Sargent is a well-rounded player alright, he brings no edge to the game. He leaves no mark, makes no impact.
I don't disagree, and I think its pretty ridiculous, what's happening, but I also know that the schedule is so so so much worse now than it was in the 1990's for players. Pulisic played about 7200 minutes alone with Milan the past two years, and he's a guy who'd come up lame typically if he was playing 2000+ year to year. He might be worth sitting. Overall it's a huge problem, I don't disagree, and the lack of urgency from the senior core of a team has been shocking this cycle, not just this window, the whole cycle. They only seemed to get up for El Tri matches and nothing else. Tyler being hurt for a good stretch of this cycle may have played a role too since he's quite obviously the leader of the group and was missing for a good chunk of that '23-'24 period.
I don't care about Sargent one way or the other. I am much more excited about a healthy Pepi and Balo, and testing out Downs. I don't think Sargent or Agyemang are close to good enough.
Not with the US. I also don't think it matters unless injuries make our striker situation so bad that we're totally ----ed anyway.
Clubs don't give a shit. Why would they? As for players who begged off the Gold Cup, Pulisic and Jedi are absolute lock starters if healthy and Musah is a roster lock. None of them are "likely [to] miss the World Cup," unless they get hurt. The players were all committed because they had no other reasonable options. Playing full time for the national team was a far better gig than playing in the APSL or some backwater second division. The handful of players who had better offers (Wynalda, Harkes, Ramos, etc.) took them.
In the conference did they ask him whether the Gold Cup roster is "All" from this list, "Mostly" from this list, or whether there could be "Significant" changes?
I don't think Milan, Juventus, Betis, Crystal Palace, Monaco, Toulouse, Köln, PSG, Leeds, Coventry etc and MLS teams are going to release their players so they can play as a USSF club in the build up to the World Cup. Tony Meola was so desperate for work he tried out for the NY Jets.
Still think we should have brought as many A guys as possible because time is limited, but after digesting the release for a bit, and not knowing the entirety of which guys are kinda hurt, asked out, etc...it's actually kinda a sneaky decent and interesting roster. But (and I think a lot of these have been mentioned already), there are some misses, IMHO. Ream - He's cooked and it's going to be detrimental to keep bringing him in. Guess Poch scratched off CCV & Trusty. Then the guy I'd have called instead is Nathan Harriel. He's showing to be adept everywhere across the back line, LB, RB, and he's looking even better now transitioning to CB. He's 24 years old. Staying in MLS, Blackmon (28) or Kessler (26), probably don't have a NT future, but they are better players than Ream at this point. De la Torre - Honestly never been impressed, but now he's basically "a guy" on an MLS expansion team. This roster needs more punch and creativity in the attack. Brian Gutierrez is an obvious choice. Strange he isn't here unless he was the guy playing golf last camp? I'd have rather given Mihailovic or even Roldan (ducks) their 4th chance vs LDLT here. Left Back - Arfsten is a good MLS player and Jones is a versatile cog. But don't John Tolkin and Caleb Wiley have more upside? Tolkin is 22 and already graduated from MLS and showed he was quite up to the level of the Bundesliga. Wiley is only 20, and was getting good reviews in the Championship. They would have been my choices. Agyemang - We need five strikers? Just drop him as he's struggling to get on the board in Charlotte. If we need to replace him I'd still bring Josh Sargent. There's just no way I'm believing that Agyemang is a better player than Sargent. Frankly, we don't need White either, but at least the guy scores. Schulte - This doesn't matter much, but why has Schulte been anointed? He's not very good. Really hope Freese makes the roster and plays games - he should be #1 amongst this group right now, but probably gets cut. If you gotta replace Schulte there are two MLS GK, also 24 years old, who are outperforming him - Roman Celentano and CJ de los Santos. The rest, Poch did fine.
I mostly agree but I would make just a few more changes than that... Celentano for Schulte Wiley for Arfsten Tolkin for Jones Banks for Ream Gutierrez for de la Torre P Aaronson for Zawadski Sargent for either White or Agyemang (seems like a longer tournament is the best chance to get Sargent going with the national team) Not a big McGlynn fan either but I guess he can have his usefulness... 7-8 changes out of 27 is quite a lot!
Only quibble: Schulte is 14th in the league in PSxG/90, and top 6 among US goalies in MLS if you take out ancient Sean Johnson who is, erm, 1st. He was also 10th last year overall, and 6th amongst US guys (4th if you toss out ancient Guzan and Clarke) So, is he deserving, not exactly, but if you do the traits/skills thing, and then the analytics thing, he's basically right there with Freese last year, and Steffen and Freese this year. I think he belongs under consideration, but I'd rather be giving reps to Kochen who just offers more upside. Of course Steffen would be nowhere near the gig for me.
Yep, that's what is so alarming, it brings back to mind the worst of the Klinsy years, some Bob, and the horror show that was Berhalter in '19. It's been six years since we've seen a roster this deep in wtf picks.
