The U.S. men’s national team’s quest of lifting the CONCACAF Nations League trophy for a third-consecutive edition continues this March with a tricky semifinal showdown vs. Jamaica.
Gregg Berhalter’s squad will meet the Reggae Boyz at AT&T Stadium on March 21 in what will be their first competitive action of 2024. After eliminating Trinidad & Tobago in the quarterfinals last November, the USMNT will receive a much tougher test from Jamaica.
Plenty of the USMNT’s first-choice players should be available for Berhalter to choose from including Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Yunus Musah, and Matt Turner. However, fitness issues and injuries may force Tyler Adams, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Taylor Booth, among others to miss out.
After originally announcing a 60-player preliminary roster, Berhalter will have to trim his final roster to 23 players.
Here is a closer look at who we believe Berhalter will call into March duty:
Goalkeepers
Matt Turner, Ethan Horvath, Drake Callender
Matt Turner’s inconsistent playing time is a worry for his club future, but his international future remains pretty clear.
Turner is the USMNT’s No. 1 for the foreseeable future, remaining a consistent performer in the squad. The veteran shot-stopper has mainly featured in cup competitions this year for Nottingham Forest and continues to have the edge over others in the USMNT goalkeeping pool.
Ethan Horvath has found playing time with Cardiff City, but isn’t likely to beat Turner out for the No. 1 job. Drake Callender will fight for the No. 2 job as the year goes on.
Missed the Cut: Zack Steffen, Sean Johnson, Gabriel Slonina, Diego Kochen.
Defenders
Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Auston Trusty, Mark McKenzie, Sergino Dest, Joe Scally, Antonee Robinson, Kristoffer Lund.
The USMNT’s ever-changing centerback corps will likely feature another shuffle for the March window.
Tim Ream has the most experience in the current pool and should be in the mix once again. Despite having some in-and-out spells this year with Fulham, the 36-year-old is expected to remain part of the USMNT plans for the upcoming year of competitions.
Chris Richards is continuing to impress in England with Crystal Palace, recently scoring his first goal for the club. Richards’ versatility and physicality should provide him with a strong opportunity to start against Jamaica.
The results have come for Auston Trusty at Sheffield United, but it hasn’t stopped him from featuring in ample matches for the Blades. Trusty’s consistent playing time should do wonders for his USMNT future, especially in March’s window.
Mark McKenzie has continued to play regularly for Genk and deserves another shot to prove himself on the international level. Cameron Carter-Vickers’ recent injury worry also could boost McKenzie into the fold.
Sergino Dest is suspended for the semifinal round, but should be expected to feature if the Americans reach the final. Dest remains the USMNT’s No. 1 right back and will continue to be heading into the summer.
Antonee Robinson’s strong season with Fulham has led to growing European interest elsewhere. The Fulham defender is the USMNT’s No. 1 left back and with Dest unavailable for the semifinals, Robinson’s final-third service will be crucial.
Joe Scally and Kristoffer Lund should join Robinson and Dest in the fullback corps this month. Scally is continuing to feature for Borussia Moenchengladbach while Lund is doing the same with Palermo.
Missed the Cut: Bryan Reynolds, DeAndre Yedlin, Lynden Gooch, Reggie Cannon, John Brooks, Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Midfielders
Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Kevin Paredes, Luca De La Torre, Malik Tillman, Johnny Cardoso.
There are no real surprises here with several of the USMNT midfielders thriving at club level.
Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah remain the top-two options in Berhalter’s midfield, especially with Tyler Adams not yet at 100% fitness wise. However, McKennie’s recent shoulder injury at Juventus could be costly in the 24-year-old featuring this month.
If McKennie is good to go, expect him to be in the squad.
In-form Johnny Cardoso should be called on after an impressive start to life in La Liga. Cardoso earned league honors for his impactful month of February and will be eager to get back into the USMNT fold.
Luca De La Torre and Malik Tillman are enjoying positive seasons of their own and will be fighting to be in the starting lineup. De La Torre has remained a consistent starter for Celta Vigo while Tillman has helped PSV to an impressive season to date.
Kevin Paredes has grown into an important player for Wolfsburg this season and deserves an opportunity as a bench option. Brenden Aaronson’s overall frustrating campaign with Union Berlin paired with Paredes’ growing role at Wolfsburg is why we should see the 20-year-old.
Missed the Cut: Tyler Adams (Fitness), Brenden Aaronson, Gianluca Busio, Tanner Tessmann, Lennard Maloney, Dante Polvara.
Forwards
Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun, Tim Weah, Josh Sargent.
The USMNT’s attacking corps will feature several expected faces and one new face returning to the group
Christian Pulisic remains the lead man in the attack for Berhalter’s squad. His playmaking and goalscoring abilities are crucial to the USMNT and Berhalter will seek the best from Pulisic once again.
Gio Reyna’s lack of playing time at Nottingham Forest is a worry, but overall expect him to get his USMNT chance again. Reyna has all the talent to be a key player in this window, which could be crucial for his final few months in England.
Tim Weah remains a likely candidate to start on the right wing of Berhalter’s set-up. Weah has mainly served as a bench option in 2024 for Juventus, but should be well rested for a potential start against Jamaica.
Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, and Josh Sargent will all jostle for the No. 9 role this window. Balogun has endured some tough moments in his first season with Monaco, while Pepi hasn’t cracked the PSV starting lineup on a consistent basis.
Sargent however has been consistent for Norwich City following his return from injury. The American forward has reached double-digit goals this season and will return to camp in strong form.
Paredes could also feature on the wing if needed while Reyna could drop into midfield.
Haji Wright has enjoyed a strong season with Coventry City, but after a lengthy absence from the USMNT squad, I don’t see that changing this March.
Missed the Cut: Jesus Ferreira, Brandon Vazquez, Haji Wright, Jordan Pefok, Taylor Booth.
What do you think of our projected roster? Who made the cut that you are hoping is included? Who did we leave out that you think deserves to be part of the March squad?
Share your thoughts below.
Tele: Gio should be called (unless this slight knock turns out significant given his past muscle issues.) People are too quick to jump to club form. I have no doubt Gio would produce at Utrecht if he was in Booth’s place so I wouldn’t go anywhere near the original commenters proposal.
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However, there are more excuses around Gio than there is club production right now. And for a guy with all the tools there’s likely more to it (whatever it is). Forest was hand picked by his agent because of his tight connection to the manager, if there was ever a spot where he wouldn’t face “bad luck” it should have been there. I also wouldn’t put any stock in comments made by managers or management during transfer windows everyone is trying to influence the value of players in to their benefit.
the funny thing to me is people mocking the suggestion go play holland and then half their suggestions to replace a supposedly off-form reyna are…..playing in holland, eg, malik, booth. QED. thanks for playing.
Never heard much interest from clubs in Holland or any interest from Gio to go to Holland. His weekly salary was probably a problem for most clubs, and Stewart probably didn’t want any part of the family. Ajax the most likely but they probably weren’t able to justify the cost when they weren’t likely going to catch the top 3.
JR-
Did a bit of digging because this question made me curious. Gio’s making €2.5 million a year, which would put him third on PSV, behind Chucky Lozano (€3.5 million) and Dest (€3 million)…so technically they could probably afford him as a replacement for Tillman next season but it’d be a significant investment. Their total payroll is around €28 million this year (around $30 million US), certainly more than any MLS team not named Miami. (Their updated payroll has not been released yet, and I’m genuinely curious what they’re spending this year.)
Of course, Tillman’s salary was just €300,000, which is an unbelievable steal for a starting 10 of his caliber. I doubt they get that kind of return again for awhile.
Just as a side note, Pepi’s costing them €2.35 million a year…which is actually €400K more than Luuk de Jong makes, which could certainly lead to some awkward conversations with management.
