3rd back up at fb should be Arriola who can play either side. My personal selections as of right now - total 21. Pepi and Sands are speculative because they would have to get off the bench at clubs real fast and early this season. I'm counting on Morris to get into A1 shape. He's much better than many realize. ---------pulisic----aaronson---ferreira----weah ---------(morris)-------------(pepi)----------(arriola) ---arob------musah---(reyna)-----adams-----dest ---(scally)---------------------------(sands)---(cannon) ----------------------long-----------zim -------------------------------------(ccv) --------------gk: Turner/Horvath/Johnson (I have no idea what is up with Steffen)
I don't think there is a 4th 8. Aaronson, Reyna, and Acosta can all play there. Plus, if there is more 4231 there is less need. If we can take 26, maybe.
My 23 (Gregg's): Keeper who plays, Horvath, Turner (Sub Steffen for keeper-who-plays) Zimm, Richards, Brooks, CCV (Sub Long for Brooks) Dest, ARob, Cannon, Scally (Sub Yedlin for Scally) Adams, Acosta Wes, Musah, Reyna, LDLT (sub Roldan for Tillman) Weah, Aaronson, CP, Sarge, (sub Arriola for Sarge) Fereira, Pepi
I sort of agree though I think if the rosters are 26 I think there will be one. For all the hand wringing about Roldan I sort of don’t think he’s going to make it. Long and Arriola are the two players who I think will who will be the ones everyone gets worked up over.
I think Roldan would have had a better chance of making it to Qatar had he been used as a dmid at club. We just don't think of him as one because he was too useful to Seattle in the attack.
Here’s my 23 with Gregg’s in parentheses. GK: Turner, Steffen, Frei (Johnson for Frei) Outside Backs: Jedi, Dest, Cannon, Vines (Bello for Vines) CBs: Richards, Brooks, Zimm, CCV (Long for CCV) DCM: Adams, Acosta CAM: McKennie, Reyna, Musah , LDLT Wingers: Pulisic, Weah, Aaronson, Arriola CF: Ferreira, Dike (Pepi for Dike) If I could add 3 additional players to my roster above (to get to 26) would likely add Pepi, EPB, and Scally. For Gregg’s I think CCV has a real chance to slip in as CB #5 on a 26 man roster but he might be the last cut on a 23 man roster (along with Roldan). Additionally, there’s likely a roll the dice CF that makes it on a 26-man roster for Gregg — tbh the ES game is absolutely enormous for Haji and he’s going to need to bang a goal home to give himself a chance (rarely has one game been that important to someone’s chances of making the plane). I have my doubts that he’s going to look good on the road in a pressing role but we will see.
I didn't have him on either my 23 or my 26! Just had Gregg throwing him on as the 2nd "listed" LB but in reality an emergency 3rd LB (Dest would likely shift over if Jedi went down) on the 23. I had Vines as that emergency player but he was the lowest conviction pick on my 23, I could be convinced to take Scally over him if he plays a lot/well in the first few months of the next club season, just a bit shaken by that poor showing against Uruguay.
i predicted berhalters 23 man roster a day or two ago, but havent updated mine in a while... gk steffen gk turner gk horvath rb dest rb yedlin cb richards cb brooks cb zimmerman cb epb lb robinson lb scally dm adams dm acosta cm mckennie cm reyna cm musah cm de la torre rw weah rw arriola st dike* st pepi lw pulisic lw aaronson *if fully fit, if not ferreira was the backup
Club form. He's a sub (mainly) for Valencia. And he's playing fewer minutes of late, which is justifiable because he's not producing.
Assuming as he says, Berhalter knows about 20 of the 23: Cf: Ferreira, ? (Wright or Pepi) HSM: Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Arriola CM: McKennie, Adams, Musah, Aaronson, LDLT, Acosta OB: Dest, Robinson, Yedlin, Cannon CB: Zimmerman, Long, Richards, ? (McKenzie, CCV, EPB) GK: Steffen, Turner, ? (Johnson or Horvath) On a 26 man roster, Roldan would be one of the 3 additional players. Along with to the names above, Moore and Sands are possibilities. Maybe a left back. Maybe Brooks gets back into the picture? Maybe Sargent. I really don’t see many other possibilities unless someone really goes on a tear. Oh and Pefok