For me, it’s Marlon Fossey. We suddenly need depth+ at right back, and in the 22-23 season he seemed to be coming on. My sense is he wasn’t as good last year.
I'm not super excited to see any of them. The most premium prospects aren't on it for different reasons. I'd have been more excited to see Paredes, Koleosho, Guti, Neal, Tolkin. Of the ones here, I'd rank them. 1. Aidan Morris - could be the Adams stand-in, had issues & flaws but never fully attempted 2. Caleb Wiley - got potential, we need a #2 LB, off to an ok start in france 3. Patrick Schulte - it's time to try a new gk, & he's arguably the best ready option
Aidan Morris. Yes, I am a homer. He really only had one full season in MLS as a full time starter (2023). He grew leaps and bounds and was a monster in 2024 before transfering to Middlesbrough. Where he already has a chant 4 games in.
morris for me as well. we have a lot of depth in the middle- which is going to make it really hard for him to find a place in the full first team- but most of the guys are somewhat specialized/limited. adams and maloney are true 6s, while cardoso, tesserman and musah are/can be used as more "defensive" 8s. id describe mckennie, musah and luca as more all around than "box-to-box" 8s, while wes and gio could play as "attacking"ish 8s with another more dedicated am. reyna and tillman are the options there. morris- and i know this is a big swing- but i see him as our most well-rounded cm behind wes, minus the volatility. and obviously hes not at the level those other guys are at just yet. but i think his absence was painfully clear in the olympics as tesserman was too burdened with defensive work to contribute much otherwise. hes a very strong defensive mid (if not the primary stopper). hes very strong in passing and possession (if not the primary playmaker). most importantly he doesnt have a glaring weakness (musahs passing, lucas physicality, etc). i think he is (or at least will be, imo) an ideal guy to have on the bench over guys like that. like i said i dont know that he gets in at this point/by the world cup for multiple reasons- those other guys can grow and improve as well (just like he or they could not). if we carry a tillman or a maloney (a very specialized backup) that hurts his chances. with no meaningful context (setup, how we are gonna play, etc) id say adams and reyna are the "outliers" in not being some flavor of 8, but mckennie, musah and cardoso are "locks" in the middle for me. i think morris right there with tesserman and luca (whos clearly in limbo), with the possibility of malik (less so maloney). but those guys (luca pending) are at higher/tougher levels than him (including cl for tillman) so its an uphill battle. im also really high- or at least extremely interested in seeing- trusty, but im not going to waste time on that cause almost everyone here would rather have zim so youre all really dum...i mean, irreconcilable differences or whatever.
Schulte for me just because the rest seem most likely to be depth when we have a full squad. Schulte could potentially challenge for a starting role with our weaknesses in goal. Curious about the other new guys, but most interested in someone who could potentially play a big role.
Cole Campbell I'm most interested in these kinds of explosive wingers that can really add something to the attack. I have a firm belief that by the end of the 24/25 Euro season, this board is going to be going gaga for Cole Campell. I firmly believe that Cole Campbell will be on the 2025 Gold Cup team. [I might have said Luca Koleosho, but I'll wait on that one until he commits.] Yes, we have weakness at CB and GK. I've yet to be convinced that our options in those positions are an immediate upgrade. The keepers I'm most excited about our still very young. The same is true for the newer CBs coming thru right now.
Why are the last 2 responses guys who aren't on the current roster? It says which newbie are you most excited for. That would connote on this roster. You seem to be answering a different question, which is who, that isn't a newbie, but has below 5 caps, are you most excited for.
If Cardoso can still be considered new: Cardoso. If not, then Morris. After that, I don't know much about Lund's game. I'd like to learn a bit more. I guess any new keeper would be interesting (Schulte?), but I'll be surprised if anyone other than Turner or Horvath play, so I'm not actually excited about that... To be honest, I'll be curious about all the players that are relatively new to the team, so... every newish player that plays?
He had a couple of incredible first touches. (I’m writing this at the half.). I thought he would be a super explosive athlete given his goal celebrations, but his pace disappointed me. Seems average for a fullback.
Morris. We have 'badge depth' in central midfield but need to move on to 'form depth'. Performers need to be rewarded from now on.
Aidan Morris looked pretty sharp, and we need defensive mid depth behind Tyler Adams. Despite his club success, I am not sold on Johnny Cardoso yet and he has looked very poor in a USMNT shirt. Including a shambolic performance against Canada. In terms of playing style, Marlon Fossey is a bit of a Sergiño Dest-lite. I liked what I saw, though the competition wasn't great. I'd like to bring him back in. He certainly seems to be at a similar level of capability as a Shaq Moore or Bryan Reynolds as a more dynamic alternative to Joe Scally. I also think Caleb Wiley has a lot of long-term potential as a future LB. Likely the distant future, because Antonee Robinson is a cut above, has probably been one of our top-2 most consistently good players at the club and country level along with Pulisic for 2+ years now, and he's still only 27.
Cardoso was just awful. Morris impressed me. He was in tune tactically. But, it was New Zealand. For me, Aidan Morris has vaulted into “deserves a run with the other stars against a good team to see if he can still hang” territory.
Schulte, Fossey, Wiley, Tessman (gotta start playing soon). More Mckenzie (more than 5 caps). Also, Chase in Germany.