I don't think we have the slightest clue what Poch is going to do with the October roster. ..............but whatever he does, he probably won't change a lot for November. October is preparation for the games that matter in the Nations League in November. Any coach would be unlikely to bring in players he hasn't worked with at all for games that matter. I fully anticipate us getting our asses handed to us by somebody like Costa Rica in November. Cuz Pochettino will only have partially installed whatever gameplan, tactics, etc. he wants to use with us.
What I would say is most people do not realize how hard it is to break into the top 15 or so of soccer nations. With our resources it was pretty easy to get into the top 20. But now we are in with the Big Boys, countries that put serious resources into soccer. Netherlands is a tiny country population wise, but they are inundated with professional teams (18 million people and 28 professional clubs). The amount of per capita spending, or however you want to put it, is nuts for them compared to us. Was watching Tottenham vs Arsenal this weekend and it's bonkers how physically close those teams are. Then also throw in Chelsea, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Fulham, etc just in London. There is no way we will ever catch up to pure saturation of development opportunities kids have in Western Europe and the big time SA countries. That's just reality.
We can wish that, but he is…. Richards ~ sure; he’s probably ahead. But he was terrible at Copa America too. And now he’s been benched. Still, because we lack other options, he’s likely a starter. McKenzie ~ I’d say that he’s probably pulling ahead now. But it’s not like he has a long body of work that’s much better than CCV either. Ream ~ he’s got to be retired from the NT. He’s too old and it’s really starting to show. Miles ~ I like Miles. He’d probably be in my top 4 choices. But he’s not a rock star either. Zimmerman ~ I like Zimmerman too. But how likely is he keeping any other contenders from competing? Trusty ~ I like Trusty. But right now, even Celtic think CCV is ahead of him. ….That’s it! Maybe Dettoni, Wynder, and/or Banks breakout this season or next, and become the next phenom, but that’s not likely. Besides what happens when there is an injury or suspension? Are we really going to play someone like Jackson Ragen over Cameron Carter-Vickers? I don’t think so. Right now, we’re stuck with what we have. And CCV is one of the best options that we have.
Or Josh Wynder Kobi Henry made the bench this past weekend in Ligue 1 for Reims without the boards seeming to notice.
My Top 10 Players who Poch didn’t call, and who weren’t injured (Reyna, Dest, Adams, CCV, Richards, Kochen, Yow, LDLT, Wiley, Paredes). #1 Lennard Maloney, CDM - What’s the man got to do? He’s been the anchor man for one of the most surprising upstart clubs in the Bundesliga. #2 Tanner Tessmann, CDM - If Busio got called, why not Tessmann? Maybe it just wasn’t his turn. But he should be in soon. #3 Richie Ledezma, RB - One, he just returned from a knock, and two, he’s still learning the right back position. That said, Ledezma has been the breakout player of the year so far in 24/25 for PSV at right back. And with Dest injured, we need options. We should expect to see him no later than March, if healthy, and still in good form. #4 Walker Zimmerman, CB - The Tim Ream thing needs to end. Zimmerman can be the old man that we bring in for leadership. He’s still got some left in the tank. #5 John Tolkin, LB - Personally, for what that’s worth, I think Tolkin is better than Lund. That’s my opinion. Maybe I’m wrong. But I don’t think Lund deserves to be our automatic number 2 back up just yet. Whereas, Tolkin has the flair to really help our team. #6 Roman Celentano, GK - We need a goalkeeper to step up. Horvath isn’t it. Turner’s career is in free fall. Meanwhile, Celentano has been one of the most consistent goalkeepers in MLS for a while now, and he’s still young for a goalkeeper. Now that the Olympics are over, him and Schulte are in the same generation, and it’s debatable who’s better. Either way, I think both could push out Turner and Horvath. #7 Cade Cowell, WG - Cowell is a hard one to pin down. One game, you think this kid could be a star and the next, he’s so bad he hurts the team. That said, what he offers when he’s hot would be a welcomed addition to our team to have his speed, his power, and his ability to spread the field. #8 Gabriel Slonina, GK - Back to goalkeepers. We still need someone to win the spot. Slonina has been wildly inconsistent but the man finds a way to find the field. You have to give that to him. He’s still probably our number one goalkeeping prospect. #9 Paxten Aaronson, CAM - He hasn’t really won his spot at Utrecht, but he seems to be ahead of Booth, at the moment. He really needs to develop his physicality to be more of an international threat, which I don’t know if he can do, or he’s not going to end up breaking through the ceiling of being better than his brother. #10 Brandon Vazquez, FW - Go down the line of possible #9’s, and in my opinion, Vazquez has one of the best profiles to be a legit option. The right manager could get more production out of him, and I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet. Honorable Mention: Bryan Reynolds DeJuan Jones Jonathan Gomez George Bello Nathaniel Brown Peyton Miller Jalen Neal Max Dietz Alex Zendejas Brian Gutierrez Quinn Sullivan Diego Luna Damion Downs Kahveh Zahiroslalem Jordan Pefok James Sands Rokas Puktsas Jack McGlynn Daniel Edelman Cole Bassett Djordje Mihailovic Taylor Booth Ben Cremaschi Duncan McGuire Jordan Morris Jesus Ferreira
Thank you for affirming my view that this is close to our best roster available. I dont think any if the players you listed should feel slighted. The only player you listed that I think has an argument is Tessman. Hopefully he does well in France and gets a shot soon. My takes if I have them on the rest of the top 5. I havent watched Maloney to have an opinion, but from what I have heard and read, he is limited technically. I have been a huge fan of Ledezma for over 5 years... I am glad he is healthy but doesn't look ready. Zimmerman blows and would rather waste a pick on old man Ream than get an American defender from the 80s/90s. No clue on Tolkin and can't evaluate in MLS. From what I have seen, the best scenario would be that he isnt awful at the international level. Kid needs to go abroad and prove himself.
