I feel like Reyna just won this with his goal today. If you haven't seen it, go take a look. A PERFECT STRIKE!Gio Reyna, son of former USMNT captain Claudio Reyna, scores his first goal for Dortmund! pic.twitter.com/sPSaPIqdH9— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 4, 2020
Or #9. I’d be interested to see him as a striker in the US set up. Pulisic———————Morris —————Reyna————- Weah————————Wes —————Adams————— Dest————————Cannon ———Brooks—Ream——— —————Steffen————
^^^^^^ I hear ya but man he looked like a creator today. I didn't see the game but based on the all touches video that was up for a while he just looks like a super smart creative player. Really has it going on between the ears from what I have seen so far. Whatever the position or system, one thing is for sure...he needs to be attacking and in the center of the field IMO.
In the current US system, the #9 occupies the space in the center of the field facilitating distribution from the back to wings and overlapping backs. Reyna looks like he may have that skill set, and he has some size. He's also a threat to turn his defender while receiving with his back to the goal and to get off a shot or killer ball.
Reyna's relatively thin still, not that tall actually just was over-grown for a kid, and his forte is w/ the ball not making runs. In the little he's been used as a 9, even as a youth, he was relatively anonymous. He'd also require teammates to build to him in the current system, which they frequently can't do. Also not displayed he's some great box finisher. His skills would be largely wasted. If the goal is to get the best xi on the field and you're worried Altidore nor Sargent are among them, then you should be more amenable to moving Morris or Weah up there. It was where they were groomed. They are good box finishers. Make savvy runs. Physically stronger to hold up. But not as good w/ the ball as Reyna. This talk should be tabled for years at least. Right now he's an a-wing/10. We need fortification there, especially at a-wing.
The kid is 6'1 fairly tall for a soccer player. Dempsey is 6'1 and nobody said he wasn't tall enough.
He's listed at 6'. It's tall enough, but it's not a strength, or weakness elsewhere as is painted by some, and right now it's the lack of strength, runs, and killer instinct in the box. Dempsey was an a-mid/second striker. Wasn't tried as lone fw by us until his 30's and he didn't supply good enough hold-up or runs still to not be played preferably under someone who did like Wood or Jozy.
We move him as a single forward in WC2014 when Jozy again got hurt. I thought he did better thank ok.Too early to tell how Geo is going to turn out, so far, he is above expectations at this age.
And the rest of the Ghana match, as well as 2 of the subsequent 3, the US did nothing but defend. That is to at least some small degree a byproduct of having no target fw. Wood or Morris would have ran diagonals to win the ball up high occasionally, Jozy would have won some post-ups and outletted. Until the US proves they can build up and hold, they aren't in position to be employing in effect a false 9.
Seeing a lot of: Konrad does have top notch speed, separation capability, etc. here is some of his U-20 world cup highlights mixed in this video as a 17 -year old vs 18,19,20 year olds. Seems to have the necessary athleticism required to be a top-pro to me :20-25 shows his speed. And 1:35 - 1:42 is why he is so highly rated by Barcelona. The 2019 U-20 team was an Outstanding group and immediately posted how good their future was when this goal happened 0:34-42. The beginning build up is cut out but It was foreshadowing these kids talents combined as a team.
