U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (Club; Caps/Goals): GOALKEEPERS (4): Alex Bono (Toronto FC/CAN; 0/0), Bill Hamid (Midtjylland/DEN; 4/0), Cody Cropper (New England Revolution; 0/0), Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew SC; 0/0) DEFENDERS (9): Danny Acosta (Real Salt Lake; 0/0), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; 0/0), Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0), Justin Morrow (Toronto FC/CAN; 3/0), Ike Opara (Sporting Kansas City; 0/0), Tim Parker (Vancouver Whitecaps FC/CAN; 0/0), Matt Polster (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Brandon Vincent (Chicago Fire; 1/0), Walker Zimmerman (Los Angeles Football Club; 1/0) MIDFIELDERS (11): Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls; 1/0), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 15/2), Russell Canouse (D.C. United; 0/0), Marky Delgado (Toronto FC/CAN; 0/0), Marlon Hairston (Colorado Rapids; 0/0), Ian Harkes (D.C. United; 0/0), Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake; 0/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 1/0), Kelyn Rowe (New England Revolution; 3/1), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC; 2/0), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy; 37/6) FORWARDS (6): Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution; 27/3), Dom Dwyer (Orlando City SC; 4/2), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 24/5), Christian Ramirez (Minnesota United FC; 0/0), Rubio Rubin (Unattached; 4/0), CJ Sapong (Philadelphia Union; 3/0) https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...ational-training-center-for-2018-january-camp
Cody Cropper is a waste, but I'm not going to lose sleep. Would've liked Sean Davis from RBNY if we are reaching deep.
You'll note the absence of FC Dallas players. I'm told FC Dallas turned down U.S. Soccer's request for its players due to preparations for the CONCACAF Champions League. All four other MLS teams in the CCL Round of 16 have players in the #USMNT camp.— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) January 8, 2018
One of the more uninspiring rosters in a long while. At least last January camp we could pretend to be interested in seeing how Benny F would perform.
Ian Harkes was called in because of Arena's relationship with his father. It's more cronyism. He didn't in any way warrant it with his play. I was disappointed with him this season. Not enough mettle or athleticism displayed. I'm sure Lletget would have been called in if ready given their relationship and what he showed so far in the red, white, and blue. Relieved to see Lima there. I'd prefer seeing Adams listed in defense and have the both start. Prefer to see the likes of Melia, Finlay, JeGo, Long, Lewis, Farfan, Rosenberry, and Farfan . Melia and Finlay deserve it on merit and the latter ones are superior prospects to their alternatives, imo. But none of them are egregious errors. It's an ok roster from a prospect standpoint. There is a dearth of leadership/proven players to facilitate integration. Would have liked to have seen 1 at every level, i.e.: Besler, Sacha, Dax. It's going to be harder to see who is legit this way, especially in 1 games instead of two.
Fine. No major complaints. Some decisions though should be analyzed. How does Cody Cropper get a call up? Did they watch him last season? Gonzalez is younger and better, Melia is considerably better. Maybe the difference between the worst and best starting goalie in MLS, not to mention many others who would've been better for that spot than Cropper. He won't play though, but he shouldn't have even been called in. CB is mostly fine, RB is mostly fine. I wouldn't have called in Morrow. We know he's not good enough, and he's going to end up taking away minutes that should go to Vincent and Acosta. Garza is also a better player IMO, if we wanted an older LB option. Canouse, Harkes, Lennon, Hairston, Zardes don't belong, but there aren't many options in midfield. Cut these guys though once you get down to friendly. The forwards are fine, but Rubin doesn't belong.
-------------Morris--------------- --Sapong---Rowe----Arriola-- ---------Delgado--Roldan--------- Lima----------------------------Adams ----------Glad---Zimmerman-------- -------------Hamid---------------------
They wanted to fill out 30 names. Thats alright. A lot of these players don't belong. If they made the roster 23 and they took off guys like (Cropper, Harkes, Canouse, Zardes, Hairston, Lennon, Rubin), I think there would be a lot less complaints. But they should be doing that. If those are not the names cut when they pair down the roster (give or take one or two you could argue), there's a problem. I don't have a problem with those players "training" with the squad. Its not like they'll be overwhelmed by the level. If they get on the field for the friendly, thats when people should be upset.
Lewis, Farfan, Rosenberry, Melia, JeGo, Finlay, and Long are actually the types I think could have impress at camp, warranted an appearance in the match accordingly, and thus not freak out fans that those caps weren't wasted. I think the roster is more than fine from a general standpoint. It's clear sufficient research was done by Sarena here, but again they didn't pay attention to detail (not having a vet for every level, or much of a CAM also displays this), and some biases again show. Looking forward to getting a manager into the program who doesn't do those things for a recent change.
“Veteran” leadership and his high work rate? As horrible as he is technically, he was generally effective for us and could see why a coach would want him in camp. On the field is another issue. With 37 caps, Gyasi Zardes is the most seasoned player at the international level, followed by Juan Agudelo (27), Jordan Morris (24) and Paul Arriola (15).
We should have looked for leadership in more centrally located fuse pieces who can dictate tempo and/or organize like Besler, Kljestan, and McCarty. Zardes can't do it. He's a hustler who can't maintain possession. The real reason is the same as why Harkes is there. A past relationship with him or his father.
Hey, Wynalda is out of town campaigning for President. Ian will be in LA for a few weeks. All should be good.
I was more irritated before I read that the Dallas guys were held out by Dallas. Goalies - definitely would have liked Jesse Gonzalez instead of Cropper, but Dallas said so. Defense - I guess Opara and Morrow are reasonable current depth additions, but I question how long they will remain in the picture. But given that almost none of the non-MLS players would have been released, this is a reasonable list, with lots of guys who merit consideration for a first or second cap. Midfield - Kellyn Acosta is a glaring omission, but again, Dallas. Wouldn't have gone with Harkes of Hairston myself, but I'm assuming Lletget is still recovering. I don't see obvious younger MLS midfielders failing to make the list, so maybe Nagbe would make sense for some continuity, but not great. It's actually probably for the best that we didn't throw in a Bedoya just for veteran leadership. Forward - Dwyer and Sapong seem a little old for this camp, but are also good for current depth even if not for long term future. Rubin hasn't proven much lately but the camp should be good for his prospects of finding a club. Again, short on obvious oversights from MLS or youth national teams who aren't still only 17. Maybe we could have added the M/F types from the U-17 team (Carleton, Weah, Sargent) - but I'm comfortable with not making this an ultra-young roster.
Most of these I have no idea about but Im glad we dont see Bradley or Jozy here this year. Zardes is exactly why having Dave Sarachan run this is a mistake. Zardes should be left behind starting now. Also, were are the young ones like Sargent, Carleton and a couple of others? Their omission reeks of Arena. He would never use young players and that's why he got fired..again. I think Sarachan is a chip off the old block and would bet dollars to doughnuts he talks to Arena even now on who to call in. After all, after this camp, his best chance is hanging on for Arena's next gig. Good to keep in touch now. Its just too bad we dont have our new head coach in place for this camp and also why we can't see the end of Dave Sarachan fast enough for me.
This roster almost like a "******** you" to all the players who didn't get called. "Lee Nguyen, Sacha Kjlestan, and all y'all - guess what? We'll call in a jobless Rubio Rubin before you ever get a sniff."