OT: Last USMNT Camp before WC

[HoosierPal]

Coach B has his camp roster in mind.  It is time to fine tune for the WQ.  Will there be a new player or two called up? 

Coach said he isn't bringing 6 strikers into camp, so who gets left out?  Ferreira is a lock.  He will have to be injured to not start the WC.  Sargent looks like he found the key to scoring, so he certainly should be in this camp.  After that it gets interesting.  Pefok has been performing well, but in the Turkish League.  Brandon Vazquez has lit up the MLS, scoring 16 goals but he hasn't been called in to a USMNT camp to date.  Haji Wright has scored 5 goals in 6 games this season in the Super Lig, but he didn't do much on his last call up to the senior USMNT.  Pepi, well, he hasn't scored in almost a year, so I don't see how he gets even an invite to camp over any of the others let alone a seat on the plane to WC.  He's young.  He has at least 2 World Cup's in his future.

How many strikers make the WQ Squad?  Probably just 3.  So it's Ferreira, Sargent, and whoever shows the best in this upcoming camp between Pefok, Vazquez and Wright. 

There really isn't much left for Coach B to decide for the WQ squad, perhaps one or two defenders and maybe one midfielder.  The only drama is whether Brooks gets invited to this September camp.   FIFA says 26 game be on the roster.

[HoosierPal]

Well, I was wrong on my assumption that Pepi wouldn't get a call up for the last two friendlies.  Ferreira, Sargent and Pepi are the three strikers he called in, leaving Pefork, Vazquez and Wright at home.  While this is not the final WQ roster, I'm guessing (again) that those three will get plane tickets to Quatar.

For tomorrow's friendly with Japan (7:25 AM start), we have injury replacements for Musah, Richards, and Carter-Vickers all out with camp/recent injuries.  Steffen, Weah and Robinson weren't called into camp with existing injuries.  While this is not ideal, the likelihood of an injury right before the WQ is real, so having backup plans is necessary.

[brianstl]

I can't believe I am typing this because he will be 35 in a couple of weeks, but Tim Ream needs to be on the roster.  Not only that, he should be starting for the team with the way he has preformed this season in the EPL.

[HoosierPal]

7 minutes ago, brianstl said:

I can't believe I am typing this because he will be 35 in a couple of weeks, but Tim Ream needs to be on the roster.  Not only that, he should be starting for the team with the way he has preformed this season in the EPL.

I'm agreeing with you, and he brings some veteran, "been there, done that" experience.  I don't know if he starts, but he should be on the squad.

[brianstl]

3 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

I'm agreeing with you, and he brings some veteran, "been there, done that" experience.  I don't know if he starts, but he should be on the squad.

Plus, we are in a group with England and Wales.  It would make sense to have a guy that is very familiar with defending against the players on those two rosters.

[gobillsgo]

Hate to have to root for an American player to fail, but Aaron Long getting exposed in these friendlies to the point where even Gregg can’t justify calling him up would be best for the team. 
 

if he is starting alongside Zimmerman at the World Cup, we are screwed. 

[HoosierPal]

3 hours ago, gobillsgo said:

Hate to have to root for an American player to fail, but Aaron Long getting exposed in these friendlies to the point where even Gregg can’t justify calling him up would be best for the team. 
 

if he is starting alongside Zimmerman at the World Cup, we are screwed. 

Coach announced Long is starting. He mentioned his open field defense and his experience in a high pressing line. He will sub in a CB at halftime. 

[Lord Elrond]

2-0 loss to Japan, they didn’t look good, except maybe the goalkeeper

[HoosierPal]

Butt ugly. Turner good, Aaronson showed a lot of energy, Reyna okay, the rest should have stayed in the hotel. 

[wgstl]

20 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

Butt ugly. Turner good, Aaronson showed a lot of energy, Reyna okay, the rest should have stayed in the hotel. 

It was the first time I’ve seen a usmnt goalie make several big saves in a long time.

 

CB’s we’re hilariously awful 

[Lord Elrond]

Bottom line, only 4 shots all game, none on target.  This is not the way to win a game, it’s a way to lose every time.  The US keeper kept it close, but that’s the only good thing I can say.

[HoosierPal]

Houston, we have a problem.  A better, but fairly listless, effort by the Red/White/Blue.  Two okay teams shut down the offense.  Adams, Zimmerman, Scally and Turner were okay.  The rest, meh.  

DId Scally secure a seat on the plane to Quatar?  For me he did. 

Pepi and McKenzie need to make sure they have Fox TV to view the games from home.

Can this team accomplish a 1-1-1 record in the group?  Will that be enough to get them through?

[Lord Elrond]

1 hour ago, HoosierPal said:

Houston, we have a problem.  A better, but fairly listless, effort by the Red/White/Blue.  Two okay teams shut down the offense.  Adams, Zimmerman, Scally and Turner were okay.  The rest, meh.  

DId Scally secure a seat on the plane to Quatar?  For me he did. 

Pepi and McKenzie need to make sure they have Fox TV to view the games from home.

