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Bradley, Steffen headline 27-player squad for January USMNT camp

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Gregg Berhalter has put together his first U.S. Men’s National Team roster, and it includes old and news faces alike.

Berhalter unveiled his initial squad as USMNT head coach on Thursday morning, naming a 27-man team for the upcoming January camp. Several veterans were named to the roster, including Toronto FC midfielder Michael Bradley, FC Cincinnati left back Greg Garza, and the Columbus Crew trio of Zack Steffen, Wil Trapp and Gyasi Zardes.

Most players on the squad have very few caps, however, and several have yet to make their international debut. Among the 12 uncapped players are LAFC goalkeeper Tyler Miller, Real Salt Lake’s Justen Glad, Russell Canouse of D.C. United, Colorado Rapids newcomer Keegan Rosenberry, and striker Jeremy Ebobisse of the Portland Timbers.

One more player is expected to be added to the roster at a later date.

The Americans will convene and train under Berhalter’s guidance in Chula Vista, California, beginning on Jan. 6. The month-long camp will end with a pair of friendlies vs. Panama and Costa Rica on Jan. 27 and Feb. 2, respectively.

Here is the full USMNT roster:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Alex Bono (Toronto FC), Sean Johnson (New York City FC), Tyler Miller (LAFC), Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew)

DEFENDERS (10): Reggie Cannon (FC Dallas), Greg Garza (FC Cincinnati), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake), Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Daniel Lovitz (Montreal Impact), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union), Keegan Rosenberry (Colorado Rapids), Auston Trusty (Philadelphia Union), Walker Zimmerman (LAFC)

MIDFIELDERS (10): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Corey Baird (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Russell Canouse (D.C. United), Marky Delgado (Toronto FC), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Djordje Mihailovic (Chicago Fire), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew)

FORWARDS (3): Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers), Christian Ramirez (LAFC), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew SC)

Comments

  1. Not too much to complain about since this is an MLS based camp. There are a couple players (Nagbe & Jessie Gonzalez) that I’m a little surprised weren’t called in, but for me it’s splitting hairs.
    Not a fan of Bradley being called in, but can live with it so long as he doesn’t start or see significant minutes in either game. Now, and especially when the European players are available, Bradley is a late sub (last 10 minutes). And I don’t see him lasting much past 2019 even in that role.

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    • Per Berhalter’s conference call Nagbe was left off because of the deep playoff run combined with his mid-season injury and then with ATL having to get ready for CL with a new manager. He said to allow him to rest and then prep.

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    • I think Gonzalez at minimum had better stats than Miller did. He was like 1.3 GAA. Miller was GAA 1.5 for the season. That’s like what Seitz or Willis did in Houston. I don’t know how THAT gets called into USMNT camp. There are probably a half dozen or more domestic keepers down in the low 1s. Don’t get it.

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  2. No Jordan Morris, though he should be physically ready to go. I wonder to what extent, if any, that’s because they want him to continue rehabing, or if it’s a reflection of how much Berhalter rates him.

    I guess he can console himself in the fact that he is now making a lot more money than so many of the guys on this list!

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    • I would leave him and Jozy off, as we did, so that they go through a more relaxed spring buildup with their teams, to try and avoid a Holden repeat. That and have them go to their clubs and prove their way back. I see this as no depth chart reflection — like Zardes or this bunch are really better — but rather players should earn their way on the team.

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  3. I do not think that Bradley’s overall play in 2018 warrants his return, even in a MLS-only camp. Maybe Berghalter discovers that Bradley is not a good leadership guy in January. It is often referred to as Camp Cupcake, so there is little consequence if that occurs. And, Berghalter can say he gave Bradley a shot, and we are done with Bradley as a USMNT in 2019.

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  4. Excited to finally turn the page. I honestly haven’t seen half of these guys play before, and haven’t even heard of a couple. I’m torn on Bradley, I agree with most of the posters regarding Bradley’s shortcomings, but it’s hard to believe he isn’t one of the best 27 Americans in MLS. If Roldan and Acosta are better, let them prove it in training. If Bradley is still the best option, then I don’t want my coach leaving him out because of past failures or fan complaints. Let the players settle it on the field.

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  5. The Philosopher of Football is back! The team can benefit from his exceptional jogging ability. It must be passed on to the next generation of young Americans.

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    • Guzan is an interesting omit but I don’t read anything into it, even if I think he should be challenged. I think Steffen is there for work permit purposes and I think Guzan doesn’t need one and the two are fairly set. Nagbe’s omission, to me, is telling, but I also think both he and Bradley are really too old for the next cycle. I think Bradley is out there instead because we have a lame uncreative concept of leadership. VIillafana IMO sucks but even if it’s not performance related, the backline is very experimental, rightfully so, I don’t know if anyone owns a back spot yet.

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      • I don’t really like the opinion of two old for the next cycle, we have a gold cup this summer, LoN or whatever in the fall, and many other tournaments between now and 4 years from now, and nagbes only 28, can definitely contribute for at least 2-3 more years. And im not a huge villafana fan but I’d take him over lovitz for sure, I have a 3-way battle between Garza, villafana and robinson for that left back spot.

