Some of course will blame Greg for Brooks' inability to get a club. Some vast conspiracy so Greg wouldn't have to include him in his list of 26.
1. Zimmerman 2. Miles Robinson (injured/out) 3. Aaron Long 4. Chris Richards 5. Tim Ream 6. James Sands 7. CCV 8. EPB 9. Brooks
Tough group to rank because the way I see it, we have two solid picks and then a whole bunch of guys who are more or less equally flawed and who have been hit or miss with little consistency. The clear starting pair looks like Zimmerman and Richards, but after those two I'm pretty uncomfortable with the rest of the choices. Fingers crossed tightly those two stay healthy. McKenzie and EPB have been mistake machines with the US, but at least EPB seems to be improving with his club and playing well there. He fits the profile of how we play as well. Not sure how McKenzie is doing with his club right now. Long is aggressive and physically robust but his positioning is suspect and his ball skills are poor, not looking good for his club right now but that could turn around and he's almost surely getting the call either way. Ream is playing well at top level and I wouldn't be sad to see him called in but he's another that lacks speed and aggression and Berhalter seems to have moved on from him but you never know. Sands looked poor last time he was called up and he's more of a laid back type that doesn't really mesh too well with how we're playing in my estimation but at least he's getting regular minutes and showing well with Rangers. He may be a better player now than he was last time he got a shot but I don't care that he can play in midfield since we have plenty of better options there already. CCV always looks plodding to me. Decent enough in many aspects but we talk about guys needing to be able to defend in open space and no way CCV fits that bill. Miazga is maybe an option now that he'll play regularly but failing to latch on after playing for several clubs across Europe isn't great. Otherwise, there's Brooks who isn't likely to get a call and isn't playing at all. After that, we start reaching down to looking into newcomers, none of whom have really made a case even at club level.
Zimmerman and Richards will be the starters I figure we take 5 CB's Will Gregg take Long even though younger options are succeeding at higher competition? I'd bring in EPB and CCV. McKenzie has a shot but it's tough. Sand looks like he's getting opportunities to be brought as depth. I don't see the upside in bringing Ream although he's earned it with club play and being a force in the locker room but he shouldn't be playing in Qatar so he shouldn't be named to the squad.
Seems like a lot on here are pining for guys to make the roster based upon some perceived level of play versus how guys are actually performing. CCV and EPB over Ream as an example. Don't care about age as much as current performance and fitness. Do care a bit about how a player fits in tactics wise but its hard to overlook a guy playing well in the EPL against some tough opponents thus far.
EPB has been playing well for a poor squad in Ligue 1. Folks wanna dump him because he played poor in 1 NT match yet some will want to champion Long despite he hasn't been playing as well as he once has.
I feel like we had this discussion a day or so ago on another thread.?.? Can we be in the camp that wants neither Long or EPB getting minutes in Qatar unless there is a rash of injuries? Cause that is where I am at. I agree about Long. I have watched every minute he has played this season and he is not the same CB that won MLS Defender of the Year. He might not even be the best CB on his own Team. It could certainly be argued that Nealis has played better. And I too don't think we should kick EPB to the curb because of one bad outing with the USMNT.... and he hasn't been terrible this season... just would rather lean on a backup CB that is currently part of a successful backfield. Long has been part of a good D... but he gets bailed out a lot by Tolkin and Nealis. Right now my starters are Zimm and Richards... the latter is not playing consistently but he is the most talented CB we have IMO. At any rate... so who else goes? I assume we take 4 CBs... and perhaps a hybrid like Sands? I think my rankings could change in the next month or so... For example... before this season I would not have even listed Ream. I still think he might be too slow to play the way GB wants... but he is holding his own in the world's best league. Rankings as of today: Zimm Richards CCV Sands Ream McKenzie EPB Long
Or the blackballing is so severe that it's even keeping thousands of club teams around the world away from him?
I see Pulisic as a leader but more in the mold of Donovan. more of a leader by example. I would say he is one of the important leaders of the team but I don't see him playing the same on the field role as a guy like McKennie, Adams or Zimmerman.
If the World Cup were tomorrow, I’d take Zimmerman, Richards, Ream, Sands and EPB. Ream and Sands have been rising in my estimation. I am worried that both aren’t fast or strong enough, but they have good ball skills and read the game well. Never been a big fan of Long, McKenzie or CCV. I continue to be bummed that Miles got hurt. I’d feel a lot better if we had a 3rd CB I trusted more.
