My number one priority for this camp was to get the new coach in. That's out, so then my number one priority was to get Reyna back in camp and not make it weird. Seems like he may need time off, so that might be out. So my number one priority was to make Nations League finals... but we just need two ties, really, so while it's not guarantee we don't need a full A team probably... So I dunno. I still want to make the semis and finals, so I don't want to see a fully experimental team. I think we also saw in January, it's not that useful for evaluating players when the context isn't the actual National Team. So I'd do A Team minus players who need/want a rest plus something around five to six guys I want to see. If there is a May window, that can be European experimentation like January camp unless we have a new coach.
Wouldn’t be the May window be the Nations League Finals? My general sense is that we’ll call an A team but won’t call guys if they even have a slight knock (as many do at current). Hudson seemed to emphasize dual nationals in January so I think we’ll also see more of that. The biggest question for me is mostly whether Ream or Zimmerman go as both are clearly A team guys at current but are also both on the older end where they probably won’t be around next cycle. And calling some combination of Richards, Robinson, CCV, McKenzie, and Trusty is a pretty strong group.
The way I think about it, we can and should still call most of our A-team for March. We don't get that many chances for the core to play together, and we want to make sure we advance. However, that doesn't mean there isn't significant room to cast a wider net. If we take the WC roster as our A-team, we have: GK: Turner, Horvath, Johnson FB: Dest, Scally, Robinson, Yedlin, Moore CB: Ream, Zimmerman, CCV, Long CM (as listed on the official release): Aaronson, Adams, McKennie, Musah, Roldan, De la Torre, Acosta* Wing: Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Morris CF: Sargent, Ferreira, Wright Not to say that these guys won't play a role again going forward, but I think it's safe to say that everyone (on BS at least) agrees that we should look around to see if we can do better than Johnson, Yedlin, Moore, Long, Roldan, Morris, and Ferreira. That's 7 spots open right there if we drop those guys. In addition, Pulisic might still not be match fit; Wright isn't playing whether it's because of injury or transfer situation; and Ream is too old to count on to be around in 2026. If we don't bring those guys, that's 10 open spots, while still being an A-team. Maybe that goes down to 9, if Pulisic is fit, but still, that leaves a lot of room to experiment. * I didn't list Acosta as someone to upgrade, even though that would definitely be nice, since 1) I still don't see a good backup option at the 6, and 2) he's a CONCACAF brawler and might come in handy against El Salvador.
June. I think the age thing is too presumptive, especially with really just three years. Are we sure that Walker Zimmerman isn't going to be a good option at 32? I also think there's value in having Ream around even if 38 or whatever seems a bridge too far.
One expects this to be close to the A starting XI with some changes around the fringes. Maybe some of the best performers from the January camp (Vazquez, Tolkin, etc.) We shouldn't go whole-hog with experiments because El Salvador is better than that. In our last three games against El Salvador, there have been two draws and a 1-0 win.
I imagine things are just pushed back with the season being pushed back but then there definitely isn't a May window. There have been rumors of an April friendly against Mexico outside the window. I think if you're calling an A team for a must win game both are definitely coming in. It's just a question of whether you want to treat it like that or not. I'd like to start reintegrating Miles Robinson for instance and I'd like to take a look at Trusty (if healthy). It would be nice to get Chris Richards some run if he's healthy too. And I think CCV and McKenzie both deserve more of a look too. The Gold Cup is earlier this year compared to 2021 so maybe European guys will be more able to play in it and we look at some of those guys then. But I definitely want to see some of these guys get the chance to get some run.
they shouldnt' keep calling in guys who aren't playing dest pulisic wright reyna and stop calling in players we know aren't good enough roldan morris acosta
Who you calling up to play the 6 instead of Acosta? That's been the problem for years now, and why he'll likely be our most capped active player (if Yedlin is phased out). Johnny maybe, but the list is very short. Particularly if McGlynn and a few others are with the U20s. The idea here is to win.
