I suspect that Berhalter can write 95% of his roster today. The camp will be to gel that group and to conduct just a few battles for the last roster slots. This is for final fine tuning, and not to give 10 more guys a shot. That's what the past two years have been about. James Sands has had zero minutes for the USMNT in 2022. Zero. So one might suggest, for instance, that Berhalter has already made a decision on him before now IF EVERYBODY is healthy. He's a guy I could see being named one of the alternatives though. And the guys Berhalter is eying as alternates should also be at the camp. So there should be about 28-30 players. I predict one new player. Vasquez. That's it. The rest will basically be what we've seen since the summer of 2021.
I think you kind of answered your own question. If you have 23ish written in with ink and 3 more with pencil adding 3 more brings you pretty close to 30. You mentioned Sands, Tillman and Vazquez Berhalter may easily have 3-5 names in mind. the reality is that the format of the window before the wc sucks for coaches compared to the usual. Should he be bringing 30? I don't think it is ideal but it isn't ideal that we have areas of concern either. Sometimes decisions have to be made when neither choice is ideal. The other consideration is that there easily could be injuries and the alternates need time with the team as well.
Mihailovic was the hot name coming into June. Then he got hurt, and between that and perhaps Tillman playing at Rangers and Reyna coming back, he seems to be a forgotten man. I wonder if he gets a look in September. It's not a position of need at the moment, but he's playing well again for Montreal.
i agree that this is what will happen...but its a shame imo good chance we will look back on this roster and think how did XYZ not make it???! and also there will be (perhaps a lot of) players not on the roster playing better than those who are (which will be a first) this will be the first world cup where the pool was obviously not fully vetted beforehand....will be interesting to see how ggg's faves that hes settled on for a long time now hold up.
I am going to guess that Djordje gets left out. I feel really bad for him... getting that injury right before the call-up. Unfortunately he is not scoring/assisting since his return (0/1 G/A in 6 appearances) and Tillman has... in CL comp as well. I think if Tillman continues to show well for Rangers then he will end of taking Djordje's slot.
I can see that. I do think we should watch Tillman close today and at PSV. Playing at Rangers in the SPL is a bit unfair in terms of evaluation; not only is the comp not great, but all your teammates are clearly better as well. For a player like Tillman who really shines as a complement to a whole, he's going to look great in that situation. Tillman fitting into a talented Rangers squad is not as impressive as Djordje leading a Montreal squad to a record far above their talent so far. So the Euro stuff is important to me for Tillman (and I'm a big fan). USG isn't a bad team, but Rangers got rolled on the road and they've been incredible at Ibrox. The game at PSV will be a real test for Tillman in terms of real Euro comp and not at home. Hopefully Rangers go through and we get more than a couple of games sample. At the end of the day, I could see both left home. Aaronson and Reyna are both pretty good CAM options, better than Djordje and Tillman. That thins you out at winger, so there might be a need for redundancy, but you also have Pulisic as an option. Given 26 man rosters ... I could see Tillman or Djordje making it. I could also see a player with a more defensive profile, or additional wingers, or a number of other things. Bummer for Djordje, though. He looked good last time out -- the productivity will come back, I think.
Good points. Really looking forward to the CL game today. I also want to say that I have been one of the posters that has been banging the Djordje callup train the most since the mid-point of the last MLS season. I am a huge fan. He is one of the few players at his age that was able to significantly increase his pace on the pitch. Usually by the time you hit 20 you are as fast as you are going to get but Djordje picked up the pace... both on the ball and off. And you are right... he is a real field general for Montreal. When he went down with injury he had either scored or assisted on 1/3 of all his team's goals. Amazing stat.
I think there are four players that should be called in: Vazquez Tolkin Mendez Koleosho They should have all been there in June. Mendez in particular seems a different level than last season.
I don't think Koleosho is anywhere near to deserving a call up. Canada may poach him by offering him a World Cup spot as result, but there's not a ton you can do there. Similarly there's a number of players who deserve a call up before Mendez does. Tolkin is on the radar for sure, but I think he's behind Vines at current. Vazquez seems pretty certain.
Considering it's the youngest roster in the world I think they've done a decent job bringing in players. A lot more young and very young than most managers would have. If they try out a bunch of players this window, don't work on getting reps for most likely players then there will be grousing about why did he waste time on players who didn't matter. Managers will always take heat if they aren't Nostradamus. Djordje, Ledezma, Miles and Dike are all unlucky. Hope that's it but it probably won't be. Injuries have been brutal all cycle. I still wonder if injuries are more common because of so many minutes for such young players.
