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SBI Question of the Day: Which first-time USMNT call up is most exciting?

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The U.S. Men’s National Team has a friendly against Paraguay on the horizon and a bunch of young names have been called in to prove they deserve a spot on the team when they finally return to competitive action in the summer of 2019.

Five players, Andrija Novakovich, Antonee Robinson, Erik Palmer-Brown, Shaq Moore, and Timothy Weah, are looking for their first appearances with the senior team.

Novakovich is a native of Wisconsin and has 17 goals on a very impressive loan spell at Telstar in the Netherlands. The 21-year-old is on loan from Reading, where he signed fresh out of high school.

Palmer-Brown has only one appearance so far on his loan at KV Kortrijk from Manchester City. He impressed enough with Sporting Kansas City to attract one if Europe’s big clubs at the tender age of 20.

Moore has become a larger part of the setup at Levante since making his debut last fall. He has six appearances in all competitions so far.

Another fullback, Robinson, has proven a key part of Bolton’s setup while on loan from Everton. The 20-year-old has made 20 appearances for the Championship club.

Weah recently made his first team debut at Paris Saint-Germain and is primed to become a larger part of that team in the future.

Which one of these young guys has the most exciting future and which one are you most expecting to see have a big game against Paraguay in Cary, North Carolina?

Vote in the poll below and tell us which prospect you’re most interested in in the comment section:

[polldaddy poll=9963693]

Comments

  1. Robinson is an American left back starting for Bolton in the Championship. A LEFT BACK. If that’s not exciting to you then you’ve not been following the USMNT very long.

    Reply
      • not sure what you’re looking at. first of all, he has more than 20 appearances (think it’s 25 now), and more importantly, bolton’s in 19th and in danger of relegation to league one.

  2. “A big target forward is what we have desperately needed since Kenny Cooper retired” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Novakovich for sure. A big target forward is what we have desperately needed since McBride retired. If he pans out, it will be a huge win.

    Reply
    • FYI, this article gives Novakovich’s height as 6’4″. McBride is 6 feet even. Kenny Cooper, at 6’3″ would seem to be closest in height among previous US forwards, at least of those I can think of at the moment.

      Reply
  4. Miazga’s 22, with 4 caps. He’s seems to be establishing himself as a regular starter on a decent Dutch team. You sure you want to give up on him?

    Reply
    • I would put the Dutch League as about equivalent to Mexico. In past cycles the Dutch national team has taken a lot of its defenders from the Dutch league. Based on the quality of the opposition he plays against, Miazga must be considered to be at least the equivalent of CCV and better than any US player in MLS in central defense.

      Reply
      • the dutch league is a lot more attacking-focused than the mexican league. fairly or not, the eredivisie is seen as very weak defensively, and—i’m not positive, without doing more research than i care to—the top dutch defenders don’t seem to spend much time there, if they even play there at all.

        all that to say, miazga himself has only been there less than two years, so it’s not a condemnation, but if he becomes an eredivisie lifer, it might be.

  5. Serious question: Why is Nagbe getting a call up. He stinks and will be almost 32 for the 2022 WC, well past his prime. Get this Floyd Mayweather/Flava Flav looking joker out of here

    Reply
    • most players prime comes in their late twentys and early thirtys before a drop off that gets quicker over time. 32 is usually the last solid year for midfielders. He could still be a good contributor.

      Reply
      • My two cents right now I would either be fielding super-reliable captain-types or complete experiments. Captains to instill values. Nagbe is not a captain level player in terms of quality or leadership. Experiments so this does not turn out the same as last time, and so we can see what else is out there. Nagbe is a known quantity and was something of a let down as the cycle progressed. I don’t need to experiment and see if Nagbe can play, nor can I rely on him to dominate and show the kids something.

        I also agree that with a 2022 age of 32 we should be grooming his replacement at this stage in the cycle. The normal pattern with players who will be that old by the key part of the next cycle is to move on, look at replacements, and if in 2 years we can’t find anyone and he’s playing well, we cycle back around and give him a chance. Other than that, maybe the odd friendly.

        I wouldn’t rule him out absolutely, but this part of the cycle, with how our cycle went, should be about widespread change and talent exploration.

      • Nagbe has, what, 1 goal in the shirt? And is not some snarling DM. Half the reason we’re where we are is he is not some Bradley stud like was hoped. Some of these Germany/Portugal kids have that potential. The kid we lost to Mexico as well. Nagbe is just kind of “ok,” which is a let down relative to the hype years ago.

      • Your assessment is based on a player’s solid consistent performance. Nagbe is still looking for his stride.

    • I mean, I don’t even want to see Roldan, Miazga, or Villafana on the same basis. If they were no-doubters we wouldn’t be talking about 4-plus years to fix things. Villafana and Nagbe both it’s kind of like, bleh, why are we going around in the same circles. Half my problem with the whole last cycle was how we would keep going around the same small circles of players at need areas. They never fixed the defense but also stopped well short of broad tryouts. Ditto defensive mid.

      Reply

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