Now that Reyna has broken into the Dortmund first team, who's next? Good money should be placed on Uly Llanez obviously. Listed on Wolfsburg Europa League roster........................ 1225826556054056962 is not a valid tweet id 1225825757328527361 is not a valid tweet id
For those that haven't been tracking this kid, Nico Carrera (US U17 Centerback) is trialing/training in Germany. 1225591815128178688 is not a valid tweet id
Durkin (recently of the US U20WC team) is the kind of player that might get a surprise inclusion into a USMNT roster this spring. 1226287284472905730 is not a valid tweet id On the MLS side a player that's getting a lot of buzz due to his play in camp so far is Thomas Roberts of FCD. Presumably Paxton Pomykal's backup in central midfield. Had never seen this type of defensive work from Thomas Roberts before. Probably starting #10 for the US U-20s this summer in qualifying fwiw pic.twitter.com/X2p3V4K0AT— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) February 9, 2020
yueill. not because i think he's better. because you're forgetting what his attitude to youth is and what our schedule looks like. are you asking who the best young player is or are you asking who will get to play? because you have basically laid out the U23 team and/or players he should but won't play. yueill meets the standard and for good or ill is sliding into either a starting or relief spot. the others will be olympic players past march. maybe if someone gets called and shows well in march but he was indifferent to weah when healthy, pomykal got a cameo, ferreira and llanez are camp cupcake, aaronson is olympic, ledezma and vassilev and richards he's never called.
I think there are folks that feel that Yueill already "broke out" last season for both club and country. He's up to 7 USMNT caps. He just didn't win the award last year. When it comes to MLS I personally think there's a clear front-runner for 2020. All signs point to 19 year old David Ochoa having won the starting goalkeeper job with RSL. At this point he may be the starter for the Olympic team as well.
i thought we were talking in terms of an award with a 10 cap limit. and in practical terms i am thinking about who will still be around in march and beyond. will llanez be with us or with the U23s in final prep. ditto aaronson and others. if not with us in march i doubt with this coach you just pop up in june or september. and if that's the case your senior contribution this year will be modest or nil. even if GB struggles his approach to LoN selection was double down on his favorites even after losing to canada. if we're talking any player under 23 not already a senior regular, then it's reyna. reyna won't be at the U23 qualifying and has a worse situation for club minutes, but is night and day ahead on giftedness. as with pulisic and weah and sargent due to the club situation this will only come across in occasional waves for a while.
Yueill is over 22, so not eligible. I like Jackson and think he is better than Trapp or Bradley. But at his time, I don't think he is so good that we drop Adams, Holmes, Pulisic, Reyna or McKennie. Gregg might, he is a strange one, of course. But if you play Yueill, you have to drop one of those five or play one of them at striker. Add in Morris to the list on one that has to be benched too. Gregg has never fielded a team without Arriola playing somewhere; when he is available. Reyna's emergence and Morris have to push him to the bench to. You could play McKennie or Adams at RB, and take the heat, and shift Dest and bench Robinson, Cannon, or Yedlin. But then we are contorting all our best players out of their best positions to get a 22 yo MLS player on the field in one the most key spots. MLS players like Yueill should be thought of as depth, not something to build around. Maybe he takes another step forward, I think he could. But, even against CR last week, he is slow to step in the press. Good teams will exploit that in ways CR couldn't.
I can't imagine Ochoa getting a USMNT cap this year. But with Steffan's knee, we need more GKs, no doubt. Ferreira would also be obvious. He put up ok numbers in MLS last year, but if he can score regularly with the Olympic team and double his MLS output, that would be a breakout. History has shown a lot of young players will play and do things in the first weeks of the season, then by the end, only a few will still be key players.
I expect it to be in March, Yueill McKennie Roldan. I don't like any of that but to me GB you see coming a mile away. Pulisic at forward. Adams and Morales off the bench. Despite his talent, Adams hasn't played for us in aeons and may be off the bench. Again, not what I think, more what I guess about GB. I will be curious if Reyna gets a look. Bradley and Trapp out. I agree that McKennie could be played at back and am surprised that has not been tried. We are good followers right now and Schalke has already Gone There. Spades are broken and we wouldn't be Taking a Risk. If I were running the show, I'd try something more like Wood Pulisic Green Reyna Morris Adams Lichaj McKennie Long Cannon Steffen Bench Horvath Frei Dest Brooks Richards Lima Morales Lletget Holmes Llanez Sargent Jozy Arriola Weah
one thing which i think has been lost on this team is a dempsey type striker who if he gets the ball in a dangerous spot can put the shot in a corner and count it. if you look at say the mexico final this past summer people underrate the value of someone who can receive a ball calmly and finish. we had more chances. they had a finisher. 1-0 wrong way. i also think the current fetish for 8s is silly. i need 1 or 2 specialist terriers maximum. then i need danger men. that is more effective than 3 hustle player 8s who aren't really attackers or defenders. dangerous creators, finishers, smashers. players who just kind of run around don't score goals or stop their key guy, and they used to get cut not put on a pedestal. the mckennies and roldans and such need to find a position or go away. to mckennie's credit there are more we can try. fwiw the standard of decision needs to be elite games not powder puff. robinson is not there and brooks and dest are bench because the primary concern is how would a big game go. setting the roster like "but that was brazil that made him look bad" is setting yourself up with a kick me sign.