      • Berhalter basically said on the conference call after the release since they are both coming off a long season, Nagbe’s including injury and because they will be preparing for the CL with a new manager that he didn’t include them. That could just be coach speak, but seems to be reasonable thinking.

      • It’s really not complicated, Nagbe disappeared end of last cycle and will be 32 in Qatar. Bradley fell off and will be 35. They won’t be part of the Qatar team if we have a clue, in which case they shouldn’t be on any intermediate team since the unit is so young. Why on earth would you implement a new system and begin gelling a unit around players who can’t be involved in 4 years, and who couldn’t make an impact last time? Move on to the kids.

    • No, it’s actually a good point, I think with a full roster our strength is wide and up top. But this is camp cupcake. I hope it’s we want to audition central players to challenge the mediocre CM play but in reality it may be the coach intends to minimize wing play and that our complaints about Sarachan still apply.

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      • I mean I do think MLS does have a weakness of lacking wing players who are American, I was kinda banking on gall and amon being on this team, but I’m guessing we have lleteget and Delgado getting some minutes. So my 11 I have

        ——————–Zardes——————-
        —-Lletget————————Arriola—-
        ————-Roldan———Acosta———
        ——————–Bradley——————-
        Garza—Long———-Zimmerman–Cannon
        ———————Steffen———————

        What do you guys think?

    • Possibly a foreshadow of a 5 man back line with wing backs providing the width? I had the same thought of “who plays out wide?” when I saw the roster.

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      • I mean to me I’d build around Weah Pulisic Amon Green etc. wide before I’d build around McKennie Trapp Adams etc. Just a higher level of manifested quality. Maybe the CMs grow into more effective pros. But we don’t seem to have true 10s and 6s who dominate so why emphasize CM play?

    • Chris….I don’t see any chance of Trapp (GB’s Crew Captain) not starting these games. Greg trusts him and he understands how GB likes to play.
      For me this is one of the draw backs of his appointment as the coach. I personally don’t think Trapp is up to International standards, but since our European players aren’t available and we’re playing CONCACAF competition in these friendlies, I can accept his continued call-up. I just hope he falls out of favor once Greg gets a better since of what options he has in the player pool.

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  6. It’s great to see a new roster ,would prefer it didn’t include MB. A new start with a new coach,let’s give it a chance and see what Gregg does,can’t wait for the first game.

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  7. Bradley. I get it and see value of him being in camp. Pushing the guys hard, mentoring, etc.
    I don’t care about the rumors that some of the young guys complained about being lectured by Bradley. Sorry, but that’s pretty typical of this generation. Fact is, Bradley WAS a top US player for years. Played in World Cups, played in top leagues in europe, etc .He can offer lecturing and those young’ns, who have not proved anything yet, can use that.

    In regards to Bradley actually being on the game field, no thanks 🙂

    Separate note. alot of young guys so that is good. But why not call in Alex Mendez?
    Would be excellent exposure and another way to try and anchor him with us.

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    • Méndez is over in Freiburg now. And Polster is with Rangers. Same with Gall, Amon and Sabbi occupied with their club teams winter friendly schedules.

      Only omissions I see are Altidore, Nagbe, Villafaña, Brooks Lennon, Tim Parker not too concerned about any of these.

      Didn’t see any of those goalkeepers picks coming. Frei and Hamid are better than Johnson or Miller imo, but don’t really care as long as Steffen is there.

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    • Including Bradley is a gamble. Past few years sounds like he has been more concerned with everyone around him than his actual play. Hopefully Gregg Berhalter can get him to accept a role player role and not the on field coach / captain for life role he gave himself over the past few years. If I was coaching I don’t think I would want someone like that in the first camp.

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      • Jimmy Conrad mentioned in I believe a podcast, that young guys had asked him for advice in dealing with Bradley.

      • Quote from Jimmy’s podcast, (you have to believe the defender in 2014 is Matt Besler)
        “I don’t think we should be playing any of our older players from here on out…Michael Bradley, for me, should absolutely not be involved with the team from here on out. He’s done his service, thank you very much, you’ve had a great career for the national team, you’ve had over 100 caps, but the guy is, and I’m being completely frank here with everybody, he’s a super alpha male know-it-all and we don’t need that vibe in the team anymore. Plus, we need the younger players to solve these problems on their own so that new leaders can emerge from this younger group. As opposed to them always deferring to the other guys.”

        “If he came into the team, then everybody would be like ‘Michael was the leader’….when you have those types of [alpha male] personalities, they’re filling the void and then some…so none of the other guys can step up or feel appropriate or feel comfortable in stepping up and saying something.”

        “I remember I had a former defender who played in the 2014 World Cup with the US, came up to me and was like ‘I don’t know how to talk to Michael Bradley during a game, can you help me figure out things I can say to him that’s going to get his attention’…that’s a problem, because if you have your leaders that aren’t listening to their teammates…that’s a big problem and I’m sure we can dissect what that means in the bigger picture why we didn’t qualify if our captain isn’t being someone that is open to his teammates and being able to listen.”

