Generally this is supposed to be a U23 Squad with the normal 3-man elder exemptions. But I recently ran across this article that states that 24-year old players will be allowed w/o said exemption. https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/fifa-olympic-soccer-age-rule As such, I would like to see your thoughts on the roster. Here is mine (with the caveat that the event will not be during a FIFA Intl Window): GK: Brady, Pulskamp, Schulte D: Craig, Neal, Reynolds, Tolkin, Wiley, Zimmerman* M: Amaya**, P. Aaronson, Luna, McGlynn, A. Morris, Vargas, Tessmann F: L. Acosta***, Gomez, Gutierrez, Ferreira, Kamungo, KDP, McGuire, B. Vasquez* * Elder Statesmen ** 24 in 2024 *** Assuming citizenship (and elder slot)
This article is referring to the 2020/2021 Olympics, not the 2024 Olympics. The reasoning for it is that those were the original age ranges eligible when the Olympics were in 2020 -- that group born in 1997 would have never gotten its Olympics if not extended. I see no reason why the Paris Olympics would use that rule. Everything I've seen says that January 1, 2001 is the cutoff. Otherwise, we'd have a slew of players eligible -- 2000 was a pretty good year.
Thanks Gogorath. That was a serious oversight on my part. Not sure it changes my roster much though as Amaya was the only 2000 born player I added. Acosta still seems like a long-shot to me so perhaps I would just drop him and add Amaya as one of the 3 over 2001. I feel like Amaya doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves around these parts. He can be counted on to be a destroyer but is also comfortable on the ball and can hit bangers from outside the 18.
The tricky thing is going to be releases (especially for the European players). And you almost have to do it side by side with the Copa America roster since very few players will be able to play in both (other than maybe Slonina).
At this point, I'm assuming no overlap, and I think there's only really one player we're going to see any question on being strategic for the Olympics -- Pepi -- and he will almost certainly want to go to the Copa, I think. I have a soft spot for the Olympics but it's pretty clear to me that the A team puts a lot of value in the A team, and I don't mean that negatively. I don't think any of the 2002 or 2003s have Weah's mindset in the U20 World Cup -- that's not their group of guys. That's fine. I'd like my Olympic team to be a fun group that can maybe make a lucky run at a medal.
I’ve seen only Jan 1, 2001 as the age cut off. BUT the best players born in 2000… WG, Tim Weah RB, Sergino Dest CB, Chris Richards AT, Brenden Aaronson FW, Jesus Ferreira FW, Josh Sargent DM, James Sands GK, Roman Celentano FW, Niko Gioacchini MF, Frankie Amaya FW, Daryl Dike AT, Richie Ledezma MF, Alex Mendez FW, Maurice Malone LB, Will Sands DM, Steve Zawadzki DM, Edwin Cerrillo DM, Chris Durkin FW, Chris Donovan
Talking of overaged players. Lucho won't go, neither anyone would dare to offer it to him. Amaya and Vasquez aren't improvements. We need another CB, and a CM. We need a GK the most of course, but just don't have one.
I could see Slonina on both. I don't think Chelsea would care if he goes to as the 3rd goalie for the Copa America and then starts the Olympics. I could also theoretically see Zimmerman go to both. Given that the Olympics almost perfectly overlaps with the Leagues Cup Nashville might be willing to play ball on him going to both (and he's also got alot of equity with the franchise in general). I'm pretty ok with no overlap though and then take the best team you can for the Olympics. Releases will still be an issue (especially for the European guys), but I think we will be able to send an interesting team that we'll all enjoy watching.
Slonina is totally the kind of player that could be on both rosters. But I don't really see the need. Can take Callendar, Celentano, or somebody of that ilk as third string to the Copa. I assume no overlap between the squads. Its also going to be interesting to see when the 2024 CONCACAF U20 Championships are. They were late June/early July in 2022. Clubs may not want their players at both the U20 CONCACAF Championships and the Olympics. Particularly MLS clubs that are mid-season. There aren't a ton of players in this category, but there are some. Cremaschi, Vargas, and 2005s like that.
