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US Men's National Team (29 Viewers)

Meanwhile, Owen continues to be a disaster of a player. Note that he started for Brugge at the beginning of the season.

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Brian Sciaretta
@BrianSciaretta

Owen Otasowie has gone missing again for several weeks from Club Brugge (he did the same last year). Brugge is no longer paying him now. He’s still under contract and Brugge is trying to transfer or terminate his deal. Brugge paid $4 mill for him in ‘21
 
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AAABatteries said:
NewlyRetired said:
Instead of focusing on the guys who will never play, I am more interested in trying to figure out how the core ~18 will work out.

*Who starts at Rb if Dest can't go?

*Will Ream come all the way full circle to be a starter?

*If Weston is healthy, how do we best use Aaronson.

*I think the 270 minutes at striker are going to be split almost entirely between Jesus and Sargent.
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If you had told me two years ago I would be begging for us to start Ream in the WC in 2022 then I would have assumed I was in a car accident with brain trauma.
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So true. He was totally dead to me 2-3 years ago when i saw him get beaten like a drum repeatedly at left back. Just torched time and time again.

But he looks like such class in England for Fulham. Just smooth and makes zero mistakes and even covers up for other's mistakes. Just a damn fine center back.

It's a funny old game.
 
AAABatteries said:
NewlyRetired said:
Gutted for Nips. The guy left everything on the field every time he played, no matter how limited he was

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I’m more surprised by Nips than Steffan. I’d definitely takes him over Jordan if both are healthy. But I agree with you - with 3 extra players there was always going to be controversy but hopefully these guys never see the pitch.
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the more I read GGG's comments the more I see him talking about fitting in certain profiles. He might think Morris gives him more of bruiser, set piece type of player where as Nips quicker, smaller profile is already well covered by Pulisic and Aaronson.

Just spit ballling here as I also wanted Nips over Morris.
 
AAABatteries said:
NewlyRetired said:
Gutted for Nips. The guy left everything on the field every time he played, no matter how limited he was

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I’m more surprised by Nips than Steffan. I’d definitely takes him over Jordan if both are healthy. But I agree with you - with 3 extra players there was always going to be controversy but hopefully these guys never see the pitch.
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Also 100% here. Nips gave a lot in qualifying and was one of the most consistent and reliable players. Morris looks like he doesn't really know how to play soccer and just runs hard at things. Looks like it takes him 20 yards to get a head of steam going. There's no way Morris will get any such room in the world cup.
 
NewlyRetired said:
Meanwhile, Owen continues to be a disaster of a player. Note that he started at the beginning of the season.

=================

Brian Sciaretta
@BrianSciaretta

Owen Otasowie has gone missing again for several weeks from Club Brugge (he did the same last year). Brugge is no longer paying him now. He’s still under contract and Brugge is trying to transfer or terminate his deal. Brugge paid $4 mill for him in ‘21
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What a maroon.
 
The Z Machine said:
NewlyRetired said:
Meanwhile, Owen continues to be a disaster of a player. Note that he started at the beginning of the season.

=================

Brian Sciaretta
@BrianSciaretta

Owen Otasowie has gone missing again for several weeks from Club Brugge (he did the same last year). Brugge is no longer paying him now. He’s still under contract and Brugge is trying to transfer or terminate his deal. Brugge paid $4 mill for him in ‘21
Click to expand...
What a maroon.
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Brian Sciaretta

@BrianSciaretta

At this point, I’d be surprised if he ever played at a pro level again. 6 appearances in the Premier League with Wolves, a hefty sum (by Club Brugge’s standards) paid for him, capped by the #USMNT, considered a top natural talent as a young player - something is very wrong here
 
Yeah seems like he isn’t right mentally. Shouldn’t someone be investigating his whereabouts? Are we certain he’s alive?
 
Does anyone else think GGG seemed to take an old (relatively) in each position group? I'm using the position breakdowns on the announcement.

Keepers - Johnson.
Defenders - Ream (and Yedlin).
Midfielders - Roldan.
Forwards - Morris.

I don't know what this means, and other than Morris for Nips I think GGG nailed the roster. But I did find this interesting.
 
NewlyRetired said:
He might think Morris gives him more of bruiser, set piece type of player where as Nips quicker, smaller profile is already well covered by Pulisic and Aaronson.
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Totally agree. And honestly, it makes a lot of sense. Nips is a better soccer player than Morris, but he's not a better soccer player than Pulisic, Aaronson and Weah, so he's redundant. Morris offers something different.

Berhalter said as much with Wright. I'd have preferred Pefok, but maybe Wright (a similar player) -- as a longtime US-born Nat who grew up with many members of the team -- is better for morale? I bet he considered all these things.

