So far I have seen unverified reports that Zendejas and Reyna will be called in (both on twitter). What I'd like to see: 25 players CF: Dike, Haji, Pepi Wings: CP (or not, if he wants a rest), Weah, Paredes, Zendejas, Aaronson #10: Reyna, Booth, Tillman Dual 8s: Adams, Musah, LDLT, Acosta, Wes FBs: Jedi, Scally, Dest, Reynolds, CBs: CCV, Richards, McKenzie, Trusty, Zimmerman GK: Turner, Horvath
Goff reported Reyna's coming in, and USMNT's official twitter account celebrated Zendejas "committing" to the US. Would be highly surprised if both players aren't on the squad (assuming no health problems).
Bogert said he thought it would be more than 23 -- which would be good. I could also see a pretty big split with a number of guys not heading to Grenada but playing against El Salvador.
My 26-man roster with an eye towards playing a 4-2-3-1. 1 Turner, Steffen, Gaga [Horvath, Johnson] 2: Dest, Weah [Scally, Reynolds] 4/5: Ream, Zimmerman, CCV, Robinson [Trusty, McKenzie, Long] 3: Jedi, Tolkin [Jones, Gomez] 6: Adams, Acosta [Aiden Morris] 8: Booth, Musah, McKennie, LDLT 7/11: Pulisic, Zendejas, Aaronson, Morris 10: Reyna, Tillman* [Djordje, Jesus] 9: Vazquez, Dike, Pepi With this lineup we would have a lot of players that could switch to other positions if necessary.... E.g.: Aaronson and Tillman can play 7/11 and 10. Booth can play 8, 7/11 and 10. Weah can play 2, 3, 7/11 * if Tillman can't make it (likely) then Jesus would likely get the call but I would like to see Djordje get a chance. I was listening to Sirius XM yesterday afternoon and they said Jimmy Curtain is so tired of the US always trying to make their young players well rounded rather than specializing in order to take advantage of opponents on a game-by-game basis. Dest has been our de facto #1 RB for so long now but he is terrible at crossing the ball. Weah has been playing RB/LB for Lille for months now and is just as fast as Dest. Dest is still the better defender but I would like to see Weah played at RB against Granada... and he could sub on late at RW against El Salvador. Along a similar line, Tolkin is already way better at crossing into the box than Jedi. Jedi maybe physical (last EPL game aside) but his aerial crosses are useless... like Dest.... they almost never find a teammate's head in the box. But more importantly, our pool of strikers are all doing well for their respective teams yet never seem to be involved when playing for the USMNT. I think that relates to the 4-3-3 formation rather than the players themselves. Put at dynamic #10 in the center to create options and confuse the CBs. My starting 11 against ES: ------------------ Turner --------------------- Dest - Zimmerman - Robinson - Jedi --------- Adams ------ Booth ------- Zendejas ------ Gio ------ CP ----------------- Vasquez ------------------- Subs: Weah in for Zendejas Dike in for Vasquez Aaronson in for Gio Morris in for CP Against Granada --------------------- Steffen ------------------------- Weah ---- CCV --------- Ream ----- Tolkin ------------ Acosta --- Musah ------------- Aaronson ---- Tillman ---- Morris ---------------------- Pepi --------------------------- Subs: Dest in for Weah Vasquez in for Pepi Gio in for Tillman LDLT in for Musah Adams in for Acosta
Why does almost everyone have to over think Turner / Steffen / Horvath.... If you're calling in three goalkeepers, you call in Turner Steffen and Horvath, not Slonina who is playing with the U-19s... If we're calling guys up based on recent performances, there's no grounds to call up Johnson over Steffen right now, especially given their ages and that we're starting a new cycle.
