Gio Reyna is back. Other returnees include Scally, Tolkin, Berhalter, and Trusty. GOALKEEPERS (4): Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati; 0/0), Matt Freese (New York City FC; 11/0), Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena/ITA; 0/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 3/0) DEFENDERS (9): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 14/1), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 35/2), Alex Freeman (Orlando City; 11/0), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse FC/FRA; 24/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 78/1), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 37/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 21/0), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel/GER; 4/0), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 4/0) MIDFIELDERS (7): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 52/2), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 7/0), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 11/0), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 32/8), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 41/0), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 10/0), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew; 1/0) FORWARDS (5): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 54/9), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco/FRA; 27/7), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 16/3), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 33/13), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 19/7) https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...r-matches-vs-world-cup-bound-paraguay-uruguay
The injured guys aren't there. As we predicted above.............Pulisic, Johnny, and Tillman aren't there. Also as feared based on the Glasner/Pochettino kerfuffle in the press, Richards isn't there. No Banks. Even with Richards, CCV, Blackmon, and Zimmerman not there. We'll see if POch is asked about that one. Gut feeling? Poch evaluated him at a previous camp, thinks he has a high ceiling, but just isn't ready yet. So he's evaluating Trusty. Zawadksi as a another in the Sands category to evaluate. No Sargent and Agyemang. Oh, no McKennie either. That's interesting.
No complaints given the fitness of our guys. I hope Poch gives Gio an extremely short leash. Note to Gio - You have been given a shot based on a bunch of injuries and not on anything you have done on the pitch in a long time. This is a gift. Work you ass off and keep your pie hole shut.
Wow, no McKennie is a surprise. I wonder if he's hurt, I didn't think so. Pepi and Reyna are two feasible ceiling raisers for us in the next 8 months so glad to see them both back. We'll see what they got.
Berhalter and Zawadski >> Musah? I guess 3 in the back is necessary just to get some width with this roster. I was hoping we'd see some 4 back again to keep opponents guessing and to see if we've figured it out. No Zimmerman. Is he injured?
substantially bullshit roster, as usual. in no particular order: - if i believed anything poch says, or respected his approach to this job in any way, i might argue this was a "get the f off my back, media" roster, take the reyna, scally, etc questions off the table...but its not like they are in the first place. theyre just as bought into this "rolden is just as valid a selection as mckennie" as all of you are. - its all whatever. there are injuries, blah blah blah, make all your usual enabling excuses (as if injuries are an issue unique to the usmnt) that doesnt account for the guys he does call in. it never does. - id be mildly excited to see tolkin and trusty if i thought they were getting any real consideration whatsoever. - pepi and balo finally on a roster after at least a calendar year, right? thats cool. looking forward to de trein consistently outperforming balo while remaining behind him- an ass-backwards ussf tradition.
Weird ones strike me as... Klinsmann: WTF? Dude is 17th out of 21 keepers in advanced GK stats via fbref, in SERIE B!?!?! Last year he was middle of the pack. I get the keepers suck, but he sucks even for a ---- league. What are we doing?!?! 17th in PSxG +- per 90, if you drop the per 90 (I don't think you should, but you could) he's 23rd out of 27. Berhalter-I thought he was out. Zawawhatever-Seriously? Reyna-That surprised me, it was fascinating to note that scuffed were 1000% behind this, regardless of the issues due to his creativity. With regards to ARF, I'm letting go my anti-Arf stance, and just praying his ideas work out if Jedi still isn't healthy 6+ months from now. You can't deny the attacking prowess for MLS, even if the defending is at best, "well, he didn't suck in one of his recent call ups" rather than that "he's good!".
Klinsmann over Turner is dumb. I don’t get: Tolkin and Arfsten over Lund. Trusty over Maloney at CB. Morris, Swadazki over Musah. Berhalter and Luna over Miljevic.
With no Pulisic, Wes, Tillman, Zendejas, this is a golden opportunity for Reyna to get minutes and do something with them.
Good thing to say. He should know he's expendable, considering his track record. This is an opportunity because of injuries, hope he realizes that.
Dude. I agree. “Reyna, my guy. It’s time to put up and show out. No excuses. No injury (at this very moment) and no drama. Ball out, showcase your unique skill set, impress Poch, then go back to Gladbach and catch a run of form to force your way onto WC roster. You got this, kid!”
Putting it another way: GK - Matt Freese and guys who aren't going to play. The big shock here is no Turner, but perhaps that's because he's better off not flying back and forth to not play. CB - Ream / McKenzie / Miles / Trusty CB / RB / LB / Personality Test? - Scally RB - Dest / Freeman LB - Arfsten / Tolkin Competition is still ongoing for some of these roles. It's interesting that we're at least one player over the 2 deep we generally carry, but it's not a true CB, though given how we play, perhaps we think of Scally this way. Big Questions: How do we play with Dest and Arfsten? Will we go 3 ATB for reals (even with Scally) or do we continue to play the assymetric piece and bench one? Will Scally play? Will he get more of a directive to show some offense? Will he prove capable at it? CDM - Adams / Tessman / Zawadski All Action B2B - Roldan / Morris Free 8s - Tessman / Berhalter / Morris This also screams a but of uncertainty as to how we are going to play, I think. Or perhaps I am giving Poch too much credit. But with back in, will we see more of a single pivot? We've been pairing even Adams with a sort of high energy all over the place role in Roldan or Morris. I don't think Berhalter can do that; I think Tessman can do part of it. The presence of Berhalter either speaks to something a bit different in formation than what we ran last time (and our lack of creators may speak to that) or just more confidence he can defend than I have. Big Questions: Why isn't McKennie here? He played well last window so I assume it's not that Are we continuing with the box midfield with two CMs and effectively two CAMs or going back more to a three man midfield plus playmakers (but less width?) Is Tyler playing a solo 6 or with a partner? Is Tyler even the best option? Who gets the other starts? Roldan or Tessman? Where does Berhalter fit if so? We again brought an extra to my eye -- or two! CAM/Winger CAMS - Luna / Reyna / Brenden Really winger - Brenden / Wright? Strikers - Balo / Pepi / Wright Nice to see Pepi back in. We're thin on creators -- no Zendejas, is he hurt? Does this mean that maybe Dest is sliding in there more and we want width out of the RW with a Brenden? Or simply that we are low on people? Big Questions: The formation one that blends into all the formations above This is Reyna's shot. Will he actually take it? Do as he's told, work his ass off and he'll make an impact and could secure a spot right here with his talent. Bu ******** around and you may not get another shot.
Yes. If I were Pochettino, I might have left Scally home to make it easier on him. But perhaps this is a better test.
I think that there's still an old boys network in soccer and US Soccer in general. I don't think Poch is going to give out calls that hurt the team, but if he's the fourth string keeper in a camp and someone makes a phone call ... it's just too annoying to fight at times. I never thought he was out. I do think the way the team roles have evolved, he's going to struggle to find a spot, but either Poch likes him more than I do defensively or he's giving a guy who committed hard to the team a chance to prove it. I am 100% convinced he's basically a plug and play guy when they feel they may need bodies because of guys coming in with a knock, etc. He plays in a tactical system similar to Poch's and clearly is a team player. To me this likely means someone on that midfield or CB grouping is nursing a knock and they need depth -- I think McKenzie is, right?
Zendejas hasn't played in America's last three games. And yes, it was an aggravation of the muscle injury he picked up in the October window with the USMNT. There has been some speculation that he might return this weekend, but who knows...........................