Winter Camp 24/25 Roster Planning & Selection

I would inquire on Albert. Yes, is very young but he plays at a position of need (wing), and he is already a grown man, playing with grown kids (U19).

 

I watched Cole Campbell. He may be the real deal. So far, he doesn't look out of place playing with the big boys.

 

Playing Venezuela in January according to the sign boards at the Jamaica game

 

where?

 

Unless we're having a U20 camp in January (possible), there are some MLS kids having great camps right now. They've beaten South Korea and France in the window. Tsakiris of San Jose, Brooklyn Raines of Houston, Peyton Miller of NE. Ben Cremaschi is one who has REALLY stood out. No surprise. He's one we've already brought into the senior team. He seemingly hasn't pouted about being sent to the U20s. Just showed up to that camp and balled out. Gotta be an inclusion in January camp. Heck, I'd start him. This isn't against Puerto Rico. This is against France.

40’ Great work from Benjamin Cremaschi pic.twitter.com/2vjkYADfub

— American Ultras Talk (@ameriultrastalk) November 18, 2024

 

It said somewhere in Florida....Ft Lauderdale I think?

 

Camp and match will be at the current home of Inter Miami (Chase Stadium).
That's actually in Ft. Lauderdale until their new stadium is completed in Miami.

U.S. Men’s National Team to Open 2025 Campaign against Venezuela on Jan. 18 In Ft. Lauderdale | U.S. Soccer Official Website

 

Was thinking about going but that is going to feel like a Venezuela home match.
Not excited about that.

 

I wonder if this camp is really meaningful or if it is just "throwaway camp." I do not remember anyone being found or discovered in recent time that amounted to much of anything at the international level.
I really think it is just wasted time, effort and money. But I intend to watch and enjoy anyway. I do not think this camp has any real value for the USMNT, particularly now that we have so many players playing in good leagues around the world.

 

If the coaching staff (particularly the new staff) identify even one player to take forward with the group, then it's a worthwhile effort.

Patrick Schulte's first USMNT camp was last January.

2024's camp had a lot of Olympics eligible players, so a little bit of a different focus.

 

Goalkeepers "might" be the exception as it does not appear that MLS guys are wanted much and coaches tend to ignore that which does not help right away. But i do not think any field players will be discovered as most of the callups will be MLS players and MLS is so far down the world league pecking order that they would have to climb a ladder to get to "average."
But MLS is an OK training ground for 'keepers as the defenses really suck.

 

Many of the current US-born players in the national team get their first caps in this January camp.
Its an introduction to what being a USMNT player is.

Most of those players don't "make it" to USMNT impact. But some do.
In 2024, 15 guys were called up to the USMNT for the first time. A few have the chance for further USMNT impact. Many likely won't be seen in a US jersey again. Bernard Kamungo? And that's OK.

It used to be that there was more of the core USMNT involved.

Now we should think of it as a "pool camp." A way for the staff to expand the pool. It gives the staff a chance to look like players such as Duncan McGuire and Jack McGlynn. Evaluate them and decide if they have what it takes.

This upcoming camp it could be young guys like Peyton Miller and Quinn Sullivan who get their first chance.

 

McKenzie's first call up was 2019 January camp and first cap was 2020 January camp.

 

Yea, it's a really ignorant, prejudicial, blanket statement.

Zimmerman got his 1st caps in January camp and iirc that's where the reintegration started. It was between that & GC, which I bet the same would be said about cuz it's MLS-centric.

Turner got his 1st cap in January camp & then started thru the GC. Miles was integrated there.

W/out Miles, Pepi, Turner, & Zimmerman; we don't auto qualify (if at all) for the 2022 WC.

Aaronson, Tessmann, Aidan (& McKenzie) debuted in January camp. (Adams debuted outside of it cuz we were ousted from wcq'ing, but bears noting he was our best player when he was still in MLS)

In recent yrs we stopped integrating standouts from GC's and January camps, & one could argue that contributed to our demise. Had a dearth of reliable options.

It's a waste of time to not have a winter camp for exploration.

I don't get why people w/ a disbelief in any outfielder from MLS even purports to be a fan of Americans. It's empirically false & that's just where most Americans naturally start. So basically they're bad cuz they're American. They play fb in America, God forbid.

 

Yep.

January camp serves a few purposes IMO, in no particular order (and I'm writing MLS below for brevity but take it to include players based in Mexico, in years where they're available for winter camp which seems like it won't be the case this year, as well as Scandinavia):

1. Identify MLS players who are good enough for the senior team 23(6) right now, particularly at areas of positional weakness among our European pool. That changes from year to year but right now I'd say GK, CB, and depth spots at fullback and on the wing. This could be a big camp for guys like Freese, Miles Robinson, Zimmerman, and DeJuan Jones

2. First (or close to first) taste of senior international play for young up and coming players who aren't at the senior team level yet, but have realistic potential to get there in the short to medium term future. This winter that could be guys like Cremaschi, Luna, and Raines

3. In past winter camp has also served as a showcase for this type of player to get a move to Europe, that isn't really the case any longer as MLS is scouted far more heavily than it used to be but with Poch in charge could come back into play a bit more--not so much the games themselves as a showcase, but the staff using their connections in Europe to help players who impress on the training ground get a move or trial

4. Stacking and ranking deep depth in the pool. Almost all of our top players are now in Europe, but should an injury crisis at some position happen and we're forced to look to our 3rd, 4th, or 5th options that's likely going to be an MLS guy. It's helpful to know who domestically is most ready to step up in that situation

5. Preparing a domestic squad for the Gold Cup. This is another one that I don't think will really be applicable next year, given Poch's limited time with the team before 2026 I expect a full strength squad for the GC next summer, but typically the GC is a primarily domestic squad. This means it isn't as prestigious as a full strength competition--realistically the Nations League is probably more prestigious at this point, despite the lack of history, because everyone sends their best available team--but it's still technically our continental championship and it's still worth trying our best to win, albeit within the limitations of a domestic heavy squad.

