Christian Pulisic is back for the U.S. men’s national team, and Joe Scally is set to take part in his first camp, but the squad called in for November’s World Cup qualifying will be missing some familiar names, including Sergiño Dest.
Pulisic, Scally and Jesus Ferreira are among the 25 players called in for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Mexico and Jamaica.
The biggest surprises among the players not included in the squad are Dest, who is dealing with a back injury that kept him out of Barcelona’s most recent UEFA Champions League match, and John Brooks, who was excluded, but apparently not due to an injury.
USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter has called in a younger squad than the one he had in October, with Jesus Ferreira getting the nod as a striker ahead of more traditional strikers Josh Sargent, Daryl Dike and Jordan Pefok.
Youth is also served at centerback, where Brooks and Tim Ream were left out while Chris Richards and Mark McKenzie return, joined by Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman.
Here is the roster, which will gather in Cincinnati on Monday ahead of the November 12 World Cup qualifier against Mexico:
USMNT November World Cup Qualifying roster
(Goals/Caps listed)
GOALKEEPERS: Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 9/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 24/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 12/0)
DEFENDERS: Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 22/1), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 8/0), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim/GER; 4/0), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 17/1), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 14/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 0/0), Sam Vines (Royal Antwerp/BEL; 8/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR; 69/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 20/2)
MIDFIELDERS: Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 42/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 20/1), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 7/0), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 33/8), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 27/7), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 9/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 29/0)
FORWARDS: Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg/AUT; 13/5), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 41/8), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 2/2), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; 4/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 40/16), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 16/1)
What do think of the roster? Who are you happy to see included? Who are you surprised or disappointed to see left out?
Share your thoughts below?
I’m still concerned that Gregg has failed to realize that Arriola & Roldan have no place in an A-Team roster. In the last window, if not for an injury, Gregg would have started Arriola in all 3 matches….regardless of the fact his play in the first 2 games (or past 5 games) did not justify him being on the roster (let alone starting). I’d much rather have seen Konrad, Hoppe, or Gioacchini.
Roldan’s inclusion is just insane. There are any number of more deserving CMs who should have been included…Luca DeLaTorre, Williamson, Pomykal, Green, or either of the Sonora brothers.
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What I expect Gregg’s starting line-up to be:
–Pulisic————–Pepi————–Arriola–
—-McKennie———————Musah———
———————–Adams————————-
-Robinson—–ZMan—–Robinson—–Yedlin-
Both Adams and McKennie are sitting on potential card trouble, Adams has been hurt, McKennie has been a behavior problem, Plus it might have value to have fresh subs available for Jamaica after most of the 6 guys play Mexico. Plus covid issues. I’d have brought more mids than 6 people.
Had a thought…wondering if Gregg starts Weah at CF and a big part of the plan is to get him in behind Mexico’s backline. If you watched Canada and Jamaica they both had a great deal of luck getting their own pacey guys in behind Mexico’s defenders, often and repeatedly. And Weah has an unreal turn of pace.
Mexico is obviously very technical but they struggle with pure speed and can be gotten to that way.
I think if you want to get Weah behind the backline of Mexico you bring on Ferreira as a false 9 and draw out the CBs.
Think that might be the plan? I was wondering why the inclusion of Ferriera and what his role might be. And we definitely saw the likes of Tajon Buchanon LIVING behind Mexico’s defenders, they couldn’t remotely handle him.
Bummed to not see Matthew Hoppe included. I’m telling you that kid has the eye of the tiger and a nose for the net.
I see it.
I think he and Pepi are the future at CF. I like Dike but he needs to develop some skills those two already have.
Just my take.
I totally agree. I am by no means an expert on the finer points of soccer talent, but I am pretty sure that Hoppe wouldn’t have broken down and run crying to mommy like the rest of the team did in Panama. That young man seems made for CONCACAF qualifiers, particularly on the road.