Q: the issue i would see with players like reyna is acquisition cost as opposed to salary. pretty much every dutch team is a “selling team.” they develop players, they sell them on. which is why there’s a gap between their NT and their league. their record in-transfers are often in the low-7-or 8 figures. $15-20m max. the complication i see with some of our better NT guys who go sign at Big Club is if they prove surplus they get some massive price tag attached. reyna IMO needs something easier than dortmund. but he has a dortmund price. the further you go down the less they want to pay to acquire players — including holland. so i think he would be great there but TM also values him at E20m. so he is at the edge or past what a dutch team is probably willing to pay. he starts to price out of a lot of team’s willingness to pay. and his history isn’t perfect. so it’s a bet and not a sure thing.
[side point but one reason i chastized him and his agent for extending with dortmund is it will only perpetuate him being stuck there at dortmund prices. what he needed, worst case, was tough it out and let the contract expire, then go where it makes sense. not just where they can afford dortmund-pricing.]
that being said, he went out on loan terms. at loan terms they didn’t have to pay dortmund’s full price. i don’t buy that a league where booth starts was above taking reyna on loan. to me once he’s on loan to forest, that level deal, he probably could have gone to whole swathes of europe. why not spain, why not holland. someplace that likes his style. he plays up to capabilities and effort and maybe they find the money to buy. or he motivates the market of teams who could afford him but weren’t sure on attitude and effort.
JR: the team is better with a single 10 as opposed to double 8s. there is more direct play and taking teams on as opposed to playing the ball to the flag. there are a handful of guys suited to 10 and able to play it at a high level. reyna, pulisic, maybe some folks i have suggested like ferreira or green.
otherwise they are really two-way mush, moderate production, mediocre or even bad defense. the US has fallen in love with that awful recipe. we need people who can either score, create, or defend WELL.
as long as pulisic is concreted into LF reyna is the best option to play 10, that we have found. the offense drops off without him and gets sloppy or soft. his career situation isn’t perfect but the deal is there is no one in his tier who can play as well and make their own push. if you have two guys similar level and one is rusty and low on fitness, form might matter. if you don’t have two similar options it’s fanboys using boxscores to make the team worse. when we had dempsey at striker and he was having FFC or spurs issues, it doesn’t help the NT to bench him. context must be maintained.
i actually would agree that leaning on reyna is sketchy but we then need to develop/find someone to play 10. or move christian in. or otherwise sort out other choices. this isn’t decontextualized soccer, you have to come up with a better player. booth now? no. malik now? no.
Q: what I was getting at is the only suitors in the Eredivisie would be Ajax and PSV because of his salary. Earnie likely doesn’t want the hassle given all the problems they caused him in Qatar. That leaves Ajax that wasn’t going to pay it when there was no way they could catch PSV. Next year to start the year maybe. Feyenoord could but he’d be there highest paid player.
IV: I agree buying price for Gio is too high for Eredivisie. For most teams just taking him on loan would mean too much salary without any payoff. BvB could take on some of that weekly salary but if there were top league teams willing to take the whole chunk then Dortmund could play hard ball. By Jan PSV was so far ahead you wouldn’t get any benefit because you couldn’t catch the CL spot anyway. I really think Gio had no interest in playing there, whether you or I or Q think he’d benefit. As Dest showed sometimes it takes a year wandering in the desert so to speak to figure out your level. Not sure the jibber jabber about 8 vs 10, Gregg seems to finally be on board with that based on the last couple camps.
if Weston can’t go, Aaronson can. he can play multiple positions and knows what GB wants and does it willingly, even with his scant minutes at club. he as well as Gio could use good minutes for country. Balogun not playing much as a striker for club is a concern but maybe he can benefit from playing for country as well to help his club scene
all three of those guys have been with the USMNT as contributors, and been part of helping us win stuff. I hope they can all use this as a chance to show out
pretty strong group to call from, impressive, tho still talent gapped from the top tier yes? not a complaint. team and chemistry and all that all the more important to fill that gap best imo
balogun and pepi are far and away the two best proven international strikers for the US. he has 5G 4A for a good first division team, scored a goal 2/25, and has played 90 minutes 2 games in a row. not sure where “not playing much” comes from. he’s game fit. he has a recent goal in a top league as opposed to a second division. since when did we become the “club form” police? pepi and balogun have outplayed ferreira, and sargent got plenty of time and the world cup and his last US goal was in 2019.
LOL, that’s all you got IV?
Everything I said is accurate, just like when I told you Gio’s form was Sh!t before the World Cup and you argued because the truth hurt your feelings. Just like I told you Gio won’t get more club run because he plays like a spoiled brat on D (fact) and you spewed on with your blind drivel.
bring it on dude
I’m not the club form police. I didn’t say anyone else should take their place.
you post so much and say literally nothing.
Is there a mute button Ives?
bb: it’s simply incorrect to say that reyna was on poor form before the world cup. he was regularly getting in games — unlike now. he had a couple goals in games in late october or early november. this is a fib pushed by folks wanting to justify the coach’s dumb decision. the coach’s own effort to get reyna in the holland game at halftime to try and salvage the tournament suggests he even knew better but was trying to show the player up. when it became about do we get eliminated he had reyna on.
reyna is a sideshow here anyway. you mentioned balogun. balogun is a striker. balogun is top 2 productive strikers for us. sargent got the world cup and couldn’t do a thing. that argument is fanboy “club form” driven nonsense. yes, sargent has revived his career playing second division ball. i am sure most of our 9s would score a bunch playing in a second division. i am bored of this silly cycle of punishing the better players for tougher first division situations in favor of weaker players who fall to second division teams. and then when they move to a second division team they get looked at again. and when sargent gets promoted to first division and can’t score again, he slumps. this is not long term talent analysis. this is watching box scores.
IV: “but was trying to show up the player”
– How exactly was Berhalter showing up Gio? By honestly telling him the plan was to have Weah start? By covering for Gio and saying it was health related that he didn’t play against Wales instead of telling the truth that he didn’t play because he was acting unprofessionally the last scrimmage before the WC because he wasn’t starting.
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The staff isn’t making decisions based on box scores. They are actually watching games, and talking with club staffs. They literally get paid to watch these guys in various leagues and varying team playing styles and decide who is best for these two games. I think that will be Pepi and Balo but it wouldn’t surprise me if Sargent or Wright were also included. In October, Berhalter experimented with 2 strikers and I wouldn’t be surprised if he brought an extra striker this time.
JR: we can call it “punishment” or we can call it “showing up” — remember, he made him an anecdote at the coaching conference that poured gasoline on the feud — but the telling fact is when he was down at half to holland, he wasn’t watching the whole game. he wasn’t in for 10 minutes. he was in the whole half. that tells me what coach REALLY THINKS. chips down, he sees reyna as a gamechanger. he merely thought he could make a point at his expense (or perhaps for his edification, depending which side you take) — and still advance. once that was in danger we saw where he really believed reyna sits.
and that’s setting aside he had the kid miscast as a wing instead of a 10. most international coaches look for ways to get their best players on the field. but then he would have had to make a decision on weston or musah. and GB doesn’t make hard decisions. he just runs out the fanboy all-star team version of things because no one on here or at USSF is going to criticize starting name brands. we just won’t get the results for lack of productive offense and go-to-goal capacity.
Or you can call Gregg’s response what it was a consequence, when you put yourself above your team there are consequences for everyone. Gio selfishly chose to sabotage the closed door scrimmage just before the Wales game. The last chance for his team to fully practice the tactics to be used during the WC. Poor choices have consequences. If the manager wanted to “show up Gio”. He would have walked into the pre-Wales presser and explained Gio had embarrassed the team and himself with his choices during the training and would not be available against Wales. Or when asked about Gio’s status after the match he would have said “it was a disciplinary matter.” Not “he wasn’t fit” covering up for Gio not “showing him up”.
JR: this is revisionist history. we both know reyna was being benched ALREADY and reacted. have people forgotten how this whole feud went public? we the public were like why is he not starting/even playing. GB eventually goes after his attitude. reyna then comes back that he was told he was benched and responded by loafing.
in other words — the coach had already made his lineup decision. he has then used the attitude issue as a shield. but if attitude isn’t why he was originally benched then discussing how the heck did he drop that far (before he loafed) is fair game.
but this convo is stuck back 2 years ago. dude had 3G 2A in 8 caps last year. 2 assists on canada in the NL final. 1 goal in the home NL quarter. 2 goals on ghana. under both the caretaker and GB. why are we having this silly discussion? because fanboy politics and box score reading? i get his situation isn’t perfect but he’s one of about 4-5 guys who can make things happen on this team.
