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Adams, Siebatcheu, McKenzie and Ochoa among the 23 players named to USMNT’s Concacaf Nations League roster

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A full-strength squad featuring Christian Pulisic, Zack Steffen, Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna has been named for the U.S. Men’s National Team’s Concacaf Nations League squad, a group that did feature some mild surprises.

Tyler Adams was included in the squad by Gregg Berhalter despite a recent back injury that forced him to miss the end of RB Leipzig’s season. Berhalter also called in defensive midfield reinforcements Kellyn Acosta and Jackson Yueill, giving the team cover at the position in case Adams is ultimately forced to withdraw before the Nations League semifinals against Honduras on June 3.

Genk defender Mark McKenzie has been called in to help try and fill the void left by the recent injury to Aaron Long, with the former Philadelphia Union standout getting the nod ahead of MLS stars Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson as the USMNT’s fourth centerback, joining John Brooks, Matt Miazga and Tim Ream. McKenzie also beat out Bayern Munich prospect and recent Hoffenheim loanee Chris Richards, who was a strong contender for a spot before a recent injury sidelined him.

Jordan Siebatcheu was also named to the Nations League roster, winning a crowded battle at striker to serve as the key competition to projected starter Josh Sargent. The Young Boys striker earned the nod ahead of Orlando City’s Daryl Dike and Columbus Crew veteran Gyasi Zardes, though Dike and Zardes are expected to vie for spots on this summer’s Gold Cup team.

Real Salt Lake and U.S. Olympic qualifying goalkeeper David Ochoa earned a spot as the team’s third goalkeeper behind Steffen and Ethan Horvath, edging out MLS veterans Sean Johnson and Matt Turner, who are also expected to feature at the Gold Cup.

Veteran fullback DeAndre Yedlin is back in the squad after an extended absence, beating out young defender Bryan Reynolds for the right back spot behind projected starter Reggie Cannon.

The USMNT takes on Honduras in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals in Denver on June 3, with the winner facing the winner of the Mexico-Costa Rica semifinal on Sunday, June 6.

The USMNT will first face Switzerland in a friendly in St. Gallen on May 30.

Here is the USMNT Concacaf Nations League roster:


USMNT Concacaf Nations League Roster


(USMNT Caps/goals)

GOALKEEPERS: Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge; 4/0), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; 0/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City; 21/0)

DEFENDERS: John Brooks (Wolfsburg; 40/3), Reggie Cannon (Boavista; 14/0), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona; 7/1), Mark McKenzie (Genk; 2/0), Matt Miazga (Anderlecht; 21/1), Tim Ream (Fulham; 42/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham; 10/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray; 62/0)

MIDFIELDERS: Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 27/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig; 12/1), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 20/6), Weston McKennie (Juventus; 21/6), Yunus Musah (Valencia; 4/0), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; 9/0)

FORWARDS: Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg; 4/2), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea; 15/9), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund; 4/2), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen; 13/5), Jordan Siebatcheu (Young Boys; 2/0), Tim Weah (Lille; 10/1)

Comments

  1. IMO we need to get away from the misfit tactical confusion, decide what type of team we are, and select accordingly. if we’re trying to possess and play balls to feet then we probably need some more technical mid players. but they could work with sargent, for example. if the idea is get down the wings with speed from the wide forwards and wingbacks, i am not sure sargent is the guy to go running after hopeful crosses. we kind of need to get away from the all star team mentality and counting UCL players, and build a coherent team around a particular approach around the game. for example, klinsi had a set of technical mids he tried when we were spreading the field (kljestan mixx gringo) and then when he went empty bucket his selection shifted to reflect that (bradley beckerman jones). so decide what we “are” and then pick the players for that as opposed to a fanboy all star team.

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  2. I think part of the Dike thing is gonna be allowing him to get re-acclimated at OCFC for a few days before heading out for the CRC friendly. I would expect him to be leading the front lines for the entire GC.

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    • acclimated at OC? that might sell him soon? if it’s not barnsley someone else is buying. you can tell from the coach’s comments it’s simply how he rates the players and perceives their qualities.

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  3. Pulisic leads this group with nine goals. Followed by Lleget (6) and Sargent (5). The only player to score over 5 goals with their club this season was Jordan Siebatcheu (12). The US has no *proven* goal scorers.

    The most capped players are Yedlin at 62, Ream 42 and Brooks 40. The rest are 25 or less. These are the only players that know the frustration of playing CONCACAF opponents and then having to switch gears and play Mexico.

    If nothing else these upcoming “games of meaning” will be great experience builders for this young generation. I could see this team being overconfident and not getting the results many assume due to the air many of them breathe with their clubs. I’d like to see them play with more of a chip on their shoulder. Like how previous generations were out to prove the US were worthy footballers.

