He has a chance to make that squad simply do to the decreased amount of legitimate USMNT options at left back. We just saw the USMNT switch Dest to LB in a friendly. He had a great year in MLS, and is one of the kids we should really want to make a Euro move soon. i do love a fullback that can effectively solve problems in tight spaces and under pressure. george bello szn is back onpic.twitter.com/FZQdfok4wN— Sanjiv (@USMNTvideos) November 27, 2020
He looks good in the video but I noticed it was a very small sample size for being the whole season. When I saw him as a 14 y.o. I thought he was the best player on the field. He hit the injury bug when he turned 17 and I lost track of him. I hope his game continues to improve so he can be a serious candidate for sr. team.
I was coming here to mention him, actually. And I'll add the names Busio, Sands, Caden Clark, Mark McKenzie (not that dark of a dark horse) and Miles Robinson (ditto) to the list as well. Obviously not all these guys will make it, but I won't be shocked if any of them do. Dark horses, right?
Cade Cowell and Caden Clark would fill the surprising youth role I think, and both have the tools to be very useful
Would they be able to beat out a backup? They would need to walk this whole season. As it stands, the dark horses are Dike and Seabatcheu. They made their move just 2 months ago. And still, we don't know if they will beat out the MLSer's forwards. My dark horse is Alex Mighten, simply because LB is our weakest spot, followed by a possible LW opening if Aaronson is put in the midfield. I think Alex can do both.
Alex Mighten is right-footed and has never played LB. He's definitely a sleeper as a winger, but I'm not sure where you got the LB thing
He plays LW. And yes, he is a right-footed player. I like how well he defends. Alfonso D. was a winger and was made into a LB.
The guys I have now as Dark Horse candidates: The Favorites: GK = Steffen, Turner, Johnson, Hamid FB = Dest, Reynolds, Cannon, A. Robinson, Ream CB = Brooks, Richards, Miazga, McKenzie, Long MF = Adams, McKennie, Musah, Yuiell, De la Torre, Acosta AM= Aaronson, Pulisic, Lletget, Weah, Reyna FW= Siebatcheu, Dike, Sargent Dark Horse: * = minimal hope ** = moderate hope *** = significant hope Chituri Odunze - GK ** David Ochoa - GK ** Ethan Horvath - GK ** Brad Guzan - GK ** JT Marcinkowski - GK * John Pulskamp - GK * Alex Borto - GK * CJ Dos Santos - GK * Josh Cohen - GK * George Bello - LB ** Sam Vines - LB ** Chase Gasper - LB * Jonathan Gomez - LB * Aaron Herrera - R/LB * DeAndre Yedlin - RB *** Julian Araujo - RB ** Joe Scally - RB * Tim Chandler - RB ** Justin Che - CB * Henry Kessler - CB * Mauricio Pineda - CB * Justen Glad - CB * Donovan Pines - CB * Aboubacar Keita - CB * Bryan Okoh - CB * (dual) Ventura Alvarado - CB * Phillip Sandler - CB * Miles Robinson - CB ** Cameron Carter-Vickers - CB ** Erik Palmer-Brown - CB ** Walker Zimmerman - CB ** Kik Pierie - CB/LB (dual) *** Leon Flach - LB/DM * Johnny Cardoso - MF ** Owen Otasowie - MF ** Tanner Tessman - MF * James Sands - MF * Taylor Booth - MF * Andres Perea - MF * Chris Durkin - MF * Josh Atencio - MF * Cole Bassett - MF * Djordje Mihailovic - MF * Duane Holmes - MF * Moses Nyeman - MF * Hassani Dotson - MF * Christian Cappis - MF * Cristian Roldan - MF * Bryang Kayo - MF * Eryk Williamson - MF * Frankie Amaya - MF * Keaton Parks - MF * Fredo Morales - MF * Paxton Pomykal - MF * Richard Ledezma - MF (injury) ** Julian Green - M/F *** Gianluca Busio - M/F ** Cade Cowell - M/F ** Anthony Fontana - M/F * Sebastian Saucedo - M/F * Caden Clark - M/F ** Jonathan Lewis - R/LW * Kevin Paredes - R/LW * Uly Llanez - R/LW * Alex Mighten - R/LW (dual) ** Benji Michel - R/LW * Tyler Boyd - R/LW ** Chris Mueller - R/LW ** Konrad de la