IV: he was told he wouldn’t start. As a professional you don’t throw a hissy fit without consequences. Given he’d been injured for much of the last year and had to be subbed out in the first half of the final tune up match, being moved to the bench shouldn’t have been a huge insult. He’d been moved to the bench most of the time by his club as well. There are ways to handle being upset with your playing time, from the accounts we heard that did not happen. For example he could have went out and scored 4 goals against the scrimmage team and showed the staff he was fit and to good to keep out. He could have taken his time and been encouraging to his teammates and help them from the sidelines. There was no beef between the two until the WC and Gio’s antics. Gregg was dumb to trust the leadership conference would follow through on their agreement to not print his remarks but Gio brought the consequences on himself with his actions. If Gregg had really wanted the story public he would have just said at the post-Wales press conference “that Gio was withheld for disciplinary reasons” but he didn’t.
The last time Wes dislocated his shoulder he missed two weeks. Juve is hoping he’ll be available next week. They’ll put a brace on him and he’ll likely be fine. No throw ins for awhile though I’d suspect.
a smart team is not so desperate to get guys out there it plays them hurt or out of shape. even if he’s back training and maybe playing in 2 weeks, i think we play games in 3 weeks. but then we have had to send mckennie home from a camp before when we called him hurt and he got tender. just call the dude healthy in june.
Yes, Wes is out of shape after one week off. By the way he’s 100 percent been still working out and probably doing full non-contact workouts at this point. But yes we should call in Koleosho who hasn’t played since December 5.
i said hurt or out of shape. first, you want the shoulder to heal. we know what he offers. other than desperately chasing a trophy we don’t have to risk it. second, my understanding is they will tell people with shoulder injuries to not run. one week, yes, but in a few weeks that will start to add up. this summer we have a long camp but for this tournament it’ll likely be a few days of practice and then play 2 games. you are either ready/worth the risk or not. it’s not worth the risk. his readiness is not clear. you give him this tournament off then bring him back healthy in june. this was common sense for a series of coaches before this yokel took charge.
the only tournament you risk health for is the world cup.
Why is Henry Kessler never called in? He could have been called in more and could have took Miles spot at PSV with a transfer for doing well in MLS and for nayional team, he did good in that Bosnia friendly where we won 1-0.
He’s had a lot of injuries the last two years. Only played 10 matches last season. Did not dress the first two matches this year and only played a half midweek. I assume there’s some lingering injury concern so probably wasn’t available for January.
He had a minor injury in preseason, separate from the one that kept him out most of last year. He did well in his minutes in CCC. I suspect he’ll get more playing time as he gets his fitness back, but I also suspect Porter will rotate the center backs a fair amount while the Revs are still in CCC. So it’ll take a while to see if he’s back to the level he was at a couple of years ago.
Too bad Booth is injured. Coming off 5 goals in 2 goals right before camp would have been excellent.
Unpopular opinion, but does Gio deserve a spot? He’s a headache as a teammate and has 0 production as a player.
Gio Reyna: 24 caps, 7 goals, 3 assists. Taylor Booth: 13 caps, 0 goals, 2 assists. There is 0 chance Gio won’t be selected if healthy so even though you consider him a headache as a teammate, pretty unlikely the rest of the group’s core players do. When we’re you and Gio teammates? Maybe he is a better teammate now.
Tele57 interesting take from you. He was healthy at the last World Cup and did not get the playing time he thought he should have gotten, or that his parents thought he should have gotten. He is not on the forest lineup sheet today and is not listed as injured.
Taylor Booth doesn’t have 13 caps. If healthy he would have been on the Provo roster. He’s a little like Duane Holmes at this point though he’ll flash a bunch of goals or assists in a couple matches then nothing for months. I hope he’s healthy and released for Olympics.
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We know that Gio isn’t the easiest guy to play with. We have the video evidence. The gestures, the faces, the lolly gagging at times on defense. We’ve got video of Hummels arguing with him after a match. We’ve got veiled comments from BvB manager and administrators about him. Berhalter’s “creation” of the “brotherhood” seems to help “the group” get past that stuff. Kobe and MJ were not easy guys to play with but if you are backing it up people overlook those things. If you’re a jerk but your committed to winning guys can understand that. Gio has generally played well for the NT so the attitude things are forgiven. He should be called in as should any guy who’s played well over a long period for the Nats who has current club struggles.
Dink: according to Goal.com, Gio suffered a knock and is not fit for the game but is expected back in training this week. Sometimes those Matchday sheets on different sites are slow reporting with minor injuries.
Dik, he was coming of a series of injuries before the WC and was about 35 minutes fit but still was included on the roster (just like Weah, Dest, and McKennie who were all only about 60 minutes fit). Saying he has a 100% chance of making the roster if healthy isn’t contradictory to anything that happened at the world cup.
JR, the numbers for Taylor come straight from US soccer and undoubtedly include youth team performances.
Tele: not trying to be a jerk, US Soccer’s website is so terrible. It appears to be his U17 stats not his NT. Cade Cowell’s stats on USsoccer.com are definitely his U20 stats, but Diego Luna is his NT 1 cap. Come on though as you were typing 13 didn’t you think that can’t be right?
JR, making faces and gestures and getting into arguments with your teammates doesn’t mean your a bad teammate. I played with a bunch of people like that and most, not all, were great teammates; they were very competitve and that is what made them great teammates. If you know who Jack Lambert is, do you think his teammates thought he was a bad teammate or were happy he was on their side? He did a lot more than make faces and hand gestures when somebody messed up. I haven’t heard anyone associated with US soccer, players, coaches, or otherwise say anything about Gio being a bad teammate and the ones who have spoken out have said the contrary. To say someone is a bad teammate when you are not their teammate is a bit presumptive. I’ll tell you who is a bad teammate; a guy that takes compromising pictures of his teammates and then blackmails them, but no one on Real Madrid seemed to care when they were winning championships with that guy scoring goals for them.
Tele57: that’s pretty much what I said. All those things can be seen as just being a competitor but the now consistent relegation to the bench for his club indicates there is still smoke around Gio’s personality. When Gio has played he’s been dangerous and productive. That begs the question what else is going on.
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In the Berhalter era we haven’t heard the group saying negative things really about anyone. Even criticism of Wes after Covid Dategate and Dest’s TnT Red card was pretty muted so assuming nothing is going on is also presumptive. Reyna’s getting called up as long as he’s producing for the US and he should be. That doesn’t mean he’s a good teammate though either.
JR, getting hard to continue this dialogue; have to go so far back up to find a place to reply. Unless you have some inside knowledge, the late great Ed King would say you are being a “revisionist”. The public story at Dortmund is the coach wanted him to stay, Gio’s playing time was based on the competition, and Gio asked for a move because he wanted to play more. None of that signifies being a problem. The more likely reason he isn’t playing much at NF is that the coach thinks the other players are better and they may be, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the best players in the US player pool. If you watched Nations League, which I’m pretty sure you did, it was pretty clear that he is one of the best players on the team. To assume he isn’t playing at NF because he is a bad teammate is pretty speculative. And to your previous post, yes, I meant to say “games” instead of “caps” for Taylor as I know he doesn’t have 13 caps; I can only remember 1. The intent was to provide a comparison of the productivity in a US shirt of a player being lauded and one being criticized based on production.
“All those things can be seen as just being a competitor but the now consistent relegation to the bench for his club indicates there is still smoke around Gio’s personality. When Gio has played he’s been dangerous and productive. That begs the question what else is going on.”
JR
Are you talking about Forest or BVB?
I didn’t see his Cup games but from his League games:
1. They are in relegation avoidance mode.
2. They have been playing very well on offense. However big a dick he may or may not be, if they keep playing this well Gio won’t play the rest of the year.
