Would rather not see Wes at RB we need his late arrival in the box. Timmy has really helped us stretch defenses with his speed. I want to see Musah at RB.
With the roster being shifted to 26 and Pepi expected in then Olympics squad I think we will see a few surprises. Also influencing the squad will be Sargent's status. Paredes should be in the Olympics squad.
I'd rather let Pepi lead the Olympic team if everyone is healthy, but if Sargent can't go for the Copa we need Pepi there. Lots of dominos potentially falling from the Sargent and McGuire injuries: -If Sargent is out, we need Pepi at the Copa America -If Pepi is at the Copa America and McGuire is out, that suddenly leaves the Olympic team without our only 2 viable age eligible options at the 9 (assuming Balogun is cap tied to England at that level which nobody seems to know the answer to, but doesn't matter as he's also needed at the Copa). That means you need an overage striker, probably Vazquez -If Vazquez is on the Olympic team along with 2 overage CBs, those are your 3 spots. So no option to bring in someone like DeJuan Jones (who looks like he'll be healthy in time for the Olympics but not, or at least not yet fully fit, for the Copa) -Not directly related to the above, but given his recent performances along with our lack of wing and fullback depth Kevin Paredes has probably played himself on to the senior team at this point. My Copa America 26, assuming a worst case scenario where Sargent and McGuire are both out for the summer: GK - Turner, Horvath, Brady D - ARob, Scally, Reynolds, Lund, Ream, Richards, MRob, CCV M - Adams, Johnny, McKennie, Musah, Reyna, Tillman, Maloney F - Balogun, Pepi, Wright, Pulisic, Weah, Aaronson, Zendejas, Paredes Olympics: GK - Slonina, Schulte D - Zimmerman*, McKenzie*, Dietz, Craig, Wiley, Harriel, Tolkin, Gomez M - McGlynn, Aaronson, Morris, Busio, Tessman, Cremaschi F - Vazquez*, Cowell, Booth, Yow, Gomez, Esmir
The roster we see Monday will also be a camp roster and not necessarily the final roster. So someone could still be on it and still drop down to the Olympics.
In fact, we could probably see 4 or so "alternates" bringing that camp up to 30 guys. Those are unlikely to be the Olympics guys, though. A guy like Zendejas. We do have an Olympic camp, with a match against Japan on June 11th. That directly conflicts with this Pre-Copa America camp with the senior team (with game against Brazil on June 12th). A guy like Pepi hasn't been at any of the U23 camps. He probably hasn't even met some of the domestic guys. If we're planning on sending a player like Pepi to the Olympics, he's gonna have to be at that U23 camp in Kansas City. ............but injuries or whatnot may lead to last minute adjustments. I really do think this pre-Copa roster will tell us a lot about what our plans are for the summer tournaments. .....................and there will be obvious omissions of U20 guys from both rosters that we can then say are pegged for the U20s. Esmir, Cremaschi, Vargas, and those guys. One imagines we should also have a U20 camp soon.
There will also be a U20 camp during this window. I think someone like Parades for instance who has been at every U23 camp, could be on the Copa camp roster as Berhalter thinks about which team he wants to include him on. And it’s not a huge deal if he misses this particular U23 camp given he’s got plenty of experience with that group. Similar situation with someone like Bryan Reynolds who is borderline between the two teams with Dest out. For Pepi the question for me is less about him and more about whether Josh Sargent is there or not. As if he isn’t than Pepi probably isn’t going with the U23s. I think alternates will probably at least be at right back (where the backup behind Scally is unclear) and Maloney given that Adams has also had ongoing injuries.
Get your pitchforks ready! Berhalter just picked some of your MLS scapegoats for when USMNT fails at Copa America.
A few thoughts: - Most of the roster picked itself. Who the hell else were we supposed to select? - I'm not really interested in roster slots 18-26. I'm more interested on the form of 1-11. - We're going to miss Dest. I mean -- REALLY miss him.
Berhalter said Olympic roster concerns were a big part of this #USMNT roster. He felt players like Aidan Morris, Bryan Reynolds, and Kevin Paredes would all get more minutes with the Olympic team.— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) May 20, 2024
The roster is basically what we expected it to be. If the most we have to complain about is the 3rd string keeper and backup RB, then its a pretty good roster.