    This is my worry in these coming games – overconfidence and lack of a natural proven goal scorer.

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    • personally i would be considering pulisic at 9 until some of the young 9s emerge as more productive senior players. sargent does have some cap and production history but has yet to take off fully and i’m not sure if he ends up being the one long term who emerges from the talent mosh pit.

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  4. Switzerland
    Dike
    Aaronson-Weah
    Lletget-Green
    Yueill
    Robinson-Ream-McKenzie-Cannon
    Horvath
    ———————
    Semifinal
    Sargent
    Pulisic-Reyna
    McKennie-Musah
    Adams
    Robinson-Brooks-Miazga-Dest
    Steffen
    ———————
    Final
    Sargent
    Pulisic-Aaronson
    Lletget-McKennie
    Adams
    Dest-Brooks-Miazga-Cannon or Yedlin
    Steffen
    ————————
    CR
    Siebatcheu
    Aaronson-Weah
    Acosta-Lleget
    Yueill
    Vines(pick him up in Denver)-McKenzie-Miazga-Cannon or Yedlin
    Ochoa
    ———————
    Not sure they’ll go that many backups for Switzerland

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  5. The USMNT (OK, the u23 USMNT) has never had good luck against Honduras at altitude, losing two consecutive Concacaf Olympic tournaments to Honduras at at altitude. Berhalter does have the team in Switzerland practicing at altitude, so lets hope it will break the curse, but my question is why Colorado against Honduras (or Mexico)?

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    • I believe the US game vs. Switzerland is at one of the few places in Switzerland that is not at altitude.(2,200 feet).

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      • The cities in Switzerland are all at lower elevations. St. Gallen’s stadium is one of the higher ones in the league top 3 I believe. I haven’t seen anywhere where the US is training but US Soccer said “they are training in the Alps and will arrive in St. Gallen in time to watch CL final.” So I think they are training at higher altitude but we should know more when videos start coming from training Tues or Weds.

      • The town where the group is based in is at 3,500 ft. You can see a town in the background of the training sessions which looks to be in a valley below the fields so if that’s the town they’re training another few hundred feet higher or it’s a completely different town.

    • I see questions like this about the Gold Cup all the time. The fact that the US already enjoys the ridiculous advantage of hosting CONCACAF tournaments like the Gold Cup and now add the Nations League semi and finals 100% of the time, and then US fans expect that USSF should also dictate what stadiums are used to further screw the US opponents.

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      • Although generally the finals are played in locations with significant El Tri fan bases and El Tri usually plays their group stages in Southern CA, Texas, and Arizona.

  6. Glad to see most of top options being available. Tough to not to see Richards on here. Hope he’s OK, healthwise, very quickly.

    The guy became an automatic starter for a mid table Bundesliga club after getting a cup of coffee with Bayern first team. Helluva lot more impressive than being stapled to Fulham’s bench until their season was decided. Also, Miazga is more of a known commodity, an Omar Gonzalez, type. Solid, unspectacular, will hurt the outcome badly at some point when it matters.

    Richards showed ability to distribute out of the back, which would gel so well with the central mids and wings. I just hope he doesn’t get caught in the coachspeak catch-22 spiral where he gets left off for WCQ while other, less robust options are called in due to being “familiar with the group,” “knows the system,” B.S.

    There’s no comparison with where Richards is vs Ream today, let alone 18 months from now and I’d say with Miazga to a lesser extent but in the same direction

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    • I’m hoping that Richards will get one of the starting CB positions for the Gold Cup since he’s missing the NL and has made such strides during his loan.
      I’m still disappointed that Ream continues to get preferred consideration even after a year of sitting on the bench for a crap Fulham team.

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      • I think it depends if he’s just getting reloaned to Hoffenheim I would like him in the GC. If he’s getting a chance to earn a regular spot at Bayern I say see you in September. If he’s going back to Hoffenheim where he’s an established starter and under his U23 coach he can miss most of training camp.

  7. i was telling people he was favoring jordan over dike in terms of who saw the field first and how long, and they did not listen. i also thought jordan looked better in terms of combining with others.

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    • Berhalter said Dike will train with the team throughout and play vs Switzerland and CR. That seems weird to me. Likely means no GC then which is disappointing. Zardes and who else then Ferreira is injured, Soto likely injured, Cowell?, Wright? Nova? Green as a false 9?

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  8. 1. Acosta is worthless and too old.
    2. Adams is injured?
    3. Berhalter, strategy is goals will come from midfield.

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    • “A player listed on the final list may only be replaced during the Nations
      League Nations League Final Championship in the event of serious injury up
      until 24 hours before the kick-off of his team’s first match and must come
      from the preliminary list…” I would assume they are either rolling the dice he can get healthy or think they might be able to swap an injury replacement if not. Acosta + Yueill sounds like they are worried he might not be allowed off, or at least picking with that contigency.

