USMNT Thread Part VIII

[KingLB]

People need to start writing Brendan Aaronson in pen on World Cup rosters.

People needs to start writing Caden Clark in pencil on World Cup rosters.

Bleh, beat me to it. Was going to respond to Noodles that Aaronson is probably my first choice backup for 3 different positions. “8” being one of them, so not as worried as he is.

I also still love Paxton Pomykal’s upside and see him as a big time sleeper for the WC. If he can stay healthy. Modric jr.

 

[N o o d l e s]

Bleh, beat me to it. Was going to respond to Noodles that Aaronson is probably my first choice backup for 3 different positions. “8” being one of them, so not as worried as he is.

I also still love Paxton Pomykal’s upside and see him as a big time sleeper for the WC. If he can stay healthy. Modric jr.

Pomykal another name too. Just wasn’t sure about including him since the World Cup is coming up so quickly

 

[KingLB]

Pomykal another name too. Just wasn’t sure about including him since the World Cup is coming up so quickly

Yea, he might be out for Qualifiers outside a injury, or amazing finish to the season. That said, the 3 sets of qualifiers this go around may open up extra opportunities for some guys. Just not sure EGG will introduce new players at this point.

Probably just throw Seba/Roldan at every problem or gap.

 

[N o o d l e s]

Yea, he might be out for Qualifiers outside a injury, or amazing finish to the season. That said, the 3 sets of qualifiers this go around may open up extra opportunities for some guys. Just not sure EGG will introduce new players at this point.

Probably just throw Seba/Roldan at every problem or gap.

Im trying to imagine those guys in a WC QF against a team like Portugal

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

One thing I am noticing as I look at rosters and call-ups is that midfield depth is incredibly weak still. One major injury and they are f***ed in the middle of the field. I think that means Acosta has to make the World Cup roster out of necessity.

Right now I see the top options in terms of talent as really only:

McKennie
Adams
Musah
Busio
Acosta

Busio still young and unproven. So Acosta will definitely be there. That may be the opening for a guy like Williamson if he can continue to play well and take advantage.

World Cup is a long time away. We have plenty of up and coming players. I think Acosta and other mid 20’s MLS’ers are going to have a very hard time making it. These younger kids are playing in the top leagues. Plenty of time for this to play itself out, but the reason why we are seeing players such as Acosta, Yueill, Roldan, Lletget, previously Bradley and Trapp, to begin with is due to the lack of midfield depth. Give it a year and I think a few younger players will take spots in that midfield.

Between players such as Sands, Busio, Tessmann, Williamson, Pomykal, Booth, Johnny, de la Torre, Flach, Durkin, Perea, Otasowie, Nyeman, Cappis, a few of these kids will take spots. These kids will push each other for spots and it will force a few to raise their level. And if for some reason Acosta or someone like that still has a spot, it’s probably because he’s dramatically raised his level. I understand your point, but I think we’ll see this sort itself out.

 

[N o o d l e s]

World Cup is a long time away. We have plenty of up and coming players. I think Acosta and other mid 20’s MLS’ers are going to have a very hard time making it. These younger kids are playing in the top leagues. Plenty of time for this to play itself out, but the reason why we are seeing players such as Acosta, Yueill, Roldan, Lletget, previously Bradley and Trapp, to begin with is due to the lack of midfield depth. Give it a year and I think a few younger players will take spots in that midfield.

Oh I really hope so. Just something that stuck out to me as I looked ahead. Defense and forward seem to have a ton of options. Midfield just seemed limited behind the big guns. A good point was made that Aaronson can play the 8 which would help immensely in a pinch.

 

[kingsboy11]

I'm not a fan of the Qatar World Cup being held in the Summer at all. I hate that it cuts right in the middle of every league in the world except MLS. But it may come at a distinct advantage for us, assuming we qualify. That's an extra 6 months of development time for our guys. So guys like Caden Clarke, Aaronson, Robinson, Richards, Busio, Pomykal, to all get even more development time and even more playing time to potentially make a push for that World Cup squad and probably several other guys that I'm forgetting about. So even if guys like Lletget, Roldan, Zardes and Acosta play their part in helping us qualify, there's still a really good chance other guys could push them out because of those extra months leading up to the tournament whereas it'd be different if it was just a regular world cup year.

There's so much potential throughout the entire prospect pool that a lot can change in 16 months time and I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Bakayoko Ono]

Tuchel about to turn Pulisic into a wing-back, how bout that.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Tuchel about to turn Pulisic into a wing-back, how bout that.

