I think with Tillman he's looked very good in those 4 games. He keeps playing like that he definitely deserves a chance. And if he's willing to play file a switch I'd be perfectly ok with him going for the Mexico game.
Agreed. Acosta has been good for the US since his first cap back in 2016. He is the firm backup to Adams as the #6. We don't win the 2021 B team Gold Cup without Acosta bossing the midfield. With Adams just having hamstring surgery the need is to find depth and a backup to Acosta who is only 27.
All the players listed have experience playing at CM in a double pivot so they can certainly play a #6 in a 4-3-3. Acosta was not a lone #6 in a 4-3-3 before he became 2nd on the depth chart under Berhalter. Kellyn was a box to box #8 in a double pivot for club. The same goes for Trapp, Yueill, and Sands, If you are talking about a pure hard tackling high work rate destroyer like Adams, then Canouse is currently the best option in the MLS pool.
People want to replace Roldan so bad they're grasping for any 8 like object. I'm just going to watch him and the Sounders keep working over all of the supposedly better MLS players.
I know we have a general disagreement on Roldan that I'm not really looking to rehash, but I'd argue that Tillman has outplayed Roldan in MLS this season. It's only been four games however, so that pendulum could swing. I do expect Roldan will start the Mexico friendly though, so definitely opportunity for him to make his case.
It wouldn't hurt to give Roldan a look in as the 5th cm. Oh, imo, Acosta will mightily challenged for a spot in the team. The talent coming through is impressive.
A wild idea, and kinda OT, but I wonder if Aaronson could slot in at the 6, while TA is out? He certainly has an Adams-like work rate. And, he takes his defensive duties seriously. Otherwise, maybe Wes at the 6, Yunas as an 8, and Gio as the 10.
Acosta should be challenged along with every other player on the current depth chart. That is how the squad gets better. I am very excited by Hudson/USSF with how they are handling player selection at the start of this new cycle. Leaving the March camp as a non-MLS affair gave fringe players like Trusty and Booth space to get a look. The April camp should do the same for depth MLS players. Well done.
That’s a very bold idea, but I like it. Not so much a six, but an 8 in a double pivot with a shade toward being more defensive could work.
I shudder to think of the amount of giveaways Aaronson would have as a 6. He’s a chaos creator at his best, not what you want from a defensive midfielder. Although his defensive work rate is admirable for an attacking player.
The best way to defend is to not let the opponent have the ball. No amount of work rate or defensive intensity makes up for ball security. Aaronson would be a complete disaster as a 6.
Is not Acosta about the age Beckerman was when he became a defensive mid? Beckerman kept sliding backwards from being a #10 with the Donovan / Beasley U17's until reinventing himself as a solo #6 and making the WC behind Jones / Bradley. # is a position like central defender and keeper where experience plays a big factor. Someone could still be a revelation but don't count out the experience factor.
He get's knocked off the ball, when he's on the ball. But, he's good at turning the attacking player, and he's good at dispossessing players.
Has anyone in USSF reached out to him? The last time that I know that the US tried to recruit him was Tab Ramos with the U20 and that was almost 5 years ago when Tim was still avery hot 18yo prospect with Bayern and Barcelona fighting over him. AFAIK when he was a lock starter in the BuLi with Furth in '21-'22 he was never recruited by Berhalter. When Malik switched to the US he made a point in his early interviews to mention that Tim was also interested in switching.
Roldan always on the wing now (as you must know as a Sounders fan). He's competing with the wingers for minutes, not the 8's.
The USA has a real issue in that they have a lot of wingers that can do a job as a midfielder but aren’t really suited for that role. Aaronson, Roldan, Tillman, Booth, for example. Mihailovic is more of a midfielder but still spends a lot of time on the wing for an 8. Gregg would try to plug a lot of these guys in but it never really seemed to work very well and made buildup and progression choppy and inefficient. Thankfully Musah and Luca came through in the cycle.
Is Daniel Pereira of Austin FC eligible to play for USA? I know he played for the Venezuela youth team but Wiki has that as 7 years ago. He's been in the US for about that length of time.
Roldan has been great in MLS. For whatever reason it has not really transferred to USA. If a new coach wants to give him another try, I'll be interested in seeing if he figures out how to get his Seattle form to USA. But otherwise... it doesn't seem like it's going to happen.
He's been a lot worse in people's minds than on the field IMO. I thought the time he was actually needed was for the three match windows in WCQ and Gregg didn't use him after the second window so who knows. I just tire of people pretending he isn't outperforming the guys they like better in the same league. You don't have to like him or want to call him but the idea that Eryk Williamson or Pomykal is a better player is laughable to me.
I'm not a "Sounders fan." I watch whatever team has interesting USMNT players, so I've watched most of their games the last 2 years. I watched every TFC game when Mikey and Jozy were relevant. I watched a ton of SKC when Busio was there. I may start watching NYCF now that they are going to offer me three or 4 Yanks in the starting XI. Roldan has played hundreds of games as a MF, most of his career as a 6/8 in a double pivot. If you watch Seattle, he's not really playing wing for them, their attack is asymmetrical. Roldan is often a third CM while Morris is often a second forward with Lodeiro providing the width left and Alex Roldan the right width. Look at the heatmap from 2022 or his touches and passes compared to wingers. https://www.sofascore.com/player/cristian-roldan/790171
The focus on bashing Roldan makes no sense to me. It's really arguing about the fringe. Roldan has started one game that mattered since the re-start from COVID. That was the Gold Cup game against Martinique. That's it. Yes, another player could have sat on the bench at the World Cup instead of Roldan. Tillman or somebody (Tillman, a player who wasn't available for most of Roldan's caps). He's been depth. And fine depth. And I do think Berhalter rewarded him for travelling around 3rd world dumpster fires in qualifying without much chance of playing. So he made him the 26th man on the roster instead of somebody else. Are people really upset about it? Why?
He is probably going to start the Mexico game, so that’s an opportunity for me to show what he can do with the national team with more minutes.
The argument is that we needed a central midfielder to actually play minutes and Roldan wasn’t trusted to do so at the World Cup.
I agree with this post and will only add, he played very well in the last 55 minutes in the Gold Cup final we won, after providing the assist to Hoppe to get us there, and was very good when the sky was falling in Honduras in the first window. People memory-hole his good performances but want to talk about the bad Canada game (which I would love to see if you know where to find it) from 3+ years ago.