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Who should the USMNT start against Peru?

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There will be changes.

That was the message Dave Sarachan delivered after Thursday’s 4-2 loss to Colombia, ensuring that Tuesday’s friendly against Peru would give us a chance to see some new faces, including some who have never played for the USMNT before.

Both Jonathan Amon and Reggie Cannon are still searching for their first national team caps, and Tuesday’s friendly would be an excellent opportunity to see the two talented youngsters compete against a strong opponent in Peru.

One change we know for sure will take place will be in goal, where Brad Guzan will start after Zack Steffen left camp with hamstring tightness.

Here is the lineup we could see take the field against Peru on Tuesday night:

Andrija Novakovich gets the nod up top over Josh Sargent. He is playing very well for his club team, Dutch first division side Fortuna Sittard. Sargent is a bigger prospect, but is still looking for first-team minutes for his club.

Saief didn’t do well on the left wing, but a start in the attacking midfield role makes some sense given the program’s search for number 10 options. He’s potentially the best-equipped to play in that role on the current roster, so if the USMNT plays with a lone striker, then putting Saief in the playmaker role could be successful.

Wil Trapp should get the nod in place of Michael Bradley, who is coming off a 90-minute performance against Colombia. Kellyn Acosta is younger and should be better equipped to make two starts five days apart, and an Acosta-Trapp combo makes more sense than a Bradley-Trapp combo would.

Will Jonathan Amon get a chance to start? He’s an exciting prospect who deserves a look, but Sarachan could go with a more experienced option like Julian Green or Fabrice Picault.

Ben Sweat gets his first start, replacing Antonee Robinson, who is coming off a brutal performance against Colombia. DeAndre Yedlin should stay in the lineup, but Reggie Cannon is an intriguing option who should see some minutes.

We should see Matt Miazga and Cameron-Carter Vickers partnering again, though you wonder if Sarachan might give a look to uncapped New York Red Bulls standout Aaron Long.

What do you think of our projected lineup? Who are you most excited to see start? Who are you hoping Sarachan doesn’t choose to start?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

    • I would generally bet on SBI’s lineup because he tends to have the vibe down, what they intend to do. Whether that lineup is wise or in our long term interests, different question.

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  1. I suspect Bradley, Nagbe, Trapp and Guzan will get a few more looks, no matter who becomes the USMNT coach.

    However, I also expect that none of them will be on the 2022 WC roster,except maybe as an assistant coach.

    I was never that high on Guzan and he will not be getting any better, even keepers “age out”.

    The problems with the 2018 qualifying was three-fold:JK tried many players as replacements for his starters and none were found to be better than the players he preferred; injuries to important players (Brooks, Dempsey, a host of central backs) with no comparable replacements found, ensured the USA would struggle especially when Costa Rica and Panama out-performed expectations.

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    • I think the extent of the reboot will depend on exactly who is hired, how “far” they are from USSF. But the further the coach is removed from this team and USSF, the more you are going to have open tryouts and a focus on a new system. Now, if someone like Berhalter gets the job, I think it might be a more conservative transition. And I think some favorites like Trapp might benefit from it.

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  2. Klinsmann tried plenty of new people in the year following Brazil. Where the train went off course was the GC in 2015 when the US put all their horses into making the Confed Cup. Rather than giving mid-level guys a chance to play high-pressure matches, he brought a largely established group who were paying more attention to the upcoming Euro and Liga Mx season or who were already weary from half of the MLS year. 2014/15 had seen Greg Garza, Rubio Rubin, Brek Shea, Miguel Ibarra, Ventura Alvarado, Gyasi Zardes, Alfredo Morales, Danny Williams, Matt Hedges, Bobby Wood, D’Andre Yedlin as RB, Luis Gil, Joe Gyau, Emerson Hyndman, and some college kid name Jordan Morris. The problem wasn’t not seeing enough it was three-fold injuries to some (Chandler, Garza, Gyau, Rubin, Williams) poor club movement (Gil, Hyndman, Shea, Ibarra, Morris) and Klinsmann’s over-tightening of the roster to try to reach the Confed Cup and then to try to save his job in Copa America. Klinsmann locked into the guys he thought he could trust. The problem was furthered by Arena who combined the fear of putting new players into situations along with a desire to remove anything German or other elements deemed close to Klinsmann. He believed in Gonzo, Zusi, Beasley, and Villa because he knew them well from his MLS days. He never trusted FJ, Chandler, and Cameron. The idea that we should have been playing guys three years before 2017 so that we knew what they could do in Trinidad is revisionist. In 2015 Weston McKennie was looking at colleges and hadn’t even decided to turn pro. Pulisic was just moving to Germany and playing for U17s. JGone had just moved to Monterrey and was playing for their youth squads. Matt Miazga became a regular starter for RBNY in 2015. Tyler Adams made his first 11 appearances as a 16-year-old for RBNY II. We don’t need to see every U20 playing against men (although I’d take a flyer on Efrain Alvarez and play him in November that dude can ball) at this time. We need a manager that is willing to loosen the reigns in year three and four and a scouting staff that can give them better feedback.