I think he has raw talent but I also think Schalke sped him along faster than was good for him. This time last year he was plodding along not doing much for Schalke II. And my thing is the mixed bag interesting player of Gold Cup , some crossing, some crashing the box for headers, some hustle, some dribbling into trouble, kind of turned into a turnover machine when he got his quali chance. Quit crossing. Dribbled into trouble. I think he has long term value and pimped him for a NT quali slot after this summer, but the way he played, he needs to calm down.
JohnnyR: you jave been calling for Ferreira for a while and he got his call up. From your posts I think he plays like a 10 so they jave he and Aaronson that can play that role on this roster. If he goes with 4-2-3-1, who do you use as wings and does that formation required mored defending? For instance, Weah seems like a wing in a 4-3-3 or CF in 4-4-2 but does he fit tje wing in a 4-3-3 in your opinion. I think Pulisic, Aaronson, and Reyna can play that spot. Who else do you think?
I don’t think Berhalter will play a 4-2-3-1 because it completely changes their counter press structure. I think he should use Ferreira as a winger that tucks in like BA, Pulisic, or Reyna in the 4-3-3 but I heard Gregg mentioned him as a 9. I think Weah fits as a W in our 4-3-3. If you go back to the NL it’s Weah running into the wide areas that stretches Mexico’s backline. It lead to I believe the corner Wes scored and Pulisic’s drawn penalty. Play a narrow winger like Aaronson and a “vertical” winger like Weah could unbalance a defense especially if they have freedom to switch sides as our wings usually do. I think a 4-2-3-1 could be implemented after qualification but I don’t see it during limited training time of qualifying.
Thanks for the reaponse!!
Why Cannon and McKenzie who’ve been sitting on the bench for their clubs all season??
I hope Gregg starts Roldan, Arriola and Lletget against Mexico. Let them prove why they keep getting called up.
So, Jedi, Steffen and CP are the only 3 that can’t go to Jamaica, right?? Maybe that is why Sargent was left off?? This tells me CP will be a full time player vs Mexico.
“On Thursday 28 October, it was announced that the seven remaining countries on the red list – Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela – are set to be removed for those returning to England from Monday 1 November at 4am. That means that there are currently no countries whatsoever left on the list, although governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are yet to announce whether they will follow suit and remove the countries.”
Neither Mexico nor Jamaica is on the red list.
Pulisic is probably not ready to go 90 vs. Mexico.
There never were any restrictions on travel to Jamaica, it was the places they were traveling too. However, England has removed quarantine restrictions for travel to all countries now anyway so all England based players should be available.
I hope the plan is to use Pulisic as a super sub, the guy is coming off a two month injury layoff and has 14 min of game time so far. He has played in two games now for the entire EPL season. As good as he is, I would have left him at Chelsea to get reintegrated with them. It serves both him and the USMNT best to have him in top form with Chelsea for next year’s WCQ home stretch.
Assuming he plays 30 or so minutes this weekend, I think he’s got to start against Mexico, with the plan being for him to go about 60 minutes. You could bring him in as a sub for the last 30 minutes, but I can’t see him not starting this game if he’s healthy.
Dest injury was a shocker for me. That sucks, didn’t know that.
I was looking forward to the intrigue of where Berhalter would play him.
Brooks out, I like the move. For World Cup qualifying, sorry, I don’t trust him and would rather him not be called in.
Up front. Yikes. I don’t understand why you don’t bring in Pefok as that late game, we need a goal sub.
Does CP start vs Mexico?
Roldan. Somebody, anybody, please give me a half reason why this guy keeps getting called in? Not only that, actually seems to get minutes in these games.
Re. Roldan: Squad guy. Good for scrimmages. He’s also not half bad as a disruptor and hustle player in the dying minutes against lesser competition, especially if you have the lead. GGG doesn’t use him that way… but my $.02.
“against lesser competition, ”
I wouldn’t call Mexico “lesser competition.”
And Jamaica is going to be very different at home. Antonio should be with them now and they will be fired up.
That’s exactly how Berhalter has used Roldan. 7 of his 9 appearances have been sub appearances.
Mexico isn’t lesser, Jamaica is. Yes, Jamaica is, even at home and with Antonio. That doesn’t mean “cake walk.” But if you think the last team isn’t lesser than the second…
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GGG uses Roldan as a sub when we’re behind, not to kill off games. I wouldn’t use him to chase the game. GGG does.