Ultimately he got it right IMO. He made some big calls (cutting Steffan, bringing Ream back) and nothing he did was indefensible.
 
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Interesting comments from Southgate

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Southgate: "People say we have enormous depth in this country but we have only 31% (English players) in the league." "We've only got four goalkeepers in the league, lack of left backs and an unbelievably injury list at right back."
 
I feel like the CB group for England is their vulnerability in the squad but I am unsure we have where near the quality needed centrally to take advantage of this.
 
GGG admitted late last night that Luca is NOT fit right now and they are hoping he gets fit during the tournament to contribute at some point.
 
NewlyRetired said:
AAABatteries said:
NewlyRetired said:
Gutted for Nips. The guy left everything on the field every time he played, no matter how limited he was

Click to expand...

I’m more surprised by Nips than Steffan. I’d definitely takes him over Jordan if both are healthy. But I agree with you - with 3 extra players there was always going to be controversy but hopefully these guys never see the pitch.
Click to expand...

the more I read GGG's comments the more I see him talking about fitting in certain profiles. He might think Morris gives him more of bruiser, set piece type of player where as Nips quicker, smaller profile is already well covered by Pulisic and Aaronson.

Just spit ballling here as I also wanted Nips over Morris.
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I think that's kind of what you have to do with those last few spots on the roster. I mean, do I think Roldan is a better guy to start a game than Malik Tillman or Djorge? Not really. But I know he's the better guy to see out the last 15 minutes of a lead.

Arriola is one of my favorite guys. But Aaronson is also an insanely high workrate guy who can play on either wing, so I don't really see how Paul would get on the field. I could see Morris coming on if you just need a goal by hook or by crook. Just him and Haji trying to bully guys.
 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
NewlyRetired said:
AAABatteries said:
NewlyRetired said:
Gutted for Nips. The guy left everything on the field every time he played, no matter how limited he was

Click to expand...

I’m more surprised by Nips than Steffan. I’d definitely takes him over Jordan if both are healthy. But I agree with you - with 3 extra players there was always going to be controversy but hopefully these guys never see the pitch.
Click to expand...

the more I read GGG's comments the more I see him talking about fitting in certain profiles. He might think Morris gives him more of bruiser, set piece type of player where as Nips quicker, smaller profile is already well covered by Pulisic and Aaronson.

Just spit ballling here as I also wanted Nips over Morris.
Click to expand...
I think that's kind of what you have to do with those last few spots on the roster. I mean, do I think Roldan is a better guy to start a game than Malik Tillman or Djorge? Not really. But I know he's the better guy to see out the last 15 minutes of a lead.

Arriola is one of my favorite guys. But Aaronson is also an insanely high workrate guy who can play on either wing, so I don't really see how Paul would get on the field. I could see Morris coming on if you just need a goal by hook or by crook. Just him and Haji trying to bully guys.
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I agree. There is also some intrinsic value when one of the last guys on the roster can play as many positions as Roldan can. That helps cover a bunch of emergency cases.
 
Poke_4_Life said:
How am I supposed to work when USMNT social media is posting so much stuff? They are now releasing all the calls between GGG and the players on YouTube.

Here's the first one. "The Call": Sean Johnson
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Imagine if they posted the Pepi, Steffen, Nips calls? Those would be tear jerking for me. Pepi not as much since he is young enough to get another chance. Given our young talent, Nips's window is almost certainly closed and Steffen has to improve a ton to catch the next coaches eye.
 
TLEF316 said:
I'm not the world's biggest nips fan or anything but I have no idea what Morris has done to earn a spot over him. Dude has looked absolutely washed every time I've seen him post injury. All he ever was was speed and now that's gone.

Knew he'd take roldan. Moore over Cannon is weird but justifiable in certain scenarios.

Haji makes no sense to me either. I know pepi was bad for a long time but I'd trust him to finish a late game chance much more than Haji.

Feel bad for steffen but he has shown too much potential to lose a game with a brain fart.
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Agree, I would have Nips over Morris every day of the week. He just does a lot of little things well and is nice depth. Morris is meh.
 
I'm kind of surprised that the back end of the roster didn't cover guys who we'd want to bring with the thought they'd be big in '26 -- Gaga, Tillman etc... If the bottom of the roster is not going to play anyway, I think I'd prefer that...

I think some players are on the plane for team chemistry and being well-liked.
 
prefontaine said:
My 26 man roster of dudes who are not going to Qatar. Left off injured guys.