3. There was no option to buy so the reality is Nuno has no need to “develop” Gio and , while he could replace, for example CHO, he plays ONLY if MGW tails off, gets hurt or needs a rest. The points deduction issue remains unresolved so Nuno is absolutely desperate for every point and has no inclination to fix what ain’t broke.
4. It’s pretty hard to imagine that Gio has been at Forest long enough to piss everyone off to the extent that y’all are speculating about.
5. As for BVB, at this point there is a good chance Terzic isn’t there when Gio gets back but most likely they will have worked out a deal for him somewhere else by then regardless.
From what little I’ve seen of Gio with Forest he looks quite comfortable
If you look at it from a positional standpoint Gio keeps MGW on his toes. That alone makes the Gio loan a worthwhile investment for Forest even if he never plays a second.
setting aside microanalysis of reyna’s weekly performances, does anyone really think booth is better at any position he could play vs. reyna? on talent? exactly. this form stuff is getting silly.
my question on reyna is health/fitness as he didn’t dress this weekend. it’s not that i think we should be calling sargent and booth instead of pepi and reyna on ability, which is backwards.
IV,
“setting aside microanalysis of reyna’s weekly performances, does anyone really think booth is better at any position he could play vs. reyna? on talent? exactly. this form stuff is getting silly.”
I am 100% certain that if you don’t cap Booth and if you don’t give him a reasonable amount of time, you’ll never know what you have in Booth.
“my question on reyna is health/fitness as he didn’t dress this weekend. it’s not that i think we should be calling sargent and booth instead of pepi and reyna on ability, which is backwards.”
health/fitness is one of the questions that this loan is supposed to address as in can Gio stay on the field?
dude, booth got a cap already and was fairly anonymous. second, based on what i saw his real competition should be like aaronson or parades, or LDLT, or johnny or maloney — bench wing, bench AM, bench DM — not starting 10. i personally think green or holmes are also better players. but to me it’s crazy talk for reyna — one of the more productive players — to be fighting against players who have barely even been called. the reyna choice is should he start. and if he shouldn’t it should be another big deal player in his place. booth needs to show he can even offer something at the level aeons before we hand him the starting 10 or wing keys.
can we make people earn starting jobs?
IV,
“dude, booth got a cap already and was fairly anonymous. ”
BFD. One cap is not enough to tell you anything , especially with the USMNT who usually do that stuff with garbage shit teams.
“second, based on what i saw his real competition should be like aaronson or parades, or LDLT, or johnny or maloney — bench wing, bench AM, bench DM — not starting 10. i personally think green or holmes are also better players. but to me it’s crazy talk for reyna — one of the more productive players — to be fighting against players who have barely even been called. the reyna choice is should he start. and if he shouldn’t it should be another big deal player in his place. booth needs to show he can even offer something at the level aeons before we hand him the starting 10 or wing keys.”
?? The narrative here is that Malik can compete with Reyna for the #10.
No one here has said that Reyna is fighting Booth for anything.
That’s more of you making up bullshit narratives so that you can “win” the argument against them.
You’re like those firefighters who start wild fires so that they can put them out and be fake, fraudulent heros.
“can we make people earn starting jobs?”
That’s Gregg’s job. Go blow smoke up his butt if you need something.
“one cap is not enough?” when you are a marginal 30 minutes as a sub is usually about what you get to make your case. at first in your career that may be all your usage is. you can either do something or not.
this whole conversation is laughable. in college i got into the second game frosh year in what was supposed to be garbage time. i helped mount what was nearly a comeback. i was starting the third game and after that.
it’s amusing to me because the fanboys seem to preach effort and going to the biggest teams but then not care how people use the time they get. if you get on the field you better show up. that is how you win the job. and if you show nothing we have dozens of other kids who want the same opportunity and are in the same neighborhood on quality. so which of you shines or not? not him? on to the next one.
It is more concerning to me that Gio has not gotten much playing time at Dortmund and now Nottongham Forrest than any perception than his “attitude”.
I find the speculation about his ability to get along with teammates is pretty much a rehash of high school or youth soccer drama, almost all of it just speculation of the meanest sort. Right down to the Mom and Dad making demands of the coach, at least that part apparently was true.
Coach and player both say they are past it. Other coaches have chosen not to play him, that concerns me more than the hysterical drama.
dortmund has a high quality roster in an elite league. forest is also in an elite league and in a weird relegation-fighter position to play new guys. it is not our job to speculate why they are doing what they are doing or assume it’s because of a negative read on the player’s attitude — unless they outright say as much. it’s our job to evaluate what we get with the US when he shows up. if dortmund literally mirrored berhalter’s take, fine. ditto forest. they have not. QED. move on.
i am bored with reading into elite club player treatment stuff about their discipline or quality. this is done by fanboys vicariously living through the players, who believe everything is always fair and about effort and performance. sometimes it’s unfair and you’re a bad fit someplace. i wonder how much soccer folks have played because most of us who actually played endured this from time to time. you are fine. you are on a new team. new team likes other people. sometimes you break in. sometimes they never get to like you. my life experience is more than once going to the next stop and lighting the world up. every team you are with is not necessarily a fair reflection of how hard you are working or how good you can play. pulisic got run out of dortmund?????? c’mon.
i explained when this was happening why forest was a dumb choice. he should be in spain or holland where a player with his skillset is appreciated. he should be on a midtable team where he’s neither getting beat out for time nor on a team in an awkward relegation situation that makes trying new things risky. nor did england ever make much sense for a player of his type.
Totally legit opinion. We’re all judging him on highlight reels. The coaches know him and they’re benching him. He’s clearly a head case. Comments are always coming out that he’s “frustrated”. He’s easily flustered on the field. Now benched at Dortmund, benched at Nottingham.
Meanwhile guys like Tillman are just quietly going to work and delivering.
The US soccer press should reconsider referring to anyone as “soccer royalty” when they’re 18.
Dave, Tillman was publicly criticizes by his coach and benched for what I recall being lack of effort a few months back. He had to work his way back on to the field. Reyna hasn’t been benched at NF. To be benched he would first have to have been starting. He hasn’t broken into the starting lineup so he hasn’t been benched.
Tele: I believe it was Malik overslept and missed the bus. At that point in the season he had only appeared a couple times off the bench. He made his first start exactly one week later. If you’re using the “you have to be a starter to be benched” definition, Malik wasn’t benched either. There was some grumbling from the Rangers manager about Malik last winter. Which was misguided considering Malik had the highest number of pressures on the team. Malik also suffered a hamstring injury at the same approximate time. He wasn’t benched at Rangers either when fully fit he started.
JR, once again, Ed King is going to say you are being a revisionist. Tillman started on Oct 29th against Ajax and PSV was down 2-1 at halftime. He had also started the prior game. He had broken into the starting lineup. Against Ajax, Tillman was subbed out at halftime and PSV went on to win 5-2 and he specifically called out by Bosz. He did not start the next game and it was only someone else’s misfortune that got him on the field in the 54th minute as a halftime sub got hurt and he replaced him. He scored to help get himself back in the good graces of the coach and was subbed in the next game at the 66th. I think he was used as a sub one more time and then was back in the starting lineup. To his credit, he has twice worked theough issues with his coach to become a lock starter and one of the team’s best players. Lots of US players’ club coaches have had issues with US player including great players like Jermain Jones (Felix Magoth) and Pulisic (Tuchel), I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest that Gio is one of them.
JR and Tele,
All this hullaboo over Gio’s PT is just so much premature ejaculation.
If Gio wanted to guarantee PT then Forest was a mistake.
In real terms, Gio just got to Forest. You’d think he would be on his best behavior. In spite of his parents, he’s not a stupid fucking moron. So the idea that his diva shitbag act has put off Nuno or the players does not make a lot of sense.
More important the players( MGW, Elanga, CHO) who play where he’s allegedly supposed to, are doing really well.
Which is a good thing since Forest are under enormous pressure given they are in 17th place. In addition there is the possibility of additional points being deducted for other sins.