I don’t understand why we bring in extra reserves in the midfield and back line where everybody seems to be fit but not at forward where Christian Pulisic is probably not fit to go 90 minutes and certainly not in back to back games. Stupid things happen to take out players in CONCACAF and this is only made more likely due to COVID. Why not bring in Hoppe or Sargent if for no other reason than if we get a surprise COVID test or injury up top we have somebody to fill the breech that is fit and versatile?
Why you ask? because we have an amateur coach who has no clue how to handle talent. Shithalter is a dope…
With this roster it is clear to me GB is bound and determined to use that horrible 3 CB back line formation. That formation doesn’t fit Brooks and could be the reason 9 defenders were called in.
Pulisic will play 90 minutes vs Mexico…..and Jamaica combined! There are 5 (FIVE!) empty spots on the roster that could help fill the void. What is the harm in calling in Konrad or Hoppe, or Sergeant, or Dike or Pefolk to help out the forwards even if they don’t play. Every camp these 5 are left out is a wasted opportunity to build team chemistry in the attack between now and Qatar. Opportunities that are running out.
boom!
#berhalterOUTNOW
Bandwagon: since you asked, it is not necessarily very good for the players to be called in and not play. If they are in MLS, they miss games and if they are in Europe they miss time with their team and travel twice across 5 time zones so it can be disruptive to their standing with their club teams and impact playing time. In addition, I don’t think they get paid unless they play. I have no inside information, but I find it hard to believe GGG doesn’t discuss with the players and they have some say on whether to come or not.
I am surprised so many people do not get it. When his time as Head Coach of the USMNT is over, Berhalter is going to need a job, and that job will only come from MLS, not Europe. With this in mind, Berhalter is keeping MLS happy by bringing in a small contingent of players every window to keep flying the MLS flag.
Salient point
I don’t buy that for one second. Coaches try to win. They call the players they think can win. Winning is what will impress his potential future employers. They won’t care which leagues his players came from.
We can disagree that these are the best players to call in, but the idea there is some sort of hidden agenda is a fantastical one.
“We can disagree that these are the best players to call in, but the idea there is some sort of hidden agenda is a fantastical one.”
No hidden agenda?
Then what you are saying is that this manager has very questionable judgement regarding players. I don’t follow them so please tell me something, is Lletget starting or playing a lot for the Galaxy?
Because if he isn’t then why is there one standard for Brooks and another for Lletget who has been, for the USMNT, just as bad as Brooks lately.
Papi,
I doubt anyone cares where these players play their club ball. I don’t.
The trouble is, whoever he picks , he generally does a bad job of coaching them. Players don’t thrive in his regime.
He very obviously, has a different set of rules for his favorites:
• He picks a number of mediocre or even bad players
• Those guys get a very long leash to prove just how bad they are.
His teacher’s pets, Ariolla, Lletget, Acosta, Roldan, etc. showed what they were sometime ago yet he refuses to give other MLS, MLS alumni or lower level European League (Not top 5 ) players, a realistic chance to show if they are better.
If you are doing well in a TOP 5 team in Europe, Weah won a championship with Lille for example, then this manager is forced to pick you.
And it’s fine to have a high bar for our non MLS overseas contingent but that bar gets a lot lower for his besties.
For example, since June of 2019, Yueill has had 15 caps, including 11 starts, to show he could back up Adams. I was shocked by those stats because I saw most if not all of those games and can barely remember Yueill doing anything in them. Jackson is finally out of the picture, but I doubt any other manager would have given that guy half as many games to show his stuff. Games he could have given to alternatives who might have been better, but we’ll never know since they never had a chance to show what they could do.
Having different standards for the MLS or recent MLS alumni (such as McKenzie) usually does not play well with the troops.
Ariolla or Lletget can have shit games and numerous bad performances but Brooks has 2 bad games then he gets made an example of.
Since the beginning of this manager’s reign almost three years and 41 games ago, the team has been and remains an inconsistent, poorly coached, poorly organized paper tiger of a team.