You are probably right about Roldan. Yueill, Cannon, and any other U23 MLS will be in Guadelajara in March. I would not be surprised if Trapp is brought back to replace Yueill and he starts, at the 6, behind McKennie and Adams. We've seen that many times and Trapp will be overrun by the Dutch (and Welsh) and Adams will have to play more next to him and McKennie and whatever winger will have to sag too. And, like against England, Italy, France, and all the other good teams we've played, we will have to bunker for our lives. Of course, we will play it out of the back, unlike Sarachan, and probably turn it over many times like against Mexico.
March friendly will be Adams / McKennie in the midfield, provided health and the clubs releasing for both games (they did not last March). Yeuill will be with the U23s, but he will get his shot at the regista role. Despite what people think, Berhalter's been pretty clear that he realizes where his best talent is. He may not use them the same way that others do, but I'm pretty darn sure that Adams is considered a guaranteed start if healthy.
i hadn't realized the international date and qualifying overlapped. if your players didn't have to report in before game 1, an interesting approach would be to see if they would be released for group games 2 and 3, and the semi that decides qualifying. outside of box theory goes thusly. i only need 15-18 players to handle game 1, and can only sub 3 anyway. play CR with the ones i can get released. i secure release of 5-8 players for the international date, they fly over after the tournament starts, are there if needed for game 3 (and also 2, but that's DR who we should beat in our sleep), and for the all important semi. fly back home and we play the meaningless final with the game 1 guys. assuming we make it there. i thought the date would be midmonth with no overlap. hmmm. even if you can't get everyone released i would hope some teams would play along with an international date. not like we're asking for them during the season. if you wanted to be cynical, for the good "unavailables" you threaten a senior callup, which is what i would suggest anyway. if they can't play quali i can demand them for 2 senior games, which i probably should anyway because they have earned it and we are short their U23 colleagues off for qualifying. having broached the subject thusly, you then ask nicely if they will let them play U23 instead. you tell them it will be probably 2 games max, mexico or DR -- depending how CR goes -- and then the semi. your stumbling block would be if they have to present themselves for registration a period of hours before game 1. but if they could instead pull an old school "gold cup" and show up during the tournament in progress, it's a way of getting around the availability issue and maximizing quality. and considering this is not a month long camped team preparing since this month chemistry will be overrated and you might as well get talent instead. just an idea. we've started going out of the box on post-MLS camp, euros in january camp, why not be creative here. and fwiw we need to look at them anyway so if they say no to the one you demand yes to the senior team. and then GB has some more options he has to consider. at a second layer of cynicism, the 5-8 U23 ringers could include pulisic and mckennie and co. we have a few players we have "graduated." in theory if you finessed the international window issue you could then send the best age group guys back down for "remedial." if you are obsessed with qualifying. you could even parse out which ones. mckennie maybe has something to prove at senior level. Pulisic doesn't. send him. as it is i think we spend too much time proving the obvious at friendlies when what you really want to know is the more marginal questions. or the trialists you haven't yet seen. wow, pulisic can play, teaches me nothing.