The roster is pretty close to expected. I like that Josh has made it, but I don't love carrying four strikers, and I'm not super in love with Haji as winger. With Berhalter also intimating we might see Weah at RB ... we're extremely thin at winger. It should be fine without injuries, but if we get one, ugh. That said, if we are going to see more two striker than normal, it makes a lot more sense. The rest of the selections seem pretty clear top to bottom. I would have thought about Celentano over Johnson, and I doubt Berhalter did, but I bet both Cincy and Miami really pushed back on losing their keeper for that time period. I guess Toronto doesn't care -- not that they have a choice. But you have to at least keep Miami happy for Cremaschi for the Olympics. Shaq Moore probably wouldn't have been my pick, but I don't know who else. Despite the internet hype, I don't think Reynolds is a reliable defender. Harriel is young and probably going to the Olympics. Moore is a very capable defender, at least. I like Tillman better than most here. I'm not really sold on Maloney from his trial, though Tyler's health might've made that a better choice. I just really can't see us playing him over a McKennie/Johnny double pivot or something like that. Not sure I see a role for Tillman as we seem to have backed off pressing quite a bit. But he's a good all around player and good that he and Malik get to play. There's also one cut to be made.
Assuming Sargent is healthy enough to go I would have just bumped Pepi down to the Olympics and brought an another out and out winger (whether Zendejas or Parades or someone else). I would have brought Celentano but it’s hard to know how much Cincinnati pushed back. It’s not a big deal that it’s Johnson though. On Callendar it’s worth not calling him up if it ensures that Miami releases Cremaschi for youth competitions this summer. It’s too bad Jones has been hurt as he would have been my first choice here. Reynolds had an appeal in that he’s a similar stylistic fit to Dest in terms of his ability to attack. Of the MLS choices I would have taken Yedlin or Lennon over Moore. It’s too bad about Julian Araujo as if he doesn’t pick Mexico there’s a good chance he would have gone (and is not even on Mexico’s roster). We’ll see if he makes the final roster but I like the Tim Tillman addition. If McKennie ends up playing right back you may also want more cover in the midfield. I would have considered Maloney in camp at least just in case Adams is not able to go.
I thought the quota moved to Canada. I was hoping all the MLS fans would just move on from the USMNT and root for the MLS-Canadian NT. Besides all the MLS players they have, it sure seems like Davies is their favorite non-MLS player based on how much they talk about him. It seems like there is still room for them to call up unwarranted MLS players to make sure up and coming Euro based players are slowly integrated, if ever.
Which Euro based players would you pick over the ones on this USMNT roster? I don't get the whole complaint about this. Which Euro based RB would you pick over Moore? Reynolds will be with the Olympic team. I would have picked with Jones (who's had hamstring problems the past month) or Lennon. Which Euro based GK would you pick over Johnson? Slonina will be with the Olympic team. I would have picked Celentano, but I can't get worked up over a 3rd string keeper. No matter who it is, he won't play. Its weird that Tim Tillman would go from a player people used as an example of a victim of an alleged MLS bias to one that's now a beneficiary of an MLS bias. ................and you're not picking Auston Trusty over Miles Robinson are you? Really? So what CB would you pick over Miles? The whole MLS bias thing is so weird to me. Unless you can tell me who you're picking from Europe over the MLS player..............STFU.
I had to cut out a bunch if good stuff so I wouldn't get distracted as you had hoped. If you would put down your pom-poms and think about the situation as a mature adult, you might be able to get the whole complaint. People tried to drag people down into these player vs player discussions. I know folks around here don't think about building a program and team over multiple year cycles, but that should be one consideration for the bottom of the rosters that has appeared to be completely ignored by our coach and your line of questioning. We all saw a team last cycle that never seemed to come together. Federation cheerleaders will blame it on injuries, but there were quite a few players who played major roles at the world cup, that were integrated slowly or late. Folks like you defended the selections in 2019, 2020, etc the same way you are now. We all saw questionable MLS players get played over and over until the performances were so bad that they were forced to put them out to pasture. Most of the mainstays from last cycle are in their prime, but aren't coming back.