Given their vastly superior talent to the rest of CONCACAF, qualifying, which is never easy, should be pretty straight forward. But given the peculiarities of this manager he is making qualifying look a lot more messed up than it should be.
If he wants any kind of coaching job anywhere after his USMNT gig ends, he needs to do a much better job than he has done to date.
To those who say we expect too much from him, I say BS.
The program deserves more from him. A lot more.
Remember the circumstances under which he was hired.
The program was reeling from embarrassment of Couva. The USSF took over a year, ran a world wide search and spared no expense or effort to find the perfect person to bring this program back to the heights it needed to be at. That perfect person was this manager, the very same one.
He was the best they could find.
So the bar is set very for him. He needs to clear that bar before thinking about some cushy MLS job.
Not sure why Roldan, Lleget, and Accosta. Berhalter indicated rotation wasn’t the problem it was the guys they chose against Panama saying there were better options. However the only guys that didn’t make it back are the FBs and Gyasi who is hurt. Although those three weren’t great they weren’t the main problem. Luca is the clear snub to me, played well for club and country unless he picked up an injury we don’t know about.
JohnnyR: I don’t get Lletget and 25 players is a lot for 2 games in 5 days. I would expect the same starting lineup essentially in both games with maybe 2 or 3 field players that are different. I think Pulisic is sub only if they need a goal so probably more like 24 with a guy in a glass box in case of emergency. I think Roldan is okay with his role as a late sub or not even playing so he makes sense to me. Luca and GGG could have discussed. If GGG told him he is only going to play on the event of injury, he probably would decline the invite but I am just speculating. Hard to imagine inviting Lletget over Luca based on last window as neither are an 8 and Lletget is not better defensively than Luca and has shown a consistent propensity for disrupting the attack.
Here’s what I think – USA is gonna lose
What does KDLF have to do to get a look? Or did I miss something …
Play better. He’s been average for Marseille at best since September. This is his first pro season and the workload might be weighing on him, let him get some work with his club and avoid the travel.
Brooks is good enough for a crucial Champions game, but not for a match against Mexico?
Jesús Ferreira hasn’t played for us since his easy game vs TnT back in January?
So glad to see Jesús Ferreira called in. Like someone mentioned, he is great at combining with others on the front line as he’ll do a bit of everything from one-two combination with teammates, moving along the line, shooting, etc…He’s really come on late this season with FC Dallas
i think we need 1 more striker and 1 more mid. i get it’s 2 games but i also think injuries and covid. i also don’t think you need 9 backs. don’t understand the push to keep numbers down, we usually call 25-26 for 2 game windows historically and that’s before covid.
i’m ok with the starting mids but the bench mids and arriola all seem to be hustle players and i’m not sure how useful that is away to jamaica and vs mexico. mexico in particular the games often seem to come down to OT (not available here) or the last minute. roldan isn’t what that needs. ferreira could double as a more technical AM and i keep saying i’d like to see holmes and green.
it’s like GB has to keep fighting the messages the world is sending him. moore looked good last window no matter how much he plays club. at that point who cares about form (horvath also). he seems to get this for the 70 minutes this week 10 next week weah, but not others. in terms of what matters, getting every other game, once a week, is not out of fitness and sharpness. no, in dest’s absence he almost got it right with cannon and scally but then he had to throw a yedlin in there. just watch the games and remember who plays well….please? and when dest comes back, he’s a wing forward masquerading as a back……use the upside, lose the downside…..
Dest is not good as a wing. His end product in the box is not on par with our other wings even Arriola is a better finisher. He’s great from 25 yards he’s awful at 5 yards. Barca plays him there because he tracks back as a 5th back not because he’s a better offensive threat than their other wings.
Arriola should not be part of the team, he sucks, get that through all your heads. Saying that Arriola is better than Dest at anything shows how inept you are at the game of futbol. Hes not even considered as one of the better players in his own league which is a sub par league. Comparing him in any way to Dest is silly and stupid. Same goes for Acosta Lletget Roldan and Zardes. At least Mckenzie and Moore moved abroad to challenge themselves like all of our other better players.
