The Core will get plenty of games with NL, Gold Cup, and WCQ. Friendlies are for experiments. Heck, the Core will get some Friendlies too, if we have them right before a tournament like the Copa America. They have PLENTY of time to get more games together. On the other hand, we don't know who may be able to contribute on the NT that wasn't in the pool previously. We've got a lot of those players around. The 2026 World Cup cycle we got hit with a lot of injuries that cleared up at the end. This cycle, I'd like us to build up much greater depth, so we don't get screwed when someone like CP or TA inevitably goes down during a key window.
I don’t know I’m tired of so many B team games, all the keys getting to pick and choose when they show up, etc. We’re the only national team in the world who seems to do this. And yeah you make exceptions for guys depending on their personal circumstances but we do it far too often.
I'm not really sure this is an either/or. There's 4-5 guys I'd want to call in with maybe a couple more at keeper. That could be flexible to a few guys but I wouldn't want a short camp with 26 new people. I don't know how you even do a good evaluation when no one is even close to on the same page. You could even bring in 12 new guys if you wanted. There's three games this camp, right? Rotate heavily, have each of them start at least a game and sub in others. Get them lots of time, but don't ask them to impress with other people who are new and have no idea what's going on. I want to see Gozo play RW with McKennie and Freeman around him, not see him with Paxten Aaronson and Westfield as they all work on an offense and defense with one day of instruction.
Absolutely call in guys and get to know them. Just don't anoint them starters because of "high ceiling". The best players of the day are the ones that go to tournaments.
And, even if he plays through the end of his contract + extension, he'll still only be 22 yrs old. Not too late....
The landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years. European teams aren't lowballing as often and MLS teams are more willing to cash in on their investment. And, if they wait until teh end of the option year, they will risk losing him on a free. Assuming their is interest from European clubs, the safe bet would be that he moves in 2-3 years as a 20 or 21 yr old. Hardly too late.
It is definitely a blunt instrument. If you take away Messi and DePaul's minutes it would reduce MLS minutes to approx 6500, which would move it down only one place but the variation in size and balance of the various leagues makes it pretty difficult to come to any precise conclusions. the minutes played by a player on New Zealand's team counts the same as a minute played on Spain's team (no disrespect to Spain but the difference is not nothing). MLS has 30 clubs. What league has anywhere near that number? Eredivisie has 18 teams. According to AI, Eredivisie teams sent 33 players to WC, compared to 45 players from MLS. Of course PSV sent 10 all by themselves. Combine that with the fact that a significant number of MLS players would not have been at the tournament under the old format. So yeah. increasing the participation significantly is nice, but it is important to keep it in perspective. Even with all of the noise, because the increase was soo significant , what it does do pretty well imo, is show the direction of a trend when compared with past tournaments. The main variable affecting MLS in this stat is the increased number of teams and, imo, adding 16 teams to the tournament isn't enough to increase the knockout minutes tenfold.
Why Hall and Mehmeti ahead of him and Cavan? You believe that starting in MLS is more difficult than any minutes with BVB?
