For me the most interesting part of the interview was the characterization of Sullivan as a 7, Aaronson as a 10 and McGlynn as an 8. Obviously, they are versatile enough to play other positions but this gives insight into how the coach envisions the team lining up. To speculate a little and fill in the gaps: Sealy and Paredes are obvious other candidates to play the 7/11 positions. Cowell is the 9. Vargas the 6. Gutierrez, Clark, Pukstas and Luna are some other obvious attacking and midfield options. Perhaps Pukstas competing with McGlynn, and Gutierrez and Luna competing with Aaronson.
Not saying you’re wrong about Sealy, but he’s playing in the second division of Netherlands and doesn’t have a goal or assist (none on the season) since October. If he’s on the roster, a deserving player was left off.
It does seem odd they didn't schedule the tournament to try and coincide with the international window. Sounds like we could potentially be missing some guys because there's at least some overlap with European preseason. In addition to MLS players having to miss 4-6 games.
Apologies if this thread is already known, but some good insight on the U 20s here.. Thread with some US U-20 team thoughts that you may not want to hear, yet are necessary IMO.— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) May 17, 2022
Yep! I don’t think I’m outing him. I’m almost positive he announced it here on BigSoccer awhile back.
I don't have much of an opinion on Varas, and I can't speak to many of the players you mention in the thread (I don't remember the last time I saw even highlights of Elton Chifamba, for example). That said, I agree philosophically with your point of view in general, and I find it interesting how sharp in contrast it is to a lot of general USMNT fans. By that I mean the focus on fit, mix, assortment of skillsets and talent. I'm totally on board with this. It feels like right now we are trying to squeeze the most talent on the field, not necessarily make the best team at times. And the lack of midfield athleticism hurt the U20 team last time. Which is all interesting, because at the senior level, the fanbase is all about cramming the most offensive players out there possible.
I know some have touted the 2003s as an especially talented group. I have had my doubts and continue to have them. The 2002s (Reyna, Musah, Busio, Bello, Scally, Tolkin) are much better.
This isn't unexpected. I'd guess that Gutierezz competing more at 8, Clark at 10, and Paredes must be way ahead of Seally.
There's a definitional challenge here. Strong years are often said so because of depth, but the barrier to impact of a rapidly improving national team is massively high, which means that Reyna+Musah are going to create more national team value than many classes. But while upside is usually taken into account, so much is about high quality depth. Reality is that we need to wait a few years on both these groups.
Almost half the team could end up being 04s and 05s. What does that say about the quality and depth of the 03s. 04s and 05s with a good chance of making the team: Brady, Wiley, Henry, Craig, Vargas, Pukstas, Fletcher, Sullivan. Some others with more of an outside shot.
It depends -- why are the '03s not there? Moses Nyeman - Hurt Jonathon Gomez - Dual National or Pro commitments Ricardo Pepi - Senior Team / Pro Commitment Kevin Paredes - Pro Commitment Cade Cowell - Pro Commitment Justin Che - Pro Commitment I do think some of the sheen has fallen off this class in terms of overall depth, but that's six potential starters you are taking out of the equation. We'll see. 2002 definitely has two monsters, and if we got two players the quality of Musah and Reyna per class, we'd have an amazing team even without anything else.
Hat tip to @NoHammiesAltidore for tracking down the CONCACAF U-20 Championship provisional rosters. Ours is on the last 2 pages of the PDF: https://stconcacafwp001.blob.core.windows.net/media/zvvenxhj/cmu20-provisional-rosters.pdf
So, guys with callups under Varas we know won't be at qualifying with the U.S. because they're not on the provisional roster and are therefore ineligible: Castilla Juan Dade KyMani Garay Jeremy Greene Jacob Ramos Anthony Rodriguez Missael Sorensen Anthony Van Deventer Jayvin Walls Casey Probably safe to assume that the guys at the Mexico camp with U.S. callups (Gomez, Ordaz, Ramos) won't be there with us either. Ordaz is also eligible for El Salvador but isn't on their roster. I know there are other U.S. eligible guys on other teams' rosters as well -- still find it interesting, and a sign of the times, that even given a 60 player list to use, which we didn't fill, nearly (not quite but whatever) a fifth of our callups so far this cycle don't seem to be options for the squad.
It is also worth noting each cycle there are couple guys who don't play in the CONCACAF qualification tournament but make the FIFA U20 roster. Brooklyn Raines seems to have some late helium. I could see him being one of those.
Not like we need all those options just 2 weeks in advance. Unless the coach is intent to stuff them all in a small unventilated room to learn which ones have natural immunity.
The official CONCACAF provisional has Quembol Guadalupe as an '03. Most/all sources online (unofficial ones) have him as an '04.
Of course not, but the roster was probably chosen a couple of weeks ago or so. Anyway, I'm not saying it's some massively important thing, just a data point. There are still 50-odd guys on the list who are available to choose from. Presumably that's enough, even with all the possible complications.