Fuente - R/LW ** Jordan Morris - W/F (injury) *** Paul Arriola - W/F (injury) *** Niko Gioacchini - W/F ** Jesus Ferreira - W/F ** Matthew Hoppe - FW ** Gyasi Zardes - FW ** Jozy Altidore - FW * Ricardo Pepi - FW ** Folarin Balogun - FW (dual) ** Santiago Munoz - FW (dual) ** Haji Wright - FW * Sebastian Soto - FW * Jeremy Ebobisse - FW * Andrija Novakovich- FW * Ayo Akinola - FW * (dual) Of these, my 3 stars, guys knocking on the door are: Kik Pierie (all he needs to do is commit) DeAndre Yedlin (his experience will prove valuable but he has to be more consistent at club level) Paul Arriola (his injury bumped him out of favorite list) Jordan Morris (we need to see how he returns) Julian Green (he has World Cup experience, doing well, and likely will be promoted to Bundesliga... but his position is crowded) Meanwhile, my two-stars: Caden Clark (very exciting youth) Cade Cowell (off to a good start) George Bello (we desperately need left backs) Sam Vines (same story as Bello) Folarin Balogun (needs first team minutes) Konrad de la Fuente (I’m higher on him than others) Ricardo Pepi (tons of potential) Matthew Hoppe (regressed and playing down... needs to redeem himself) Niko Gioacchini (needs a higher level) Jesus Ferreira (Olympics may have played himself off the roster) Santiago Munoz (in Mexico camp but would be a steal - although probably not good enough, to be honest) Gyasi Zardes (break glass, in case of emergency) Chris Mueller (could sneak into the equation with good form) Tyler Boyd (like Mueller, could sneak in with good form) Alex Mighten (we should try to get to join but probably not good enough for this cycle) Gianluca Busio (it depends how quickly he progresses) Richard Ledezma (if he can return to form, he’s in) Owen Otasowie (we desperately need a back up DM - he needs to force his way into Wolves line up) Johnny Cardoso (super young but took a step back with Olympics - still Internacional is a good level and we need DMs) Walker Zimmerman (probably on the outside looking in) Erik Palmer-Brown (needs a higher level) Cameron Carter-Vickers (needs consistency, higher level, and a legit shot) Miles Robinson (had a terrible year last year which knocks him down. I’m an Atlanta fan and I’m lower on him than most) Tim Chandler (if he can get more PT at Frankfurt; why shouldn’t he get a look?) Julian Araujo (might be a casualty of depth at right back. He needs to do more) Ethan Horvath (he should be our clear cut #2 but I don’t even know if he likes soccer anymore) Chituri Odunze (rising quickly) David Ochoa (due to lack of other options, he might get in just to be the prodigal 3rd keeper) Brad Guzan (he’s definitely on the decline, but he might provide a leadership presence as the third keeper)
Marcinkowski deserves a little more love around here (and I'm biased obviously). He starts in MLS, is still young, and has good feet to go along with excellent reflexes. He's maybe not as tall/lanky as you'd like, but the sort of helter skelter nature of the Quakes attack helps him build out from under pressure. I think compared to Steffen, who looks like a deer in the headlights when we're pressed, JT is much more composed, and can even launch longer outlets to midfield/the opposite sidelines.
He brings something unique to the table. Most of the our wingers are the small/fast type. He's a bigger, stronger type of athlete, but maybe not as explosive. He reminds me of someone like Arnautovic. We've got some strong strikers already in Altidore, Sargent, and Dike, so I don't know if there will be demand to push Cowell central. He seems like someone who could evolve into a 9 eventually though. Purely on the wing his ceiling may be limited by a lack of sheer speed. Still, he seems like a candidate for the 23 man roster.
