When the U.S. Men’s National Team unveiled its plans for a rare December training camp, there was at least some concern about whether that could signal the looming end of the traditional January camp, but Gregg Berhalter put any questions to rest on Tuesday, making it clear he still plans to bring a group together for yet another gathering in January.
“We are planning a January camp,” Berhalter told reporters on Tuesday. “There’s a little bit of uncertainty when exactly it was going to start so we went ahead and stuck with a January camp to keep these guys playing. We think it’s an important year for them.
“The plan is to have a training period and end with one game in late January.”
Speaking to media on Tuesday, Berhalter also revealed that San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Jackson Yueill was on his way to the current USMNT camp in Florida. He had been a surprise omission from the initial roster, especially after San Jose’s elimination from the MLS playoffs.
“Jackson is finishing up a COVID protocol, pre-camp protocol and he should be in within the next day,” Berhalter said.
While Yueill is one of the players being added to the December squad, two others who won’t be are Portland Timbers standouts Eryk Williamson and Jeremy Ebobisse. Berhalter clarified on Tuesday that injury concerns led to both being excluded, and that both would have been part of his plans if not for their injury situations.
“Erik is injured. He’s got an ankle injury that rules him out,” Berhalter said. “He would have been called in, but he can’t participate.
“We didn’t want to take any chances with Jeremy,” Berhalter added, referring to the Portland forward’s recent leg injury that kept him out late in the MLS season. “It would have been nice to work with him again, but there was some concern. I know he did come in as a sub in the last game, but we were still a little bit concerned. There’ll be other times for him, particularly with the Olympic pool.”
The USMNT is expected to add some players from FC Dallas, which was eliminated from the MLS playoffs on Tuesday night, with Jesus Ferreira and Bryan Reynolds the leading candidates to be brought in.