Pre-match: International Friendly: USMNT vs El Salvador; December 9th

So regardless of the mex-am dual nationals, I see another pattern in the rumors. All teenagers.

 

Sounds like this is more of a youth summit & competition prep than senior national team camp. They'll just play a senior opponent, but a weak one, so it wouldn't have been much of a test for them anyway.

Maybe January camp they'll have a tougher test & it'll actually be for the seniors. A few of the youth standouts from this camp could graduate.

You also have to factor in some sales will take place in January (i.e. Reynolds, Aaronson), so this is the last time for a while they'll be available.

 

Neither. Alvarez was pretty underwhelming on an underwhelming team. Ferreira's season represented a step down from last year's play.

 

I kinda like this approach — we are trying to broaden the pool as much as possible ahead of a crowded schedule.

I do think it’ll be nice to get our MLS guys together who’d be pushing for WCQ and/or Gold Cup slots — if we optimize away from that for this camp hopefully we have a Jan camp.

Really looking forward to our full “A team” camp with this group. The Euro camp prob gets us 15 or so odd players (give
or take a few) but adding guys like McKenzie, Morris, etc would be great. Very curious to see which of the super young MLSers breaks into our first choice 18 first.

 

Regardless, Cannon is in Europe playing 90. We don’t have to manufacture a conspiracy that keeps his hidden talent suppressed.

 

Only one game? Weren’t we going to get 2 originally? IMO, call in all the dual nationals you want for a Friendly against El Salvador when they don’t even have to be released. Maybe they come good. When we get guys in camp, they always seem to side with us.

On Efrain specifically, it’s what’s between his ears that will determine his ceiling, as it often is with most players. To be fair, he doesn’t strike me as a super athletic player, even with him getting slimmed down this year, but he’s a tricky player that “tries sh*t”, and I’ll always favor taking a look at those guys.

We need to see McKenzie and Aaronson. Other than that, maybe Bofo Saucedo gets a run out? Glad? Ebobisse? Akinola? Trusty?

Can anyone tell me how Long has done this year? I watched him in the beginning of the season when he and NYRB seemed to really struggle, but NYRB still made the playoffs, so it must’ve not been too bad.

 

Cannon is 3 years older than Araujo's 19. Araujo looks the superior talent, so I wouldn't be surprised to also see him in a top-6 league in the next couple of years.

 

We’ll see.

 

When in doubt, just say conspiracy, even when one wasn't accused.

 

A mysterious, hidden confluence of secretive agendas are keeping the “true” talent hidden away.

Sounds like a job for:


Araujo may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, we will see.

However, we know for certainty there is no conspiracy suppressing his hidden talent.

We also know that Bryan Reynolds > Araujo and that Cannon kept Reynolds on the bench.

 

29 Year old Luis Rodriguez from Tigres and 22 year old Jorge Sanchez from America, have to imagine Tata feels its an area that could use some improvement as Araujo was someone he specifically talked to about switching another being David Ochoa who plays another position of worry for Mexico

 

I disagree, he was a decent player to the eye and scored well on WS and G+, especially for his age.

 

@NietzscheIsDead Are we sure that Reynolds is better than Araujo? They both look like good prospects. Araujo isn't such a presence but is fast and tenacious.

 

I hope Araujo is every bit as good if not better, but I don’t think a club like Juventus is exploring a transfer for him at the moment.

When Reynolds emerged after Cannon departed, it became apparent that he had filled out his frame and retained his attacking skills. He is faster and more explosive as well as more skilled. In my opinion he is a player with no discernible holes, but with elite physical characteristics and attacking sophistication. He’s a modern fullback with an old-school frame.

Players with elite physical characteristics will always get the benefit of the doubt because those are relatively immutable characteristics. He adds height, speed, physicality, and strength to wide defending and set pieces without sacrificing explosiveness and cultured attacking sophistication. This is an elite prospect who would add to most clubs in the world.

 

You think 8 or so MLS players will make the final roster?

I think is going to be around 3 (Long, Morris, Lletget)...Not sure if Aaronson will be considered an MLSer since his performance abroad will dictate if he makes it or not.

 

You know the final 23 will have at least that many. I'd put the mortgage on it.

 

I would be very surprised and upset if the final A team ends up being with 8 MLSers.

 

I'll be upset. Not surprised.

 

Was he even a starter?

 

As in a final 23 for Qatar? Probably not. I just meant right now our best 23 could include something like that number of MLS players. I fully believe the number of MLS players on a World Cup roster will be something like 3-5 total.

 

Most games, yes. Also had the most goals. A lot of minute management, though.

 

I think out of the 20 field players (starters and subs) about 17-18 will be decided by the beginning of the qualifiers. 2 or 3 may make a final push by the end of 2021
.
In the home stretch of the qualifiers, I don't see any dark-horses coming in and grabbing a spot. In the old days that was very common, sure it would happen because of injury but now it will be difficult because so many players are playing at a higher level in prestigious clubs.

 

He played less than 50% of minutes. The only game where he played more than 60' was against Solomon Islands when he scored 2 goals. Not a starter in my book.

 

You may end up being right, but you'll end up being right if the young MLS guys keep moving over to quality European clubs at the rate that it's looking like they will. We're all aware that the player pool right now skews really young.