U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter has already been forced to make one defensive addition in this final World Cup Qualifying window and COVID-19 has led to a second roster move in the past week.
Shaq Moore will join the USMNT roster for upcoming matches against Panama and Costa Rica, Berhalter confirmed postmatch after Thursday’s scoreless draw with Mexico. Moore’s inclusion comes after Reggie Cannon did not dress for the Americans due to a positive COVID-19 test.
DeAndre Yedlin started at Estadio Azteca on Thursday night, but is suspended for Sunday’s match due to yellow card accumulation. Erik Palmer-Brown helped close out the draw by playing at right back for the final 10+ minutes of the match.
“Shaq Moore is in Orlando as we speak and he’ll be joining the group,” Berhalter said postmatch.
The Tenerife defender excelled with the USMNT during the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, starting in six matches and scoring one goal as the Americans lifted the trophy over rivals Mexico. Moore has made two appearances for the USMNT during the octagonal round, starting and playing 68 minutes in a 1-0 road loss to Panama in October.
The 25-year-old has made back-to-back starts at club level for Tenerife over the past two weeks, but only has five appearances under his belt in 2022. Moore has totaled 15 league appearances in Spain’s second division this season, registering two assists.
The USMNT sits in second place on 22 points and would clinch a World Cup berth on Sunday with a victory over Panama paired with a Costa Rica draw or loss against El Salvador.
GB might have been wrong not to include Moore in the roster from day 1. But, Moore did get another full 90 with strong results in the interim. So, all’s well that ends well.
This type of situation is the exact reason why most of the fan base has been critical of Gregg’s rosters. There has never been a limitation on the size of the group called into camps, so why does Gregg continue to limit himself when we’ve seen time and again the need for additional bodies. Especially considering these 3 game windows….where we’ve lost players to travel restrictions, suspensions, injuries, etc…
The decision to call Moore is also perplexing. Yes he’s had a few games with the USMNT last summer (Gold Cup), but is he really the best option? Gregg’s favoritism/reliance on “his guys” (first Long, than Bello and now Moore) over players playing in superior leagues and getting more consistent minutes (Scally & Brooks) calls into question his ability to judge talent.
We’ll probably make the WC despite Gregg’s failures…. I just hope that USSF realizes this and does not offer him a contract extension. He’s shown nothing as a coach/manager to warrant a 2nd cycle.
There should be plenty of managers who’d be interested in the job considering our young talent and the fact that we’re co-hosting and therefore auto qualify.
I tend to agree that four years or one world cup cycle should probably be the max for a modern international manager. That said, Berhalter did just about everything right for the Mexico match, and really deserves some credit. The last 10 minutes weren’t pretty but his hand was forced to take off Yedlin, and the fact that Cannon tested positive the day before can’t be blamed on the manager. You can’t call in 3 deep at every position. To answer your question, the reason more aren’t called in is because those “extras” almost never get to play and when you consider the travel and time commitment (not to mention I don’t believe they get paid anything if don’t play), it is a bit of an unfair ask of a player. A couple of these are necessary (3rd GK) but too many can lead to other problems.
We can blame the manager for the Cannon incident. He should have had a Moore in camp against such an eventuality because players test positive all the time. Players also pick up yellow cards playing in CONCACAF road games all the time and the likelihood that Yedlin would be unavailable was high enough that Berhalter should have have guarded against this contingency. Berhalter does some good things, but he really needs to work on the operational part of being a manager because it he is lacking in that department.
When Dest, our starting RB, was ruled out due to injury, Gregg called up a depth option at LB in Bello. Bello who’s had like 2 starts in the Bundesliga for a club that’s almost guaranteed to be Relegated. When what he should have done was call in Scally….a player who could play either LB or RB and has more starts & total minutes in the Bundesliga than Bello does while playing for a better team.
When Cannon was ruled out due to Covid who did Gregg call? A player in the Spanish 2nd division who’s had fewer games & minutes for his club than either Scally or Bello.
This type of hypocritical decision making is what has many of us fans frustrated with Gregg and his perceived favoritism and/or inability to judge talent. There’s no logic to what Gregg does, and he contradicts himself constantly.
Moore a great call up. Had a really solid Gold Cup. Can’t believe he is still in La Liga II. Moore probably better off going to the MLS at this point
Shows how quickly things can change. All in one week, we are now looking at our 4th choice right back needing to start one of the biggest games of the cycle. I think he’s up for it, thank goodness for our depth.
I was one calling for another winger to replace Aaronson and fill out the full 27 player roster. Good coaching move to wait and not take a quick action.
There’s a limit on game-day rosters, but not on camp rosters. It’s good that Berhalter was ready to have Moore on the way when Cannon tested positive. However, I think he probably should have had larger team rosters for these 3-game windows.