GK (3) - Steffen, Slonina, Cohen
CB (5) - Brooks, Miazga, Palmer-Brown, McKenzie, Trusty
FB (4) - Cannon, Bello, Tolkin, Bye
Mids (6) - Mihaliovic, Johnny, Ledezma, Busio, Sonora, Mendez
Wings (5) - Arriola, Paredes, Booth, Tillman, Zendejas
Fwds (3) - Vasquez, Pepi, Pefok

Missing stars and depth is bad. Midfield has a lot of creativity but not much bite.
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The CB's stand out to me. I could make a valid argument that 4 of the 5 you listed (not Brooks) are all currently playing better than Long and at worst the 4 are right at CCV's level.
 
Sciaretta just posted that one of the reasons that Bale was not playing much for LA was his inability to train. There are some real questions as to his fitness level. He has always been a match winner so even as a super sub he is going to help Wales but I much prefer dealing with him for only 20 vs 90.

Best case might be Wales tries to start him and he fatigues quickly forcing an early sub.
 
I am very jealous of the teams who have lined up friendlies. I really wish we had something.

I would be happy if GGG has talked to another WC team who is training near by the US in Qatar for a closed door scrimmage.
 
NewlyRetired said:
I feel like the CB group for England is their vulnerability in the squad but I am unsure we have where near the quality needed centrally to take advantage of this.
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I think we have a great chance against England with that CB group. England is going to dominate possession, which means we will have to beat them on the counter. With Pulisic, Gio, Aaronson, and Sargent with McKennie running in late, we absolutely will have some chances against that group.

We're gonna have to be clinical in our finishing for it to make a difference, but Gio/Pulisic running at MacGuire/Stones is a huge advantage to the US on the counter IMO.

Their attack is where they're scary. No idea how we don't give up at least 3 to that squad.
 
NewlyRetired said:
prefontaine said:
My 26 man roster of dudes who are not going to Qatar. Left off injured guys.

GK (3) - Steffen, Slonina, Cohen
CB (5) - Brooks, Miazga, Palmer-Brown, McKenzie, Trusty
FB (4) - Cannon, Bello, Tolkin, Bye
Mids (6) - Mihaliovic, Johnny, Ledezma, Busio, Sonora, Mendez
Wings (5) - Arriola, Paredes, Booth, Tillman, Zendejas
Fwds (3) - Vasquez, Pepi, Pefok

Missing stars and depth is bad. Midfield has a lot of creativity but not much bite.
Click to expand...

The CB's stand out to me. I could make a valid argument that 4 of the 5 you listed (not Brooks) are all currently playing better than Long and at worst the 4 are right at CCV's level.
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Yeah. I felt like you could probably swap the CBs and Fwds from the actual roster and no one would care. Those spots were pretty easy to find options and it's virtually the same quality because we have a lot of okay options and no top end guys at either spot.

RBs were hard though because Berhalter selected them all.
 
Interesting....After the world cup Berhalter promised Zendejas a call up and supposedly Zenajas is committed to the US.
@RobAbramowitz
: Alejandro Zendejas será convocado por #USMNT tras el Mundial de #Qatar2022. Se lo confirmó Gregg Berhalter, añadiendo que el mexicoamericano de 24 años de Club América está comprometido con USA (INT U15-U16-U17-U18-U20). Jugó 2 amistosos con México.
tras el Mundial de #Qatar2022. Se lo confirmó Gregg Berhalter, añadiendo que el mexicoamericano de 24 años de Club América está comprometido con USA (INT U15-U16-U17-U18-U20). Jugó 2 amistosos con México.
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prefontaine said:
Interesting....After the world cup Berhalter promised Zendejas a call up and supposedly Zenajas is committed to the US.
@RobAbramowitz
: Alejandro Zendejas será convocado por #USMNT tras el Mundial de #Qatar2022. Se lo confirmó Gregg Berhalter, añadiendo que el mexicoamericano de 24 años de Club América está comprometido con USA (INT U15-U16-U17-U18-U20). Jugó 2 amistosos con México.
tras el Mundial de #Qatar2022. Se lo confirmó Gregg Berhalter, añadiendo que el mexicoamericano de 24 años de Club América está comprometido con USA (INT U15-U16-U17-U18-U20). Jugó 2 amistosos con México.
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Click to expand...

I saw that the other day but it did not make sense to me so I did not post it. I don't quite understand how GGG can be making any promises to players for the next cycle when he may not be the coach. Maybe it was some one at the federation level (McBride or Stewart) who approved it?
 
Scally and Reyna play against each other today. Hopefully we can avoid a disastor where one accidentally hurts the other if either plays.

After the game the two long time friends will hop on a plane and go to what could be their first of three world cups together.
 
B Maverick said:
Talking Heads Yesterday:

"Sargent? Well he is scoring against lesser opponents in the Championship. And Wales is a lesser opponent. And Harry Maguire if he starts for England at centre half is a lesser opponent"

:lmao:
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In addition to generally sucking, it’s obvious Maguire’s confidence is shot at the moment. I fully expect Southgate to play him though.
 
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