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      • Word has been he’s very fluid. Rumor was he said he’d switch if he got a full team call-up which seems a little silly since he is only currently in the USL.

  3. What I really want to see is before the national anthems, Earnie Stewart walks out to midfield and welcomes the new USMNT manager. I know it won’t happen but it would be better than any line up we could put out there.

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    • Odds of there being some kind of an announcement regarding the position are high. Even if it’s an announcement of an announcement.

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      • Grant Wahl, “Guys I’ve just received word from an inside source very close to US Soccer, that there will be an announcement in the coming weeks or months that will give the date that the announcement may be made. So there you have it guys big news, we now know that sometime sooner or later we will know sort of when we can expect to hear some possible news.”

      • 2-1/2 months now since Stewart took the job. A year since we lost in TnT. Absurd. And if this belabored process produces Berhalter, a midtable MLS coach, double absurd.

  4. Starting Ben Sweat at left back is basically throwing up our hands and just giving up on the position entirely. Either play Robinson there and let him get some more experience or put in the best option we have: Kellyn Acosta.

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    • Kellyn doesn’t play LB, so that move makes no sense, and him playing a few games there as a U-23 player does not qualify him as experienced at the position. What’s the point of bringing in 2 LB’s if your only going to play someone out of position there? I don’t think Sweat provides anything special but the only way you find out what he has is to play him for more than 10 minutes.

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      • As a general rule I would agree with you, but LB is a position of such obvious need that we need to do something unless and until Robinson greatly improves. At the time it happened, I thought it was crazy to play Beasley, a lifetime midfielder/winger, at left back. But it worked out. Fabian aty LB also worked out well even though he played midfield almost exclusively. Some thought he was one of the best defensive backs in the 2014 WC. I think it might be a good idea to try Acosta at LB in some friendlies. If it works out, great. If not, no harm is done. We don’t have a lot of better options right now.

      • Gary Page the BEASLEY LAB experiment did not work out. We also lost to weak concacaf teams like Panama and Jamaica and did not qualify for WC along side other factors.

    • I don’t think we can judge Sweat based on a single late cameo appearance. Sweat should start against Peru so we know if he can play or not. Robinson has started 3 games, we have a good idea of where he is now. Maybe Acosta ends up being the option there, but lets wait until a real competition before we do that. It’s time to scour the ends of the world for true American leftbacks and throw them out there while the games are meaningless.

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      • I’m judging Sweat off of his entire career and specifically off of his last two seasons at NYCFC where he has been nothing close to special in a mediocre league. He has some decent delivery, but he is not good with the ball at his feet and not athletic enough to defend elite players. He is clearly not international caliber.

        Acosta has played left back much more recently than his youth national team and early FCD days (and even those periods of his career gave him quite a bit of experience there). Did you realize that Bruce played him there on more than one occasion just before this ridiculous saga that has led us to Ben Sweat began, and he played the position very well?

        It is not such a foreign concept, and it blows my mind that nobody sees the potential upside in playing a central midfielder who is athletically gifted and solid both offensively and defensively (crucial for an outside back) when he is clearly not first 11 at that position.

        This is not a case of something like JK trying to make Jones a CB or Bedoya a DM!