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    • Acosta is 25. They have up until June 2 to replace Adams, Otasowie is also injured so that would leave DeLaTorre or Roldan as replacements. Berhalter wants goals from his front 3 not midfield.

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      • the 2 other DMs suggest they are not absolutely sure they get adams off. the rules suggest you have to ask, and we may be concerned they might say he had a lingering injury and we took a risk, that the rule is meant for someone who gets their leg broken between now and the games, not a player already hurt that you roll the dice on rehab.

        but if he can’t play and concacaf plays along, then i would assume we’d replace him with an attacker. otherwise i think aaronson doubles as the 4th AM option.

      • Acosta is 25 without room to improve, there’s younger players perform better with technique and calmness on the ball. Acosta is another failure. De La Torre is quality and younger, while Roldan is mediocre player that only could play in MLS. Sargent and Siebatcheu could hold the ball, pass and combine with other teamates

    • Your overthinking Concacaf isn’t going to fight them on a player who didn’t dress for his club for the final four matches of his club season do to injury. This happens all the time think Uly Llanez at Oly Qualifying. Yeuill is Adams backup, Lletget backs up McKennie, and Acosta backs up Musah. Could definitely play Aaronson or Reyna even CP in the MF but then who do you add as a wing.

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      • Lletget has perform better with USNT than MLS, Lletget is a good passer (good, not great),Yueill is OK but there’s younger more intelligent DM’s. USNT needs to make statement and beat Honduras with authority!

  9. Bummer that Richards appears still injured, good that Adams appears good although I’m sure an injury replacement would still be allowed. Hopefully Dike is at GC so he can get a decent run. Huh sure looks like Berhalter rates Weah despite what a certain poster keeps trying to say. What’s with Robinson he didn’t dress the last three with an ankle injury.
    —————————————
    Sadly Ream is going to start two of the four, of course whoscored had him as Fulham’s best player over the weekend.

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    • I really want to see more of Green, but it’s not really Green or Acosta. Green is really competing with maybe Reyna, Aaronson and/or McKennie. I could see taking Green before Aaronson, but that’s a close call and you can’t fault GB for going with Aaronson.

      At least Green should get good minutes against Switzerland.

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      • IMO, the player he is probably competing with who is most like him is Lletget, whom I also like. Personally, I don’t think Weah has been playing enough to justify a call in except for the Gold Cup and would replace him with Green even though they are very different types of players. Yedlin can play wing if we need another winger.

      • Gary- Weah had a slight muscle injury in late April that wasn’t widely talked about and he missed a game, after that he only saw the field once more in four. Before that he had played in 28 consecutive matches for Lille starting 14 of them, for the league winners of course.

    • I’m not sure he does some things to think about.
      -1. Eredivisie ended a week early meaning Luca would have been on his own staying fit for a week. Not a huge deal but if you think he’s a candidate for GC that gives him an extra week of rest after his first full season as a pro EPL U-23 play limited schedule.
      -2 Acosta plays at altitude on a weekly basis making him an acclimated sub to bring on against tiring legs.
      -3 DLT is likely headed to GC, none of the U23 #8 covered themselves in glory in OQ so you need better #8 at GC. I’m also talking about Pomykal here.

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    • It’s possible that he left of Green and a few others bc he plans to use him in gold cup. If Only going to include him in one competition would you rather him sit the bench for ccl or start in gold cup?

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      • yeah I think we’ll see Dike, Luca DLT, Julian Green, Reynold’s, Tyler Boyd, etc at the GC, which tbh is a great thing because their inclusions will make it a strong enough squad to compete for the trophy

  10. Looking forward to the Sargent vs. Siebatcheu competition. I like Sargent, but at some point his lack of production becomes a concern. I know a lot of people chalk it up to Bremen being terrible (which they were), but Sargent was part of that terrible team. With both Siebatcheu and Dike pushing him, hopefully we’ll see him break loose.

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    • I think it’s going to be a big summer as far as our attackers are concerned — both in terms of club movement and in terms of observable experience. I think we’ll have a better sense of the pecking order come autumn.

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    • While Sargent was not as productive as we’d have liked in the box scores…he was actually very productive in the other aspects of the game. He’s improved greatly in his link-up play and in his off the ball movement. I expect that when Sargent gets into synch with Pulisic, Reyna, and the rest that his Goals/Assists numbers may shock people.
      It’s still good to have a back-up plan. Siebatcheu & Dike will help push Sargent and will hopefully keep us progressing as a team.

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    • sargent has good skill, combines well with his teammates, can finish well, but lacks for foot speed. i think he’d be an interesting out of box choice to try wide or as an AM. i am not sure he is the ultimate 9 for us particularly if our tactical concept is cross hopeful balls in. if we play the ball to feet, different story.

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