Serious Question: Should We Be Concerned about All the Injuries?

Absolutely concerning, but for the first time in program history, I think we showed yesterday we have the depth to cope with even our elites out. So long as we got KLDF, Pepi, Aaronson, Jedi, Miles types picking up the slack, we can still be potent.

the only one I get nervous not having is Adams. He’s the critical node and it all comes apart pretty quick without his presence.

 

It's sad, frustrating, and even baffling to see how many of our important young guys missed matches this past weekend and will continue to miss some more because of injuries from the WCQ window.

 

Yes.

Much of the depth has talent but even less experience with their teammates or international play.

But there’s little to be done about the actual injuries.

 

No. The team on top of the ocho were missing a significant amount of players due to injuries yet still managed to get the results they needed.

What I’m worried about is Berhalter not calling enough cover for the 3 game windows, and not being able to get the most out of the players we do have available.

 

Injuries are part of the deal.
The best national teams have the depth to cover for them.
Its frustrating, but its just reality.

Mexico's best striker has been down for a long time with a fractured skull, and only recently returned. They would have looked completely different at the Nations League and/or the Gold Cup with Raul Jimenez.

It'll be a rare case in which a national team doesn't have 3 or 4 key players that are questionable. All you really hope for is that they're not the long-term career-threatening variety.

As far as the October window goes, Reyna is the only one of that core who seems like a real doubt. The rest should be good-to-go. Dest is already back in training.

 

I mean it’s not ideal but it’s pretty standard to have to deal with injuries, suspensions, etc throughout qualifying. That’s why the depth of the pool is so important. The only time to really worry about it is when we get to the actual World Cup itself.

 

We get some people back who were injured in the first window: Musah, Zardes.

We get some back who had yet to settle with new clubs: Busio, Richards. And potentially others such as Hoppe, Gioacchini.

If Cannon gets into a couple games, he would be an option.

de la Torre and Green continue to be options

It might be worth calling up Reynolds even though he has not had much PT

Then there is a group of MLS guys including Pomykal.

 

outside of long term injuries not really. dm and lb are the only places we dont have serviceable depth.

the guys we missed/lost during the opening round will mostly all be back, and im sure we will lose a couple or three before the next window (and a couple or three during). thats just the way it goes.

as for those areas lacking depth- if we are without adams and/or acosta thats a problem. vines is already out medium-long term so losing robinson or bello would be bad. the problem with injuries at positions without depth is the knock on effects of compensating from other positions.

problems also stretch the team when one area has a pile up, which we low key have at the rw spot (moving any of these guys central notwithstanding)- morris is still out long term, arriola has been off and on pretty long term, weah and reyna are possibly-likely all out for the oct window.

so aaronson is probably the one player most in need of prayers for good health at the moment. arriola (hopefully on at that particular time), gioacchini and roldan are the most likely to be rostered there. some of you nerds are into sarge not being good enough at multiple positions now, but thats a hard no for me. ferreira is an interesting option- has been in the team before, two home games to soften his reentry somewhat, chemistry with pepi and a very strong season on his own.

but that takes me back to knock on effects- arriola and roldan are very strong and strong defensive presences there (respectively), whereas niko and jesus really arent. so do we have to compensate for that? and while most of our "wingers" are pretty two-sided weve really only got pulisic, konrad and hoppe left so we cant really pull from there.

which is why i say its not really something you can worry about. maybe weahs good to go in time and theres no problem. we will already have half a dozen "new" players available that werent included in the first window (musah, hoppe, richards, etc).

the concern i see is causing issues ourselves playing guys out of position, poor roster construction, etc.

 

1000%.

What do Pulisic, Weah, etc. have in common? They’re always hurt. Christian Pulisic might be one of the most injury prone players in the game... except Tim Weah competing with him for first place.

In the past few months, let me remind everyone that Steffen, Adams, Richards, Dest, Reyna, Vines, Musah, Zardes, Arriola, Pulisic, Weah, Clark, Cannon, Zimmerman, Carter-Vickers, Che, Pomykal, Otasowie, Sargent, and Dike have all been hurt just in the past few months and missed key games.
...not to mention that Ledezma, Long, Williamson, and Morris are out with long term and potentially career ending injuries.

That’s a major problem. And we ran into the same problem in 2019 where everyone worth a damn was hurt.

USSF needs to prioritize a fitness advisor to take control of everything about our players’ lives from their training habits, nutrition, sleep, stress, recovery, etc. and develop a rock solid injury prevention plan.

Anyone saying it’s not an issue is just sticking their head in the sand. It’s a major issue. And the USSF needs to do something about it now.

 

This is done at the club level with players day-in and day-out, not with USMNT trainers or advisors.

When one looks at the injuries suffered in the recent USMNT camp, they were all minor. Dest and Pulisic both injured their ankles. These things happen to soccer players in heated matches. How do you prevent the injury that Dest got? I don't know. Don't play soccer I guess. Reyna had a mild hamstring strain. Another very common injury for soccer players.

 

There are somethings that are common and unavoidable, and there are other things that are avoidable.

For example, diet. I guarantee you players who eat a better diet have less injuries than those who have a poor diet. That can be easily monitored.

...that’s only one area. There are many other areas to monitor which would reduce the rate of injuries.

And, clubs may monitor this. But it doesn’t mean they’re doing a good job nor does it mean that the USSF can’t monitor it either.

I advocate that every player needs to submit a daily progress report on what they’re doing to be more fit. That’s just being a professional. And I would bet that would reduce the rate that which these injuries occur.

 

Little injuries that give a player a 3-4 week break are not such a bad thing. Off-season's have become very short and fixture congestion is a thang. A 3-4 week break helps a player recharge the batteries and avoid the drop in form that happens when a player has played too many games in too short a period of time. I might add the travel is brutal for our Euro-based players. Missing a window is also something that has some benefits.