      • What’s funny is that Bedoya has been one of the best DMs this season in MLS and Acosta has been pretty mediocre. Of course the first half of the season he was ticked at FCD for not letting him transfer and then he’s been with the Colorado Dumpsterfires.

    • No, running Robinson out there without some thorough fixes is not caring. Sweat is trying something different. So would be Acosta. I think the real issue is who to try and whether we even have the right LB options in camp. That has more to do with selection and how Sarachan has handled trialing players/lineups.

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      • “Trying something different” just for the sake of it is the equivalent of mindless stupidity. Playing Acosta there makes prefect sense, especially when all other options have been exhausted.

        If you need to see Sweat there to make a conclusion about his effectiveness at this level, then I don’t know what to say (more than likely, it means that you haven’t been watching him play at the lesser levels that he has been for the previous two years OR the even lesser levels for the years prior to that). The worst case scenario is that he plays okay, and we have the entire fanbase anointing him the savior ala Robinson only to be exposed a game or two later.

        Weren’t you one of the ones who was completely sold on Robinson? Now, you want to throw him out?? This would be a significantly less difficult challenge than what he faces against Colombia. However, it would still provide a test and a growing experience for him. Not to mention a chance for him to rehabilitate his confidence after the thrashing he just took. If it’s not Acosta starting, it should be Robinson. period

  5. After reading all these posts, it is now clear to me who should be the US coach–the imperative voice. He is obviously THE authoritative expert on the USMNT. We can stop the search and nothing more needs to be said.

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  6. Saief reminds me of Fransisco Torres from 2010-2014, he’s skilled enough on the ball that fans get a glimmer of hope, but he also just so unathletic the skill seems to not get him anywhere. I admit I don’t watch the Belgium league, but his stats are similar to Kljestan’s when he was there. Maybe its still recovery from his injuries but he seems like a role player or once in a while callup to me.
    —————————————————
    Everyone needs to pony up the 4.99 a month for ESPN+, Nova is a poacher, but many great strikers are. He is more skilled than Wondo and is much more athletic. Fortuna isn’t on ESPN+ much but when they play a bigger club they are. They have also just added Denmark and Sweden so we should be able to see Amon, Sabbi, and Gall now too.

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    • Torres comparison- he is a very small dude and Saief is not. He does not come across as unathletic to me but we might have different definitions. Would you consider Clint Dempsey unathletic- he wasn’t super fast and couldnt jump really high? I think the real issue with Saief is that he isnt a true winger and not known as much of a defender (and against Columbia’s of the world- he needs to defend a lot. I think he would be better playing more centrally and its worth trying it out to see how it goes as SBI is suggesting.

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      • I didn’t mean in appearance, purely in that he has ball skills but isn’t quick enough or strong enough really to get by people. Is Colombia a fair judge of that, one of the more athletic teams in the world maybe not. I hear a lot of this “he’s a true AM not a winger” yet he’s played almost exclusively as LM, LW, LB as a Pro in Europe. He has played as an AM 6 times since moving to Europe in 2014 and only once since May of 2016. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t switch inside, but it is not where he’s teams have started him. Its starting to feel like there was a lot of hype and now that it isn’t coming to fruition that people are looking to make excuses as to why he hasn’t been better. It could all also be from the injury he has hardly played for Anderlecht this season, getting his first start the Sunday before the Colombia match.

    • Even without ESPN+ there is still so much soccer available that you could do nothing but watch soccer all day. Still, it does seem like a great bargain. As to your main point, I think you should add that Novakovich is a big kid, at 6’4″. I don’t know if he has learned to use his size or not, but it could be a great asset, especially on headers and balls in the box. BTW, that’s one area that I think Jozy hasn’t capitalized enough on. Occasionally he will muscle out defenders, but I think he should have been doing much more and scoring more on headers.Hopefully Novakovich can learn those skills.

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  7. I think people need to realize something. People who just aged out this last cycle, far as I am concerned:
    Howard (probably Guzan as well as far as I am concerned).
    Cameron, Omar, Villafana, Beasley, Ream, Opara, Morrow, Zusi.
    Bradley (should be), Corona, Nagbe, Bedoya, Williams.
    Sapong, Dwyer, Dempsey.

