Wright's goal was very lucky - Gyasi Zardes was with the USMNT in spirit there. But just as with Zardes in his prime, an attacker who simply finds the ball in threatening places will often make good things happen. I thought that Wright troubled the (excellent) Netherlands defense during his limited time, and was an important part of our brief fightback. He was ineffective in the other appearances, but I think his total minutes weren't enough to get a reliable read on his level or prospects. He should stay in the mix going forward.
I want to see him score 20 goals in this season's Turkish league. After that, hopefully, he moves up.
Update: 1. Folarin Balogun 2. Ricardo Pepi 3. Daryl Dike 4. Josh Sargent 5. Brandon Vazquez 6. Haji Wright 7. Jordan Pefok 8. Jeremy Ebobisse 9. Jesus Ferreira 11. Matthew Hoppe ==YNT== 12. Darren Yapi 13. Keyrol Figueroa
Its a long time between now and 2026. Most of these people are still young or otherwise on an upward trajectory. Some will move into better club situations that allow them to thrive. Others will have bad luck or make bad decisions and wind up on a team where they get no service. Who knows who will rise and fall between now and 2026. Meanwhile, I am thrilled to add another promising candidate into that mix (knock on wood).
We need a lot of depth. And you never know.....................a guy like Wright could move to another club and excel. Or, Balogun/Pepi/Dike could move to a bigger club and disappear. We just need to keep building depth and depth and depth and depth. Take the hot hand when the important tournaments come along. All we need to do is look at this thread to see how volatile depth charts can be. I personally would lump Ebobisse, Ferreira, etc. into the same band as Vazquez and Wright. All Ferreira does is score goals. Can't move up into the Dike/Sargent band until he moves abroad. My gut is that happens after this MLS season. [FYI............Jesus Ferreira 3 goals and 2 assists so far in MLS. Vazquez? 0 and 1.] Personally I'd lump Hoppe in with a whole host of guys in the farther back band. What does Hoppe's one goal for a mediocre team in Scotland do for him that's different from Gioacchini's performances in St. Louis? I just picked him out of thin air. Gioacchini is one I have a side-eye on, though. Still only 22. Could be a Vazquez like late bloomer with the right opportunity.
With Balogun, order for 2026: Folarin Balogun Ricardo Pepi Josh Sargent Wright Dike Pefok Vasquez Hoppe Figueroa Ebobissee Sullivan Then the lesser known dual nat: Maurice Malone The guy succeeding in the obscure Euro league: Eduvie Ikoba The fringe player I wish someone would convert: Cole Bassett
What is with the Jesus Ferreira backlash. Cuz you can't have a 10 top that includes Figueroa, who's done squadoosh against adult professionals, and leave out Jesus Ferreira. Hoppe has scored one goal since the 2020-2021 season. That was for a mediocre Scottish team against one of the worst teams in their league. For some reason I don't quite understand, Hoppe is giving the benefit of the doubt. Why? I don't know. How can one have Hoppe on any top 10 list and exclude Ferreira? Makes no sense.
1. Balogun---his record in the Top-5 moves him to the head of the queue. 2. Sargent--has an impressive record in non-relegation seasons panning the C'ship, B2, and B1. Is ready for a return to the Top-5. 3. Pepi--a move to PSV could represent a brilliant progression which would include UCL play. 4. Wright--will likely move up in league level. Needs to stay away from the EPL for now. 5. Dike--the C'hip will provide the opportunity to round out his game.
Because we've seen more Ferreira and from that sample, we feel more confident that he doesn't have it. I don't hate it. I felt sorry for him in his one WC half. By the end of his shift, he didn't seem to want to be there. Hoppe has played better for the National Team than Ferriera. I don't think that Hoppe has ever really played badly for us. He also started for nearly half of a season in the Bundesliga and didn't melt. I don't see Ferriera ever playing at that level. He's also 6'3 and Ferreira is 4'8. So he's better suited physically for the international game at striker (although Ferreira is quite fast). Figueroa is easily our best youth prospect, and seemingly (for the moment) by a wide margin, from what I can see. So, one hopes, he has the potential to play in a major league. Can he fill that potential in the next few years? We can hope.
In the end we took 3 striker to the last World Cup. So even if Balogun commits and is the guy there’s still going to space for other guys. Plus like every player Balogun will have the occasional injury or knock.
My current depth chart if Balogun commits 1) Balogun 2) Sargent 3) Pepi 4) Vazquez 5) Dike 6) Ferreira 7) Wright 8) Pefok 9) Ebobisse If Balogun commits it’ll be interesting to see how they divide up the forward spots for Nations League and Gold Cup this summer. I assume it’d be Balogun and either Sargent or Pepi for Nations League and whoever doesn’t get picked between Sargent and Pepi along with either Dike or Vazquez for Gold Cup.
If this wasn’t mentioned, as much as I’m excited for the level we could reach with Balogun, I’m proud of our boy, Pepi, because he seems like he’s finally emerging too as a legitimate forward. In other words, even if we have Balogun, we’re still going to want, someone like Pepi, to keep pushing himself into the team.
Nobody should be counting out a 22 year old... That said, if form continues, where does Morris come in? Looking like he is back to his pre-injury form. Still below Balogun (if he switches), Pepi, Sargent, and Dike at the moment. Past those 4 it's a bit of a "what do you like" over "who is better" for me.
Different style than Pepi and Sargent pretty completely and a reasonably different style than Dike, at least. Seattle is going to move him back to winger when everyone gets back. They have too much money wrapped up in striker.
True, but we could still use him at striker. Once you get past the first 3-4 guys it really becomes more style than ability. All about the same ability in my opinion.
Morris and Ferreira should both be in everybody's top 10. If they're not...............folks are overthinking it. They're not picking them just to make some sort of statement. They're both obviously in the top 10. You can't pick a guy in the U18s of a Euro club who's never played against an adult professional like Figueroa over Jordan Morris (or Jesus Ferreira, Vazquez, Ebobisse, etc.). Not if you're taking the exercise seriously. Those guys are the back half of my top 10. If we give ourselves Balogun (which I'm starting to believe)............then the top 5 are Balogun, Pepi, Wright, Dike, Sargent. That's my order, but its very tight until somebody grabs the bull by the horns.
Relevant production (in competitive matches where it could have affected outcome): Ricardo Pepi (800+ minutes): 7 g+a Josh Sargent (700- minutes): 0 Pepi's clear.
1. Balogun--waiting on the papers. 2. Pepi--In addition to his exploits in the Eredivisie, he has returned to scoring with the Nats against decent sides. 3. Wright---continues to rack up goals in Turkey. 4. Morris--has somehow recovered the pace and is playing as well as ever. He finally looks comfortable at striker. 5. Sargent--has fallen off a bit in league play. He also continues to get moved around.