I’ve watched all of Gio’s League games. If Forest’s attackers keep playing this way, Gio isn’t going to get any more PT than he has been getting, which is garbage time.
Those guys are great and I can’t believe Nuno would break up a winning hand.
There are about 11 games or so left in the season so I can see the Forest attackers not wanting to lose their jobs and playing above and beyond. This is, of course, one of the reasons their you bring in a guy like Gio.
They’ve seen enough of him by now to realize the threat he poses. If they keep their form until season’s end because they fear for their places, then to the extent Gio contributed to that, his loan will have been a success for Forest.
Regardless, this loan is a good thing for Gio because even if things play out as I have described, if he had any doubts, he will now know that his career is on the line and the humiliation will focus him. Also, he’s gotten on the field enough to know that he’s not out of place in the EPL; the talent is there. He will suffer the pain of not being allowed to do something he knows he can do really well. A little pain and humilation can be motivating.
Y’all should look at Dest who looked like he was destined for the trash heap not that long ago. Or Weston McKinney, same thing. Both guys were humbled and got a lot of cheap shots for their accent and their fatness but were given a chance to prove their doubters wrong.
Gio has the remaining 11 games or so at Forest and when he returns to to BVB or wherever BVB winds up selling him to, he will get yet another chance at making this thing go.
And while all this is going on I expect he will excel for the USMNT because he will need to in order to keep interest in him going. Sort of like Dest had a nice World Cup and that certainly helped him with his loan to PSV.
He should be picked over Malik because he’s better:
1. Gio has proven he can play the 10 well for the USMNT even while under duress at BVB.
2. Gio has spent most of his career at a higher level than Malik.
I prefer to play the two of them together.
Haji has played well as a winger, but I think he would be happier at CF. Still I noticed that for Coventry he is actively pressing the defense from the wing and seems to get in some good crosses. In other words he is doing what is asked of him and when he gets into the box, he is dangerous. With Balogun struggling and Pepi still looking for starting minutes, Hagi’s inclusion is still a possibility.
personally i would like to be seeing them take some risks with the NL roster, which then along with weston/adams/miles might point to a stronger copa roster that took into account new options who either succeeded or struggled in NL. it doesn’t have to be radically different or B team. i just don’t see the point in playing the same first choice guys over and over through june. i don’t think it wins us the copa. i think it’s arrogantly stubborn the coach thinks it will.
to me if we actually want to start winning things we’d be tinkering with system and trying out some mid and back ideas. if we want to win, this needs to either get faster or more technical in the attack, and then the defense needs to get more airtight.
i fully expect GB to perseverate on his system and his chosen ensemble, and the results to be about what they have been. to me teams improve when losses prompt changed ideas or selection, not stubbornly trying to gel the same unit for a decade. germany whooped this, anyone remember that? TnT? anyone?
Who has stepped up in their club play that says they deserved a call up? Did the B-Team losing in January inspire you to include them. One of your past favs Eduvie Ikoba who couldn’t get on the field in Portuguese 2 and is now with a Korean 2 division team. Romain Gall 1g 1a in German 4th division as an overage player? Alex Mighten coming off the bench in the English 3rd division after being cut in Belgium? Berhalter can’t just create a player, guys actually have to develop with their clubs to get to the national team.
JR, “B” team? Really?
Tele: I was being kind.
I agree with Johnny rzor. if GB were not calling in players who are stars for their club teams, like Pulisic, Ream, Robinson, Sargent, McKinney, Dest for example that would be nuts. Other players who have “been consistent starters for their club team in a high division include Tillman, and Richards, CCV, Brooks, Skally. Players who at least get starting roles at weaker clubs include Green, Wright, Pefok, Zendajas, Busio, de la Torre, Lund,
I probably missed a few players, but the point is, while it is always tempting to grab the new shining toy that frequently turns to disappointment, The trick is to find the young players who will actually join the first group in a couple years, I don’t think calling them to the USMNT prematurely does them any favors until they can prove themselves at club teams with some consistency.
Claiming you know exactly which players will be able to step up in the future is folly, Paraphrasing Yogi Berra, predicting is hard, especially about the future.
i also spent months/years campaigning for the inclusion of reyna, balogun, maloney, and the tillmans, before it was fashionable or people thought they would go with the US, and for the re-involvement of weah and richards when dingbats wanted them demoted over their career situations. spare me.
it sounds cute to give the “who else” argument in defense of a coach who has the power to select, except we lost gold cup last year, TnT away, the germany friendly, the winter friendly. so he’s not doing it right.
i am not asking for totally experimental, not for a tournament. people forget about koleosho? celentano, cohen, bello, moore, okoh, sandler, dietz, green, holmes,, yow.
you will now proceed to tell me that we should call the same people who lose us games half the time playing the same scheme they usually play, which is like definitional crazy. neither an explosive offense nor an airtight defense, which is why this remains “meh.”
IV: Koleosho is injured hasn’t played since December. Holmes as I explained to you would happen back in September, has done nothing at Preston for months and lost his starting spot and missed most of February injured. He’s had a career of inconsistency, brief bursts of goals or assists over 2 or 3 weeks then nothing for 6 months. Cohen hasn’t played in 9 months and is currently behind 39 yr old Guzan. Yow is on the Provo but probably going with U23s. Dietz has been with U23, who have camp. Honestly hasn’t been outstanding like U23 is below his level. Green (currently injured) but hasn’t had a goal or assist since Dec 2. Haha Shaq Moore!!! Did you see the WC? Haha George Bello did you see WC qualifying? Bryan Okah after 1 1/2 out with knee and hamstring injuries has just returned to play in Austrian 2Liga for Salzburgs reserve team. He has 1 minute of first team football coming on in stoppage time in last season’s final match. Celentano, sure ok. Sandler, hard to discuss, never heard one way or the other if we’ve approached or what his reaction was. An continental tournament isn’t time to experiment inconsistent journeyman like Green or Holmes or unproven youth.
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I do appreciate you brought back your laughable “only I believed in Gio and Richards” diatribes that gave me a good chuckle. Yes, no one had heard of the most talked about teenager since Freddy Adu or the FC Dallas kid that went to Bayern. Yeah only you buddy!
JR: i remember being very lonely pushing for people who are now starters or treated as part of the furniture. you can try and spin it as “we knew they were good” but people would tell me they should be U23 or U20 instead. that isn’t quite grasping the level of who they were.
and then on the tillmans, pefok, balogun, i have been pushing that for years and gotten the same silly pushback i now get on koleosho. to me it tends to reflect a sort of midtable self loathing attitude of some fanboys, where we can’t possibly be a good choice, they must pick another option. this is a nice, safe country that made the last world cup and if it ever got its act together could go deep. i guess people have forgotten we used to be “in” for players like jermaine jones or aron johannson.
so, yeah, i remember more than once carrying water for people to make the team that window. acting like they might be good but shouldn’t make the team is significantly different and it’s orwellian to suggest it’s the same.
IV but what you do is take a kid like Richards who at the time was still a skinny kid playing in the 3rd or 4th division and saying because he did well against kids his age he would do well against grown men. You falsely claimed any country would promote their U20 WC stars to their NTs. They didn’t, very few even today are playing for their NTs. His limited time with Bayerns first team was sometimes good and sometimes shaky. When he filled out physically and started getting regular professional minutes you started shouting see because he’s successful now he would have been successful 18 months ago. That’s pretty safe because it’s impossible to know. As for Reyna he was called for the first camp after the U17 WC. This should have been a chance for Gio to shine but as we’d later find out Claudio was already meddling. USSF made a concerted effort to qualify for Tokyo Olympics, to provide that age group of players an international competition before the WC in Qatar. Covid postponed those games and made using some these young talents in qualifying impossible.