I think these are all the age eligible (2001) players from MLS: USYNT 2023 MLS regular season minutes 1. Patrick Schulte 2790 2. Chris Brady 2639 3. Aidan Morris 2580 4. Brian Gutierrez 2388 5. John Tolkin 2377 6. Caleb Wiley 2327 7. Cameron Harper 2149 8. Indiana Vassilev 2112 9. Tayvon Gray 2044 10. Jake Davis 2037 11. Bryce Duke 1904 12. Cole Bassett 1898 13. Owen Wolff 1882 14. George Campbell 1854 15. Daniel Edelman 1854 16. Leon Flach 1794 17. Ben Cremaschi 1793 18. Noel Buck 1754 19. Nathan Harriel 1670 20. Jack McGlynn 1621 21. Cade Cowell 1538 22. Duncan McGuire 1388 23. Obed Vargas 1321 24. Sebastian Berhalter 1299 25. Jalen Neal 1287 26. Noah Allen 1254 27. Diego Luna 1197 28. David Ruiz 1186 29. Bode Davis 1180 30. Ted Ku-DiPietro 1167 31. Aziel Jackson 1119 32. Peter Stroud 1020 33. Josh Atencio 984 34. Justin Haak 911 35. Ben Bender 906 36. Darren Yapi 891 37. Michael Halliday 853 38. Andres Jasson 810 39. Erik Duenas 757 40. Quinn Sullivan 690 41. Cody Baker 680 42. Danny Leyva 657 43. Ian Fray 655 44. Tyler Wolff 649 45. Reed Baker-Whiting 642 46. Miguel Perez 610 47. Niko Tsakiris 609 48. Gavin Beavers 585 49. Bernard Kamungo 500 50. Esmir Bajraktarevic 495 51. Jacob Greene 482 52. John Pulskamp 450 53. Mauricio Cuevas 424 54. Matthew Hoppe 421 55. Gabe Segal 418 56. Malik Pinto 396 57. Jack Pannayotou 321 58. Dante Sealy 285 59. Arquimides Ordonez 278 60. Max Arfsten 275 61. Sebastian Anderson 272 62. Nathan Ordaz 262 63. Herbert Endeley 212 64. Brooklyn Raines 202 65. Noah Cobb 196 66. Jackson Hopkins 195 67. Matai Akinboni 182 68. Damian Rivera 182 69. Devin Padelford 154 70. Brandon Cambridge 136 71. Cameron Duke 135 72. Nolan Norris 134 73. Kristian Fletcher 133 74. Matko Miljevic 131 75. Cameron Dunbar 113 76. Jonathan Perez 113 77. Ilijah Paul 112 78. Collin Smith 107 79. Ethan Dobbelaere 97 80. Abraham Rodriguez 90 81. Tega Ikoba 86 82. Ousman Jabang 77 83. Israel Boatwright 76 84. Julian Gaines 65 85. Lawson Sunderland 61 86. Chris Gegardt 56 87. Javier Casas 55 88. Jackson Conway 55 89. CJ Fodrey 32 90. Moses Nyeman 24 91. Oliver Larraz 22 92. Hayden Sargis 17 93. Missael Rodriguez 15 94. Caden Glover 14 95. Marlon Vargas 12 96. Nico Benalcazar 10 97. Julian Hall 10 98. Alex Monis 10 99. Joey Akpunonu 9 100. Gerardo Valenzuela 9 101. Danny Flores 7 102. Zavier Gozo 7 103. Axel Kei 7 104. Adam Pearlman 7 105. Kayden Pierre 5 106. Chis Rindov 5 107. Luke Brennan 4 108. Nicolas Firmino 4 109. Sota Kitihara 4 110. Alex Freeman 1 111. Stiven Jiminez 1 112. Favial Loyola 1 113. Jayden Reid 1
What we are not taking Frankie Amaya as one of only three overage players to the friggin Olympics, in our first time qualifying in like 12 years. There are like 20 guys who are in the USMNT pool who won't make the Copa America roster, why would they select a guy who is totally irrelevant to the national team? Zimmerman is a good call, it will be guys like him. Same goes for Brandon Vazquez. Luciano Acosta if he has his citizenship in time, sure take him even if he's not part of the current pool, he's going to win MLS MVP in a few weeks. Edit: Jesus Ferreira was born December 24, 2000 so he's not age eligible and is listed in your roster. So even without Amaya you have four age eligible guys listed, Zimmerman, Acosta, Vazquez, Ferreira, when we're only allowed three. I'd be fine with any 3/4 of the non-Amaya ones though.
I would guess that the U20 timing will be different next year. In 2022 CONCACAF didn't have a busy summer calendar on the senior level. Also the the CONCACAF U20s have often been later, not a full year before the U20 World Cup.
Projected 2024 U.S. Olympic roster (18 players) from SA's @BrianSciaretta:GK Slonina, SchulteDF Tolkin, Wiley, Reynolds, Zimmerman, Sands, NealMF Tessmann, A.Morris, Busio, McGlynnFW Gutierrez, P.Aaronson, T.Booth, Cowell, McGuire, SargentThoughts?https://t.co/nYnOPsSZXT— SoccerAmerica (@socceramerica) October 21, 2023
So the 3 overage are Zimmerman, Sands, Sargent... I feel like we could do better than James Sands. We were just talking about Luciano Acosta, pretty big drop off from MVP to "pretty good MLSer" which is all Sands looks like he'll ever be... If he has his citizenship I would go Sands -> George Campbell (or some other defender, even Craig can be CB#3) and Busio -> Luciano Acosta. Also a reply suggests Kamungo over Cowell. I have to second that as someone who has to watch the Quakes every weekend. Cowell had one deflected goal all season and the Quakes only scored 39 goals, second lowest in the west after dismal Colorado... what will it take for people to hop off the Cowell train until he actually produces @bshredder ? GK Slonina, Schulte DF Tolkin, Wiley, Reynolds, Zimmerman, Sands, Neal MF Tessmann, A.Morris, Busio, McGlynn FW Gutierrez, P.Aaronson, T.Booth, Cowell, McGuire, Sargent
Almost exactly what I was thinking. One thing I'm not sure about - how likely are we to see MLS teams fine w/ releasing Zimm and Sands in mid July, how well will that work with the MLS calendar? I was thinking someone like McKenzie or Trusty can take a CB spot (but still prefer Zimm and Sands for experience and versatility). I'll also second Kamungo over Cowell and also add a more physical midfielder for Busio, expect to see only one physically challenged midfielder selected between Busio and McGlynn with spots so tight (but they don't seem to rate Bassett so that leaves Cremaschi or Pukstas).