Can this team accomplish a 1-1-1 record in the group?  Will that be enough to get them through?

A big 0 is how I look at it. They knew they needed to improve the offense, they only manage 7 shots, 2 on goal, no scoring. Is that really an improvement? I don’t think so.

If this bunch can’t score, better find some people who can. 

1-1-1 MIGHT get you through this group, but there’s no guarantee of that. Without scoring, I don’t see how you get the 1 win part of that. Sorry to be a downer, but it is what it is.

[wgstl]

10 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

A big 0 is how I look at it. They knew they needed to improve the offense, they only manage 7 shots, 2 on goal, no scoring. Is that really an improvement? I don’t think so.

If this bunch can’t score, better find some people who can. 

1-1-1 MIGHT get you through this group, but there’s no guarantee of that. Without scoring, I don’t see how you get the 1 win part of that. Sorry to be a downer, but it is what it is.

I’ll be shocked if we get 4 points. 

[Taj79]

Now that's entertainment!  What 200+ minutes with no offensive goals.  Against giants Japan and Saudi Arabia.  Check ===== is the paint dry yet?

[slufanskip]

42 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

Now that's entertainment!  What 200+ minutes with no offensive goals.  Against giants Japan and Saudi Arabia.  Check ===== is the paint dry yet?

Either watch soccer or write 19,000 word posts on a basketball message board that no one reads. 

[Taj79]

@slufanskipI knew you'd be appreciative of that!  Watching soccer ranks right up there with watching corn hole, axe throwing, poker, and bowling.  

Twenty-two words --- can you dig it?!?!

[slufanskip]

5 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

@slufanskipI knew you'd be appreciative of that!  Watching soccer ranks right up there with watching corn hole, axe throwing, poker, and bowling.  

Twenty-two words --- can you dig it?!?!

That was good. Though I’ll never get why people who clearly have absolutely no understanding of a sport have so little to do in their lives that they feel the need to knock something over and over again. I’m sure the entire world is wrong and you’re right though. Stay passionate 

[almaman]

1 minute ago, slufanskip said:

That was good. Though I’ll never get why people who clearly have absolutely no understanding of a sport have so little to do in their lives that they feel the need to knock something over and over again. I’m sure the entire world is wrong and you’re right though. Stay passionate 

like cricket

[slufanskip]

1 minute ago, almaman said:

like cricket

Like Cricket? 

[Lord Elrond]

16 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

Like Cricket? 

There apparently is a National College Cricket Association if people are interested…

https://www.nccaofficial.org/about-us

[brianstl]

https://meninblazers.com/2022/09/28/rog-on-the-usmnt-are-the-usmnt-quiet-quitting/

[HoosierPal]

1 hour ago, brianstl said:

https://meninblazers.com/2022/09/28/rog-on-the-usmnt-are-the-usmnt-quiet-quitting/

Hard to argue with most of this.  The team looked much better in the summer final qualifying games (yes against weak teams).  What happened?  Who flipped the switch to the Off position?  Sure, three or four likely starters missed these two friendlies, but I don't know if they would have changed the bottom line.  Pulisic looks like he is stuck in neutral.  Reyna, is he too fragile to play three 90 minute games?  Steffan can't be in the conversation as starting GK.  Pepi doesn't deserve even the 26th plane ticket.

26 will be rostered.  Game day roster is what, likely 18 as normal?  I believe I heard there will be 5 or 6 subs.  There will be more than a few of the 26 who don't see action.  So why not bring in a few veterans who have WCup experience?  Only Yedlin of the likely 26 has been to a World Cup.  Ream and Zardes are two in particular I'd look at.  Why not?  Your third striker chances are won't get into a game, but maybe Zardes has 10 golden minutes left. Maybe you  carry 4 strikers and one fewer defender or midfielder.   Ream is playing the best soccer of his late career.  Does having McKenzie sit on the bench for 12 days provide more for the team than Ream, who maybe, could come in to help seal a victory?

Glad I'm not Coach B.  He knows, USSoccer knows, that anything short of getting out of the Group stage means his job. 

 

[slufanskip]

1 hour ago, HoosierPal said:

Hard to argue with most of this.  The team looked much better in the summer final qualifying games (yes against weak teams).  What happened?  Who flipped the switch to the Off position?  Sure, three or four likely starters missed these two friendlies, but I don't know if they would have changed the bottom line.  Pulisic looks like he is stuck in neutral.  Reyna, is he too fragile to play three 90 minute games?  Steffan can't be in the conversation as starting GK.  Pepi doesn't deserve even the 26th plane ticket.

26 will be rostered.  Game day roster is what, likely 18 as normal?  I believe I heard there will be 5 or 6 subs.  There will be more than a few of the 26 who don't see action.  So why not bring in a few veterans who have WCup experience?  Only Yedlin of the likely 26 has been to a World Cup.  Ream and Zardes are two in particular I'd look at.  Why not?  Your third striker chances are won't get into a game, but maybe Zardes has 10 golden minutes left. Maybe you  carry 4 strikers and one fewer defender or midfielder.   Ream is playing the best soccer of his late career.  Does having McKenzie sit on the bench for 12 days provide more for the team than Ream, who maybe, could come in to help seal a victory?

