Top Stories

McKennie, Weah, Yedlin headline USMNT roster for Brazil, Mexico friendlies

1 Shares

The U.S. Men’s National Team has a pair of intriguing friendlies in the next nine days against Brazil and Mexico, and interim head coach Dave Sarachan’s roster is once again headlined by youth.

Twenty-four players have been included for the pair of friendlies, starting with a showdown against Brazil on Sept. 7th at MetLife Stadium. Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah lead the talented group after strong starts with their respective club teams.

Experienced names were also included, as Newcastle’s DeAndre Yedlin and Wolfsburg’s John Brooks should lead the backline. Matt Miazga, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Antonee Robinson all return as well after being in the May camp earlier this year.

Major League Soccer has 11 representatives in Sarachan’s squad, with the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew possessing three players each. Tyler Adams, Tim Parker, and Aaron Long will join from the Red Bulls, while the Crew’s Wil Trapp, Zack Steffen and Gyasi Zardes are included.

Notable absentees are Christian Pulisic, who is dealing with muscular problems, and Josh Sargent who is expected to see playing time with the first-team during a pair of club friendlies.

Following the USMNT’s showdown with El Selecao, it will face a Concacaf clash against El Tri on Sept. 11th in Nashville.

Here’s the entire 24-man roster for the USMNT:

Goalkeepers: Alex Bono, Ethan Horvath, Zack Steffen.

Defenders: John Brooks, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Eric Lichaj, Aaron Long, Matt Miazga, Shaq Moore, Tim Parker, Antonee Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin.

Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta, Tyler Adams, Paul Arriola, Julian Green, Sebastian Lletget, Weston McKennie, Cristian Roldan, Wil Trapp, Tim Weah.

Forwards: Andrija Novakovich, Bobby Wood, Gyasi Zardes.

Comments

    • I tried to post Sarachan’s comment to reporters about new players but accidentally put in my response to Bizzy below.
      —————————————————————————————————————
      “Sarachan said he hopes to add a few new players to the roster every camp the rest of the year”
      —————————————————————————————————————–
      Who did you have in mind? I think you’ll see more of the Euro contingent in October and definitely in November.

      Reply
      • It’s more of a process objection than a specific named player objection. Long is really the only truly new face on the list. I think this part of the cycle should be about giving a ton of new faces their chance so that when we do start to settle on a pecking order, we gave lots of options a try, and maybe identified several options per position. I think the schedule is too ambitious and the interim coach getting a little comfortable and we’re starting to “settle” a little too fast on who Sarachan things is worth it.

      • People get hurt, gain or lose form. The guy who seems good now may be off the boil in 2 years. I’d rather be finding 35 players I like to be the larger pool than jumping the gun to who my 23 and starters might be. Novakovich has now “hogged” several calls despite not doing anything special with his time. Others, Horvath, Miazga, Brooks, were often disappointing. So rather than making some abstract determination Novakovich is better than what could be behind door 2, call in the kids behind doors 2 and 3 and see if it’s true.

        I realize this may sound goofy when we have to play Mexico and Brazil but then that schedule is part of the unnecessary distortion too. Right now I’d rather find 5 people who might produce at a spot than start regularly calling up someone who does nothing in the shirt because an abstract decision was made they must be better than other options who have never gotten any chance. How do you even know?

      • So in the 42 minutes that Nova has played for the USMNT, you can discredit his 22 goals in the 2nd Division in the Netherlands or his 2 goals in 4 matches this season in the first division. There is not an American striker playing in a better league with that kind of production.
        ————————————————————————————————————–
        This has become your classic argument, there must be someone better, I can’t name anyone either in MLS or abroad but just play a bunch of guys and I’m sure someone will turn up.

      • Have to agree that passing judgement on a guy like Novakovich based on ~40 mins of scattered substitute time in disjointed friendlies seems absurd. Moreover, I am skeptical of the notion that you learn much from plugging in as many players as possible in a short amount of time. When taken to the extreme, it reminds me of the old Sven Goran Eriksson England friendlies, when he would sub all 11 players at halftime, and the second half would be unwatchable chaos. Continuity matters. You learn a lot more about any new player by seeing how they add value and adapt within a system, than continually tossing in new player after new player for cameos.

      • Just because I am not playing the “gotcha” internet game of “name someone else” doesn’t mean I don’t have other names. I get bored with playing other people’s games, particularly when my point is more broadly mix it up. My point is simply keep trying people, the roster doesn’t have to be completely churned but we’re a little too “under construction” to literally call up one new person. Even if it was half and half. Just so we’re not settling on this bunch which includes a few mediocrities must be the best possible team.