I think the likely third option right now is Hoppe. Although, he hasn't done much after "breaking out" for Schalke. It'll be interesting to see if he stays there for next season. Altidore wasn't on the preliminary roster for the Nations League.
doutful hoppe is anywhere close to usmnt at this point. doubtful he will ever score another for schalke too
Essentially, anyone not in this 40 is now a dark horse... GK Steffen, Turner, Johnson, Horvath, Ochoa RB Yedlin, Dest, Cannon, Reynolds LB A. Robinson, Ream, Vines CB Brooks, Miazga, Richards, M. Robinson, Long, Zimmerman, McKenzie MF Adams, McKennie, Musah, Yuiell, De la Torre, Lletget, Acosta, Roldan, Otasowie W/F Aaronson, Pulisic, Weah, Reyna, Arriola, Boyd, Gioacchini, Konrad FW Sargent, Dike, Siebatcheu, Zardes Now, we can assess who is a Dark Horse and who is not, broken into four groups, the injured, the fringe, the new faces, and the dual-nationals: The Injured: Jordan Morris Richie Ledezma For both, this is pretty simple, get healthy and return to form, and they’ll be highly competitive. But it’s a race against time. The Fringe: Chris Mueller Jesus Ferreira Jonathan Lewis Cameron Carter-Vickers Erik Palmer-Brown Aaron Herrera Julian Araujo Djordje Mihailovic Duane Holmes Paxton Pomykal Uly Llanez Jozy Altidore Sebastian Soto Johnny Cardoso George Bello Andres Perea Tanner Tessman Bill Hamid Brad Guzan Of this list, right now, I believe only Bello, Hamid, Guzan, Perea, and Cardoso have a legit shot. The rest are either not good enough or buried on the depth chart at their position. Even though CCV and EPB deserve a look, unless we go with 3 at the back, I believe they’ll be out of their depth. The New Faces (no caps under Berhalter) Chituri Odunze Julian Green Haji Wright Tim Chandler Joseph Scally Justin Che Cade Cowell Caden Clark Gianluca Busio Cole Bassett James Sands Ricardo Pepi Leon Flach Jonathan Gomez Andrija Novakovich Taylor Booth Chris Durkin Matthew Hoppe Of this group, Hoppe still has a shot depending if he can regain that spark he found in January. I think Sands could be a contender because we still could use a 6. Depending on how Gomez progresses, that back up LB spot could be his to take if he has a breakout season. Cowell and Clark are demonstrating that they deserve a shot. I still believe Green and Chandler deserve a good look. The rest need to do a lot more. The Dual-Nationals Kik Piere Folarin Balogun Alex Mighten Depending on how Balogun progresses, he could either be a lock, or the next Zelalem... to be determined. I believe Mighten is a little out of his depth still. But Pierie? He could be a lock on the 23 right now given that he can play LB and CB at a high level. He might not start, but he’s good enough to be on the squad. All he has to do is commit and not drop the ball.
For Qatar? The tourney that's still 18 months out. There's a lot of guys who likely have a shot, but in particular, keeping Pomykal out is going to be tough. Dude is already good enough to take a slot; it's just progression and health. His versatility is going to be a huge advantage. On the younger folks list, 18 months can be a long time. Players can emerge in that time frame, but it will likely have to start soon.
Possibly. But whatever the hell is going on with Paxton that prevents him from being a regular starter and crushing MLS competition is what prevents him from moving from “this guy has a lot of talent and potential” to “we must have this guy in our team.” I’m rooting for him. But he needs to do better.
I should add, there will still be a few outliers, but barring injury, after the NL/GC, the 23 for WCQ will be mostly set... chances will dry up until January Camp 2022... and whenever the next friendly. How many chances are new players going to get? They’ll have to do something to prove their special in the last year. As reference, this is more or less my formula, for player pool selection: Phase1: First/Second year > Cast a wide net, give lots of chance, identify vets/leaders Phase 2: Third/fourth year > Start building the XI/23, narrowing the player pool, and building team chemistry. In other words, we’re no longer in the cast a wide net phase of the cycle. Someone needs to do something special to get in.
This was amusing to go back and read through. Props to the people who got Scally and Turner pretty early. I'm gonna pat myself on the back for Musah