I expect this roster to keep as much of the starting core as possible with some experimentation in order to improve our offense. Stewart explained it best in his exit interview, we expend too much energy to get the goals we need. This is fixed by further familiarity between the core, finding the starting CF and by introducing players who might provide better passing without sacrificing too much our forward defensive efforts. Sure, tactics is also another avenue but not with an interim coach.
Our 24-man roster for @CNationsLeague duty 🇺🇸Full Roster Notes » https://t.co/T5674j6rY4 pic.twitter.com/I5mEROVcf9— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) March 15, 2023 Roster
Pretty happy with the roster. Bummer we are missing Adams... but I am shocked Acosta didn't get the call. Maybe because LAFC is playing so many games.?.?
Got pretty much what I wanted: Reyna, Dike, Pepi. Also happy to see Alan Sonora get a chance with better players. I think he got lost in the shuffle in January a bit, and I would like to see him play a bit with the A team on a decent field. Unfortunately, I think we likely get most of his minutes in Grenada, which I suspect will be neither. Wish Richards were here, but like seeing McKenzie back in and Trusty get a look. I have never really seen it with Cardoso with us but just from the roster, it seems like he might get a start.
Good roster compared to what we’ve been seeing in recent memory. Would have liked to see EPB, Richards, Tillman and Sargent included but overall I’m optimistic.
I want to see that kind of 4-2-3-1. I think we have the ideal personnel for a double pivot of Adams (Acosta) and Musah (LDLT). And Tessman and A. Morris in the wings. And we have exciting g 10s in Reyna, Tillman, Booth and Mahailovic.
Not a single MLS player in the squad? Fascinating. Definitely signals that Hudson wants to see as many non-domestic players as possible in the one opportunity to see non-MLS players in the 6.5 month gap between matches in December 2022 and June 2023.
Surprised not to se CCV. I think he is playing significantly better than several of those CBs. Very happy to see Reynolds though.
Miles Robinson is there. We had January camp and we may see a decent amount of them in the April camp. Add that a good chunk are in CCL (Acosta, Morris, Roldan) and it makes sense to make this more European. Acosta is the only big surprise for me, with Adams out. But that's partially because I am a Cardoso skeptic. Maybe we're seeing a 4231 this time through, though, which would lessen the need.
Any explanation for no Adams? He seems to be the only obvious starter missing. I'm also a little curious about Sargent, since he's the other YA who started multiple World Cup games who's missing from this roster. But if we decided to go with 2 strikers, I could see picking Dike and Pepi over him on current form.
Well Miles Robinson is there, but not sure why you’d include him and not Chris Richards if you want to leave MLS guys off. MLS is playing through the window, so it feels like they might be leaving MLS guys in return for getting them released for the April Mexico game. Richards seems like a bit omission and CCV to a lesser extent. Sargent not being there is a bit of surprise too, but not a ton of other surprises given they aren’t really calling anyone from MLS. I imagine Tillman wasn’t good to go, but good to see Booth could make it.
Missed it as I did CTRL + F for "USA", and nothing appeared. I missed that the press release didn't list an abbreviation for the country where Miles Robinson's club is based, unlike how it is written for everybody else.
I imagine Sargent's out due to injury, maybe that's why Malik is out? If it isn't, they clearly made a mistake there. I don't have time to look under the hood right now, but very, very disappointed to see Tillman and a few others out and very happy to see Pepi and Reyna in (and Booth). I'm also confused by the tiny roster, Mexico went with more than 30, we went with less than 26. Why?
Richards, CCV, Tillman and Haji Wright look like the most glaring absences to me on first glance. Wright just back from injury and Richards has been in and out for a while now so those could be injury related. CCV missing is a surprise. No Vasquez a bit of a surprise as well. Will be interested how this group lines up under Hudson.
Think you missed Miles Robinson. I would love this to be payback for Atlanta not releasing when they didn't have to like the US can't do favors and not call when you've done them solids in the past.
What seems like the XI for that kind of roster? Pepi Pulisic Weah McKennie Musah Cardoso Dest Ream McKenzie/Robinson Jedi Turner Something like that?
That looks pretty likely to me but you never know. New coach and all. Wouldn't be shocked to see a 4231 with Adams missing. I'm curious if we will just play same ol way or will we switch it up. And if we do switch things up, will it be with an eye toward the future or just get more attackers out there to overwhelm lesser opposition.
If Cardoso gets a start it better be against Granada. He is way too slow to play a single 6. Hoping to see a double pivot 4-2-3-1.
I wouldn't be shocked to see a 4231. I feel like a broken record out here, but it was actually a stated plan to try it with Reyna before he got re-injured the first time. But I don't think we'll a major tactical change. Minor ones, for sure, but Hudson isn't going to try and reinvent the wheel, I don't think.
We have proven over and over again that we are terribly poor at scoring in our 4-3-3 formation. In particular, it doesn't seem to matter which striker we put in there they are left on an island and hardly ever get touches. We need to adjust to a 4-2-3-1 and have someone like Gio playing ACM so it isn't so easy for opposing CBs to take our striker out of the equation.
I think that's likely very true. Interim coach just keeping the space warm isn't really the best guy to make wholesale changes. But yeah, the 4231 wouldn't be much of a big change really. More something the team looked like building toward for some time. I'd prefer Gio as the 10 in that setup, but I would not be shocked to see Aaronson played there either. And Aaronson is the guy listed as a midfielder.
Tillman missed the last game with Rangers so makes sense why he’s out. Sargent however is back to playing for Norwich. Though they may have decided just to give him more time to build himself back up. This is what Hudson had to say about injuries Hudson: "There are a number of guys who are dealing with varying degrees of injury issues. We’ve spoken with the clubs, & in each case we have worked together to make a decision in the best interest of the player & to do our best to ensure they are available for us this summer."— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 15, 2023 As for the roster size I think the coaching staff is loath to calling up players and flying them over from Europe if it’s likely they won’t even dress.