        All due respect to 44 minutes but Weah, Sargent, and McKennie have all already scored goals. He plays a production position. Talented or not, do something or let’s go try the next guy and see if he produces. I am not writing him off, but I am also not turning this into some Twellman/Wondo Pity Party where players we wish scored NT goals — and who do for club, but that doesn’t matter — would in fact do so for the NT. It’s a higher level and we need to see you can produce at that higher level. Or when I put you in at the end of Belgium you crank a sitter over the goal.

      • EJ used to score a ton of goals in inconsistent fashion. Zardes is periodically productive but has done little for the Nats. Twellman was supposed to be something. All of them produce in league. Producing in league just gets you the call and left on the pool list. Producing for the Nats is what gets you on the team regularly. I don’t like the idea of us leaving people on the team just because they produce at club and are SUPPOSED to have international potential. That, to me, is the Nagbe/Acosta Fallacy. Oh, give it 4 more games and they’ll figure it out. Meh.

      • I’m not trying to play gotcha, anyone can guess wrong on a player that has potential. But you seem to think there is this unlimited supply of guys that deserve call-ups. You listed some guys that were good in MLS but then weren’t great for the USMNT but can you list someone who was not good for their club and then did great? If you don’t want Nova called in your next choices are Dwyer, Sapong, and Bruin who are all over who are all 28 or older. Or you could Sebastian Soto who is 18 and plays for Hannover U19s, Haji Wright who couldn’t find a spot in 2 Bundesliga and is back with Schalke U23s, Brandon Vazquez who has 2 goals for Atlanta II this season and has 68 minutes of MLS time this season and 177 mins last season. I mean if Nova still hasn’t scored in 10 caps or 15 sure pass him along but to replace him with someone with no pro experience just to throw bodies on the pitch makes no sense. Let’s not forget it took Dempsey 6 matches to score his first goal and he had only 2 goals in his first 14 caps and your logic would have passed on him. Brian McBride took three years from his first cap until he scored a goal.

  1. Like I scored three goals said,
    “American interim manager Dave Sarachan added Toronto FC midfielder Marky Delgado to the United States roster today, increasing the squad to 25 players ahead of upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Mexico.”

    So certain players were not left off because TFC is “fighting for a playoff spot”??. I guess Sarachan just picked the only player worth mentioning because of his age and abilities to be integrated into the team.

    Like where your mind is Coach!!!!!! ???

    Reply
  2. i hope Bradley and Jozy were left off because TFC is fighting for their playoff lives. These forwards are weak. Bradley should be mentoring these young guys. I look forward to their inclusion in future squads. Haters gonna hate…

    Reply
  3. thank you dave sarachan, ernie stewart and the us soccer board for allowing the youth movement to continue. we all know what this means. it isn’t about a particular game. it’s about our future.

    Reply
    • He had problems with his registration and had to miss first 2 games but it does say he had an excellent preseason

      Reply
      • I found an article that said that it was several players for the club as well not just Moore. It also said he scored twice in preseason.

  4. All the players I wanted to see were called in:
    Wil Trapp⚽
    Julian Green⚽⚽
    Christian Roldan⚽
    Gyasi Zardes (between him and Altidore)⚽

    Absolutely NONE OF THE PLAYERS I didn’t want to see. EXCELLENT job coach Sarachan!!!!!

    Reply
    • Did you notice Jozy has scored 5 goals in his last three matches? And no one else scored for TFC in those matches so they are way more important goals. And no I didn’t want him called in either.

      Reply
      • Yup, especially his two goals vs LAFC that were actually goals and not penalties. Don’t know why that info is important but yup he’s been scoring lately

      • I thought we would see more MLS players this time because the next two will be in the run-up to playoffs and during playoffs. Lletget maybe the most surprising of the MLSers, but given how his last cap ended I think you at least invite him even if LAG is a dumpster fire right now. Roldan should perform better in Dave’s 4-1-4-1 instead of as the lone DM in the diamond that he played during the GC. Lichaj seems a necessity call-up given Villafana has played 80 minutes since June 9th against France.
        ————————————————————————————————–
        I think we see
        —————-Wood—————————
        Weah—————————Arriola——-
        ———-McKinnie-Adams—————–
        —————–Trapp————————–
        Robinson-Brooks-Miazga-Yedlin——

        Maybe Adams at Rm and Acosta in the CM

      • That team is about right (especially from a defensive standpoint) with maybe a Julian Green on the right or as a CAM behind Wood depending on the formation for a little more “spark on offense”.
        Arriola and Yedlin are very interesting inclusions in that formation because of their recent roles, as Yedlin played (RM) against Manchester City (and scored), and Arriola played (RB) for the first time against the one of the best Teams in MLS, Atlanta, and DC United (currently struggling) beat them 3 – 1.