Since Hudson said he’s calling a full strength team my guess as to what we’ll see I left out Richards and Sargent for now as I know both have minor injuries but assume they go if healthy. Same with Zendejas. GK: Turner, Steffen, Horvath RB: Dest, Scally, Reynolds LB: Jedi, Tolkin CB: Ream, Zimmerman, CCV, Robinson DM: Adams, Acosta CM: Musah, McKennie, LDLT, Booth, Tillman WF: Weah, Pulisic, Reyna, Aaronson FW: Pepi, Vazquez, Ferreira
weah...a left back pulisic...who wont have have played in months reyna...won't have played in many weeks aaronson...comes off the bench mostly for a bottom five pl team who can't score jesus...well we saw the world cup how much more evidence do u need he isn't the guy what an awful group in attack
Apparently we should forfeit because we don't have anybody with enough quality and match-fitness. For heaven's sake, we're not playing Argentina. We're playing Grenada and El Salvador. I think Brenden Aaronson has the quality needed.............................
I still say that this should be a semi-exploratory camp. But that’s just mg opinion. That includes taking a flier on someone like Alex Mendez who has not been involved yet. But I guess we’ll see.
Whether right or wrong Hudson indicated in his Athletic interview that he’s going to bring a first choice team. To me that seems to rule out more experimental guys like Mendez (unless there are injuries). My guess is we’ll see someone like Booth (if healthy), but not a ton of other new faces from Europe.
Who knows what Hudson considers his first choice team, though. Probably could involve quite a bit of turnover from the WC roster.
Will it? I’m sure it will include Turner, Horvath, Jedi, Ream, Zimmerman, Dest, Scally, Adams, Acosta, Musah, McKennie, Weah, Pulisic, Reyna, Aaronson, and Sargent. Probably CCV. I think only Sargent is injured currently amongst that group but has a good chance of being back by the window. And that’s the bulk of the World Cup roster right there. Add in Miles Robinson and Chris Richards and you’re up to 18 or so players already. The guys who are more up in the air are Johnson, Yedlin, Moore, Long, Roldan, Morris, Ferreira, and Wright. Wright is injured and some of those players might make it (I think Ferreira will for instance), but we aren’t going to see a ton of turnover unless there’s a major run of injuries over the next few weeks. Anthony Hudson was part of the process of picking the World Cup roster, he’s not likely to have dramatically different opinions from what we’ve seen. My guess in terms of additions we see some dual nationals (like Zendejas if healthy) and 2-3 guys from Europe who have been surging (like a Booth, Tillman, or Reynolds). The Gold Cup is likely where we are probably going to see a more experimental roster.
I bet more than a quarter of the NL roster won't have been on the WC roster. Partly due to injuries. Partly due to rotation in the back quarter of the roster. But that's like 6 players or so. So we're basically saying the same thing. Some of the guys who excelled in January camp (Zendejas if he's healthy, Tolkin, Vazquez). Some guys who just didn't make the WC squad: Booth, Pepi, Tillman, maybe Steffen returns, maybe Johnny at the #6, maybe Mihailovic. Maybe a CB like Miles, McKenzie, or EPB. The list goes on. I'm not saying all of these options, but some of them. There you have it. More than a quarter of the roster. That's not "experiemental" per se. Simply bringing some guys who are at the top of the pool anyway. The Nations League really isn't the time to be experimental. Cuz El Salvador ain't Malta. Our A team has gotten draws with them in 2 of our last 3 meetings. Field an experiment at our own risk.
I’m at the point of saying that if our B or C team can’t beat El Salvador at home, we don’t deserve to go through to the Nations League. Maybe, some of that is my lack of respect for El Salvador. Maybe, some of that is my lack of respect for the Nations League. But either way, if we don’t get 3 points from that game, it’s because we failed ourselves by just decided to mess around on the field.
Its an undeserved lack of respect for El Salvador. They did finish ahead of Honduras in the Ocho, and we wouldn't think of fielding a B or C team against Honduras and just expect to win. Since the start of 2021...........the US, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and Jamaica have failed to beat El Salvador in games that mattered. That's "A" team versus "A" team. Ecuador drew them. Chile scraped thru with a 1-0 win. Mexico scraped thru with a 1-0 win. They beat Honduras 2-0 in San Pedro Sula for heaven's sake. Grenada we can beat with a C team. They just lost to St. Lucia on March 3rd. The Grenada game is first. So we can afford some rotation against Grenada, and then play a strong lineup against El Salvador.
again...lets call someone playing well hoping these guys like mendez who have had years to prove they can belong against bad competition and continue to fail to do so...aren't the future its time to move on.