I think guys like Cowell and Vazquez are hurt by the Pochettino assignment -- they aren't quite like the guys Poch likes in those positions. But he may adjust.
They'll have to adjust as well. Both players have added skills to their bags in Mexico. I wouldn't put it over on them to do similar with Mauricio.
Besides Luca Koleosho (who’d be between Paredes and Luna) and Anrie Chase (who would be #1 because of positional need), my top 10 new (to newish) players we should look at this November camp: 1. Lennard Maloney - Maloney has to be ahead of Aidan Morris right now? Right? I get that he might not be the most glittery pick, but considering he’s arguably the best (or at least most game ready, right now) pure defensive midfielder that we have behind the notoriously injury prone, Tyler Adams, I say we need to take a look at him. Especially with as well as he has done in the Bundesliga. 2. Richie Ledezma - Ledezma has got enough time with PSV by now, it’s okay to call him up for November. Besides, we need the cover at right back and we need the cover at wing. 3. Kevin Paredes - Maybe, you leave Paredes at home, because he’ll be coming off a huge injury layoff. But he’s got the talent to be a top 23 player for us. We just don’t know if that’s knocking out Kristoffer Lund, or if it’s knocking out Tillman or Aaronson. Either way, we need him to make a comeback. 4. Diego Luna - Knock, knock, knocking on the door. Maybe, Luna is ready for a call up before January Camp. Tillman and Aaronson certainly haven’t locked their positions down, and maybe it’s time to take a chance on someone new. 5. Paxten Aaronson - Like some of the others, Paxten is still somewhat raw. BUT he’s got the talent. Maybe he can offer us something more dynamic than what his brother can offer. 6. John Tolkin - Personally, I just think Tolkin is ahead of Lund. I don’t get why Lund is so locked in. Wiley, Tolkin, even Bello and Brown, are probably equal or better to Lund, right now. Maybe, Lund is a sleeper giant. I don’t know. But I want to see some competition in Jedi’s deputy position. 7. Cade Cowell - Why did we not call him up when we were in Guadalajara? Was I missing something? Especially when it seems half our team just left in the middle of camp? Look, Cowell frustrates me too. He’s so hot/cold. But when he’s hot. He’s almost unplayable. We need that in this team. Someone with the speed and dynamism to make teams respect us. 8. Rokas Puktsas - Is Puktsas ready? I don’t know. But I want to get a look at this kid to see if he’s special or if he’s just hype. Even if he just came in to train. It would be good to see him in the camp. 9. Noahkai Banks - No doubt, too soon. And maybe I could have mentioned another goalkeeper, such as Kochen, or my personal choice: Celentano, but here’s the deal. We need center backs. Desperately. If Banks is close to Augsburg first team, he probably needs to be introduced into the senior team sooner than later. That said, March is probably the more likely realistic window. 10. Cole Campbell - Similarly, too soon. I get it. Don’t bite my head off for suggesting it. But again, here’s the deal. Brenden Aaronson and Malik Tillman aren’t cutting it. Gio Reyna is never healthy. As soon as Campbell start cracking into the BvB line up, he needs to be called. We can’t sleep on a potentially better player than Tillman and Aaronson who have proven to be more liabilities than assets for us. That said, like Banks, it’s more likely than not, March would be the earliest that we see him. Honorable Mention: Diego Kochen, Gabriel Slonina, Roman Celentano, Matt Freese, Bryan Reynolds, Griffin Yow (injured), George Bello, Nathaniel Brown, Ben Cremaschi, Taylor Booth, Jordan Pefok (injured).
If we left home the players who were poor in October (and the injured guys)…. Goalkeepers: Matt Turner, Patrick Schulte, Diego Kochen [Horvath dropped. Kochen added as an understudy] Right Backs: Joe Scally, Richie Ledezma [Fossey dropped due to injury and to try out Ledezma] [Dest injured] Center Backs: Mark McKenzie, Walker Zimmerman, Auston Trusty, Miles Robinson, Noahkai Banks [Ream dropped for Zimmerman] [CCV and Richards are injured] [Chase needs to be called in. He could take either Miles, Walker, or Banks spot] Left Backs: Jedi Robinson, John Tolkin [Wiley dropped because returning from injury] [Lund dropped] Midfielders: Yunus Musah, Lennard Maloney, Johnny Cardoso, Tanner Tessmann, Gianluca Busio [Adams rested] [Morris dropped due to poor form with NT] [I don’t know what’s going on with LDLT] Att Mid/Wingers: Weston McKennie, Tim Weah (suspended), Christian Pulisic, Diego Luna, Rokas Puktsas, Paxten Aaronson, Cade Cowell [Paredes left off due to returning from injury] [Gio out injured] [Zendejas, Aaronson, Tillman dropped due to poor form with NT] [Koleosho called in but unlikely to accept] [no room for Campbell yet] [Weah is suspended] Forwards: Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright, Brandon Vazquez [Balogun injured] [Sargent dropped due to poor form with NT] Line up I’d like to see…. —————Pepi—-Wright————- Pulisic——————————McKennie ————-Musah——Cardoso———- Jedi—————————-———Scally ————McKenzie—Chase/Miles— ———————-Schulte——————
Weah is only suspended for the first game, right? I don't think we have enough quality or depth on the wing to not call him in even for just the 2nd leg. Otherwise this mostly looks solid...I like the idea of getting Ledezma a look but I'm not sure Jamaica is a great matchup for him. I'd rather see Bryan Reynolds or even DeJuan Jones there. It's a shame Neal seems to have been dropped the last month or so because he had been the closest of the young CBs to being ready to break into the senior squad IMO.