  8. Miller has a high GAA for a USMNT keeper (~1.5) and Steffen is a known quantity. I do like that generally speaking the keepers and backs are a little different, as the backline has struggled and backup keeping isn’t set, and it would be useful to know what is out there. By next summer we’re going to be camped and selecting for reliability so this is the small window for mass experimentation.

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  9. Not a fan of the Christian Ramirez selection as his production last season was tepid and he’s been in camps before. But I think there you’re seeing how MLS roster rules seem to be encouraging staffing of production positions with foreign born DPs. Go down the stats leaderboard and Americans are few and far between.

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    • Some of that is related to the “lost generation” Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo, Joe Gyau, Josh Gatt who just never panned out. It also has to do with Europe being so open to American youngsters, in the past Pulisic, Sargent, Wright, would be still in MLS (probably having to come off the bench for those foreign DPs). I started talking about this a while back when Garber was ripping Klinsmann for not being more supportive of MLS, when I said MLS isn’t supporting the USMNT its stunting the growth of our skill players ages 18-22.

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  10. I am not, nor was I ever a Bradley hater.

    But why? He didn’t have a good year. A great player, one that plays for the US nat team, LEADS their team to greatness….not plays like crap while the talented team he plays on doesn’t make the playoffs.

    Combine that with what he did with his chance last WCup cycle. Sorry, thanks for the great play for the nat team, time to move on.

    Give Roldan his minutes. Acosta too.

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    • Good points. Remember though that this is January camp without our Euro based players. This could give Bradley the chance to mentor some of the MLSer’s about what it is to play for the USMNT.

      I think that there is a gap between Bradley when he was leading the team and playing well to the next generation. I do not think that either Klinnsmann or Arena did a good job in bringing along a new player during the Gold Cups or friendlies to allow Bradley to be a mentor to kids like McKennie. Klinnsmann brought in a number of new players (as did Coach Bradley before him), but there was always team A (old guard) and team B (newcomers) and never any continuity.

      Neither coach could figure a way to put the team in the best chance to win during the crap-fest that was the Hex 2018. To much pressure on the new guys (ie Pulisic has to score) and limited opportunities for the old guard to win the tough games in the jungles of central america. Just a crap fest all around and tough to forget.

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      • I thought there was quiet chatter end of the year of players not wanting to listen to Bradley lecture them in the locker room. I continue to ask if we are responding to what the team objectively needs or just pushing coaching buttons to see if something works. Re objectivity, he “led” USMNT off the cliff last cycle, and didn’t have any noticeable effect when brought back last fall.

    • There is a perfectly reasonable middle ground that still supports no call. Gotten old and wasn’t productive last season, the latter of which you mentioned. I was a Ching fan on the Dynamo but at a point he started falling apart and barely scoring. You can be a fan and be rational enough to see a player’s time is up. Nor was there any sign last year his leadership was effective. Nor do I think leadership should necessarily involve consuming a spot.

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      • How can I not appreciate what Bradley contributed to the MNT in his prime? Loved his box-to-box passion for the game. Bradley’s also a USSF relic from a relatively recent but bygone player development era. Aside from leading by proverbial megaphone, I’m not sure what he offers going forward (both literally and figuratively). All things equal, I’d even prefer a Jermaine Jones call up over MB for January camp.
        If Berhalter sees value in MB’s call up, so be it. USSF/SUM handed him the keys. Make it work.

      • I do not think that his overall play in 2018 warrants his return, even in a MLS only January camp. If Bradley is not a good leadership guy, baybe Berghalter discovers that in a January camp. It is often called Camp Cupcake), so there is little consequence, and Berghalter can say he gave Bradley a short, and we are done with MB in 2019.

      • My thing is there is only so much time before the summer games that start counting, he shouldn’t be in long term plans for age and performance reasons, and he takes up the space another player has to try out and maybe perform. I think he’s more security blanket than leader.

      • The reality is that hes one of 27 players in a January camp call up. Its very insignificant news. He is definitely good enough to possibly contribute to the team and will get an opportunity to prove it in this camp. If he’s outdone by the younger guys or isn’t a fit for Berhalter then he won’t last long. People are way too hung up on Bradley.

    • Bradley played at CB, not midfield for much of the year due to injuries of the Toronto backs. He also played in almost every game starting with a run in the Champions league. It is unsurprising he had an off year at Toronto beginning after the early going.

      A lot of Bradley haters were happy to see him not play for the Nats at the beginning of JK’s tenure, but JK and they finally saw that he was really that good. JK eventually picked him to be the captain, the chagrin of the haters.

      Is MB as good now as he was 4 years ago, he certainly is a bit slower, did he get smart enough to overcome that? The last season at Toronto was tough to tell. We will see how Berhalter really values him in the coming months. Whatever the answer to that, father time will win out, as he always does, and MB will retire, or be retired as a player from international soccer and then professionally. That is certain, what is uncertain is the timing.

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      • Wasn’t he chosen captain after deuce ripped up a referee notebook in a game for the sounders and got suspended for like 6 or 8 games.

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