Israel you obviously missed the point. Maybe you missed that Dest is out with injury and mistakingly thought I was advocating Arriola’s inclusion over Dest, I’m not. IV was claiming Dest would be better at winger for the NT. He wouldn’t and the team would be worse with him as a wing. Primarily because we need his dribbling and passing to build out of the back. He is almost always our go to to break any sort of pressure in build out. His finishing ability in the box is poor, it is why Ajax moved him to FB in the first place. He does not finish in the box. I was certainly using some hyperbole saying Arriola is a better finisher given Arriola is known for his inaccuracies. Put both 8 yards out with the ball at their feet and neither are likely to score it. That’s why Weah or Aaronson are better choices at Wing. I wouldn’t have included Arriola either by the way.
Dude, the problem with him playing back is (a) you have to be able to defend and (b) 80% of the time he can’t, particularly on the left side. He is a liability in the back. He is lucky he has some other position he can be tried at — Brooks doesn’t. If you believe he is as problematic as a wing forward, as he is a back, that’s a problem for his lucky safety net, not an argument in favor of ignoring his defense. I also think that when critiquing his offense you are doing so in isolation, rather than comparing him to people who are making the team eg Arriola. You can have work to do and be better than the 23rd guy picked as a forward. That gets you on the roster you might miss if all you are is a defender who can’t defend. I also think that while starting players need to be well rounded to play long minutes, all a tactical sub needs is a useful wrinkle. His skill and shooting is a useful wrinkle most other players can’t duplicate.
As we say in South Carolina, intrestin’.
Roldan over Luca de la Torre. Boo. Arriola still on the roster, and likely still starting. Bigger boo. Mark McKenzie as our #4 CB overJohn Brooks or Matt Miazga…smaller boo, though I can live with it.
Big Hellz Yeah for Scally’s appearance. Like Jesus Ferriera’s inclusion but are we regarding him as? Pepi seems to be the only actual central striker we brought unless we’re going to give Weah a look there. Odd. Like the fact that Gregg seems to have finally acknowledged that Chris Richards is the future at CB, and that Walker Zimmerman is very much the present and if you want senior leadership he’s a much better option than Ream.
So…is it Reggie Cannon or DeAndre Yedlin as our backup RB…and the thinness of our striker pool – we only brought six strikers – suggests we might indeed be planning on giving Dest a run there, especially considering how many defenders we brought. Between Dest, Scally, Yedlin, and Cannon…that’s four right backs…and we assuredly don’t need four right backs.
Like I said, intrestin’…and it strongly suggests Weah’s moving to CF and Dest to RW.
No Dest… And agree it’s strange there are more rightbacks than strikers.
AAAAMMMMEEEENNNNNN!!!!!!
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Zimmerman for Tim Ream
Jesús Ferreira for Daryl Dike
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A perfect week would have also been:
Keaton Parks for Christian Roldan (better passing accuracy and tackles)
Chris Mueller for Paul Arriola (better scorer, at assisting and a more accurate passer)
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……But just including Jesús Ferreira is big for me.
Why? Who is Ferreira? Does he play in a 4-3-3? Is he better than Sargent, or Dike?
Hmmm…..who is Ferreira? So lets compare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWIMQkpQr6M
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Jesus Ferreira:
2021 – 8 goals 8 assists 79% passing percentage 29 tackles
2019 – 8 goals 6 assists 81% passing percentage 21 tackles
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Compared to
Daryl Dike:
2021 – 9 goals 3 assists 72% passing percentage 3 tackles
2020 – 8 goals 4 assists 71% passing percentage 6 tackles
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Does he play in a 4-3-3??? Does Dike in Orlando??? Stats don’t lie…..Passing accuracy, ball possession, ability to tackle and break up plays and the willingness to assist in setting up teammates to score ………goes to Ferreira (with a great first touch and good dribbling skills).
