Short term this is correct, however the outlook for the prospects seems to be that this will be one of or deeper positions. Especially if Cardoso decides for us.
I figured this is the best thread to post this in: For tomorrow’s champions league prime time matches, we have yanks likely to play in 4 out of the 6 matches. And they’re all on the favored team. If McKennie didn’t have covid, you could adjust this to 5 out of the 8 total games, and again all on the favored teams. The only downside is deciding which match to watch So yeah, you could call it the dawn of a new era.
Update... 1st team: GK Man City RB Barcelona CB Wolfsburg CB Bayern Munich LB Fulham MF Juventus MF RB Leipzig AM Borussia Dortmund RW Valencia FW Werder Bremen LW Chelsea 2nd team GK TBD (Club Brugge?) RB Boavista / Frankfurt / Newcastle CB TBD > Austria Wien / San Luis / Bournemouth CB Anderlecht LB TBD MF TBD (Internacional? Wolves?) MF/AM RB Salzburg AM PSV Eindhoven RW/FW TBD RW/FW Lille LW Barcelona If everyone can stay healthy and in form, we just need another winger/forward - ideally a CF, a DM, a CB, a LB, and a GK and this team is solid and has depth.
I’ll play the hypothetical here: CF: Balogun (Arsenal) DM: Cajuste (Midtjylland) CB: Otasowie (Wolves) LB: No idea GK: Horvath (Brugge) or Odunze (Leicester City)
It’s also nutty that we’re pretty much at a point where you could make the argument to not call in any MLS players for meaningful games. I would definitely have Morris and Zardes on my roster for now, and maybe either McKenzie or Zimmerman, but with the emergence of some of the European players recently all of these MLS players could be edged out. I would never bet against Morris, but the possibility of having only 1-3 MLS players in Qatar is fairly high.
Heck, it may be zero. Not because there aren't guys I'd put on the roster but many of them might leave to go to Europe. Right now, healthy in a full roster, I'd Morris, Pomykal, perhaps Walker Zimmerman or Mark McKenzie or maybe both plus probably a striker. There's also a backup LB if we choose not to swing Dest over as a backup. I'd expect that we'd land anywhere from 1-5, but I do think that there's a lot of excitement and players on this roster that really haven't proven anything above MLS-level, either. They are young and will improve, but players like Gioachinni, Soto, Otasowie, Konrad, Ledezma, Uly and even Richards have about a collective 180 minutes above MLS-level leagues. I think there's a lot of assumption here that these folks will break out and all come through. What will keep the MLS numbers down will be movement -- Aaronson may be better than Ledezma at this point, and may make the Qatar roster by then, but he will be Europe. That's not a bad thing, considering the number that will have come through MLS.
The thing is not even half of the players you listed need to pan out. Let’s say Konrad and Richards look good to go with the first team, and Musah fully makes the switch. From there we just need one of Cajuste, Cardoso, or Otasowie to pan out as the back up 6. That essentially leaves room for one #9 (Zardes or Altidore), one attacking player (Morris), and possibly one CB (McKenzie, Zimmerman, or maybe someone like CCV or EPB takes this spot) in the 23. I think your estimate of 1-5 MLS players in Qatar is pretty spot on.
Yeah, I think we generally agree, but a place that we differ is that I don't discount the MLS youngsters relative to a lot of the European youngsters. Is Otasowie all that much better a prospect than Busio? He has better physical tools, but I'm not 100% convinced. I'm definitely not convinced that Johnny or Cajuste are. The Euro hype machine is high, but I think it's entirely possible that we see another Brenden Aaronson or Paxton Pomykal or Julian Araujo or Mark McKenzie or whomever take a slot before they end up moving. I don't necessarily think because someone is a prospect in Europe they are better than the young players in MLS.
Yeah but the only prospects I'm fairly confident in have made the bench for Barcelona, and went a full 90 at Bayern. I'm not really overly confident in any of the other youth team or second division prospects. As far as Johnny and Cajuste go, Johnny is getting minutes for a quality team in Brazil, which is a far stronger league than MLS, and Cajuste performed well against Liverpool in the Champions league. But yes I get your point, there is at least a decent chance that a few players who haven't gotten many minutes for the NT yet from MLS end up making it to Qatar. If I had to bet on one player in this category I'd bet on Mckenzie, but it's just a guess.
