I strongly disagree on all of this. 1. Yeldin was better for the USMNT over the past 4 years than every player other than Pulisic and Besler. He always put in a hard shift and adds a speed element that we desperately need. Is he a UCL player? nope but he doesn’t have to outrun the bear. 2. Club pedigree doesn’t mean everything but it means a hell of a lot. It show a lot that he was an auto-starter for a top 100 team for several years and held his own at far higher speeds than the MLS/B2/Championship crowd. We know he can compete (although not dominate) at that level and we have little evidence of how his competition will play at a higher level. 3/4. Let’s see if Dest, Cannon or Lima can make the move to the majors and compete every day at that level. I like all three of them but they’ve not played better or as consistently as Yedlin for the USMNT.
Club pedigree matters at the high end for sure. If a top 4 league goes after you, it most certainly means something talent and potential wise. It means nothing as a guarantee long term but it is definitely a starting point when looking for your best talent for the USMNT.
I also haven't been thrilled with Yedlin (fair/good not great) but agree those other players need to beat him out to take his spot. It's good there starting to be options but annointing anyone isn't the way no matter how good they look in club or youth competitions. Those are just for getting you to the national team where you then have to win a starter's spot.
this illicited many thoughts. the one most appropriate for the thread is that I'd think that Mendez (or Ledesma) would be a better fit with this front six. I'm not rating those two over pomykal but think Mendez's passing (and shooting) create a more balanced side. Similarly with ledesmas attacking creativeness.
The Starting XI is beginning to coalesce. ----------------------Sargent--------- ---------Pulisic------Weah------Boyd---- --------------McKennie----Adams------ ---Robinson---------------------------Yedlin---- ---------------Brooks-------Long---- ----------------------Steffen------ I'm not suggesting everyone of these guys is a lock, but that the outline of the best team is there. Weah is the off-forward. Pulisic will play more as a wing-forward; Boyd will more be two-way.
I don’t think we can have Pulisic in front of Robinson as that’s a poor defensive combination and will force Pulisic to defend too much.
I don’t think Berhalter is overly focused on defense - he always starts his lineup with a poor defender as the DM.
I think you'd have to switch to a 4-2-3-1 with either of them. Boyd is also a factor as well as a few others. The point you're showing is that there are starting to be options and during qualifying GB can start tailoring lineups for road / home, conditions, opponent, cards, injuries and having a fresh(er) team for the second game. I have to wonder if Reyna is fast tracked at Dortmund like Pulisic was if he starts getting callups and where his best spot is.
Pulisic ---- Altidore ---- Sargent ------- Nagbe --- McKennie --------- ------------ Pomykal----------------- Dest -- I don't know -- Adams ----- Steffen
----Pulisic------Altidore----------(1) ------------------Lletget------------ ------------Adams---McKennie--- Johnson----Brooks----Miazga-----Yedlin (1) Pick one: Weah, Morris, Arriola, Boyd
-------------Altidore---------------- Weah-------Lletget-------Pulisic -------Adams-------McKennie--- Lichaj--Brooks--Miazga--Yedlin --------------Steffen----------------- For all practical purposes, let's just say Brooks is Ream because that's who I'd play when Brooks is out. The funny thing is I actually think that lineup would be quite a bit better at keeping the ball than anything we've thrown out there and it's significantly more athletic. Literally everyone on the team except Brooks/Ream can run at the level necessary for international soccer, some of them very fast like Yedlin and Pulisic.
----------------Altidore------------- Pulisic-----------------------Weah -------McKennie--Lletget---------- ---------------Adams----------------- Dest---Brooks--Long---Cannon ---------------Steffen----------------- If Yedlin can prove to me that he's fit and back to his usual self, I would put him back in there over Cannon or Lima. I'm just not sure where he's at right now. Altidore has a short leash, but I still pick him over Sargent. If he isn't impactful in the League of Nations, then I make the switch. Regardless of how "ready" Sargent is. I had Boyd earmarked for right wing, but that spot is an open competition after these last two games. I'll go with Weah (who I understand isn't healthy). I'd love to figure out who to partner with Brooks, but its just a whole lot of question marks. I thought it was Long, but performances in these last two games have me questioning that choice. Miazga hasn't been a world-beater when we've given him chances. So Long is a status quo pick as opposed to one I feel strongly about. With so many young players, I understand I'm putting results at risk. But I'd rather roll with them than the Trapp, Zardes, etc. types.
