News: Malik Tillman Has Reportedly picked The USMNT

I have been critical of Berhalter at times, but there is a 0.000% chance he is offering ANY dual nat a guaranteed World Cup roster spot in exchange for them committing to the USMNT.

Just because a narcissistic charlatan fraud might do something like that doesn't mean that respectable coaches would.

 

Interesting player that could fit in well with the rest of the squad. Been watching highlights and he is a total package type of forward, comfortable back to goal and also running at defenders. Good size and strength if not particularly an aerial player. If he reaches his potential he may end up being a monster of a player as he has a whole lot of tools at his disposal. That said, he looks very raw, even if he can dominate lower levels at this point. The clips of him at higher levels show him faltering on the ball, little slips, little mistouches. All that needs to be cleaned up before he will be able to be particularly effective against grown men where your opportunities to make an impact are more limited. But, if he is as much as talent as many seem to think, we may not have to wait long for him to put it together. I trust Bayern to bring him along smartly for the long haul, but I do not think they likely have the same priority that the US team have for him be ready to play right now. He can come along a bit more slowly there with spot minutes for another year or two and it may serve him well. But, for the US it will be tricky to see him getting close to a finished product by the time Qatar rolls around and more minutes even if they are somewhere outside Bayern would probably help more things along faster. I kind of hope he gets a loan to start the next season so we can see if he can step it up in time to help out. However this plays out bringing more talent into a place on the field where we struggle is a very good thing.

 

I wouldn't call him raw. He's a very talented player who seems to fit the sort of half-9/half-10 that Jesus Ferreira does ... except he has size that Jesus doesn't have.

What I did see was an adjustment period to the speed of higher levels. Most of his highlights are with a huge amount of time and space. He looks like he's playing with guys, playing with supreme confidence and patience ... but it is in large part just really weak defense.

His time with the senior team has been so minimal -- 150 minutes, and a third of those were in the Pokal. So we'll see. Scouting wise, the tools and skills are there.

 

What level prospect is this? In college football terms a 4*?

 

By raw, I meant exactly that, hadn't yet made the adjustment to speed, time, space. For me, a player is still raw if they are not yet adjusted to playing at a higher level. All players go through it and it's not a criticism since it is just part of development.

 

Who knows how good he is, but the fact that German sources reported this first (and the U21 guy was moved to offer an on-the-record quote) is suggestive.

 

I don't see how this switch was made w/o Berhalter saying at bare minimum that his chances for WC '22 were quite high. Let's be honest people, this guy has been born and raised in Germany, promoted up through both Bayern Munich and every level of the youth German National Teams, and is considered a top prospect, not a theoretical one, he's much closer to their senior team than Green was 8 years ago. It's impossible for me to imagine that if not promises, at least a promise that he had every chance to make the team if he showed well in June and September and with his club teams.

What possible other reason would justify the switch? I will note that it might be fun to a lot of guys like him to get to play with a team that has an utterly unique, young, top 26 as ours, but that doesn't change that coming up through Germany, Germany would be the preference. Are there guys in Germany's pool that block his path to the next level? I'm sure there's competition, but he's certainly one of their best prospects, and 3 goals and an assist with the U21's in qualifying is pretty damn impressive even if the opponents were weak.

 

He's a 4 or 5 star, but when you note that, it's important to also note that a huge percentage of five stars fail, it's just that many of the most successful players in the bigs, NFL, NBA, whatever, were 5's, the leap from teen to professional senior player in any sport is massive and most require elite athleticism to make it.

 

Going to the World Cup unless he is terrible in training/games.

 

I think his chances of make the WC 2022 roster are less than 50% and would be surprised if Berhalter told him otherwise.

I can think of at least 3 forwards with a better chance of making the roster: Ferreira, Pepi and Wright.

I'm glad he switched and think he is an excellent prospect.

 

My guess is he knows he is at least getting a chance in Nations League and is confident he can show well enough to make his case. And I like that he is confident, plus it is an area of weakness for us so he certainly has a legit shot at making the team for Qatar. I would still expect he will be a much better player after Qatar than before or during but he is at an age where we should expect to see him get more time on the field next season than he has thus far so he may develop very quickly. Will be a fun one to watch for sure. I have no number of goals or minutes I need him to get to be part of this team. I just need him to play better than the other strikers we have and to bring something to the team.

 

Wright and Tillman are in the exact same position with the National team. Zero minutes and matches ever played.

I think Wright's chances of making the roster before this news were 5-15%.

I'd put Ferreria's odds at 50-60%

I'd put Pepi's at 60-70%

I think it's now down to Tillman, Wright, Sargent, Pefok for the last Forward shot and/or to knock out Pepi or Ferriera in the competition.

I'll also add that if Tillman could score several goals in U21 qualifying, he can certainly beat out our third best Forward in a Forward pool that is comedically lacking in proven international level talent.

 

I think Wright's production with his club leaves him with a leg up. We'll know more after the June camp. But I would expect Wright to get more PT in the June matches. We'll see.

 

I honestly have no minimum standard.

If a player can play, he can play. And there's a number of players on our team that would not get more than the 150 minutes he's gotten for Bayern. So I'm not sure there's a point in holding him to that standard.