Hall and Mehmeti have been above average to plus players in MLS.* I think they've been good enough that even if they were not 17 and 18, you'd look at the combination of production and skillset and that would earn them a call at some point. I don't think either has been good enough that they'd be someone you "had to" call based on performance to date (ignoring potential), but their actual play against adults justifies a call, even if it is a bit of a speculative one. There isn't as much of a positional need, but I think they are in the tier of a Brian White or Tristan Blackmon on performance alone. Or reasonably close. If this is a camp where we're broadening the pool, I think they have earned looks. Factor in their potential, likely accelerated improvement curve and in Mehmeti's case, a really unique skill set for the pool, and I think a call would be earned. Albert has played exactly 2 minutes for Dortmund. That's less than Cole Campbell, and I've seen Cole Campbell -- yes, Mehmeti and Hall have done more. So I do think it's more difficult, and I'd also say more importantly, illuminating, to have started in MLS and played well. If Albert plays more this year and plays well with Dortmund, sure. But he has yet to do that. Sullivan just needs more minutes for me. I am fairly certain from watching him he will show the things necessary to earn a call -- I expect a big next month for him -- but right now, I think a guy who has shown real flashes but not more shouldn't get the call on potential. I am more skeptical on Albert than most; actually somewhat the same with Hall. But that's not why I would want Albert to have real time to get called in. With the possible exception of perhaps the U20 World Cup, I don't think youth leagues are good enough anywhere to be the basis of a senior team call. If he plays in the Bundesliga and plays decently well, shows the things you'd want to see, sure. But a 2 minute cup of coffee is not that. I am hesitant about even the other calls, to be honest. You don't want to start this group off like the last couple of cycles where every young player thinks it's an entitlement to get a call to the senior team based on potential and not performance. Right now, is Cavan Sullivan better than Niko Tsakiris? Probably not, even if his passing vision and ability is clearly next level. But holistically, Tsakiris has been a far more complete player. So maybe even these calls are a mistake. But that is why it is easier if you are expanding the pool a bit more. Some of the thinking is that it's 4 years to a World Cup. Some of it is a bit of dual national panic, I suppose. Some of it is just wanting to see the guys play. But I also very much think calls should be earned and valued. And it's tough to do that if they are not based on actual performance. Calling any of these guys but Gozo may be actually too far that way already, but calling a guy who has literally two minutes definitely is to me. * It's worth noting Hall has been above average but nowhere near as good as say, Brian White, in G+. Some of that is defense; some of that is passing, but while I think some of Brian's edge here is definitely Vancouver and opportunity ... I'm fudging some. Mehmeti's lack of interrupting (which is weird given NYRB -- Hall has it, too) and dribbling (fine) actually have him below average. So take it FWIW.
Mathis Albert has played 2 minutes for BVB. That BVB likes him raises the level of intrigue. But 2 minutes anywhere doesn't earn you a callup, unless that's to a YNT camp.
Second BVB team where Mathis thrived isn't worse than USL, and the first team is so much better than RB or Philly that I don't know how compare those 2 minutes to 10 MLS games. Cole Cambell is of BVB, as you know, and at no point he was rated at Albert's level. For me Gozo today is at the different level, Tsakiris when healthy as well, the rest of mentioned are about the same. Potential wise 2009 kids are better. I'm also skeptical about Hall, but believe Albert might be the best.
Depends on the club and trajectory of growth. I don't mean that any of the kids should start in September, but see no reason not to call them.
Looking at a couple precedents: Pulisic: BL debut January 20 2016, first BL start February 21 2016, senior national team debut March 29 2016 Gio Reyna: BL debut January 18 2020, first BL start May 16 2020, senior national team debut November 12 2020 I think with high level prospects you call them up shortly after they win a spot in their club's starting lineup. Definitely for someone playing in a Big 5 league. And for prospects of the caliber of Sullivan, Pierre, Mehmeti, Gozo and Hall something similar should apply. These guys have all been our radars for a long time now. For a reason. They are simply validating the talent that they showed at the junior level.
I think the only aspect of interest is to see just how seriously the federation is taking the 2028 Olympic team. The Cherundolo hire makes it seem like they're taking it very seriously indeed. Some of these players in the Hall, Sullivan, Gozo, etc. category may be core players for that Olympic team roster. We'll see how the federation plays it this fall. [There's also the U20 team to consider as they prepare for the 2027 U20 World Cup. Many of these players are also eligible for that. I personally think this elite wave is less likely for that team, but you never know. That event isn't in a sexy location. Its being hosted by Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. If that was being hosted in Barcelona, maybe kids would be more passionate about being part of the team.] We should be happy as long as they're all involved in the US program.
I'm not suggesting calling anyone in from USL. I'm not evaluating this guys on minutes, or how their club team sees them. I think the standard that should be set is the actual performance on the field (not how much, but how well). The level of play is the context for that performance -- clearly, once Mathis plays for Dortmund in real Bundesliga games, the context will mean he should not have to have as good production as someone in MLS, on average. But I would not call someone up just because it's hard to get PT on Dortmund (It is) and therefore he might be good enough. This is both a risk assessment situation AND more importantly, a cultural one. I'd put Gozo pretty high potential. He has size and speed that I don't think anyone else has and his skill base is extremely underrated.
Just to make sure, I believe Gozo might start in 2030. I still think that Albert and Sullivan have higher potential then him, and maybe Mehmeti too. I'm on the team of kicking everyone older than Richards out (not sure about Weston) by 2028. And younger Reyna out as well.