4231: ---------------Morris------ ----Weah--Sargent--Pulisic --------McKennie--Adams---- Lima---Brooks--Robinson---Yedlin ------------Steffen------------ top subs - Altidore, Pomykal, Lletget, Long, Cannon, Horvath, Morales utility - Dest, Roldan, Ream, Guzan, Arriola replacements - Boyd, Zimmerman, Miazga, A. Robinson unrostered - Trapp, Bradley, Zardes, Lovitz
---------------------sarge----------morris --------------------------------puli ---------------pom-------------------------- ------------------------------adams-- ---dest/ream--brooks/long---miazga---dest*/lima --------------------------gk: steffen or we could add a cb and have a 352 with good passing out of the back. *not sure if Dest committs to USA -----------------------sarge------morris --arriola--------pulisic-----------pom----lima/dest* ----------------------------adams -----------------ream----brooks---miles -----------------------gk: steffen If Morris and Sarge are the thing, we should play a 442 diamond with Pulisic at the 10. Pulisic and Morris both have wide skills so there shouldn't be lack of width, especially with Lima and Dest and Arriola playing. Puisic has to be near goal, not helping fullbacks defend. I'd like to see Weah play at Lille before calling him up as a best xi for the senior team. We don't really have any idea how they will use him at Lille. Maybe Lille doesn't know either. We need 2 cmids who play 2 way with one specializing in offense and the other specializing in defense to help Adams out. McKennie can't read the game defensively and doesn't have the passing for the offensive part, for one.
Yedlin returns from a serious long-term injury and looks effective in shutting out the talented Man United left flank. Probably not pretty enough for his distractors but even at their worst, Man United has serious talent. Let's replace Yedlin with a guy (whom I like and am hoping transfers this window so he can, you know, get acclimated to competing against better players) who went up against Nemeth, Salloi and Hernandez this weekend. I'm guessing you'll respond with the usual TLDR: We all "legitimately observed" that Yeldin was "effective" in playing against multiple high level international players. We have little observations of our up-and-coming domestic players doing that.
----------Sargent--------- Pulisic-------- -----------------Ledezma ----------McKennie-------------Adams -------------------Pomykal K. Acosta---Brooks---Sands---Dest Steffen
Dest gotta agree to play for the US senior side before we can include him here, I think. I suspect that's a next year item - picking between US WCQ and, if offered, Netherlands Euros. Personally, I think he's several years away from any call to the Orange. His defense needs a lot of work. The potential is there, but he's got work to do.
----------------Altidore------------- Sargent-----------------------Weah -------McKennie--Pulisic---------- ---------------Adams----------------- Dest---Brooks--Miazga---Yedlin ---------------Steffen-----------------
That is probably as close to our best starting 11. There are some options up top that might be as good. It sucks that three of these guys have been hurt for so long, another is hurt now, and another might not be in our pool in a week.
I am at least glad to see that most people are not including any MLS players in the defense. There is not one US eligible MLS defender that understands and can actually play defense. They are all, at least all I have seen, thugs that can only defend by holding, pushing, grabbing and otherwise fouling the attacking players. This works in the MLS and it usually works in CONCACAF because the skill level is so low and the referees are so poor and call almost nothing. However once the level goes up, as it does in international competitions outside CONCACAF, the thug defense just does not work against any decent team. My best 11 would never ever include any MLS defenders. In fact I would not have any MLS players on my best 23 unless the foreign based players just could not fill all the spots effectively. I believe that a player playing as low as the third division in any of the top leagues is a better fit for international soccer than the best the MLS has to offer. The MLS is just bad all the way around.
Sargent isn't a winger. Weah has yet to establish himself as a pro getting minutes. In fact, the wingers haven't progressed as much as I'd hoped. The strength of the pool, by way of mids and forwards lies in the central players. A 'y' or diamond midfield: ----------------------Sargent--------Morris------ --------------------------------Pulisic----------- ------------Morales------------------------McKennie---- -------------------------------Adams-------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------Yedlin--- ----------CCV----------Brooks---------------Long---- ---------------------------------Steffen--------- Yedlin will be the attacking fullback with Long providing cover. Against certain opponents, a more specialist CM--like Holmes, Pomykal, Parks, Nagbe, Ledezma, etc.--can replace Pulisic who would then move into a forward/winger position. For more creativity, Morales can be replaced by a player like Holmes.
I like your lineup quite a bit. Pulisic should be playing in the middle IMO and Adams behind him would free up a bit of his D responsibilities and I think the connection between the two could be dynamic offensively. McKennie and Morales on the wings would really help on D too... winning balls and starting counters. I would like to see Richards get his shot soon on D... especially considering the fragile nature of Brooks.