No he's not, Chelsea didn't have anyone available.

“[Pulisic] played there with me at Dortmund and we played many times like this with Callum. Marcos [Alonso] wasn’t able to play today so we put Callum on the left side which I wanted to see from a long time. Callum can maybe be more dangerous from this position coming inside which he loves, and which he did today. So you know our situation.

“We have Azpi and Reece for this position [right wing-back] but Azpi only started two days ago and Reece hasn’t even started yet. So we need solutions because we start on the 11th against Villarreal and on the 14th is the season. We can’t try things then so now is the time to see.”

-Thomas Tuchel; source: Football.London

 

[bluesfan94]

From this team, Turner helped himself. He's probably still the 2, but he's closer to the 1 than the 3. Robinson puts himself firmly in the CB mix. Cannon had a weak tournament (partially due to injuries/fitness) with Moore a little stronger. I think Cannon will probably be there when WCQ's start and Moore isn't due to the depth at that position. Acosta will play a part in WCQ's. He had a strong tournament. He may be the back up for Adams right now. I think Sands plays that role long-term, but we didn't see him there that much at this tournament out of necessity.

Busio is probably a little too green defensively for the A-team. Williamson maybe has a shot at a CM spot. Hoppe had a pretty good tournament, Dike a little less so (partially due to injuries/fitness). Both guys are in the striker mix. I think Dike is more likely picked when qualifiers start, and Hoppe isn't. Zardes, Arriola, Roldan, Lletget reluctantly all are probably in contention for spots, but I don't think any of them are key players. They could combine for 0 minutes in the September qualifiers.

Not sure how turner placed himself as the 2 given how Steffen is the 1 and Horvath had a great tournament too this summer.

 

[Savant]

Not sure how turner placed himself as the 2 given how Steffen is the 1 and Horvath had a great tournament too this summer.

Would take Turner over Horvath. Still have Steffen as 1

 

[bluesfan94]

Would take Turner over Horvath. Still have Steffen as 1

I'm not sure if I would. If we go back to post Nations League here, there will be posts with people asking if Horvath should be considered the #1

 

[KlausJopling]

The one thing Turner has over the other two is he actually is his teams starter.

 

[Savant]

I'm not sure if I would. If we go back to post Nations League here, there will be posts with people asking if Horvath should be considered the #1

I’m sure there are.

I mean either way those are the three, and there should be some really good competition. Turner should try to get a European move though.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Not sure how turner placed himself as the 2 given how Steffen is the 1 and Horvath had a great tournament too this summer.

Horvath is a backup in a similar caliber league to MLS and played a lot less than Horvath. I’m not saying Horvath didn’t do well, but he has more to prove.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

No he's not, Chelsea didn't have anyone available.

The quote gives better context, but Pulisic shouldn’t have to cede a spot to the favored German’s, Mount, or Ziyech. Americans haven’t forgot that Pulisic didn’t start leg 2 against Real Madrid or the UCL final after what he did in leg 1 against Madrid.

 

[John Price]

 

[kingsboy11]

Some bad news in the middle of celebration, David Ochoa is committing to Mexico instead of sticking with the US. Part of me is a bit annoyed at him considering he represented us in Olympic qualifying only a couple months ago and that he may not see a path to the US first team with the performances of Turner, Horvath and Steffen and doesn't want to compete with them.

The other part of me is annoyed at US soccer regarding a big portion of our hispanic players within our system and not being able to retain them and having them starting to choose Mexico over us. We've already lost Jonathan Gonzalez and Efrain Alvarez, just lost Ochoa and potentially could lose Julian Araujo. Mexico needs to raid our players because they can't seem to develop their own, so why isn't US soccer doing more to try and keep our players? There's been a lot of growth over the past 2 years regarding the play on the field, but this is one area that is still severely lacking.

 

[bluesfan94]

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The other part of me is annoyed at US soccer regarding a big portion of our hispanic players within our system and not being able to retain them and having them starting to choose Mexico over us. We've already lost Jonathan Gonzalez and Efrain Alvarez, just lost Ochoa and potentially could lose Julian Araujo. Mexico needs to raid our players because they can't seem to develop their own, so why isn't US soccer doing more to try and keep our players? There's been a lot of growth over the past 2 years regarding the play on the field, but this is one area that is still severely lacking.