    So there is no veteran cavalry coming to save us. If many of these veterans get used they either already are over 30 or will be soon.

    Nor do I think most of us believe that the mid-career players now trickling back, eg, Acosta, Hamid, Johnson, Yedlin, Saief, Lletget, Wood, Zardes, are locks for anything, or the equivalent of what players like Bradley once were.

    So to me if there is help coming, it’s probably going to be youthful surprises, not returning veterans. To me your hope is to keep trying out early career players and find someone, not to bring back Acosta and Bradley and Guzan and pretend. And the one thing we have coming in is prospects in bulk, so keep trying them.

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    • To me if we are going to be a success this cycle it will be from a much better systemic approach than Sarachan can mount, plus going through position by position and finding people to handle each role. Sarachan is right now definitively disproving it’s run out the same formation as last cycle and the core of that team plus a few new people. I think it will be the opposite, the new guard and new system will be the foundation, and the old guard will be fighting to wedge back in someplace. But that will only occur in earnest when the coaching transition happens. Until then, you will see a vague Arena Echo in Sarachan, who though he is trying kids because he has to, is inherently conservative in how he sees the program moving.

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      • I’m not sure exactly who you are talking to. I think pretty much everyone here wants us to hire a long-term coach as soon as it can be arranged, and it won’t be Sarachan.

      • I’m trying to say that I think there is a conservative tinge to US fans, who are used to repeatedly qualifying, and used to going right back to a drilled XI and just putting in players around the edges. We didn’t qualify, we aged out a lot of players, there is very little “core” left in this team, and a lot of the people like Guzan and Acosta and Bradley that Sarachan is starting to bring back, aren’t really any better than the kids, maybe worse. I think experimenting with players feels weird to Americans but objectively we brought back maybe three core players, Wood, Yedlin, Pulisic, and so what people think right now is giving the kids a chance is really closer to tryouts for the lineup. I worry this reflex to keep erring on the side of more veteran is ill suited for a moment when there is no established core, when really the core should be earning their jobs in contest with each other.

    • It’d be stupid to think a player like Nagbe, who is only 27 i think, and one of the best midfielders in the pool gets phased out of the upcoming cycle. This whole idea that any player associated with the failed WCQ is dump and illogical, especially since no one player determines any outcome. I’m glad none of our suggestions has anything to do with how management within USSoccer makes their decisions because clearly some fans have no idea how to build a team and are too irrational after bad results.

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      • “Nagbe is not the answer”, I never said he was and what does that even mean? Fans like to hear themselves talk and have no substantive argument to back up some of these ridiculous one liners. Nagbe can absolutely halp this team moving forward and at his age he’ll still have a part to play, that is if stays healthy, but this idea that he is not the answer is senseless. Who is the answer? McKennie and Tyler Adams are clearly the only 2 midfielders(#6, #8)that you can say with certainty are shoe-ins for big minutes from here on out. After those 2 there isnt much to talk about, and Nagbe brings a skill set that is even different from those 2 and one that we can absolutely use this coming cycle. The attacking options for this pool needs to reestablished and only then will we be able to see the midfielders play to their full potential.

    • The Imperative Voice. I completely agree that the vast majority of our 2018 squad/pool has aged out.
      “People who just aged out this last cycle, far as I am concerned:
      Howard (probably Guzan as well as far as I am concerned).
      Cameron, Omar, Villafana, Beasley, Ream, Opara, Morrow, Zusi.
      Bradley (should be), Corona, Nagbe, Bedoya, Williams.
      Sapong, Dwyer, Dempsey.”

      However your grouping (above) is excluding some players who will likely have a part to play in the start of the 2022 cycle. I fully expect Guzan, Nagbe, Williams, Morales, Villafana, and Possibly Dwyer to see periodic call-ups through the 2019/20 season. The reason for this is that many of our young players are still getting their feet under them at the club level and are bound to have some growing pains. In situations where a young player is struggling it’d be good to have a more experienced/mature player on the bench.

      I would agree that by 2021 all but possibly Guzan should be completely out of the picture.