As for 25 you do have quite a few on yellow cards and given the intensity of most US vs Mexico matches likely somebody will be out on yellow card accumulation. The scary part is if you lose Wes and Tyler, we’re stuck with Lleget and Acosta with Musah have to try to dribble through everyone. Again!
I’m glad Ferreira is in here however I don’t know you can compare their MLS numbers. Ferreira has better passing and tackle numbers because he plays midfield for FCD. I think he’d be very dangerous as a tucked in winger like Aaronson but Berhalter seems poised to bring back the false 9. We’ll see how it shakes out I guess. That being said if Ferreira wasn’t passing to Obrian and Jara half the time he’d have a ton more assists.
Just for fun
Mihailovic 2021 4g 14a
2020 2g 7a
I guess next here Djordje is a lock for 8g 28a
Johnny your “just for fun” commend should be looked into more than you think:
2021 – Djordje Mihailovic (4 goals 15 assists 80% pass Percentage 12 tackles)
…….is good but not enough to move our “foreign base contingent” in that attacking position (but should still be in camp and considered!!!)
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where is GB trying to lead this team to?
1. Possession Football
2. Passing accuracy / building out the back
3. versatility / Covering for Each Other
4. Scoring /assisting ability
5. defensive ability
**Playing Possession football or passing accurately in the final third and ability to score :
Always
Daryl Dike (9 goals 3 assists 72% pass Percentage)
Paul Arriola (6 goals 3 assists 68.5% pass Percentage)
G. Zardes (9 goals 0 assists 71% pass Percentage)
but not
Jesús Ferreira (8 goals 8 assists 79% key pass Percentage),**Till now
Chris Mueller (3 goals 6 assists 82% pass Percentage)
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**Passing accuracy / Defensive play / break up tackles:
Always Cristian Roldan (1 goals 3 assists 79% pass Percentage 17 tackles)
but never consider
Keaton Parks (4 goals 3 assists 86% pass Percentage 42 tackles)
or
Sean Davis (0 goals 4 assists 77% pass Percentage 53 tackles)
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Maybe I’m missing something
Bizzy: I think Mihailovic will be in December for Bosnia friendly. He seems to have really hit his stride after leaving Chicago.
Also I think you listed Alex Roldan’s stats not Christian’s.
Christian’s 6g 5a 77.3% 37 tackles.
————————
Mueller maybe Jan (Roldan rated higher in 13 of 19 FBref categories)
Parks: hopefully Jan
Mihailovic: definitely in Jan (Roldan only beat him 10.5 FBref categories to 9.5, far stronger defensively)
Davis: is in the Dax McCarty realm great pro no business being considered internationally
Steffen
Scally, M Robinson, Richards, vines
Musah, Adams, Mckennie
Pulisic, Aaronson
Pepi
Not sure you give Scally the start against Mexico. It would be his debut with the national team, right? So my bet is it’s Yedlin at RB. Also, A. Rob. has locked down LB, Vines is here as the backup.
And it will probably be Turner in goal, although I’m fine with Steffen starting.
Chances of us starting Scally and Vines at right and left back against Mexico are slim. One has 8 caps and the other has 0. Yedlin was included because of experience. Your lineup looks right except I would expect to see Yedlin and Robinson at outside Back.
Vines over Jedi??
Not too shabby. I could quibble here and there on the fringes, but, really… why? Brooks is a somewhat surprising exclusion, but he may have have asked to stay out, has been out of form in any case, and Zimm looked capable to me last time around. Go team.
glad to see ferreira in. the thing ferreira does is combine well — 2G 3A in the TnT game, 8G 8A in MLS. as likely to set someone else up as score himself. the 9s often feel disconnected from the rest of the team, and the rest of the team often seems stuck in their channels. he won’t be hidden away in the opposing backline. i think what he offers is someone the AMs or wings can wall-ball with into the box. some of the interactivity and positionlessness i thought we were pursuing adopting a 433. that then offers us another offensive wrinkle besides take it to the flag and cross, or play it into space behind the defense. he can also IMO play AM as well or better than the bench choices, fwiw.
btw, did pefok say berhalter’s wife is ugly or something? he has 9 goals in 21 games all competitions. he got sat 3 times for what we can see afterward were blowout wins for which he was probably simply rested. the “form” obsession is goofy. if “form” matters it’s who can score in NT games. regardless who had more league goals landon and dempsey would be on the roster list in pen before wondo might be penciled at the end. “form” is for some uncapped kid like scally who can only hypothesize what he offers to the team from a club proxy. a track record is a track record.