I feel ranking is weird considering some CBs play better with certain matchups. But I'll go: Zimmerman Richards Long Ream Sands (really eager to see how he does in UCL) EPB McKenzie CCV
I feel that those two should be starters but am not 100% sure it will be great. Thing is there has to be two starters and the other choices I'm even less sure of. Next cycle this won't be a problem but right now a lot of these CB's are like an undercooked loaf in the oven - promising but not finished.
Agree Richards will get better, as will most of our sub-28 CBs. But I like his game already. I hope he starts.
Still bummed Miles won't be part of the equation in Qatar to solidify our defense. That's the one thing that's dampening my enthusiasm. Outside that, it seems like things have come together, w/ maturation, moves, and form; to potentially make a run in the World Cup. To get there still, Richards may have to grow up real fast for club and country.
Tomorrow Tottenham-Fulham. Tim Ream will try to boost his slim chance of getting a call-up by defending Harry Kane and others. How well has his competition been vs Kane? I cannot find that information on the Internet.
I am just flabbergasted by how people are so righting off Ream. Look at our CB depth chart: Zimmerman - surely a lock right now Richards - not playing except a few sub minutes Long - Most on here don't like him Brooks - hasn't even been on a team in months and now finally has a team CCV - full time starter in Sottish league EPB - full time starter in Sottish league Ream - full time starter in EPL, team captain, plays along side our starting LB McKenzie - half time starter in the Jupiter league Now how in the heck is Ream only a slim chance to get called in to the September Camp? Bes I can tell he is playing better than ANY of them.
The argument for Brooks versus Ream is interesting. Defensively, I trust Ream a lot more than Brooks. Neither are very good in open space, but I feel like Ream's defensive focus is more consistent despite the fact that he's absolutely going to get into trouble once or twice. Brooks is a better passer, but not by that much. Both would be better off in a back four and protected well with a defensive LB. Neither feels like a great pairing with Zimmerman or in a press. Neither plays the "fast CB" role. Because of that, I struggle with either as a starter given how we play. But a roster spot seems definitely in play for either, but not both.
Tier 1: 1.Robinson-Out 2.C. Richards 3.W. Zimmerman Tier 2: 4. JAB 5. McKenzie 6. Long 7.EPB 8.CCV Tier 3: 9. Ream 10. Miazga 11. Sands I pretty much have a hard time after the top 3 are done with. I'm not sure how to rank JAB, Long, EPB and CCV. I tend to put JAB in the top 4 because of long term track record, accomplishments, and attacking upside and Long below him due to inconsistency game to game and his liabilities. I have McKenzie that high largely because of what he did circa 2018 or thereabouts through 2020. His play has been at best, erratic since 2021, so I get why some would have him WAY lower than I do. He's just had 3 quality starts in a row, so I'm basically hoping that this is a return to his pre-Genk form when he was a captain and easily a top 2 CB in the youth program and a strong one in MLS. It's more long term projection than results based. I flip flop with EPB and CCV, but I end up ranking EPB higher because of his athleticism and recovery speed compared to CCV's molasses issues. At the bottom are Ream, Miazga and Sands. Miazga has dropped further than anyone for me since the previous cycle. Circa November 2017 Miazga probably would've been 2 for me, and I go back and forth between 7th-10th for him. I'm over Ream, even w/the recent quality form he's had, he's 35 before Qatar starts and irrelevant to me, but I'll begrudgingly rank him due to probably being the #1 performing CB right now in terms of form. I don't know where to rank Sands as I had him as a 6 for most of his career but he's clearly evolving into a CB. So him at 10 is more about me not being familiar with his CB game rather than his talent and when I have seen him play its been uneven at best. In terms of risers: my potential high climbers are McKenzie, EPB, and Sands. I don't know where they'll end up, McKenzie's career hit the skids a year ago, Sands seems on the upswing, and EPB's has after some lost years gotten better and better with back to back strong seasons in Austria before moving to Ligue 1 and becoming a long term starter by last winter with a relegation caliber side. I think EPB has depth option at WC upside, while Sands and McKenzie, if everything went right, have starter upside, and definitely depth option ceilings +. Richards has the highest upside of all, and Robinson is the enigma. Would he be in Europe by now if not for the ACL?
At least we have really strong competition. In 2010, we had back from injury Gooch, DeMerit, Bocanegra (also playing LB til Gooch's injury) and Clarence Goodson.