I wouldn't have an issue with Mendez being called up as the last man on the roster. But in my opinion there are MLS central midfielders who are better options. Pomykal and Williamson, for instance, have started the season well.
And if we're getting Booth into the mix (and rightly so)...........there goes a midfield spot. This article also says Booth has been named to the provisional USMNT roster for March and will likely make his debut. So congratulations to him (knock on wood).The top league interest is great but moving to a bigger Eredivisie club would also be perfectly good. https://t.co/6qZYdzFN1b— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) March 6, 2023
I just would like to see him get a nod at some point. Maybe Pomykal and Williamson are better. But it’s so much easier to bring in them over Mendez who won’t be able to attend January Camps and so forth. Note that if we were in the last year of the cycle, I would be okay with saying, that’s too bad for him. However, at the start of the cycle, this is when we take a chance on someone like him to see if he pans out or not. But like you said, last man on the roster sort of deal, for now.
Giving it some thought, and there are so many moving parts that I’m doomed to get a few obvious pieces missing, but if I had to look at the summer’s u20 World Cup, Nations League, and Gold Cup rosters. [Not worrying about clubs denying call ups or anything] u20 World Cup GK Gabriel Slonina, Chris Brady, Emmanuel Ochoa (Beavers, Borto, Carrera, Kochen) RB Justin Che, Michael Halliday (Cuevas, Pierre) CB Jalen Neal, Matai Akinbomni, Joshua Wynder, Brandon Craig (Ferkranus, Henry, Dettoni) LB Jonathan Gomez, Caleb Wiley (McFarlane, Jura, Allen) MF Jack McGlynn, Daniel Edelman, Noel Buck, Niko Tsakiris, Owen Wolff, Paxten Aaronson (Soma, Alvarado, Bajraktarevic, Raines, Puktsas, Baker-Whiting, Gill, Vargas, Medina, Cremaschi, Leyva) WG Kevin Paredes, Caden Clark, Cade Cowell, Brian Gutierrez (Luna, Hopkins, Ngoma, Sullivan, Fletcher) FW Ricardo Pepi, Darren Yapi (Neri, Zambrano, Soto, Figueroa, Kei, Sanogo, Oliva, Burton, Covil) ——————Pepi——————- Paredes————————Cowell ——————Aaronson———— ———-McGlynn——Edelman— Gomez—————————-Che ————Neal———Akinbomni—- ———————Slonina————— Nations League GK Zack Steffen, Ethan Horvath, Roman Celentano RB Joe Scally, Bryan Reynolds CB Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, Auston Trusty, Erik Palmer-Brown LB Jedi Robinson, Sam Vines MF Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Luca de la Torre, James Sands, Alex Mendez WG Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Alejandro Zendejas, Tim Weah, Malik Tillman FW Josh Sargent, Daryl Dike, Haji Wright ———————-Dike———————- Pulisic————————————Reyna ———Musah————-McKennie——- ———————-Adams——————— Jedi——————————————Scally ————-Richards———Robinson——- ————————Steffen——————— Gold Cup GK Matt Turner, Sean Johnson, Drake Callender RB Sergino Dest, Reggie Cannon CB Tim Ream, Walker Zimmerman, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Mark McKenzie LB John Tolkin, DeJuan Jones MF Kelyn Acosta, Taylor Booth, Paxton Pomykal, Eryk Williamson, Johnny Cardoso, Cristian Roldan, Aiden Morris WG Jordan Morris, Paul Arriola, Alan Sonora, Djordje Mihailovic FW Brandon Vazquez, Jordan Pefok, Jesus Ferreira, Matthew Hoppe —————-Vazquez—Ferreira————- Pomykal———————————Mihailovic —————-Booth———-Acosta————- Tolkin——————————————Dest —————-Ream———Zimmermann——- ————————-Turner————————-