I guess Dest really is hurt? Also, who is Ferreira?
Looks like Dike, Brooks, and Sargent are in the doghouse.
Pretty predictable GGG roster.
I assume he brought 9 defenders (in a 2 game window) so he can have scrimmages with 2 full back lines. Scally can see what it is all about rather than actually playing, even though he appears to be, arguably, the best OB we have.
Lletjet over LDT because he is GGGs man, regardless of whether it is a good idea or not. Arriola will start for the same reason.
I’m mostly okay with this, but it’s really starting to feel like Acosta, Lletget, Roldan, and Arriola are the first names on the team sheet. We’ve got one out-and-out striker on the roster in Pepi. Wouldn’t Dike be more useful than Arriola or a depth piece like Roldan at midfield, especially since most of our forwards can be played underneath a striker anyway?
So what do we think Roldan, Acosta and Lletget have on Berhalter to continuously be called in? Has Berhalter had to defend those decisions in a press conference? If not, why not? You could reasonably make an exception for Acosta after Nations League but all 3 have repeatedly shown they can’t hang with moderately difficult competition in CONCACAF. Konrad and LDLT would be immediate improvements.
Happy to see Jesus Ferreira, I think he can link up well with Pepi, question is how and where would you play him?
it’s like beerholder does not learn! Roldan, Acosta and Arriola are proven failures!!! how many chances do these failures need!?
You’ll have to wait until after the World Cup. Those three and Lletget are locks for Qatar if they get there.
They are core team members, undroppable.
Vacqui: a lot can change from now until next summer assuming US makes it to Qatar. You can only bring 23 so I am not sure they are locks for world cup but they are domestic options that are for the most part consistent (even if some may say consistently bad). Travel is tough from Europe and there is little time to prepare for games especially with 3 game windows so logistically he may select them over others for qualifiers but not necessarily world cup squad.
Tele57
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I have heard your argument or slightly different variations of it many times before. With all due respect it’s mostly excuse making.
Ariolla and Lletget proved their mediocrity long ago and they are still here and are probable starters. FIFA requires teams to release players during these windows. This manager has consistently refused to give other players a serious shot at beating out Ariolla and Lletget and now he has the made up excuse that it is too late to be bringing others in.
When you say that the manager is bringing these Mediocres in because of availability issues that implies that the manager does not take these two games all that seriously: that they can somehow afford to come out of these two games with less than 6 points.
They have had a lot of time to prep for these two games. Cincinnati is not Columbus but this Mexico game is going to be a lot more winnable than the one at Azteca, so they need to take advantage of that. And Jamaica, who were pathetic last time, now have Micheal Antonio and are at home. Kingston was never an easy place to win in. So they ought to take it seriously.
This idea that Lletget and Ariolla are the greatest, and best “hustle” players the USMNT has feeds into the condescending notion that other countries don’t have players that work at least as hard as those two.
And that the other guys on the USMNT don’t word as hard. It’s BS. My favorite USMNT player is Frankie Hejduk. Now Frankie, who could actually play a little, was an inspirational “hustle” player not like this fraud, Ariolla.
Paul and Seba are not very good soccer players , not at this level.
The USMNT supposedly values possession yet in Ariolla you have a special teams player in a game that does not have special teams. This is not the NBA where you can bring a defensive specialist on as needed and and then replace him with a scorer when necessary. There are no unlimited subs in CONCACAF.
And Lletget is a guy who immediately kills ball movement. He had 45 good minutes vs. Honduras and that is it. The rest of his WC Q campaign has been largely an imitation of a traffic cone.
This roster looks like the manager thinks he is going to grind it out like he did the two finals in the summer.
If so, well, this Mexico is not that Mexico team.