I think France vs Morocco would be the most interesting final in terms of storyline and I’d be curious what the crowd turnout would be in terms of French vs. Moroccan fans. But i expect the final to be Spain vs France.
Could be de ja vu all over again for Morocco. They beat Spain at the World Cup and then lost to France. People lamented that we lost to Morocco U23s. But Morocco U23s outplayed and beat Argentina. [Lest we forget, Morocco U23s also beat us in a friendly last fall held in Spain. They also beat Brazil last fall. Drew with Belgium in June.] They're just better than us right now. I'm not entirely sure what changed in their program.
Seems like hefty dual national recruiting (the birth places of this U23 roster are intriguing to say the least), mixed in w/just a general uptick. When was the last time they qualified for back to back WC's? CAF WC Qualifying is murderous, any misstep and generally you're done, and they've made back to back now, just looked it up, they did it '94/'98, and that's it. So, I imagine this is a mix of a strong generation of players and HUGE dual nat recruiting, heck we've lost a US dual nat to them, and France has lost a pile of guys.
I think a Moroccan team which is close to their best U23 plus Hakimi versus our U23 which is not close to our best and doesn’t include the best overage player in our pool isn’t really a test of who is better right now. But what’s really changed for their program is they’ve done an excellent job of recruiting dual nationals who were developed in European academies. That’s the case for the Olympic team and it’s the case for their World Cup team. And they’ve been good at getting in on guys early. Hakimi for instance came up in the Real Madrid academy. He wasn’t an unknown undiscovered prospect. But they were very good at getting him locked before Spain ever had a shot. And more power to them for being on top of the dual national recruiting game.
I pretty much agree other than maybe Tolkin. I like the way Tolkin plays, but it seems like he has a pretty hard ceiling and just can't hang when the athleticism of the opponent goes up. I think Lund is limited technically, but he seems to have the size and pace to hang athletically. I'm also a little wary of going all in on Yow. He just doesn't have much of a track record yet, and I'm always a little skeptical of guys who weren't considered great prospects who all of the sudden have a really hot stretch. And while I think they both are limited players, Wright and B. Aaronson, the wingers from the Copa, do have something they bring to the team. It's not a no-brainer to replace them as soon as a younger guy with a pulse shows up (i.e., they're not Roldan). But I still wouldn't mind getting a look at Yow with the senior team to see if he is for real.
On Yow, I’d just see if he fits. If he doesn’t, then, move on, sooner than later. But I think he’s done enough to receive a call up this year.
I'd call in Gaga, Schulte's playing better than Gaga in MLS in '23 and '24, but Gaga did what Schulte did back in his MLS days, I'm not holding Gaga's yuck season for a relegation fodder dumpster fire so thoroughly against him that I put Schulte ahead of him. I would also note, I'm fast tracking both of them and Brady because by any objective measure, Turner, and Horvath stink too, and Johnson is too old and past it. Roll w/the ups and downs and bumps and what not of the kids, keep one vet in there. I know they won't do that, but I'd be taking at least 2 of Gaga and Schulte to camps going forward ESPECIALLY if Turner stays at NF as the third string keeper there. You can't start him or prioritize him when he's nowhere even near a starting job, let alone playing well either.
For sure, best attacking player by far on the Olympic squad and coming off a break out year in Belgium. If McKenzie was getting starters and call up run as Belgian, Yow has certainly earned it, playing better than McKenzie was in Europe.
I don't really know what going all in on Yow is. And while it's just been 1,500 or so good minutes in Belgium, he's not an old player and so there's a good chance the improvement is real. We tend to put players into boxes way too early in their career. I like bringing him in because he is a different skill set than a lot of our wingers. He's hard working and physical and he has an excellent outside shot and a very direct style that we don't have a ton of. Also could definitely compete for a wingback role.
Tolkin's arguably the #1 under-age who warrants it w/ performances for club & country. We badly need depth at his position. And for the senior team, his only start was against Jamaica, who he didn't do so hot against, but neither has ARob. In the Olympics he was arguably our best player in the group stage & then he kind of pooped out in his 4th straight start, which was true of ARob at the WC. The standard for inclusion is also project backup not starter. That he's easily met. You can have theories, but at a point it's time for them to be tested. The only reason Lund got a shot was to get him to 1-time switch. Nothing he's done for club & country warranted it. He'd be grandfathered in. Tolkin should have been getting looks since before the WC even. If he failed, maybe you'd have a case. But he hasn't really been tried. Get him in a couple friendlies, see if he plays well, then keep going, otherwise backburner until he elevates himself thru more club proof. He may move to a better league this window still. Regardless, he'll be playing at a better level than Serie B. I don't think it's going all in on a player to throw them in off the bench against Canada in a home friendly. We can use the players you mentioned at CF & CM. It's not like we're settled at those positions either. And the fact you're coming up with them as options shows we can use more true wingers. Ideally one who can put the ball in the net, on a team who has trouble scoring. Yow's always been able to do that, but he gets in better positions now.
When the game was even it was a pretty tight cagey affair. Giving up the PK and conceding first was basically the ball game. I did not believe in that lineup’s ability to carry play against a good opponent playing with a lead.
We do the same thing. Pulisic called up very early. Reyna was called up very early and would have been called up even earlier if not for the COVID period. Folks can run thru lots of examples. Pepi was 18 when we started him in a road WCQer for his first cap. Musah was very young when we first capped him. We call up players way before they've actually earned USMNT callups. We call them up based on potential. Sometimes they make it and sometimes they don't. We forget how aggressively we called up Uly Llanez, Sebastian Soto, Owen Otasowie, and the list goes on. So when people imply we aren't aggressive enough with a player like Bajraktarevic, I'm like.............really? We called him up to our senior USMNT camp in January and U23 camps as an 18 year old. [He's since turned 19]. Since debuting in 2022........he has 2 goals and 1 assist in MLS play. Those callups were entirely on potential. If he doesn't choose to represent the USMNT because he wasn't picked for the Olympics with players 4 years older than him, what are we supposed to do about it? I don't know. We've been very aggressive. He knows we want him in our program. And its so for the Olympic team. We called up a lot of young players to the U23s through the camps, but the roster was very small. And in some positions that meant really terrible decisions had to be made. Not just on the well documented winger/attacking midfield positions. Left back. Jonathan Gomez is still training with the Real Sociedad first team as their season approaches. Didn't make our Olympic team. Wiley and Tolkin did. That may also lead to Jonathan Gomez switching to Mexico.
From what I hear, Jonathan Gomez didn't make the Real Sociedad first team and is looking for a place to play. I'd still find it strange if he switched in the first place, considering his brother was an alternate for the Olympic team.
There was some rumor out there in the Mexican media that his brother will also be switching. That rumor came out while Johan was literally with the US team in Paris. If there's one group of people I don't believe, its people who tweet about Mexican-American dual-nationals.
Spain is also quick to try to cap Messi. Barca’s assistant coach who is an Argentine, is crazy to call Argentina FED and head coach. Then they are kind of like — you’re kidding we need to call a Barca 2 player. Then the guy sent the training video, then they called Messi into the team.