On paper, I probably project a more cautious squad evolution from the World Cup than anybody on here. Hudson is an interim manager, 2022 was a "successful" World Cup even though it wasn't a great World Cup, and since these March Nations League matches are the only full internationals for a 6.5 month period, I'm not expecting too experimental of a squad with one caveat. So my starting point is something like this: 1. 26-27 player squad 2. I expect deference to the World Cup players who performed well, but... 3. With 2 matches in 72 hours, I expect heavy squad rotation in the two matches. 4. Players who are ascending should get major minutes. De la Torre has earned a start and more, while Booth should get major minutes if healthy. 5. However, a key player like Dest who is flailing right now should also get a start. So my starting point would be something like the following group: Turner, Horvath, Johnson Ream, Zimmerman, Carter-Vickers, Richards, M. Robinson A. Robinson, Dest, Scally, Yedlin, Jones Adams, McKennie, Musah, de la Torre, Acosta Pulisic, Weah, Aaronson, Reyna, Booth Pepi, Sargent, Vasquez However, I expect to see at least 1-3 players to miss out due to caution over injury/health, particularly the European players. So based on the position that needs to be replaced, that will create room for other players, likely a mix of the more borderline callups like Zendejas or Cowell, and perhaps some of the veteran locker room players like Long or Arriola. Probably a mixture of both. Tillman is the one player who definitely seems unlikely due to injury. Since Haji Wright was out for 2 months and is borderline, I would treat him as one to save for June.
I highly doubt we'll see a starting 11 that has hardly played together before. That seems like a recipe for disaster. Get some goals then rest guys 2nd half so they are ready the next match so we don't have a complete different starting 11 the next game.
I don't have Steffen, Horvath, Gaga, or SeanJohn on my roster. Give Turner all 180' and don't waste the others' time. Call in Callender and Celentano (again) to give them a taste.
That would also be fine, but guessing we do see Steffen and/or Horvath, but that we could see Callender and/or Celentano April 19 vs Mexico for the famous "Continental Classico"...
Here's the 26 I would call in... I would prefer to leave all the Leeds guys so they can focus on staying up, but we can't live without Adams... GK: Turner, Horvath, Steffen LB: ARobinson, Paredes CB: Ream, Zimmerman, Richards, MRobinson, CCV RB: Dest, Scally DM: Adams, Acosta CM: Musah, LDLT, Booth AM: Mihailovic, MTillman LW: Pulisic, Zendejas RW: Weah, Reyna ST: Sargent, Pepi, Dike
Tom Bogert is projecting a 29 man roster with four goalkeepers for a two game window? https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/usmn...ould-be-called-up-for-concacaf-nations-league Wondering what the reason for that is, besides getting Ferreira on the list...
I'm really excited about today's roster release, because I'm almost desperate for something new to complain about. And I really hope it's at least 30 players, so I'll have extra reason to complain.
Phil Hay is reporting that Tyler Adams will miss out due to a hamstring injury. Tyler Adams has been ruled out of Leeds United’s clash with Wolves this weekend and will also miss international duty with the USA after suffering a hamstring strain in training. https://theathletic.com/4312539/2023/03/15/tyler-adams-injury-leeds-usa/ Who will join Kellyn Acosta in this squad? Sands, Morris, somebody else?
I would NOT call up Leeds’ tro — let them working on their survive in EPL. It is also a good time to test our second wave of center midfielders (Booth, Tillman, Jonny etc).
Johnny is reportedly also out with a foot injury. So.....................hell if I know. Same cast of characters. Guys from the January camp presumably. Depth behind Adams continues to be a challenge for the pool.
Literally our single most important player... but I agree that we need to know how to win w/o him cleaning up messes. I would bring in Acosta and Morris and then play with a double pivot w/ Musah, Wes, Booth and LDLT as the 8s.
If there is any single player whose absence keeps us from beating Grenada and El Salvador we are in serious trouble moving forward. Shame for him to miss out but shouldn't be a problem. It will make the shape of the midfield interesting to watch.
We don't have anyone close to Adams in what he is good at, neither we need anyone like him in these two games. Adams creates nothing, and these games about chances creation. We should finally learn to play without 3 DMs. If we happen to play Argentina or France I want Adams, but not here, not now. If we had a healthy Adams I wouldn't play him anyway.
The results since Adams burst onto the scene suggest we're no better off with him than we are without him. Good player. Not a difference maker. Certainly not against this level of competition. As someone else stated, leave the Leeds guys with their club.