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As for dual nats, you always work off the assumption that if a guy doesn’t show he wasn’t asked. That’s unlikely. USSF is in contact with these players for months and even years. You don’t just put Bryan Okoh on your roster submission and say hey we’re sending you a ticket see you in Dallas. When you say “and then on the tillmans, pefok, balogun, i have been pushing that for years and gotten the same silly pushback”. It’s well documented that the US was talking with all those guys over those same years, but had to wait until guys were ready to say yes. You can’t force a guy to play for a national team.
dude, your ilk were the ones saying richards and miles and reyna were age group players literally months before they were NT starters. i am not the one mis-evaluating talent levels. what you’re doing is just mimicking what the coach says. and then the coach changes his mind in half a year and richards and miles went from U23 to the would-be world cup starters if they had stayed healthy.
the problem is you folks plus the coach take weekly form — box scores, basically — way too seriously. if you simply watched U20 you grasped quickly that richards and weah were the future of the NT. and if you looked past reyna being a mere dortmund U19 to what his actual skill set was looking like in a game — you saw it.
the deal is the fanboys act like they are scouting these guys in their leagues but as the USWNT gal said, some of these fans don’t know what they are seeing.
i mean, every time i watch brooks play, dude cannot man-mark. he can mark zonal space and clear out wayward crosses hit right to him. he is useless marking someone and that’s a lot of what international soccer at the highest level becomes. you either can stop messi or not.
but we are more concerned with where our players play, with reputation, than whether they have the appropriate tool set to do their international soccer job right. period.
most fanboys don’t get how to set up a winning soccer team, which is not on whatever reputation all star premise we now do things. you purpose build a team to either defend like heck or to be overwhelming in some form of attack. the players are chosen to the scheme. the US right now is a muddle. we have mids chosen to defend and wingbacks chosen to attack. we are in an attacking formation but seem overall to be trying to press and play defensive soccer. it is a mess. go back to the drawing board and decide are we trying to win 4-2 or 1-0. this isn’t airtight enough to win 1-0. this isn’t powerful enough to win 4-2. the players are selected at cross-purposes for the JV-level-coaching idea they are “the good ones.” it is no wonder GB was a midtable coach whose successors at columbus are the ones who won titles. he does not understand how to select or scheme to win. gathering a bunch of names at famous destinations is not coaching.
IV, the realistic goal is to win Nations League and compete in Copa. Winning championships is important. I am not a Gregg fan, but he has won two CONCACAF championships and contributed to a 3rd. Taking Nations League lightly by not putting out the team you think is the best would be arrogant, not the other way around. Here are some teams that can’t win confederation championships; Japan (eliminated by Iran, the team US beat in a do or die game at the wc), South Korea (eliminated by Jordan), Morocco (eliminated by South Africa).
i don’t think trotting out the same players who can’t beat germany or TnT is ACTUALLY trying to win as many games as possible. i think it’s stubbornness posing as talent assessment. klinsi had his little ensemble that he kept doubling down on through gold cup 15, copa 16, regional playoff, qualifying. he lost his job because it never dawned on him it wasn’t working.
IV, I remember both of those games. One was a friendly which doesn’t mean anything and the other was the 2nd leg of a home and away that the US advanced. In a home and away you don’t get any extra points or benefits if you win by 100 goal aggregate or by penalties after a 2nd leg. The outcome is exactly the same. You put importance on all the wrong games. You complain and act like the US barely qualified for Qatar. The goal of qualifying was to get an automatic spot and not drop out of Pot 2, both which they did. If they won every game 3-0 in qualifying they would have still been in pot 2 and everything would have been exactly the same. While you may think the only tournament that matters is the WC, Nations League (and gold cup before Nations League existed) matter to the USSF and the US players just like COPA matter to them. Not winning Nations League is worse than making it out of Copa group and losing the first knockout game because the US has the best players in CONCACAF and should win Nations League. There will be at least 4 teams in COPA that have better players than US and likely about 10 teams at the 2026 WC. The US can only win COPA or the 2026 WC by being extremely lucky; they don’t have to rely on luck to win any CONCACAF championships. Gregg’s record in his last 7 tournament knockout games (I’m including Iran because that game become a single elimination game the way the group played out) is 6 wins and 1 loss; 2 wins against better opponents to win championships (1st Nations League and Gold Cup finals against Mexico) and 1 loss to a superior opponent at the WC. That is actually a very good track record in important games.
the keeper selection is an utter mess. turner 1. i don’t like his age but working within the provo universe and pro/NT track record, seanjohn 2, reliable. either steffen or gaga 3, depending if we’re going proven or upside. i’d favor gaga upside over steffen who has 4 GA already.
kochen is a kid. callender has mediocre club numbers and no cap history. horvath has gotten his shot and brain farted. their roles in the pool suggest the pool never updates for information. and/or kochen is there to encourage the kid to wait for us and not pick another country.
this isn’t a dig at ives — he’s working within the provo list GB made — but this to me is not a very good list of the 7 or so best keepers at our disposal, no cohen, celentano, frei, etc.
at back, the subtle thing i’d missed is miles got left off. i did think his performance had fallen off. he has moved from turf (bad for beatup legs) to grass and CIN has 2 shutouts with him playing so i suspect the form rollercoaster will swing back his way this summer. CCV i would have left off for similar reasons to adams, he’s just back off a hammy.
go with richards and trusty. ream is backwards looking and hasn’t looked good for the nats. backed up by…..wow did GB call some crappy bench backs. brooks, mckenzie.
wide other than lund we seem stuck in the same old loop, like keeper. you kind of need 3 RB due to dest’s suspension. based on this list, scally and cannon. left side lund and jedi though i would start the surprise over the fanboy favorite.
i’m a moore fan but he’s not on the list.
for roster purposes weston and adams are “hurt.” paredes to me is a winger and we play central mids. so he goes with the forwards. LDLT to me is brutal. reyna is really a 10. once you do that reshuffling you see where GB has made himself a bit of a mess here with the gratuitous inclusions of rehabbing players.
one 10 two 6s. reyna tillman musah maloney cardoso tessmann.
this is where you miss sands, is if adams and weston miss out. you start having to pretend LDLT is a 6 or use no-track-record 6s. and i don’t think two 8s ever worked, or even kind of works without adams.
at forward we have an overabundance, pepi balogun central weah paredes sargent pulisic wide. reyna as 10 beneath them, stirring the drink. if you have a 7th slot, vazquez for headers.
forward, to me, they need to decide on a functioning system and who is serving whom (and how). it’s a little too much like we try keepaway then improvise, usually by whacking crosses. if we’re gonna press, it needs to be a lot more, nasty aggressive. if not, sit back and counter with speed and use weah, paredes, and the strikers’ speed.
FWIW – I’ve been trying to change my name to “USMNT Fanboy (Master of the Obvious)” but the powers that be refuse to post anything with that as the handle.
“Ream is backwards looking”….I don’t understand this. The next two games are for one of the biggest trophies available to this squad. These teams are not to be backward or forward looking. This squad need to be now looking. And right now Ream is one of the most dependable (if the the most dependable) CB in the pool. Why would you leave the best tool in the toolbox just because it’s old? If you want to give guys minutes – try them out in the group stage of NL or the friendlies in the build up to Copa. Right now it’s all hands on deck – go get that silverware – put up or shut up. We don’t need some growing pains mistake in the back line to make things uncomfortable (a la McKenzie v Mexico in the first NL final – let’s not relive that again).
you’re conflating more than one issue. first, age.
klinsi invested too much in bradley and jones and beckerman to chase trophies in tournaments he actually didn’t win in 2015-16, and then had no plan B sorted for qualifying for 2018, which struggled. to me the more we invest in a 36 year old ream the higher the odds get that closer and closer to 2026 he will break down or lose form entirely, and we won’t know who his replacement is. kind of like we arrived at the world cup not quite sure who would be up top or in the net. the smart idea is sort these things out now and be comfortable and prepared with age appropriate players for 2026. i do not care if we win another NL or finish 4th in copa if parts of the team are unusable and untested for the world cup because we prioritized small fry over the big fish. to me the cycle is about preparing for 2026 and not treating every dumb friendly like a world cup final for GB’s favorite starting lineup. (which he then doesn’t adjust much if he loses)
second, the fanboy thing is that for some reason, despite results, we seem to think starting a specific bunch of hyped european club players is our only chance at success. i don’t buy they are all our best players. i don’t buy they can all work together in a functioning system.
i think we should pay more attention to results than we do. i would get our fanboy approach if we won every game. we are hit and miss against elite regional opponents. we can’t beat europe. we should be questioning have we found the best 23.
i expect a tough but winnable NL and then a harsh copa america. i think such experiences should teach us about our roster. i think losses should have consequences. i think we have a coach who picks his teams on paper and is glacially slow to learn what games teach us. i think this team has been fairly meh since roughly the end of 22 qualifying but we act like we found a gold mine. i am sure plenty of players from this bunch should be involved, but i don’t buy this is the endgame. the system is dreck and even worse than when klinsi was in charge we seem fanboy obsessed with who plays where, as opposed to their NT track record.