fossey over moore is a completely reasonable argument (not that ive even seen anyone making it). jones, yedlin and lennon are as well- but framing this horseshit as "euro" vs mls lets you make whatever idiotic, condescending argument you want, doesnt it? god help any vazquez or zendejas supporters, do they get to chime in or do they have to stfu too? please advise, gatekeeper... and im curious- who exactly is arguing against/for anyone over miles? asking that always gives me deja vu because dear god, how much mileage have you gotten out of that exact strawman over the last 4 years? what im seeing are arguments for/against (usually just questions) johnson over callender. overwhelmingly people want to keep reynolds with the olympic team and dont want to bother with a handful of blah options in the first place. id have trusty in over mckenzie- youll have to let me know how thats outrageous and stupid and blindly anti-mls. maloney (not even over, but in addition to) timothy tillman is a big one. maybe if you were more clear about who and what we are allowed to consider beforehand, and lay out all imagined double-standards and fictional opinions youre simply not going to tolerate any longer you wouldnt have to come in so faux-outraged and sanctimonious. like clockwork. or at least copy/paste that tired bullshit from the dozens and dozens and dozens of times youve thrown this exact hissy-fit before.
All I'm saying is that the MLS versus Europe debate has no merit whatsoever. That post about the "MLS bias" being transferred to Canada set me off. It's so tired and pathetic. Its lazy. Our evaluation of players should have nothing to do with MLS versus Europe. If people want to talk about the merits of individual players versus each other, I'm all ears. But framing it as an MLS versus Europe debate has no merit whatsoever. Not in 2024. Its just lazy. Berhalter in his press conference talked about how he was going to evaluate Weah, Musah, McKennie, and even CBs at the right back position. Was that a ringing endorsement of Shaq Moore? I would suggest that it wasn't. People are arguing vociferously about the last man on the roster that won't actually play. My theory is that Berhalter wants to go with one of those other guys. But if none of it works, he's bringing in Moore to camp as Plan D. Just my feeling after listening to the Press Conference. Auston Trusty...........I think..............is going to be an overage player on the Olympic team. So at least with the McKenzie versus Trusty debate, that's the breakdown. Trusty could sit on the bench with the Copa team or start with the Olympic group. It seems like Vazquez, Zimmerman, and Trusty based on current comments being made in the media. We'll see. Its hard to evaluate Trusty. He got beaten like a rented mule on a weekly basis at Sheffield United. But he was on such a bad team, and under such constant pressure, that it wasn't all on him. He was great in the Championship with Birmingham last year. [I haven't watched a single 90 minute of Marlon Fossey. I have nothing intelligent to say about him. And I'd suggest about 98% of the posters on the board talking about Marlon Fossey haven't either. He's just "guy in Europe." He hasn't started a game since February, so there's that. He had a hamstring injury at the end of the Belgian season.]
Shaq Moore and Messi are the biggest draws in MLS so it makes sense Garber wants them both at the Copa.
Moore is one of the best 1v1 defenders in MLS. It makes sense for him to be in the mix, especially as a late game defensive sub. He had gotten starts in La Liga and looked competent. He just has nothing going forward, which doesn't work at the highest levels.
The board always has to decide collectively that they're outraged by some guy on a roster. Shaq Moore is the successor to Roldan I guess. Shaq Moore has played 20 minutes for the "A" USMNT for more than 2 years now. Its really arguing at the fringes. Yes, coaches have "their guys" that they like in the locker room or like as part of the group for some reason. Every USMNT coach has them. These guys often trudge around the world with the team without playing. That takes a certain type of character.
My general sense is I probably wouldn’t have made the same choices as Berhalter on some of the last few roster spots (like Johnson or Moore). But also given that we are talking about the last few spots on the roster I’m not particularly invested in terms of who ends up picked for those spots.
In my experience, if the most disagreement you have is 1-3 players, generally speaking, the roster's fine. The only caveat to that is when a roster clearly featured an epic bird brained, dumber than hell selection that compromises a position: like no Pepi at the WC (when he was the presumed starter for most), or like taking a guy you weren't going to play (LDLT at the WC) or a guy for coaching/locker room reasons exclusively (Roldan). That's why people were pissed at the WC '22 roster, which only had 3-4 wtf's, and why so few are pissed about this one. There's not a lot of wheat to complain about here. In truth, maybe two inclusions that some don't like (Moore and Johnson in particular, maybe T. Tillman to a lesser extent), and maybe 1 exclusion that about 1/3 don't like (Maloney). For National teams, the wtf rate has typically been more like 4-8 players out of 23, and this is 1-3 out of 26 so....while I honor the right to quibble, it's not by any stretch a crazy roster, in my view anyway.