Eh. Lesser players going to a lesser team is part of how we built USMNT (Brooks, F. Johnson, Chandler, Jones, etc.). Meanwhile, we've won a lot of these battles recently (Musah, Dike, (technically Pulisic), Miazga, Dest, Weah, Reyna, Robinson, Busio).

Alvarez left at the U15 stage, Ochoa left because he's clearly no better than 4th in line, Gonzalez switched three years ago after America didn't qualify. Araujo's been called up and capped already, not much more USMNT can do if he leaves because Dest, Cannon, Moore are all ahead of him

 

[PanniniClaus]

Some bad news in the middle of celebration, David Ochoa is committing to Mexico instead of sticking with the US. Part of me is a bit annoyed at him considering he represented us in Olympic qualifying only a couple months ago and that he may not see a path to the US first team with the performances of Turner, Horvath and Steffen and doesn't want to compete with them.

The other part of me is annoyed at US soccer regarding a big portion of our hispanic players within our system and not being able to retain them and having them starting to choose Mexico over us. We've already lost Jonathan Gonzalez and Efrain Alvarez, just lost Ochoa and potentially could lose Julian Araujo. Mexico needs to raid our players because they can't seem to develop their own, so why isn't US soccer doing more to try and keep our players? There's been a lot of growth over the past 2 years regarding the play on the field, but this is one area that is still severely lacking.

This will always happen when you start to train and develop more players than you can realistically fit into a 60 player pool at any given time.

I'm sure D Ochoa sees the Mexican starters are Talavera and the other Ochoa right now. There is opportunity in the Mexican net.

 

[KlausJopling]

Yeah. Not sure what more US could do for Ochoa. Starter for Olympic qualifying and on the Nations League roster at 20 years old.

though he should probably hold off for a week to see if Tara is still around

 

[Basement Cat]

New XI I’d love to see post-Gold Cup:

———————Hoppe
———Pulisic————-Reyna
——————McKennie
———-Acosta———Adams
ARob—-Brooks--MRob—-Dest
——————-Turner

Let’s the wing backs bomb up the field with Acosta and Adams providing cover on either side. McKennie roaming all over and pressing. Pulisic and Reyna both a little tucked in (especially Reyna, I don’t think he is a particularly good winger - I’d love for a way to just play him at the 10 in a 4231). Would like to see Hoppe with the service he’d get in this XI. And Brooks/Robinson is an insanely athletic CB pairing. Turner is in form and by far the best shot stopper.

 

[John Price]

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Some bad news in the middle of celebration, David Ochoa is committing to Mexico instead of sticking with the US. Part of me is a bit annoyed at him considering he represented us in Olympic qualifying only a couple months ago and that he may not see a path to the US first team with the performances of Turner, Horvath and Steffen and doesn't want to compete with them.

The other part of me is annoyed at US soccer regarding a big portion of our hispanic players within our system and not being able to retain them and having them starting to choose Mexico over us. We've already lost Jonathan Gonzalez and Efrain Alvarez, just lost Ochoa and potentially could lose Julian Araujo. Mexico needs to raid our players because they can't seem to develop their own, so why isn't US soccer doing more to try and keep our players? There's been a lot of growth over the past 2 years regarding the play on the field, but this is one area that is still severely lacking.

would you like them to play 2 keepers at once?

 

[Chimaera]

Some bad news in the middle of celebration, David Ochoa is committing to Mexico instead of sticking with the US. Part of me is a bit annoyed at him considering he represented us in Olympic qualifying only a couple months ago and that he may not see a path to the US first team with the performances of Turner, Horvath and Steffen and doesn't want to compete with them.

The other part of me is annoyed at US soccer regarding a big portion of our hispanic players within our system and not being able to retain them and having them starting to choose Mexico over us. We've already lost Jonathan Gonzalez and Efrain Alvarez, just lost Ochoa and potentially could lose Julian Araujo. Mexico needs to raid our players because they can't seem to develop their own, so why isn't US soccer doing more to try and keep our players? There's been a lot of growth over the past 2 years regarding the play on the field, but this is one area that is still severely lacking.

The only bad news is the stupid harassment that's going on in twitter / IG.

If the dude wants to go, let him go. I'm all for keeping as many talented players as possible, but he's likely looking at the numbers, and knows there's a pathway to Mexico's net, where they're very old. They are always going to lose some players to Mexico, and that's part of it. But they need to have a large enough talent pool where a few players going won't make a long term difference.

Honestly, more worried about Pepi down the road, as forward will be a position of need forever.