I think they are looking at Banks as the spine (and possibly Captain) of the U20 WC squad.... The CBs on the senior roster leave a bit to be desired but the U20 WC squad will likely have some serious talent at the position and there is no reason why that platform couldn't be used to identify one (or even two) young CBs that could win a senior WC slot next summer. I see Banks at the top of the list but there are others that could make their case for the U20s or for their clubs if they are too old. In short.... we DESPERATELY need at least one of these players to take Ream's slot and ideally another would push our current pool: Banks, Akinmboni, Cupps, Wynder, Pierre, Applewhite, Neal As for the rest.... I agree about Arfsten, LDLT and Zawadaski. Wiley or Tolkin for Arfsten and Guti/Pax for LDLT/Zawadaski. But I disagree about Sargent for sure. The guy has been hurt a lot and could use the rest this summer and he just hasn't produced for the USMNT in a while. Heck... Agyemang has 3 goals in 4 USMNT appearances... and Sargent has 5 in 28. I am intrigued w/ Agyemang's profile... he still needs to improve his finishing ability but the guy creates mismatches and chances that I am not seeing for anyone else in our striker pool. Right now I think he is already our 3rd best option at striker behind Pepi and Balogun. Lastly... it seems like some people really appreciate what McGlynn brings to the table whereas others don't rate him much at all because of his lack of pace. I definitely lean towards the former opinion but especially when it comes to the USMNT. We have been beyond awful at set pieces for so long now and McGlynn could provide the service we need to finally score on a dead-ball play. We are also pretty poor at scoring from outside the 18 and McGlynn can bang. Having a threat like that could really open up the O against a low-block.
I've warmed up to this roster a little through out the day. It's not like this is a full B team, there's plenty of first team players. Compare it to our 2021 team that won The Gold Cup Goalkeeper: 2021 Turner vs 2025 Turner (2021 wins from a form standpoint, but it's literally the same guy) Fullbacks: Reggie Cannon and George Bello vs Dest and Arfsten or Jones (2025 wins on Dest alone) CB's: Miles and Sands vs ? (this is gonna depend heavily on who you start but we pretty much have all of our first choice CB's minus maybe CCV) Mids: Acosta-Lletget-Roldan vs Adams-Johnny-Tlllman (2025 blows that out of the water, though the latter two still need to show in an NT shirt) Wings: Hoppe and Arriola vs Haji and Brendo? (Neither is great, but I'll pick 2025 even though I loved Arriola) Striker: Zardes vs Balo (2025 wins by a mile)
For me... Pick'em. I'll take Arfsten today and probably next summer. Wiley has more potential, though. Would have selected Tolkin in a vacuum but there is a style thing here. Not really a head scratcher for me but would have gone elsewhere. I have no real opinion on Banks. Ream depends on how much he actually plays. Love Gutierrez, but these are completely different roles. I don't think Guti can be an 8 or a 6/8 in international play -- he's a winger or 10 on this team. Potentially would have brought him over Agyemang, though. Agree. Wholeheartedly support White over Sargent in this case. Unless we are playing two striker, we should trade Agyemang for another position, not Sargent. Would have brought Paxten over McGlynn as well, personally. I'm at like 2.5 or three plus Ream depending on how it goes down.
That team did have Walker Zimmerman for the first half of the Gold Cup, though not the later rounds. This team on paper is much, much better. Of course, that team should not have won that tournament -- fueled by great goalkeeping, a team that knew to play defensive, and a bit of offensive luck. Also: Diego Luna needs to start. He's the most creative guy on the roster, and while we have a couple of finishers, the only guy who can create something from nothing. He's also a total dawg and tough as nails. As I looked at the two rosters, you're right about talent. But damn if the work rate and attitude don't go 2021's way.
For what it's worth Vito De Palma who covers Serie A for ESPN Argentina is saying that Pulisic has been getting injections for his hip since March As for the roster? Wouldn't have brought Zawadski (though he's having a good season). I also think one of Tolkin or Wiley as well as Paxten should have been on the roster? The rest? I don't think Scally has been bad under Poch but also don't think he's been anything more than there. Sargent at the end of the day, just hasn't played well under Poch... he's also the only 9 that Poch has played that hasn't scored. A lot of that is circumstantial sure, but gotta produce. Arfsten, Freeman, Luna, McGlynn, Sullivan, and White all deserved a look based on merit. Musah may have dropped out but I stand firm that he flat out should not be with the A team currently. The roster has some questionable choices, but I think the roster is fine ish, and I think it's clear Poch is experimenting with a more offensive lineup
Why is Pulisic resting?? Bro's not even in European competition next year. Please can we never make this dude Captain again. Tyler is here. Tyler should be Captain from here on out. Atleast he seems to really really care. Where's Scally? Tolkin? Tessmann? Paxten?? Have already seen half these MLS lifer's. They suck. MLS is so freaking amazing at developing talent that we are still calling in MIles ********ing Robinson. Though we've known he isn't that good for like half a decade now. Where are the good American MLS Centerbacks? MLS doesn't develop shit...its a league built to showcase foreign talent.
Last year i would have agreed on Steffens - he was a slightly below average MLS starter. He has been much, much better this year though. I would say right among the top MLS goalies.
We are hosting a World Cup in a year, that seems like a much bigger deal than the U20 WC squad... how many international windows are even remaining between the Gold Cup and pre World Cup friendlies? While this is true Steffen has been dropping back down to earth recently... no longer having one of the best seasons in MLS history.
But then what are we doing if we're putting a guy on a roster and praying he doesn't actually play? Are we taking him to the World Cup as a player coach? And if so can he do that without being on the roster? I agree, but just getting Gutierrez on the team and LDLT off, it's more that I want to see Gutierrez. LDLT frankly doesn't even stand out in MLS. Not that he's bad. Just another Sean Zawadsky who does nothing to raise eyebrows or show that he could be a game changer. 300 Americans in MLS there's no need to call up "he's pretty solid" types... I have compared White to Wondo a few times before, not in terms of playing style but in terms of great goal scorers at the MLS level who don't have a high ceiling. I expect White to score a bunch of goals against Haiti and Nicaragua or whoever and then not do much towards the tail end of the tournament when it really matters.
Uhumm. First it was "he's tired" and then he got alot of shit from the fanbase and now its "Oh noo,for real he's actually injured and hip injections blah blah blah" Why not just come out from the beginning and say he's injured??