      • Newcastle’s used Yedlin as a RWB in a 5 man backline against Chelsea and now Man City not sure if they will stick with it or if it’s just what they will use against the giants of the EPL. Yedlin does have a goal and an assist in those two though (and an own goal). DC has actually been pretty good the last month since Rooney got integrated and Canouse got healthy. Fisher who had been playing RB got hurt which I think is why Arriola played RB this week. DC has been using them like Columbus does with Afful to get forward almost as another midfielder. With Canouse in DM and the young star Durkin on the bench DC is 5-1-2 with the two losses to red hot Phillie and first place NYRB.

      • Newcastle changed their approach a little bit (after Yedlin got torched by sterling) and formed something of a 3-4-3 instead of 5-4-1 when in possession.

        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/09/01/manchester-city-vs-newcastlepremier-league-2018-19-live-score/

        Maybe it will be temporary because it sort of left them open and exposed in the midfield but after the formation switch Yedlin came thru

        True, DC United started doing well with the addition of Rooney but after losing back to back to NYRB and then Philadelphia then convincingly beating Atlanta (second in the eastern conference)…and with Arriola at RB, shows the versatility we have the the right side with him and Yedlin

      • Pinning that goal on Yedlin is awfully harsh. Lascelles gave the ball away ridiculously and left Yedlin stranded in space Not sure what more Yedlin could reasonably have been expected to do.

      • Gomer Pyle
        I didn’t mean to blame or come across as pinning that goal on Yedlin….its just that Sterling got by him and Rafa switched up the formation

      • Sarachan said he would be adding a few new players to the other camps the rest of the year, so those hoping for Amon, Sabbi, Gall, and Hyndman you still have hope. Could also mean Holmes or one of a number of Germericans in the lower Bundesliga levels. Perhaps Chris Richards or Reggie Cannon.

  5. Overall a better squad than I thought would have been called. I was actually expecting that Jozy, Bradley & Guzan would have been included, so I’m glad I was wrong there.

    Still not sold on some of the players called up: Rodan, Trapp, Bono, etc… but can live with them until we get a real coach.

    Reply
    • I think that Dave Sarachan, while not being considdered for the USMNT position, has a big chance of being named the Olympic Qualifying coach next year and a lot of his call-ups are not only for a possible ’22 WC, but also evaluations for the ’19 Concacaf Qualifying and ’20 Tokyo Olympics which is still a U23 event and which the US has fallen flat on it face in qualifying the last two cycles. Having so many players under 21 representing the US in Sr. friendlies is a good omen.

      Reply
  6. I’m surprised by the callup of Lletget. Not because I don’t rate him but because he has played very little. He missed a lot of time due to injury and when all are healthy Sigi Schmidt favors the dos Santos brothers and leaves Lletget on the bench. Now Sigi has taken to playing Ashley Cole in the midfield and Perry Kitchen is a mainstay for the Galaxy at defensive mid, so there is a real logjam in the midfield. Lletget finally got to play and scored twice in two game, was rusty on his passing for a game and a half and was just rounding into form. Then Jonathan dos Santos got healthy and Lletget was sent to the bench again and only came on for about 20 minutes last night. Of course, Sigi played Zardes at right back last season, so you can’t base a player on what he does for the Galaxy.

    Reply
    • Lletget acquitted himself pretty well in past callups to the national team. Perhaps Sarachan realized the potential and is bringing him in for a look. It sounds like he is in a tough situation in LA, so perhaps this is a way to display his talent and attract attention from other clubs.

      Reply
    • For those who didn’t see the game, McKennie was moved after he got beat for a goal. He played most of the game after that in the middle, more like a defensive mid, which is what he is used to. I don’t think he had a particularly good game.

      Reply
  7. Looks like we’re thinking a likely 4-1-4-1 or maybe even another 5-3-2 based on the callups.

    Not excited about Christian Roldan and Sarachan obviously rates Lichaj a lot more than I do at this point…he’s a Championship-level guy and a solid player with no further upside and that’s it, dunno why we keep calling him instead of looking for new blood. Also think we called the wrong Red Bull in Tim Parker…I’d like to see Aaron Long more.

    Antonee Robinson looks like our LB going forward but we need another guy…Shaq Moore and Yedlin look like two strong possibilities at RB. Like the idea of Brooks/Miazga at CB.

    Reply

Leave a Comment