IV,
“You’re conflating more than one issue. first, age.
klinsi invested too much in bradley and jones and beckerman to chase trophies in tournaments he actually didn’t win in 2015-16, and then had no plan B sorted for qualifying for 2018, which struggled. to me the more we invest in a 36 year old ream the higher the odds get that closer and closer to 2026 he will break down or lose form entirely, and we won’t know who his replacement is.”
That’s the life of most national team managers. Your basic approach might work if the USMNT had a more proven, larger, pool of talent, like an Italy, Argentina, Germany , France, etc. Those big boys have options and can plan for things over time because:
1. Their list of player options, by virtue of volume, is more capable of withstanding the ups and downs of injuries, loss of form, etc.,
2. They can, usually, more readily count on the arrival of useful fresh talent who are proven at the highest club level BEFORE they get into their national team picture.
3. If it all goes bad, most of them have a pool of still useful older vets that they can call back on short notice for a short term occasion, like a World Cup.
Gregg, despite the high regard in which he is held by almost no one, has none of that. Not even close. So his deal is he opts for “safe” and “proven” even if there is a strong whiff of mediocrity involved. The problem is, with the weakling, JV type teams they were playing, we really had no idea how good or bad Gregg’s ideas were. Nothing in Qatar surprised me other than how god-awful Shaq Moore was, because nothing was ever “tested”.
A lot of meadow muffins to pick through here:
“ kind of like we arrived at the world cup not quite sure who would be up top or in the net…”
Gregg knew little about all that because Gregg never competed against a team that was equal or better in a competitive game. And that’s because, in 4 years, they never PLAYED an equal or better team in a competitive game. They arrived at Qatar untested. Why they opted for this chicken shit approach, I don’t know.
“the smart idea is sort these things out now and be comfortable and prepared with age appropriate players for 2026. “
That’s IV smart.
In the real world there is no such thing as age appropriate players for the USMNT. Josh and Timo’s U20 team were age appropriate. It doesn’t mean they were all worth a fuck. A national team is appropriate for the tournament it is built for. After that it needs to be rebuilt and revaluated for the next tournament.
The Qatar team does not exist anymore. Some of the players may play in Copa A but even they will be different, some better, some more or less the same and some worse.
The Copa A. group will have a big team to lose to and two lesser teams that we should handle. We should be able to Advance out of the Group but after that the possibilities for humiliation are greater than they were in Qatar.
Even if we win the thing, that team would have to be seriously reevaluted for 2026. Age appropriate Soto is non existent at the moment but if he is banging them in at a goal every two games for a top team just before 2026 roster selection, then he’s a thing. Age by itself doesn’t mean shit. The realistic likelihood of consistent
“i do not care if we win another NL or finish 4th in copa if parts of the team are unusable and untested for the world cup because we prioritized small fry over the big fish………………to me the cycle is about preparing for 2026 and not treating every dumb friendly like a world cup final for GB’s favorite starting lineup. (which he then doesn’t adjust much if he loses)…………………….second, the fanboy thing is that for some reason, despite results, we seem to think starting a specific bunch of hyped european club players is our only chance at success. i don’t buy they are all our best players. i don’t buy they can all work together in a functioning system”
They can’t. It’s obvious, that Gregg agrees with you.
“i think we should pay more attention to results than we do. “
They can’t.
When you only playing weaklings in watered down tournaments, or real teams only in friendlies, the actual significance of a given result is known only to the coaching staff.
“i would get our fanboy approach if we won every game. we are hit and miss against elite regional opponents. “
Hah! What elite regional opponents?
“we can’t beat europe. we should be questioning have we found the best 23.”
In March of 2024 what makes you think anyone, even Gregg believes, we have found our best 23?
“i expect a tough but winnable NL and then a harsh copa america. i think such experiences should teach us about our roster. i think losses should have consequences. i think we have a coach who picks his teams on paper and is glacially slow to learn what games teach us. i think this team has been fairly meh since roughly the end of 22 qualifying but we act like we found a gold mine. i am sure plenty of players from this bunch should be involved, but i don’t buy this is the endgame. “
As usual, you are pissing in the wind. I don’t think even Gregg said it was the endgame.
“:the system is dreck and even worse than when klinsi was in charge we seem fanboy obsessed with who plays where, as opposed to their NT track record.”
You are the one with the fakakta obsession.
Since Qatar most of the USMNT talent pool has had their ups and downs but most of them have trended up.
Players are ultimately evaluated on the combination of what they do with the USMNT and what they do with their clubs.
The actual percentage ratio of that combination is known only to the manager. For example, Brenden Aaronson has no business being anywhere near the USMNT right now unless it involves golf.
But obviously, Gregg thinks Brenden’s USMNT track record counts for a lot.
Cohen who can’t beat out Guzan?
cohen is ATL’s keeper succession plan. they are going to run out guzan’s deal or perhaps trade him. and then it will be cohen’s job. as per typical US fandom, you’re gonna wait until they make the actual club move and only then respond. i don’t know where it says we have to let the dog wag our tail. we can identify talent and anticipate.
your argument also ignores a huge chunk of the provo list is either (a) age group kids, (b) backups for their own club, or (c) on loan someplace because they couldn’t see the field team that owns them. i see very few starters with immaculate GAA. i have actually pointed to some people with fairly consistent good MLS numbers we routinely ignore. this is not exactly the howard-at-everton era of player atop his profession choices……
ATLU isn’t going to sit Cohen if he’s better than Guzan. You’re being the ultimate fanboy on Cohen. You’ve seen him play once in your life and now finding all sorts of nonsensical excuses as to why he’s not playing.
JR, they don’t need to rush Cohen. He’s only 31.
IV,
“the keeper selection is an utter mess.”
Bullshit. It remains as shitty as it has been . As long as Matt stays engaged, they will be okay.
” turner 1. i don’t like his age but working within the provo universe and pro/NT track record, seanjohn 2, reliable. either steffen or gaga 3, depending if we’re going proven or upside. i’d favor gaga upside over steffen who has 4 GA already.
kochen is a kid. callender has mediocre club numbers and no cap history. horvath has gotten his shot and brain farted. their roles in the pool suggest the pool never updates for information. and/or kochen is there to encourage the kid to wait for us and not pick another country.
this isn’t a dig at ives — he’s working within the provo list GB made — but this to me is not a very good list of the 7 or so best keepers at our disposal, no cohen, celentano, frei, etc.”
Y’all conveniently forget that Matt was a Cup keeper at Arsenal when he turned in a fine performance at Qatar. Right now, he’s the Cup keeper at Nottingham Forest. I see no reason why he can’t do as well this time around
If Matt is #1, #2 is either Zack or Ethan. but it is irrelevant because he won’t play.
#3 is whoever loses the #2 battle.
Sean got his honorary award by going to Qatar so he’s not in the picture. The rest of the guys you mentioned are injury replacements. In that case it doesn’t matter; any of them will do. They are just guys.
I remember the so called “good old days” when we had so many top keepers around. To me they were indicative of the USSF narrative that remains in place even today which is ” do enough to look as if you’re competitive when the truth is you aren’t really.”
Keepers can hold a lead for you. They can keep the other team from scoring and can engineer a draw for you.
But, unless they score, the only time they can win you a game is during a penalty shootout. But even then, someone has to score a penalty. And of course the keeper can take the winning penalty.. But this isn’t real common.