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      • My thing is if that list is not going to be around by 2021, will age out over time, why start with them now? Give the kids the opening and let them fight over it. If in a year or two we still can’t find someone, that is the place in the cycle when US Soccer gets on the Batphone to old farts like Beasley or Zusi. But to me to build them into the core like we did with Jones last cycle, and then you drop them without a real replacement 2 years in, that’s setting yourself up for a fall. So go about it the opposite. We have their phone numbers if we need them. What you need to know is if someone who won’t be 31 or worse is a star now and can be relied on instead.

  8. The statement: ‘Guzan is too old and literally useless in 4 years’, shows an impulsiveness or lack of knowledge in your post. Guzan is either the 1st or 2nd best GK in MLS which is populated by solid players in general in that position. Guzan isn’t too old as he’s in the prime age range for GK’s.

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    • that’s our good friend “imperative voice”. you need to – how to say this – have you heard the term “selective hearing”? you need to use “selective reading” when reading his posts. i think in his heart he is not a bad guy. just remember my advice. selective reading is the key.

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      • Let me turn this around on you. In 2-3 years do you really want to have put all your eggs in the 36-37 year old Guzan basket, if something ever happens? You’re telling him to discount me, but I think that’s nuts, how do you like them apples?

        It’s odd for someone to be pimping “keepers can play til 40” after how Howard looked end of last cycle/right now. I stand firmly behind the belief that you are setting yourself up for a fall just like with Jones/Beckerman/Howard last cycle or Bradley this one. The age is what it is, the +4 math is very simple. It makes more sense to me to spend our time on younger keepers, of whom there are plenty, and if we still need a keeper in 2020 we can see what Guzan looks like then. But letting an old, inconsistent keeper squeeze out all younger options save Steffen is absurd and just setting yourself up for problems if anyone ever got injured.

    • All due respect but at the tail end of last cycle I was dutifully informed by people such as yourself that Brad was the future #1. Then Tim came back and took his job after the hiatus. Then Zach the Kid came in and took the succession rights out from under him. He had a window, he missed the window. Which is why you have to make fun of me for not making him the 2 or 3 as opposed to the 1, no? Because he’s sufficiently shaky he couldn’t win the 1. In reality as opposed to the US Soccer Pecking Order, Guzan runs hot and cold, which is why he ended up benched at Villa and Boro and back in Atlanta.

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    • Since you’re arguing ignorance, Hamid has significantly better MLS stats, and Melia and Gonzalez are both more interesting, younger keepers with similar stats. The first hint that Brad Guzan is vastly overrated would be that despite some years in the league now, he can’t even get in the top 5 for GK of the Year in MLS, any year since he’s been here.

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      • IV is certainly persistent in his/her views so I’m assuming your views are from your heart and assuming that I will say mine are as well. Goalkeepers are as so many coaches say better with age and these coaches in my view are correct in that assessment. Steffen IMHO is the number 1 but you have to have options.

      • My point of view is pretty simple, we need 2 and 3 keepers, the 1 is set, the 1 shouldn’t be playing so much while we try out 2s and 3s. Guzan is old and inconsistent and not my idea of a wise 2. Horvath is even worse in that he had a nightmare game for us and is not playing in club. I may wish the field player choices were more experimental but the keeper backup callups were a joke this time. It’s basically like he ran the clock back to 2 years ago and ignored what happened since.

        I don’t wish these players ill and if they win a fair competition more power to them. But this does not feel like we called in the hottest keepers to fight for a position they have to earn. And in the case of Guzan I don’t think it’s forward thinking because of his age and inconsistency.

      • 34, exactly, that’s why I have been running my mouth. I get keepers can play a while but for Qatar he would be well towards 40. In terms of these people I am mentioning, I just “added 4” to ages on the roster and what you see is a lot of the old core was near or over 30, or will be 31-32 by Qatar. And more pointedly most were pretty mediocre last cycle so it’s like what’s the hurry to shove them back in the lineup? Bradley everyone seems to harp on for age and quality erosion. There are a few guys his age without even his talent.

  9. if steffen had said “i played in the columbia game and i’m satisfied with one international game and now my coach needs me back in columbus to get ready for the decision day game at orlando” then i would wonder if horvath would start. but since instead we are told that steffen must leave due to an injury (which i highly doubt is true) so i think “the fix is in” for guzan to start although i still can’t figure out why “they” would do this.

