I've just been looking at his stats and it's interesting (https://fbref.com/en/players/48875649/Cristian-Roldan) He's always been a player that struck me as a steady grower. However, last year's stats have been a huge leap. His non-penalty G+A in MLS jumped from 0.33 to 0.42 and has kept steady this year at 0.43. Toss in that he was, at least in my eyes, the best player in the CCL championship and I see a lot of reasons to have him in the squad.
Leaving Roldan out of it, I will say that for those last slots on a roster, a coach will often look at what a player brings to the squad even if they don’t get game time. Are they going to be mopey and non-participative or will they look for ways to contribute and additive to the team? Nick Rimando was the ultimate #3 gk because he knew and accepted his role while being an excellent locker room guy. It matters.
#3 keeper aside, even in a 26 man roster I think the last field player matters for other than coaching/glue guy reasons. We saw it in WCQ with all the injuries that put us in tough spots depth wise on more than one occasion.
I don't think anyone is questioning whether Roldan has improved in MLS, only whether that will translate to improvement at the international level. I don't have anything against Roldan, hopefully he friggin destroys Uruguay or Morocco, two World Cup caliber opponents unlike Martinique. If that was the case, do the people whining about people whining about Roldan really think the majority (there are always going to be some haters) of the US fanbase wouldn't be just fine with Roldan making the World Cup roster?? Can't speak for others but I would have no problem with Roldan being the best player on the national team, running circles around scrubs like Pulisic. Let him be the first name on the team sheet. If he does that, it wouldn't be any sort of dunk on me for not CURRENTLY considering him up to the international level based on PAST performance, I'm perfectly willing to change my opinion based on new data (just as I will readily acknowledge Roldan has improved at the MLS level).
Here’s the thing, I doubt Roldan plays much against Uruguay or Morocco. He’s clearly a depth piece on this team and my guess the game he’s most likely to start this window is against El Salvador. His main issue to me is his best position is not the 8, it’s playing on the wings and that’s where the team is most loaded. You could be a very good player and national team worthy and still not as good Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, or Aaronson. But I can also understand that Roldan bring a lot of intangible qualities to the team and when you’re talking about spot 25 or 26 on the roster, those qualities take on an added importance. I definitely wanted to see Pomykal on the roster and I think he could be a useful player at the 8. And though I’m disappointed he wasn’t included it’s also hard for me to get upset that Roldan is included the way some seem to be. I get why he’s there and I’m fine with the rationale. The player to me who least deserves to be on the roster though is Bello. Give me any combination of Vines, Gomez, Tolkin, Jones, and Paredes instead.
Speaking of Pomykal... some stats on the guy who is not even going to get a shot to make the World Cup roster... but do NOT complain about the roster or you're a clueless toxic internet dummy who will never be satisfied! https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/usmnt-mailbag-pulisic-s-future-pomykal-s-case-waldo-kits-more Among all MLS central midfielders this year (minimum 200 pass attempts), Pomykal leads the league in pretty much all the basic numbers (passes attempted, completed, passes leading to a shot, pass-before-the-pass, etc.), but it’s the underlying numbers where he really stands out. Among central midfielders he leads the league in: Defenders bypassed (i.e., the number of defenders his passing takes out of the play) Defenders bypassed per 90 minutes (he’s almost 20% higher than the No. 2 guy on the list) xG generated from possessions in which he’s involved (FORTY PERCENT higher than the No. 2 guy) Passes that break the opposing backline (i.e., passes in behind) Passes hit under pressure (he’s at 281; the No. 2 guy on the list is at 199) Progressive passes per game Progressive passes that end in the final third In other words, Dallas give Pomykal the ball in the toughest spots on the field, spots that naturally invite opposing pressure. They do that because not only does he not turn the ball over there, but he actually uses that pressure against the opponents by drawing them upfield, then cutting them out of the play with his precise passing and, occasionally, dribbling. And that subsequently forces the opposing defense to scramble, which in turn opens up attacking avenues for guys like Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira. Then there is the defensive stuff. Pomykal is in the 97th percentile or better in… Interceptions per game xG resulting from his interceptions Total pressures Pressures per game Ball pressures per game Counter presses Number of times his pressure led to a turnover in 10 seconds or less Number of times his pressure led to a turnover in 5 seconds or less Total distance covered while pressing Tackles won per game
el salvador is the only match here that matters and will be at all a challenge. how does it make sense for him to play that one if hes a depth piece? im with you on bello, though. id legit rather see roldan at lb than central/on the wing/bello at all.
Bello reveals that Greggg strongly values the attacking aspect of his fullbacks at the expense of the defensive aspect. There are quite a few left backs in the pool better than Bello defensively. I do think he should be spreading the left back opportunities more evenly among Bello, Jones, Vines and Tolkin.
We’re not going to start our top guys every game, and the stakes on that El Salvador game are relatively low. I’d much rather see our starters against Morocco and Uruguay.
The key point in my post is that 2022 Roldán is much better than 2019 Roldán. I leave the judgement for the rest of you.
This isn't a criminal case. This is sport. And this is not a Hall of Fame discussion or a career retrospective. So what has happened within the past two years is obviously vastly more important that what had transpired before. That is if the object is selecting players to compete in this year's upcoming matches. He has 2 assists in 288 minutes of competitive action. That is excellent production for limited minutes.
Likewise I have no issue with Roldán in or out of the roster. I just take issue with the thought experiment of bringing Roldán purely as a cheer leader.
I'm a Pomykal stan, but he doesn't belong on this roster right now. He isn't at the level he was pre-injury.
I would have included him. There’s an opening for the 4th 8 and even if he’s not quite there yet, better to integrate him now than have the single camp in September. That and we could have had one additional player without issue.
dike had two goals in 5 matches (playing two clearly injured) in that same gold cup and is routinely dismissed. apparently an assist vs martinique is far more impressive than a goal? does it matter that both assists came playing wide?
feel however you feel about it, but the nations league is one of exactly 3 actual competitions we play in. over our last 3 matches vs el salvador weve scraped out a pair of 1-0 wins at home and were held to a scoreless draw in san salvador. if you want to prioritize friendlies great, thankfully the manager isnt. well, he said as much anyways.
I think what he is prioritizing is preparation for the World Cup. Games against Morocco and Uruguay are better prep. Having said that, it shouldn't be hard to figure this out so that strong lineups are playing in every game. This all supports the roster size, which is similar to what we will be able to bring to Qatar. It's likely that Gregg and the staff are treating these four games like three group stage games + a knockout game.
Roldan and Mahailovic are in form. But when and for whom does club form matter? That has always been the big mystery with Gregg. Everyone knows the in-form players who weren’t called up. And almost no one challenges the notion that the lesser players called up instead were indeed lesser players. So it gets weird debating the merits of call-ups when the criteria cited seem to apply selectively. The debate degenerates into each side inferring their own charitable or uncharitable reasons, sometimes proclaiming their own fill-in-the-blank speculation as true. Information abhors a vacuum.
Our biggest injuries misses are Reyna (for cohesion) and Miles (because he won't be back). But Dike is right behind them for me. I wonder where a healthy Dike would be at. We could really use some of his skillsets.
My counter argument is a team is built around the best players and where they fit. So call it a system or whatever you want but until a player becomes one of the best players they need to fit around the core/system/formation. So, yes, lesser overall players may sometimes be better at the positional need at that exact moment than better overall players. GB has changed the formation and system as players like Adams became one of the core. It wouldn't hurt to have some players that can come off the bench or start a few games that change the formation/system but that's a different argument.