To the OP's title, I'd just co-sign fully and leave it at that. I'll admit that my interest in the team waned after the 2018 debacle for a year or so. Just too hard to watch the program that I'd enjoyed so much for decades sour and struggle. The GC and CNL piqued my interest again and those were some good games to watch, excluding the Mexico final and the game away to Canada. Then with covid etc there's been no soccer and my head's been elsewhere, so emerging from that to see our player pool--much maligned even last year--suddenly seem to have leveled up into something elite seems not just like a new era but a ********ing miracle. Will Egg be such an incompetent coach that he'll somehow undermine the excellence of this player pool? I guess it's possible but seems unlikely. Games are won by players at the end of the day, and with the talent we have coming through I think only a manager two standard deviations of incompetence below the mean could screw them up. Anyway I hope that's true and unless there's evidence that it is I'd prefer to remain optimistic. Jesus after 2020 nice to have something to feel happy about. Let's not shit all over it just yet.
The Euro hype machine? MLS is all hype all the time. I hope I am pleasantly surprised but I am not expecting Aaronson to light things up at Salzburg right away. Just being a prospect in Europe doesn't make them better but if they are more talented, trained better, and face tougher competition, they are probably better. Ledezma has improved significantly over the last couple years and looks like he belongs when he has played a strong PSV side. I see his overall gane as quite a bit ahead of Aaronson.
Bring it on! Who cares where they come from. Breaking in at PSV is much harder than Philly Union. But that doesn't mean the eventual ceiling of either 20 year old is that much different. I only get skeptical when someone tries to tell me a 24 yo in MLS is a "prospect". I wouldn't begin to think I could guess which of Aaronson, McKenzie, Otasowie and Ledezma will be playing at a higher level in 4 years. Where they went and when was more about maximizing money and opportunity versus some grand strategy to improve as a player. If Aaronson had been born in San Francisco, he would probably have been in Europe at 18. The 17 yo that is starting in the Champions League is the no-brainer. But everyone else can take several different paths. They are all lottery tickets and the more you have the better the chances of real game changers. Aaronson and Ledezma both turned pro and skipped college. That is probably vastly more important than where they turned pro at.
It appears its a new era for ussoccer media as well. The music during the panama highlights fits the new, progressive, and fighting USMNT. Check out this comment from Reggie Cannon: "Getting the young guys this experience, you know, its going to be so good going forward". Now that is Leadership. This is in contrast to Michael Bradley pulling a reporter aside and intimidating him to slow his roll on Pulisic (FACTS). BEHIND THE CREST: USMNT Youngsters Shine Against Panama - YouTube
Just by way of comparison there were only three players on the 2010 USMNT WC roster who played in MLS. One was Donovan, who was always a weird case; he was likely the most talented of the group but just didn't fit in Europe and/or preferred to play in the US. Then there was the inimitable Robbie Findlay, who epitomized our struggles to find a forward to play alongside Jozy after the loss of Charlie Davies. The final one was Buddle, who was a credible MLS forward but who also illustrates our weakness at the position. In 2014, for all the talk of JK's eurobias, 10 of the 23 were MLS based, and that was without Donovan. Some of this was just quirks of timing--by then some of our stalwarts were on the back end of their career arcs and had come back to MLS (Dempsey, Bradley). The difference this time round though is not just that the 23 best players for the MNT are likely to play abroad, but also that the clubs they play for are much much better. No more Pachuca and Aarhus, more like Chelsea and Man City and Leipzig. "Playing abroad" and "starting for a UCL team" are very different standards.
We had a very good forward, Hercules Gomez, to play alongside Altidore. He was tearing it up in the Mexican League for one of their top teams. He was certainly better than any American MLS forward at the time. He seemed to always play well for the NT, but imho Bradley never game him a fair shake.
Yep Herc was on that roster too. I didn't mention him because I was focusing on the MLS players, which was the point of my post. Why BB didn't favor Herc is unclear to me as well. What's really baffling is BB's enthusiasm for Robbie Findley, who started in the first game of the WC against England. We took to the WC, and started, a striker who had never scored a goal for us and never would. He had a good strike rate for RSL for a few years--about one goal every three games--and was fast as hell. Maybe that's it, his speed reminded BB of Davies and the idea was to replicate that briefly lived, very promising strike partnership with Altidore.