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    • my extra two cents: unlike mb, i have no issues with guzan. my only reason why i wouldn’t call him up at this point is the youth movement, “let the kids play”. guzan playing takes valuable minutes away from kids who need starts and minutes. from that point of view only.

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  10. I would get the heck away from these 1 forward, DM heavy lineups.

    I expect Trapp to start but don’t think he deserves it or that it teaches us one thing.

    Put the new backs out there and see how they play.

    I don’t think either keeper belongs here, and I don’t think Horvath should be out there, but Guzan is too old and literally useless in 4 years. So given what Sarachan has foisted upon us, start the one you can evaluate as opposed to the one that’s a waste of time. I expect Sarachan instead to start Guzan, which is a waste of time like starting Bradley.

    Novakovich Sargent
    Saief Delgado Green Amon
    Sweat Long CCV Cannon
    Horvath

    I don’t like a lot of these options, but I like giving new players a lengthy runout to show what they have, and these are the cards Sarachan handed us.

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      • I didn’t call them in, these are not my choices, but since they are here, I think after 4-2 let’s see everyone else. That you think they are shaky, chat that up with Sarachan. I think US fans need to get over their fear of trying people in games that don’t count. OK, we put him out there, he sucks. You learned don’t use him again. But I think the bigger risk at this part of the cycle is just play Robinson over and over then figure out like the 5th time maybe he can’t play defense, and no one else has even seen the field there long at all. Or even if the player plays well, what if they get hurt or not released? Who is the Steffen Plan B? The Pulisic Plan B? If the new coach dislikes Brooks and Miazga, who else is there? If the new coach isn’t a Trapp fan, what are other options? etc. etc.

      • Agree with both of you. Sweat, Long, CCV, Cannon, with Horvarth in goal? Against Peru, who just blasted Chile 3-0? Yeesh. But Imperative Voice is dead-right on this one…if they’re to get a runout, give ’em a runout, and leave no stone unturned, maybe they’re better than perceived. Otherwise what was the point of calling them in while you’re in full-on rebuild mode and you need help, literally, everywhere?

      • quozzel: If the schedule is too hard to properly conduct roster experiments, that’s the scheduler’s mistake. This fall the scheduler seems to have forgotten we were rebuilding, and scheduled games like a team of drilled veterans. If too many experiments look kind of dumb, talk to the coach. I am pro experiment but beyond Amon was kind of like, who? on the new choices. But, ultimately, this is the hand the fed and Sarachan have dealt themselves, and if you run out the starters again you’re just trying to re-confirm the ones you like rather than find a 30 man people you trust. Which I think gets at the core problem which is Americans are so used to repeatedly qualifying and sneaking the odd new player into a set XI, they don’t know what to do when you get the perfect storm of a non-qualifier team that probably deserves no incumbency rights, and a core of players ageing out of the team. People don’t realize that guys like Weah, Adams, Green, that’s not the trialists, people that age are going to be the new foundation, and so you have to keep looking because you need a bench and a pool too. It feels like farting around but besides Pulisic there is no core left at all.

  11. Why should Sargent, who has scored in this particular shirt, sit behind a lesser player just because that player has a friendlier club environment? I do think it matters for the older players if they are seeing the field in club. But the deal is Sargent is playing regular age group games, just not first team. That’s different than Horvath rotting on the first team bench.

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    • You lost me. Novakavich is playing well and scoring goals in the Dutch Eredivise. Sargent is barely a professional who has only recently got playing time with Bremen’s youth team. I want to see Sargent get more minutes for the Nats and he is a great prospect. But I don’t see how anyone would argue he’s more deserving of a start than Novakavich at this point.

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      • Because apples to apples is how have they played in the US shirt. In the US shirt, Sargent scored against Bolivia and looked more skilled. In the US shirt, Novakovich looked like a Wondo hustler and is still chasing his first goal or assist while looking very ordinary. This is not the eredivisie all star team, I don’t care that one guy is productive in an “all offense” first team league, while the other guy is earning his stripes on the Werder age group teams. To me this would be like favoring Wondo or Bedoya over Green or Pulisic a few years back.

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