Glad I'm not Coach B.  He knows, USSoccer knows, that anything short of getting out of the Group stage means his job. 

 

I agree with this. With 26 players how can you leave Ream off the roster. Hell, I'm not even sure he shouldn't be a 45 mpg lock with our other CB options. 

The biggest problem with this team is depth. If we have everyone healthy (including Miles, though I know he won't be) we advance and possibly win a game or 2 in the knockout rounds. However, almost all of our best players come from a 4-5 year period 21-26 years old mostly and a few younger ones coming up Reyna, Musah, for example. There isn't enough under 21's established enough yet to provide depth (injury, rest, etc..) that we need the 27ish plus age group to provide that. The reality is that we have a 6-10 year period that just hasn't provided any real talent, not even enough to provide real depth. Even the players that are staring caliber that are 27 or older are at the low end of that. We are needing to provide almost an entire WC roster with players aged 20-27 or close to it. 

If we are healthy, we will advance regardless of who's up top. By healthy I mean Adams, McKennie, Pulisic, Dest, Weah, AAronson, Reyna, Musah, A. Robinson, and Zimmerman is an absolute must. maybe the most important health on the roster, including Pulisic. 

Imo Sargent and Pefok have to be on the roster along with Ferreira. Can Gregg really still be considering Stefan the starter in goal? 

I know Gregg wants to play the ball out of the back and build up from there, and ideally that is what I prefer. However, we need to recognize that we don't have the skill set to do that against active high pressing teams. We just turn it over in bad spots or play it back and still just boot it long. It's like telling Yuri to dunk on Okoro. Just be strong and go do it. Sure ok. After the last game he said we played without imagination. What he meant was we didn't take people on enough, push the ball forward enough. He's right but he's also wrong as we didn't because we had too many players on the field that just don't possess that ability. Asking players to play a way they aren't capable is just begging for disaster and that's what we got. 

As much as I love Tyler Adams, and I do. He's tough gritty, wins the ball and plays with an attitude. He misses so many opportunities to turn the ball up field. His first thought is almost always to lay it off which allows the opponent to gather themselves. We need to counter quicker and more direct more often. We don't currently possess enough skill to have to constantly work the ball through a team and a defense that is packing it in. 

[Littlebill]

17 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

I agree with this. With 26 players how can you leave Ream off the roster. Hell, I'm not even sure he shouldn't be a 45 mpg lock with our other CB options. 

The biggest problem with this team is depth. If we have everyone healthy (including Miles, though I know he won't be) we advance and possibly win a game or 2 in the knockout rounds. However, almost all of our best players come from a 4-5 year period 21-26 years old mostly and a few younger ones coming up Reyna, Musah, for example. There isn't enough under 21's established enough yet to provide depth (injury, rest, etc..) that we need the 27ish plus age group to provide that. The reality is that we have a 6-10 year period that just hasn't provided any real talent, not even enough to provide real depth. Even the players that are staring caliber that are 27 or older are at the low end of that. We are needing to provide almost an entire WC roster with players aged 20-27 or close to it. 

If we are healthy, we will advance regardless of who's up top. By healthy I mean Adams, McKennie, Pulisic, Dest, Weah, AAronson, Reyna, Musah, A. Robinson, and Zimmerman is an absolute must. maybe the most important health on the roster, including Pulisic. 

Imo Sargent and Pefok have to be on the roster along with Ferreira. Can Gregg really still be considering Stefan the starter in goal? 

I know Gregg wants to play the ball out of the back and build up from there, and ideally that is what I prefer. However, we need to recognize that we don't have the skill set to do that against active high pressing teams. We just turn it over in bad spots or play it back and still just boot it long. It's like telling Yuri to dunk on Okoro. Just be strong and go do it. Sure ok. After the last game he said we played without imagination. What he meant was we didn't take people on enough, push the ball forward enough. He's right but he's also wrong as we didn't because we had too many players on the field that just don't possess that ability. Asking players to play a way they aren't capable is just begging for disaster and that's what we got. 

As much as I love Tyler Adams, and I do. He's tough gritty, wins the ball and plays with an attitude. He misses so many opportunities to turn the ball up field. His first thought is almost always to lay it off which allows the opponent to gather themselves. We need to counter quicker and more direct more often. We don't currently possess enough skill to have to constantly work the ball through a team and a defense that is packing it in. 

I personally don't know if Steffen is the answer, but in a half where we struggled to keep possession v SA, Turner kept just giving the ball away. He is a fantastic shot stopper, but it is really, really problematic when he actually has possession of the ball. I don't trust anyone in the pool in possession/distribution, but Steffen I probably trust the most. Like I said, I don't totally agree with bringing Steffen as the starter, but we aren't exactly flush with legitimate options