I wouldn't say he never got a fair shake. After he played a couple games with our B team in the 2007 Copa America, he scored 3 goals in 26 MLS games in 2008, and 0 goals in 29 games in 2009 (albeit often playing as a winger), so he didn't really justify a call up for most of that cycle. He went on a tear in Mexico in 2010, essentially at the very end of the cycle after qualifying and even most of our friendlies were done with. And that was enough for Bradley to bring him to the World Cup and play him in nearly every game, even starting one, despite his not being involved in qualifying prior to that. That doesn't really explain why Findley started the other three games -- but I think it's clear Bradley was looking for a facsimile of what Davies offered a year prior, and Findley seemed like the closest thing at the time. (Which was obviously the wrong call.)
Herc had one excellent year at club level and got quite a few chances for the USA. He was a good player but he was never a fantastic talent.
I'd have to concur with a lot of what has been said. 1) Yes, it feels like a new era. 2) It is not so much Euro v MLS that is the difference, but guys playing for UCL clubs, and starting. And not just group stage clubs, legit heavies: Barca, Juve, Dortmund. Leipzig made the semis last year and Adams scored the goal that got them there. 3) But pump the breaks some. Outside of Dest & Pulisic (who is always hurt), the breakthroughs are tenuous. McKennie is getting moved around at Juve. Adams is not a surefire starter at Leipzig. Reyna is VERY young and stands around a lot. Steffen is a backup at Citeh. Ditto Richards at Munich. Musah could move elsewhere. And we've had German CBs and guys at Fulham before. 4) A lot of the Berhalter vitriol is misplaced. I get that anti-USSF feelings run high after the debacle last time. And deservedly so. And I hate MLS more than anyone (Crew fan). But dissing the coach is a cottage industry here. Bradley & nepotism. JK. Arena's failure. Berhalter & nepotism. Systems. Playing MLS guys. A lot of times this is unfounded. To wit: 5) The System. A lot of posters miss the plot entirely here. On a number of levels. The first is that Berhalter is ideologically wedded to playing a certain way, or with certain types of guys. Not true. Now, he certainly has a way he'd LIKE to play, if he had his druthers. There is nothing wrong with this: look at Pep or Bielsa. Are they not "system" guys? The point is he does tweak things. As a Crew supporter I witnessed this first hand. First trip to POs, he played ideologically and the Revs (Jermaine Jones/Lee Ngyuen) tore us apart 7-3 on aggegate. Next year he had wrinkles for every opponent. Played the FBs high, played one tucked as a MF (basis for Adams experiment), played some 3 CB. Fears that he was going to play Trapp/Bradley at the World Cup were always misplaced. He'll make good choices. But getting a system in place IS useful. At all levels. JK knew this. As did USSF. The system is the beginning, not the end. The base/broth, not the soup. The language itself, not the poem. But if we get a base established, at U-17, at U-20, at U-23, at the USMNT, then players have a common reference point, both with each other, and with the coaches. It makes it much easier for fringe guys to step in and contribute when needed if everyone is starting from the same base. We've got guys with different first languages, raised in different countries, playing in different leagues, different systems, different styles. And it always is going to messy at start up. Some guys won't like the base system. It won't play to some player's strengths. Mistakes will get made. Can't we just play like we are used to? Yes, the coach will tend to favor guys who know the system or whose skills fit the best at the start. But once a good number of guys know the base, things get more interesting. The more experienced guys can help teach the newbies. Young players with youth experience don't need to be taught, they already know. Less time needs to be spent on basics. Then you can start putting in variations. Spices. Different ingredients for different opponents. Now you're cooking. Now you get the chance for poetry. Will Berhalter succeed? I do not know. He has been helped by this surge in new talent, especially in attacking skill. He has been hurt due to star players being hurt and COVID. But I do know that Bradley/Trapp won't be the starting #6. And I know he will most certainly change tactics depending on opponent and circumstance. And I know that Pulisic, Dest, McKennie, and Adams are going to be the cornerstones of this new era. Steffen, Reyna, and Musah will likely join them. And it is exciting for the first time since the Belgium game. But that was a rear guard action. This is front foot optimism.
we need to have every sports and soccer mag in the country to feature Pulisic, Reyna, McKennie and Adams on the cover in time for World Cup qualifying. Get some PR!
Weston continues to improve almost weekly. He is already looking like a young Vidal without the anger issues.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...-usmnt-young-stars-and-boosts-world-cup-hopes Great article from Jurgen Klinsmann ...I agree with every word.