The left side has a strong FCD Academy presence with three players and adding Cannon makes your lineup heavily FCD strong.
Caught up with Jason Kreis to discuss the #USMNT U-23 team & looming Olympic qualifying tournament. He believes the USA could field a very strong Olympic team, but first they have to qualify, something the U.S. Men haven't done since 2008: https://t.co/TyTf8dZu1P— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) January 24, 2020
Good info there. I also saw this other article on SBISoccer saying that Kreis actually expects to get a lot of Euro guys released for qualifying. The article specifically mentions Mendez, Ledezma, Gloster, Richards, Llanez, Dos Santos, and Cappis as possibilities. On a side note, it seems that Ives is posting his own stuff on SBISoccer again? I always thought that he was pretty good, but it seemed like he was completely reserving his own reporting for Goal.com, and the 2nd-tier guys at SBISoccer weren't great, so I quit going there.
Making the 2020 Olympics is vital for @ussoccer! 🇺🇸 @USMNT Manager Gregg Berhalter, tells @TMeola1 & @BrianDunseth exactly how they will handle qualifying. Full interview ➡️https://t.co/6V6W4hS6IC pic.twitter.com/N7tnvFoRSw— SiriusXM FC (@SiriusXMFC) January 24, 2020
Yeah, refreshing to see Ives back on his own site. He’s an OG. Always found it entertaining that he’d engage, and talk smack, in his own comment section. You’re right that the other bloggers on SBI are generally subpar.
They aren't just subpar they are also very cocky about what they do. A lot of them don't discuss, they say their opinion is right and leave it at that which is the worst thing you can do.
Yup... the other writerse make SBI borderline unreadable. I still have it bookmarked but in the last few years I probably go there like 1-2 times a month, and never bother to comment.
I am sure this has already been mentioned, but I cannot find the information. Are the Olympic qualifying games (or the actual Olympic games) cap-tying?
Olympic roster (not including any YA who are regular first teamers) GK Marcinkowski, Ochoa, Freese RB Cannon, Araujo CB Glad, McKenzie, Miles, Richards/Trusty LB Vines, Herrera M6 Yuiell, Sands/Otasowie M8 Pomykal, Servania 10 Aaronson, Mendez/Mihailovic/Ledezma RW Sabbi/Vassilev, Konrad FW Ferreira, Soto/Ebobisse/Toye LW Llanez, Lewis
That's awesome, but I would say that Sands and Robinson at center back would be a big upgrade. Araujo is more than capable of starting on this team, so hopefully Cannon will be on the move to Europe at that time. And I would think that even if it it pulls one of them slightly out of position, you have to slide either Aaroson or Ledezma outside for Sabbi.
I would expect Gloster and even potentially to both get released and they would push out Vines and Herrera
Vines started for Kreis and Berhalter. I think he will again at the beginning of the qualifying tourney. He's just so left-footed, and that's apparently a requirement. I'd select Dotson over both Vines and Gloster. He excelled there for Minnesota. More technical and better athlete than Vines.
January camp was a positive for Olympic qualifying when it comes to getting players experience at a little higher level, seeing how they adjust and cope w/ the pressure, and establishing leaders. It should make us increasingly more comfortable seeing Ferreira, Llanez, and Aaronson on the field in Mexico. Cannon and Yueil were already solidified at the senior level. So their reliability in these matches should be expected. I feel confident in Pomykal, Richards, and Miles between what we've seen from them at the youth nt and/or club levels. To me the question marks are left back, goalkeeper, and one of the wings. Don't think cf is a problem. We have options. The issue may be service. The service problem is exacerbated by the slow passing system, not trying to win the ball higher up against better teams on the road/a neutral field like we need to. Could be where Aaronson and Pomykal take the onus, like the former did against Brasil to have a better chance.
@zlebmada - Just heard the most recent pod.... I am curious why you and Greg leave out James Sands when talking about center backs in the pool. While talking about the passing qualities of center backs in the pool, he wasn't mentioned, and when you were talking about Olympic eligible center backs, he wasn't mentioned either. He's a great passer, and his defending was good in his first MLS season. It's a bummer that he got hurt last year. I'm curious if he's on yall's radar, not rated highly, or just an oversight. I think most of the fanbase is sleeping on him, so I'm curious. Maybe some still see him as a midfielder, but I think it is clear that his future is in the back, and I think he might have the highest upside of any of the other center backs there (even Richards). Cheers