We have better chance to get Pulisic than Acosta. Who started that insane rumor? If I'm Acosta I'm so eager to play with some kids whom I'm not necessary even understand. Absolutely, Kamungo instead of Cowell. He is much better as a player, and a symbol of what we are as a country.
From June: “Obviously (I would accept a USMNT call-up), if it came,” Acosta told The Athletic when reached for comment. “It’s one reason I started (the citizenship) process.” FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta close to gaining U.S. citizenship, USMNT eligibility: Sources Luciano Acosta to USMNT? FC Cincinnati star reportedly pursues citizenship You think Acosta who says he would "obviously" accept a call up, wouldn't want to play in the Olympics? Because his teammates are "kids"? Okay in that case put his Cincy teammates Brandon Vazquez and Roman Celentano on the roster, he has no problem playing with them every week....
Yeah and how many more times do we need to see Busio with various YNTs? Give some other guys a chance. Let Busio worry about his club career.
That's nuts. Not only do they play much roles, while we are well-stocked at CAM/wing already with natural u-23's. But also, Sands was just our most reliable player at the GC. This may be a step down when it comes to strength of opponent. At best they're equivalent. In addition, he got Rangers into UCL for the 1st time in a decade. He's versatile. Plays 2 positions. Primarily a CDM, so we don't have to take 2 straight cb's for overages. And he's established himself as a better cb than anyone listed. In addition he brings leadership. He'd be a fine choice.
MLS teams are more amenable with releases than everyone else in the world, at least when it comes to our players. Shockingly, they even let some players go to u23 friendlies, who'd be useful to teams during decision week. Speaking of which, I agree Kamungo should make it over Cowell. He's a superior player right now. Cade's just been a super sub for club and country. Others can do both. He's being grandfathered in for his initial prospects. I think that's true for Tessmann too. He bombed for the seniors, was poor with the u-23's, and now is just a solid Serie B player. Maybe this is where Cardoso should be allocated. Or we have enough d-mid considering that's Sands' main position. I might be interested in using Booth as a box-to-box. We could use a ball progressor there to help the 6. And this would help us get a stronger team on the field when so many of our best players are CAMs/wings. Going back to the over-age cb's...I think Zimmerman would be released. The better question is if he's considered indispensable for the senior squad. And maybe he is. I didn't consider that when I advocated for him in this spot because he's an obvious leader. But maybe this could be the path for McKenzie or Trusty to prove their leadership qualities and segue to the seniors for that next generation.
I think this could be pretty close but I don't think you can roll into a tourney like this w/ two natural CBs on the roster. Sure, Sands can play CB but is that really a player we want taking up an over-age slot? xb gave me **** for suggesting Amaya.... saying he is irrelevant.. but he plays very good D at CM and also has 5 goals... most of them bangers. Now, he tends to play the 8 in a double pivot w/ his teammate Edelman manning the 6 so it isn't an exact one-to-one comparison. But perhaps we could bring in an elder statesmen that is even better.?.? I still think Acosta might accept the invitation when his citizenship goes through... but I will leave him off for now. And given the lack of CBs on the list above I agree with Duke in that maybe Trusty or McKenzie might fit the bill. Here is a 2nd attempt: GK: Brady, Pulskamp, Schulte D: Neal, Reynolds, Tolkin, Wiley, Zimmerman*, Trusty* M: P. Aaronson, Luna, McGlynn, A. Morris, Vargas, Tessmann, O. Wolff, Cremaschi F: Gomez, Gutierrez, Ferreira, Kamungo, Booth, McGuire, B. Vasquez* * Elder Statesmen We would be thin at RB w/ this roster. Halliday's injury set him back but I could see him get the call. Cuevas has also played a lot w/ the U20s and while his form dipped for a while at least he got a string of starts for the Galaxy down the stretch. I could also see Edelman get the nod since he has played well for NYRB and has been the captain of the U20s in the past.
I just don't see the point in calling Vasquez. McGuire might be the better player right now. He certainly had the more productive year with less talent supplying him chances. Sargent though is totally an upgrade if he doesn't go to Copa.