Colombia's 28-man preliminary squad for Copa: Goalkeepers: Álvaro Montero (Millonarios), Camilo Vargas (Atlas), David Ospina (Al Nassr) Defenders: Carlos Cuesta (Genk), Jhon Lucumí (Bologna), Santiago Arias (Bahia), Yerson Mosquera (Villareal), Johan Mojica (CA Osasuna), Daniel Muñoz (Crystal Palace), Yerry Mina (Cagliari Calcio), Davinson Sanchez (Galatasaray S.K.), Deiver Machado (R.C. Lens) Midfielders: Kevin Castaño (Krasnodar), Richard Ríos (Palmeiras), Jorge Carrascal (Dynamo Moscow), James Rodríguez (São Paulo), Jhon Arias (Fluminense), Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace), Juan Fernando Quintero (Racing), Yáser Asprilla (Watford), Mateus Uribe – (Al-Sadd S.C), Luis Sinisterra (A.F.C. Bournemouth) Forwards: Luis Díaz (Liverpool), Jhon Córdoba (Krasnodar), Sebastian Gomez (Coritiba FootBall Club), Rafael Santos Borre (S.C. Internacional), Miguel Angel Borja (River Plate), Jhon Jader Duran (Aston Villa F.C.)
Here's one website's expected XI for Colombia this summer (though I've added in Lucumi and Machado as alternative options below since they've each started the majority of games in qualifying so far): GK: Vargas (Atlas - Liga MX) RB: Munoz (Crystal Palace - EPL) CB: Lucumi (Bologna - Serie A)/Sanchez (Galatasaray - Turkey) CB: Mina (Cagliari - Serie A) LB: Mojica (Osasuna - La Liga)/Machado (Lens - Ligue 1) DM: Lerma (Crystal Palace - EPL) CM: Uribe (Al Sadd - Qatar) AM: James Rodriguez (Sao Paulo - Brazil) RW: Arias (Fluminense - Brazil) LW: Diaz (Liverpool - EPL) CF: Borre (Internacional - Brazil)
My starting XI: ————-——Balogun——————— Pulisic————Reyna—————Weah ————Adams———McKennie——— Jedi——————————————Scally ——Carter-Vickers——Richards————- ————————Turner———————— Subs: Cardoso (Adams) 46 McKenzie (Carter-Vickers) 46 Musah (McKennie) 60 Pepi (Balogun) 60 M. Tillman (Reyna) 70 Wright (Weah) 70
because i want to see this next month i wouldnt do it now. id start cardoso in place of adams. tyler and sarge would train to whatever level theyre able too but i wouldnt play either a minute. theres absolutely nothing to be gained- nothing- and a whole lot to lose. but what do i know? people thought we handled adams great last time (who cares about the two months since, amirite?).
I have a friend from Colombia who has followed them closely for a long time. He says Colombia's problem has always been too many piano players and not enough piano carriers. They seem to be finding a better balance between the two. Finally putting results over esthetics.
That is a great way of putting it. My XI would be: -------------------Turner---------------- Musah---Richards---Ream---Jedi --------------------Adams--------------- --------McKennie-----Reyna---------- Weah----------Balogun---------Pulisic I am not a believer in Scally. Plus, he is known. Cardoso, Pepi, Wright, Tillman, and Scally are my subs. Sargent if he can go, LDLT or a defender if not, depending on the score.
I'm assuming your friend must be taking a longer term view here, because the results have been there for Colombia for the greater part of over a decade now. They've been a top 10 team in Elo's rankings pretty consistently since 2013 and performed well in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. They struggled last cycle and dropped down a little in the rankings (albeit still in the top 20 or so), but their uptick this cycle is more in line with their results from the two cycles prior to the last one, rather than a completely recent aberration.
4-2-3-1 My CF is either Sarge or Haji Pulisic - Reyna - Weah Adam’s or Johnny - Wes Jedi - Richards - MRob or CCV - Scally Turner
----------------------Reyna---------- --------Wright----------------------Pulisic----- -------------McKennie-------Musah----- ----------------------Adams----- ----Jedi-----------------------------------Weah--- --------------Ream-------Richards---- ----------------------Turner---- How rusty is Turner? How much does Ream have left in the tank? Can Reyna hack it in a false-9 role? Left or right: which side is Scally better on? Is Scally ready for this level of international play? Can Balogun play wide?
Just a false-9, or even an engache, rather than striker. The other option with Gio would be: ------------------Balogun---------- ------Pulisic----Reyna-----McKennie--- ------------Adams-----Musah------ ---Jedi---------------------------------Weah--- ------------Ream------Richards---- ------------------Turner---
This is the lineup I would go with except I would flip McKennie and Weah. Whatever the formal alignment, I'm expecting a lot of interchanging from the right-sided trio of McKennie, Musah, and Weah.
Wait a minute, not even Berhalter would attempt to answer these two questions of yours … “Left or right: which side is Scally better on? Is Scally ready for this level of international play?“ … by not playing Scally, who’s missing from your lineup. I hope we start Scally in both friendlies - doesn’t have to be 90 + 90 - and save the Weah surprise for Vini Jr (or Luis Diaz, or any burner we face in the KO rounds). Never hurts to promote overconfidence in your opponents, then lower the boom. From this point forward, mum’s the word - don’t let the cat out of the bag.
Personally i care very little who is chosen or who plays. My care, and what i will be watching for is adjustments. In fact one of the best scenarios, for me, would be for something to go wrong in the first half resulting in the USA being down a goal or two at the half and having the personnel or system or both changed at the half. Even if that adjustment fails it would mean that Gregg has shown willingness to make changes as needed. Even better would be an adjustment in the first half that, at least, closes whatever "hole" was present and then a larger adjustment at halftime allowing the USA to outplay their opponent. The "adjustment" does not even have to be in the players but it could be in player positioning and timing. Although effective adjustments are easier when combined with personnel changes it can be done with just instructions. I hope to see some experimentation in "system" but what we have is actually a pretty good starting point we just need to have a bit more flexibility and creativity to "exceed expatiations." We are starting from a pretty good spot but we still have a ways to go before we approach our "best." We have a good base of players and, except for a very few, it does not matter who starts or who plays except as far as that some players are better in some systems than others. I really want this group to succeed but if the system is too rigid and we get into trouble then there is little hope. Again the main key to getting better is dynamic adjustments. We are good enough that we have several people that can play every position at the level we need but they do not all excel in particular styles of play that may be best for a given match. Gregg needs to make the "system" flexible enough so that adjustments are as simple as possible. "Hope springs eternal."
You should check out the qualifier away to Honduras. Disastrous first half. Many changes at half time.
The failure to adjust is, currently, Gregg;s biggest problem. He got it right ONCE but he got it wrong more time than i remember. I once nailed a basketball shot from the other end line but that does not mean i know how to shoot from very long distance.
Actually we went through a whole year of matches where the team played poorly in the first half and much better in the second.
Bob Bradley style! I loved/hated Bob for that. But it was always comforting knowing he'd make good adjustments at halftime. I do wish I felt the same comfort with Berhalter. I'm ever hopeful that he'll get there.
And people complained that year about Berhalter's inability to get the initial lineup/tactics right. The next year the team played well in the first half but would not sustain the performance in the second half. And people complained that Berhalter got the initial lineup right but couldn't make adjustments. At least everything was just right during the Hudson/Callaghan era.
Hoping for a showing in this match that we can play with teams like Columbia. Something that includes creation of good chances, a balanced attack (not exclusively crosses), and doesn’t repeatedly expose the back line to counters. Win or lose that would be a good showing for me.