 

The fact that he got zero call ups despite playing similarly well in Denmark in '20-'21 for friendlies or the summer NL camp or Gold Cup, and that he drew no call ups whatsoever the past 9 months tells me a great deal. Now I will note that the bulk of his hot streak began right around the time of the call ups for the March window (scored once in January, and another before the call ups in March, but the bulk of the run began just after April Fools), so that would fit with not getting a call up during qualifying but honestly until this June window, he's not even had a wisp or whisper of a hint of a call up ever.

I don't think that suddenly evolves from literally nothing, to a legit shot at winning a gig. I think the call up means Berhalter's rewarding the club form, and willing to throw him one chance to show what he can do and throw his name in the hat of unproven, who the heck knows options that litter the bulk of our forward pool.

Does he have a chance? Yes, but beyond the chance, its basically long odds. Some have grabbed these opportunities with both hands, most haven't. Hopefully he's one of the latter.

 

Indeed.
Good to get young players into the program and expand the pool.

But let's be realistic folks. This a player who spent most of this season in the German 4th division.

Haji Wright, Djordje Mihailovic, etc. have a much better case to be made for inclusion right now in 2022.

Tillman, by the way, turns 20 in two weeks. He's older than Ricardo Pepi, Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna, Joe Scally, Kevin Paredes, Cade Cowell, Jonathan Gomez, and a whole host of others. He's not some 16 year old prospect. He's a 20 year old that spent this year in the German 4th division.

And he likely spent most of this year in the German 4th division because he was coming back from a frickin' ACL tear in his left knee.

What are people basing a WC place on? I have not the slightest clue. Its great to get him into the pool, but let's see what he can offer before making projections.

 

I watched a game or two of his when he was in Bayern's reserves, due to curiosity about Richards. FWIW, against that comp, he was better than Chris, and passed the eye test. And it was at least 3 Liga, not Regionaliga at the time. Plus he was younger at like 17-18. He was on a very strong trajectory.

Then he was felled by the blown acl. It's taking time to rev that engine back up. But if he gets there and then progresses from what he was, he could be a player.

That said, the level of proof he's provided is still sub-standard for the USMNT. 3 Liga and U-21 isn't proof of much v. Haji or whoever. He used to have a similar case as Tillman when he was younger. Now Haji's better.

Tillman doesn't warrant more than get to know you call-ups atm. Comforting to know we won't have to play games now that he's committing. Integration can come more naturally.

I guess he can just be at the next camp, in training, and get token minutes (if that), and then make a further case out on loan, in the 2 BL or lower 1 BL, in the fall.

From his perspective, if he's not dead-set on playing for Germany, it makes sense, as if he'd have played for them, he'll play for us. While he can make a run at a WC this cycle, then be part of a WC contender at home in his prime.

 

He filed a switch from Germany, a program where he appears to have been their starting striker for U21 Championship qualifying (correct me if I'm wrong) collecting 3 goals and an assist in 4 matches last fall. He also appeared with Bayern Munich on the bench 13 times, and in games 4 times this past year.

The coaching staff clearly views him both with club and country as a key player moving forward, and the coaching staff appears stunned at what's happened. What could possibly have gotten him to file a switch other than the opportunity for WC '22 and '26 being wide open for him. I think there's absolutely zero chance he'd do this if he was getting the bs sale job Tata is giving guys, or a very conservative pitch. I do agree that Berhalter probably didn't guarantee him anything, but I'm sure he made it plain that the Forward position is wide open and that he has no locked in starter let alone a locked in depth chart and if Tillman looks the best of the options, he'll get the ticket. I imagine Tillman is looking at our Forwards and thinking he can be a top 3 option, and I don't know why he wouldn't think that considering our forward play has largely been putrid for years, and all of our best options are developmental youth guys 22 or younger other than Pefok.

Again, given a guarantee? Probably not, I don't think that matches his recruitment technique, I think he got something like Musah got ":You're a great young player, you play a position of need, the door is WIDE open, and if you bring the goods, you'll get the pay off".

 

The two are different, I will say, and as someone who has been skeptical. His goals in Denmark ... a large number were goals that really relied on his size and speed against overmatched opponents, and you wonder if it would translate.

He's had a much more well-rounded and varied set of scoring/assisting in this run in Turkey. It's absolutely a hot streak, but it's demonstrated a wider skillset, which I think means something.

 

It's relevant to ask how he'll adjust to stronger comp, but it's also worth noting that he's simply stuck between Bayern II and Bayern, so the Regionalia is not necessarily indicative of his ability.

From what I've seen he has real talent.

I think a lot of people are back in 2014 and Julian Green. I'd be pretty shocked if promises were made.

 

Wright has
in Denmark, 5 goals and 1 assist in 16 starts at striker across league and relegation round play
In Turkey, 14 goals and 2 assists in 18 starts at striker in league play.

He has improved in productivity at the position

source = transfermarkt

 

I think Greg will give Pepi a rest. Strikers called in for June should be:

Ferreira, Tillman, Wright and Pefok

 

Pefok is missing again from YB's squad for today's game.