Our impressive keeper pool was just a bright shiny object to distract everyone from the fact that the team had no idea how to attack the other team and still don’t.
horvath can’t get to the whistle on portugal or ES without committing goal-costing gaffes. you’re playing club form politics.
And you don’t know what you are talking about.
Portugal?
A 2017 1-1 draw with Dave managing where Hamid came on in the second half with the score tied 1-1 in a clearly scripted move in a friendly?
You’re going to hold that against Ethan seven years later?
If that’s your idea of using a USMNT track record to predict future results you just devalued your process.
What a load of bullshit.
Horvath’s last game for the USMNT was Sept 2023 vs Oman. He had a clean sheet in a 4-0 blowout.
Anyway, you can untwist your panties. Ethan very likely won’t play in either Nations League or Copa. Like I said, #2 will not play. and right now my guess is #2 is probably Zack, if he isn’t #1.
if you have 9 total caps and 2 of them ended in ties because of goal-allowing gaffes, sorry, dude, that’s your track record. i loved him against cuba but his whole problem is not just consistency but outright brain farts. easy shot goes through his legs like a U14. gets beat nearpost, again, like a U14. and lest we pretend i am talking aeons ago, there is a reason he is no longer at forest………at least two more goals like that, last season……not 7 years ago.
the deal is when we put on the backup keeper as either a rotational starter or an injury replacement, that we get either excellent repeated play or at least reliable competence. i think it’s silly to suggest i should potentially trust against argentina a keeper i can’t trust to properly handle his near post vs. el salvador.
one problem with fanboys is they seem to ignore track records. that’s all you got. if wondo can’t score on decent teams i don’t want to have to depend on him to finish that knockout sitter in the world cup.
Where are all the Haji fanboys saying he should be starting?
I certainly don’t see him as a starter but you could make an argument for his inclusion because he’s getting it done now as a winger, and he certainly can play CF, which could be large if you want the capability of switching to a 4-4-2.
I doubt he bumps, say, Aaronson, but I’d certainly be thinking about it if I was Gregg. I think he can potentially turn it around, but Aaronson’s form has been bad for awhile now.
if you push reyna back — which they should — then you kind of need another wing, which to me should be one or two of sargent paredes wright. i am sure GB will do the fanboy thing and consider sargent a striker, but we have 2 good ones, and we need a 3rd with a different skill set eg vazquez.
where we need help is wide. that’s weah and christian…..and then what, particularly if reyna is 10. i think sargent gets typecast. personally i like my wings either super-technical with service or absolute burners.
another option is push dest and/or jedi up but we don’t feel like a team that has grasped its wide defensive weakness yet, or one that sees them as even an emergency attacking option. to me what this team needs wide is raw speed, sense of urgency, and more accurate service. what it needs less of is wings playing keepaway or dancing on the ball. play quicker.
maybe cowell. what they need is something a little more supercharged wide. speed, accuracy, or sheer chaos and chances created. play with urgency. it’s neither urgent nor that accurate. a team this talented up top shouldn’t be scoring on blood and guts.
to be real i see both cowell and esmir as a little sloppy and undercooked. but we lack urgency and they create chaos. aaronson used to but i don’t know what happened.
Haha Cowell! What has he done in a NT shirt? A lot of flubbed shots, skied crosses, and shots into the stands when unmarked teammates were in front of goal. Yes, please continue to lecture everyone on what a “fanboy” is?
IV,
“maybe cowell. what they need is something a little more supercharged wide. speed, accuracy, or sheer chaos and chances created. play with urgency. it’s neither urgent nor that accurate. a team this talented up top shouldn’t be scoring on blood and guts.
to be real i see both cowell and esmir as a little sloppy and undercooked. but we lack urgency and they create chaos. aaronson used to but i don’t know what happened.”
Cowell reminds me of Brek Shea, but not as dangerous
V: I thought I was being harsh on Cade but “Brek Shea but less dangerous” now that’s taking it to another level.
“: I thought I was being harsh on Cade but “Brek Shea but less dangerous” now that’s taking it to another level.”
JR,
I was referring to pre-Stoke Brekster. That guy was direct, dangerous, physical, a real load. Going to England before he was mentally ready fucked him up in the head and he was never the same after that. He’s an example of a guy who needed to stay with Schellas Hyndman at Dallas a little longer.
Or maybe a lot longer.
Even noted “go to Europe” JK blew his stack when he heard about the transfer.
As for Cade, he seems like a nice guy but he’s an example of the American wet dream; take a guy who is an exceptional athlete, get him to play soccer and bingo!
World Domination because he’s big, fast and strong and can run all day. A new, improved and rebadged Ariolla.
Hopefully Cade gets some good coaching in Mexico.
V: that is why I tried to get the “Buff Arriola” nickname for Cowell going during Cade’s U20 days.
this is a fake discussion. anyone who reads the thread can see i pointed to paredes, sargent, dest, jedi. you then chuckle at cowell and act like he was all i said. do you have problems reading? or are we just going to misrepresent my posts.
all due little respect but what are you suggesting instead? we have to come up with someone(s) for wide sub play. i want someone who has ever created NT danger in their cap careers. you can diss cowell all you want but i barely noticed booth was even on the field. if one sucks the other sucks plus one. get the pecking order correct.
or do we care if this ever scores goals? i mean when i played if your value consisted of heading to the flag and playing keepaway you would get cut because you lacked any offensive ideas whatsoever.
IV,
“this is a fake discussion. anyone who reads the thread can see i pointed to paredes, sargent, dest, jedi. you then chuckle at cowell and act like he was all i said. do you have problems reading? or are we just going to misrepresent my posts.”
No one is misrepresenting your posts you silly thing.
You suggested Cowell as some kind of alternative. I won’t speak for JR but your suggestion is , how to put this in English… useless.
As for paredes, sargent, dest, jedi, I can’t speak for JR but, to me, those suggestions are pretty boilerplate, i.e. obvious, not original, not really worth reacting to.
“all due little respect but what are you suggesting instead? we have to come up with someone(s) for wide sub play.”
No “WE” don’t. That’s Gregg’s job. And he has access to a ton more data than any of us and it’s his butt on the line if he screws it up. So I have no strong feeling about this one way or the other so I’m happy to wait and see what Gregg comes up with.
“ i want someone who has ever created NT danger in their cap careers. you can diss cowell all you want but i barely noticed booth was even on the field. if one sucks the other sucks plus one. get the pecking order correct.”
Booth is injured and doesn’t look like an alternative at least in the short term. I do know that I have seen more of Cowell than I have of Booth. You’re asking me to make a choice based on your player evaluation process. And I’m not going to do that.
“or do we care if this ever scores goals? i mean when i played if your value consisted of heading to the flag and playing keepaway you would get cut because you lacked any offensive ideas whatsoever.”
What does your playing experience have to do with the USMNT need to score more goals?
If Haiji makes it, it will be at the expense of Aaronson as a winger.
Haji is a spare
Brenden is losing his place on his own and on merit. He does not need any help but Gregg won’t drop him. Since shortly after moving to Leeds for 30 million, he has sucked big time and has been a huge bust.
I’m sure Brenden is a lock for 2026 regardless of anything because he’s likeable. USMNT fans prefer likeable guys. And he can run all day, which is useful when facing tired defenders. You’d think coaches would have figured out how to deal with this tired defender business by now.
Owen, they are probably hanging out with the guy that said McKennie is the only durable midfielder in the pool.
I’d start to give Esmir a shot, at least bring him in!
U23s have a camp, let Esmir go to that one. He’s still not a consistent starter in MLS.
I love him, but I agree he still needs to be with the U23s. Porter started him last weekend and he was very good in 45 minutes in CCC last night. So he might get more minutes than I had expected. He’s definitely capable of starting in MLS, but it will be interesting to see how his minutes change when Borrero is healthy again.
Nkh: Porter is definitely rotating with the workload of Champions Cup(?). It seems Nacho Gil is ahead of him on the depth chart. That could change, but it’s harder when you’re competing with your team’s best players brother for time.