Can I simply point out that calling up Mathis is likely counterproductive to his career goals, as it would pull him away from his club at a critical juncture? If anyone wants to call him up, you're essentially rooting for him to lose some very hard-earned progress with his club team.
I think we probably could have used Gozo this time around, given how Weah played. No idea who starts, but he's even more advantaged if we move to something that say, Cherundolo might play. I'm particularly excited about Sullivan and Mehmeti because both are the type of passers we generally have not had. The combination of vision and accuracy for both is basically ahead of most of our pool, if not everyone. Whether the rest of the game is there is a question, but ... ... if we think about the current generation that started with Christian, they were the forerunners of the guys who could control the ball and could dribble guys. But the passing, soccer IQ and shooting still lagged. There was Reyna, and we've grabbed Tillman from outside the the US development system ... but in general, we're not a team of quality passers, and only Wes really seems to have that understanding of the cracks in a defense from that crew. But as we move forward ... there's more guys with great shots and there's more guys who can pass and see how the ball moves. Someone like Tsakiris may not have all the physical tools or the fancy dribble, but he knows the plays to make and he's a good passer. That sort of foundational knowledge on the team; that baseline of play that a lot of the European countries have is coming. And then there's some special passers in Mehmeti and Sullivan. Hopefully the rest of the game is there. And hopefully we get a coach who values that. As for Albert, I thought the U17 WC was a mixed bag. He didn't play poorly at all, and he was young, so that's actually a big plus. We should not make the mistake that people did with say, an underage Tyler Adams at one of these and bury him. Sixteen against seventeen year olds is actually a big deal. I think he's got good soccer IQ for the age and good skills. Only question mark is that elite wingers in Top 4 league are almost universally fast. Like fast, fast. Pulisic was always a lock to be pretty good because of his quickness and speed. I couldn't really get a feel for Albert on that at the U17 -- he had some plays he looked quick; he got caught from behind at times. If he's quick enough, I think he will be very, very good. If he's not ... I think he will be very, very good, actually ... but he won't be as successful mostly in his club career.
I know this won’t be a popular opinion, but especially if Poch leaves I’d be perfectly fine keeping Ream around a little longer. Our core isn’t overflowing with leadership and I’d prefer the rookies benefit from the continuity of his maturity and leadership compared to the others. Maybe that’s trauma overcorrection from the 2018 cycle cleanout that many argued contributed substantially to our ensuing issues with team culture. Assuming he maintains form and fitness and he doesn’t retire from international duty—and that wouldn’t surprise me, based alone off the segment in the U.S. Against the World documentary, which highlighted his family’s acknowledgment of Tim’s national team commitment taking away from family time—I would consider keeping him through Gold Cup 2027. If nothing else than to maintain the tone of professionalism for the upcoming corps of guys. For those still reading, here are some arguments for delaying Tim’s retirement: - except for the Belgium match, his form during the World Cup was excellent - he remains one of our top CB’s—and arguably our deputy to Chris Richards - there are very few CB’s who appear ready to push Ream out of a 26-man roster spot in the near future - the respect he has among the core appears to be unparalleled - the core is not full of steady leaders who exude wisdom (Richards and Adams are getting there—others like Balo might become that guy next cycle, too) - he doesn’t have to start or even play a ton, just be there to mentor and set an example - our competition is limited anyway in the next year or so - we are likely to be experiencing a coaching change, so Tim’s wisdom and continuity of experience has added value - and perhaps most importantly, our core has limited experience in World Cup qualifying, having missed that experience this past cycle, and despite a chunk of the guys were around for ‘22 qualifying, the team’s collective experience in WCQ remains uninspiring Surely I’ll have plenty of negative feedback on this point (and perhaps with fair reason). Yes, Tim is old. Yes, we want to blood new talent. Yes, this is a great time in the cycle to try s*** and get guys minutes. And yes, there have been plenty of guys we’ve historically kept around too long. I am just putting this out there for all the folks dying for Tim’s testimonial match. If he is kept around for a little while longer, there are advantages if executed with intention.
There were so many Onyewu’s in SOFI row 1 section 238. And, side note, surprisingly we saw all but five 2026 WC roster names on jerseys throughout the stadium. Including two (2!) Arfstens. But Onyewu’s was the third most popular retired player jersey there (after D & D), based on that row alone. For anyone keeping score at home. (Which I trust is no one!)