One thing that needs to be considered it that each game, each tournament etc has it's own set of hoped for results/goals. The main goal of many on this list is that we win the tournament....period. Berhalter's goals are different and I assume that he has only made public some of those goals. One stated goal was to give the first team a rest and he also stated a goal was to win the tournament. I am sure that winning is a goal, I don't know exactly where that goal is on his list of priorities. I am quite sure that at least some of his goals are experimental and that he is trying to fine tune his roster (especially the depth) for qualifying. As a result, he needs to try new players and also play some of veteran players that form the fringe. Those veteran players also play a secondary role of being a framework that he can use to assist the younger players in learning aspects of his philosophies and the system. Lletget, and Zardes were likely pretty safe coming in (at least in the first 23), while Yueill might be playing for a place in the 30. All can help the players new to the team learn the basics of Berhalter's philosopy. If one of his main goals is preparation for wc qualifying (I believe it is), I think it helps explain some of his exclusions. We are pretty strong outside mid/wing, for example, so maybe he doesn't believe Mueller is a high priority even though he may have helped us. Not sure how he saw Arriola compared to the other players that position, but he definitely has experience at the position, Roldan as well. Both can be valuable resources in getting the new kids acclimated to the team.
This is an example of what I'm thinking. Sites - Cincinnati, Columbus, Nashville, Atlanta (just one example of having 3-4 stadiums close together to keep travel to something of a minimum). Pool A - US, Uruguay (CONMEBOL), Norway (UEFA), Australia (Asia) Pool B - Costa Rica, Portugal (UEFA), Senegal (Africa), New Zealand or another Asian team Round robin in each pool. 1st and 2nd in each group play in a championship bracket, 3rd and 4th play in a consolation bracket. There's a 3rd place, 5th place, and 7th place game. Every team gets five matches, regardless of results. Play the event over a couple of weeks, forcing teams to rotate heavily since this is more for prep than for any sort of result. Yes, the US and Mexico could play in this event, but I'd like to see those teams play other teams. Honestly, I could see Mexico host a very similar event of their own in Mexico. There would be a trophy, but that trophy really wouldn't matter. It would be all about starting the prep for the next continental to World Cup cycle. The US could also play in an event like this in Europe or South America.
When would this happen? The Nations Leagues have tied up so many formerly available dates. How about a winter tournament for teams from countries with a summer calendar (like Norway, Japan) or an extended winter (Russia) break?
We're reinventing the Confederations Cup here. Literally. The Confederations Cup started out as an invitational tournament in Saudi Arabia called the King Fahd Cup, in which all the invitees were continental champions. FIFA took over organization of the tournament in 1997 and renamed it the Confederations Cup, and retroactively made the 1992 and 1995 tournaments the first two Confederations Cups.
Which is why I still really don’t like the Nations League concept. It waters down the continental tournaments and places too much emphasis on winning instead of experimenting for major tournaments.
The fact that we play the Gold Cup so often that we have a de facto B level GC is what waters down our own continental championship -- not the Nations League.
And they weren't originally supposed to conflict, IIRC. Pre-Covid, the plan was: Year after WC = Gold Cup 2nd Year post WC = Nations League (A team) Year before WC = Gold Cup Now, previously, the first Gold Cup of the cycle punched the ticket to Confederations Cup. Which is why that was the A Gold Cup and the other one a B team. There is no reason for that now, though resting some guys the year before WC makes some sense. Now, personally, I'd like to see one GC per cycle, and 2 Nations League. But GC is a bigger tourney & generates more $$$. So that likely won't change. What I'd really like to see is 1 GC, 1 NL, and a joint tourney with CONMEBOL every cycle.
We already play too many games. I GC and 1 NL is well enough. It wont happen because Concacaf wants more money, but damn, we play too many games.
Not last year. 2019 was more typical with 18 games, including the Gold Cup and a couple of cupcake friendlies.
C'mon Paul, are you really using the 2020 schedule to make a point --- really?? We play too many games. It is so normal that we play all these games that people complain when MLS teams push back at all when we play outside of the window games and raid their squads for these cash grabs. In the countries of the leagues most people follow and deem superior, these games wouldn't even be happening. You know that better than I do.
yet none of those games are against anyone decent. NEED to play better teams, somehow, before the WC. I hate this over concacafization/covfefeication/etc of the schedule.
This is another reason why I don't like the Nations League. Now that the majority of our best 23 play in Europe, let's start playing friendlies against European, African, and Asian teams. Hell, play the South American teams in Europe. Let the B-team play friendlies against CONCACAF teams and some of the mid-tier CONMEBOL teams. Truth be told, the Nations League is really going to hinder the development of the USMNT. I want to see our A-team/Euro-based team playing better competition on a more regular basis.
Unfortunately, with or without the CONCACAF Nations League, we're not likely to get the same number of quality friendlies as we did before. The UEFA Nations League now takes away a big part of the pool of quality opponents on any given date. In this cycle, many European countries played their first friendlies of the cycle only in the lead-up to Euro 2020.
The Nations League was created so that the top European teams could play competitive games against meaningful opposition on a regular basis. The rest of the world may get the odd friendly. We should probably play more matches against South American teams.