 

I would be pretty mad if the GC were burned as an a-team exercise. A mix would be fine, or even ideal, because it's easier to evaluate b-players next to a bunch of a-team ones.

But we can't just drill more in the system, cuz there's little contingency for when those players aren't available to fit in that or any system. Then we see games like that roadie @ Mexico.

We'd be throwing away 2 GC's in a row from an integration standpoint, & this is not a historic recipe for success. It's one for Klinsmann/Arena & Berhalter's teams falling apart when they don't have their full complements, if even then.

At least this is still a fairly young team so we won't have lost value from age much. But old man Ream will be almost 39, so there's 1. Could that be a comp to further test Jackson Ragen or whoever emerges from Jan camp & beyond?

Turner isn't overly convincing, will be 32, & is 1 guy. GC has to be a camp for someone else finally. Matt's gotten 2 straight and almost every senior cap for the last couple yrs.

 

Most of this is nonsense that I won't address, but figured I would touch on a few.

Zimmerman did get his first cap in January 2017 (February actually). He got his second in January 2018. He got his fifth and sixth in January 2019. He got his 12th cap in January 2020 and 13th in December 2020. He is an unused sub in the January 2021 camp and proceeds to get caps 14 through 17 in a mostly MLS GC before getting injured. Never in that period did he play well enough to make a positive impact on the team and be considered for camps that weren't primarily MLS players. He finally put in some acceptable performers in WCQ while weaknesses still on display. That is a ton of investment for a guy who doesn't belong on the USMNT.

We would have been much better off in WCQ without those players and the rest of the MLS guys.

Hahaha.... not integrating MLS players was Berhalter's big mistake.

We all got to watch MLS players suck over and over for the usmnt for the last 7+ years. We have also seen our pool grow in quality and size of foreign based players over that time period. We have also seen the majority of our top prospects skip MLS all together. We have also seen overhyped MLS players fail in spots like the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scotland. So with MLS lifers proving on the field they suck, talented players skipping MLS or leaving after a couple of years, and the bar being much higher than it was 5 years ago, make me quite comfortable not wanting a single MLS player on the USMNT. MLS fans are completely delusional about its players.

 

I agree with your general take on MLS, but think the view on goalkeeping needs to be more specific.

MLS has shown to be a good spot for young GKs starting out careers. It enables them to get experience as a professional playing against some decent attacking players. The lack of pressure can actually be a positive at this point as they don't have to worry about and can focus getting experience. After a couple of years though, not having to deal with the pressure they will receive everywhere else can become an issue.

At some point they will need to learn to deal with the outside pressure a goalkeeper faces. MLS also still seems to be behind in the way the position has been evolving, such as being a main part of build up out of the back (if this isn't a focus by this age, there a limitations on imorovement). Then there is the simple fact is the game changes significantly for GKs at higher levels. Balls are flighted different, attackers have tricks not experienced at lower levels, and all of the opponents are quality attacking players not just the few on special co ntracts. So every direct interaction the goalkeeper is more difficult, but reading more tactical offenses is another challenge.

 

2 and 3 seem like good reasons. The others, not so much. Id focus on players that fit into that category and throw in some veterans for cohesion, but no need to make believe that veteran should be anywhere near the USMNT.

 

Never seen anybody group those three coaches together. As far GCs go, Arena and Berhalter 2019 overweighted the team MLS veterans to win. Berhalter was forced to use MLS players in 2021. Klinsmann used 2013 for a second team and give a guy who abandoned the team a second chance. In 2015, he used a very experimental roster and lineups to try to turn the team over from the 2014 WC.

If we would had all the guest teams then I would have been for a first team, but without that, I would probably drop 10 or so regular starters, and give back ups a chance to start and have the bench be mostly fringe players. That still means very few MLS guys.

 

What I meant is early 'keeper training. The more advanced stuff does seem to deserve better, much better, leagues. But MLS is ideal for learning shot stopping and general GK training and it well prepares 'keepers for the stupid mistakes defenders make in all leagues. There are plenty of mistakes in all leagues but MLS has some of the worst defending in soccer so it prepares 'keepers quite well for the stupidity that creeps into most defenses at times.

 

I agree that has shown to be a good first step, but without the next step, that player will never reach its potential. Id put 2 years as the ideal time frame where the things that make it being a positive, start to become a negative. Just getting in a professional environment and playing front of crowds is good experience for you GKs.

 

True, mostly. But just being on a MLS team is not enough. 'Keepers need to play regularly to develop and a move to an advanced league that also involves sitting on the bench most of the is counter productive to said development.
That is why Turner is still so poor in open play. He simply got virtually no playing time on his initial move. He had great "potential" but that is exactly where he is now, with great potential.
It is too bad that so many 'keepers go directly from MLS to the Premier league. They are usually not ready for premier level play and therefore they do not develop and therefore they get less and less playing time and so do not develop and may even drop in quality.
Our potential 'keepers need better than MLS after learning all that MLS can teach so, I believe that a move to one of the "lesser" leagues around Europe is almost always better for goalkeepers.

 

Also will be interesting because we’ll get Pochettino’s first take in terms of the MLS pool. We know very little in terms how he evaluates the MLS guys.