People thinking that Tillman doing well against lower tier teams, is worthy of a WC roster spot, is very laughable. Please stop.
He should be, but I'm not sure that Gregg likes Vines. As Bello, and Paredes are down, Tolkin has a chance.
behind 6 goals in the last week, our foward pool shall be sarge, zardes and ferreira, just as the prophesies foretold...
IMO, that means a couple of outside-looking-in candidates at CF and maybe one of Vines/Bello vs Scally in a bid to back up Jedi, and probably Tillman, and that's it. Everything else I think is essentially settled, health-permitting. But that might be 30 if all the normal 26 are healthy.
While I think the number is lower than what Eleven (who has a tendency to like to be comprehensively inclusive) is saying, I think you have the right idea about what this camp is about, and why a liked vet might well be the final call-up in case of an injury without necessarily having taken part in this camp.
I think you're right. I wouldn't be surprised if we try out a 3-back tactical wrinkle one more time, just to see. If it were a game of Football Manager, that's how I'd line us up against Wales, honestly. But in real life it's just never worked out for us as well as you'd think it should on paper.
Just to be pedantic because it actually proves the point, I believe that as of our last qualifying window our roster was literally the world's third-youngest after US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands (fittingly). Statistically, young players do get injured more often than prime age players, which is probably at the root of our injury issues.
younger than most managers would? yes. look at how its working for tata or how that vet laden approach worked for bruce. GGG did try out a bunch of vets this cycle ! wasted a ton of time on them (the younger players have emerged somewhat later in the cycle, to be fair) but still, thats why GGG is the highest paid USSF employee - if he cant look at the pool and figure out who will be the ones by the time the WC rolls around...then why is he the manager? there are tons of people in the world that could do that. the youth makes it hard - and the US pool is skewed younger than almost any in the world. it means that players now will be emerging now and through the WC....its hard. but bruce bringing donovan and beasley to 2002 was kinda last minute and not really planned fully...and you see how that worked out. ggg just needs to bring the best players regardless of whatever lockerroom or personal affinity he has for anyone. period. and yeah if he gets some players wrong....he should be judged accordingly.....what he has done is IGNORE evidence about players to keep them "in the group" way way too much...which has created the problem of it being too late to look at XYZ in the first place. so im not buying that excuse. its a hard job...the injuries have been brutal. but the WC is a young man's game and this should be about doing as good as possible in this comp and bringing the best 23 or 26 or whatever it is. for me, the youth is potentially a huge advantage for this team...they will be fearless and confident...and playing in big clubs and leagues...will actually be ready to play at this level.
Based on the fact that GGG worked to recruit him, called him in last camp, played him last camp, has brought his name up in a positive light in recent interviews, and that Tillman has been doing well at club recently, I'd prepare yourself for the likelihood of him being called into the September camp. You get the feeling that Gregg might give this kid a bit more slack than some other players in the pool might get. Personally, I'm still kinds agnostic on Tillman and certainly not calling for him to be locked in at this point but he is a very intriguing prospect. If he continues his good run of form I'm not going to be particularly upset if he is on the 26 man roster.
Indeed. I don't think he's won a WC roster spot, but his recent play should have earned him an opportunity at the September camp. Seriously, this board is so schizo. Who do people want? Christian Roldan? Who are we leaving at home in order to take another extended look at Tillman?
I disagree with pretty much this entire post, but especially the bolded part. He’s building a team, not a collection of individuals. It’s incredibly easy to say that Scally is a better left back than Robinson, but that doesn’t mean starting him over Robinson would be a good idea. You have to consider things like locker room culture (remember how toxic last cycle was?), playing style, and roles when picking players and building a team. Also, what players did GB waste time with? I don’t think he is a very good coach, but I think he handled the integration of young players very well. Lletget and Musah are a good example of this. Both players were in very different places a year ago when Lletget was his preferred choice, and Musah was getting spot minutes. Starting a young and unproven Musah could’ve caused a ton of problems for him and the squad. The fact that team chemistry has remained strong throughout this process, and that we have a lot of young players who have been integrated into the team and are ready for the World Cup is a pretty strong endorsement of Berhalter’s team building and squad/man management. His X’s and O’s have been a very different story.
The biggest complaint is that the young player isn't playing. The second biggest complaint is that the young player that is playing wasn't played sooner. It is what it is. For my money, Gregg has played the Lletget/Musah gambit well.