There are two universal truths when it comes to roster announcements for the USMNT. Happens every FIFA window and this one is no exception. Coach, Gregg Berhalter announced the 26-man roster for the camp starting today last Wednesday. Universal truth #1 – one or more players on the roster announcement will get injured over the next several days prior to the camp. In this case we didn’t even make it 24 hours before it was determined that midfielder Yunas Musah had a minor injury and was out. So he was quickly replaced by Johnny Cardoso. Then two days later center backs Chris Richards and Cameron Carter-Vickers were injured and subsequently replaced by Mark McKenzie and Emerson Palmer-Brown. And this was on top of potential WC starters Antonee Robinson (left back), Tim Weah (winger), and Zack Steffen (goalkeeper) already injured and out for this camp.

Then the second universal truth. As soon as the roster was announced out came the whines and moans as a fan’s favorite player was left off. Mostly just typical fan whining, some raising the usual bias toward MLS players conspiracy theories, and last some honest questioning to what appeared to be some snubs. More on the snubs in the analysis of each playing group.

The root issue for this camp is driven by the dreadful decision by FIFA to allow Qatar to host the WC in the early winter during the middle of the domestic European seasons. What this means is that instead of the typical 2-3 week pre-WC camp and several friendlies there will be less than a week ‘camp” to get the squad together to train and prep for the WC. With no friendlies. So this camp is the last time to get players together and get them some actual playing time with each other before the WC. Remember that the US team is by far the youngest team headed to the WC (average age is 2 years younger than the next youngest team, Ghana). So the problem facing Berhalter and staff is to juggle this camp to give your players some game time playing in the position and in the tactics expected to use in Qatar while also trying to ensure you have taken one last look at any “outside” players that may still earn a spot on the last plane ride. Tough to pull these competing objectives off and Berhalter’s stated emphasis for this camp was to get his expected roster together and get them minutes. With that lets take a look at each position group and what we are looking for in this camp.

Goalkeepers

I’d like to be able to start with some good news/ bad news. Unfortunately, for this group its pretty hard to find any good news. The hope going into the fall season was the with Zack Steffen and Ethan Horvath transferring to teams in the English Championship that they would be their teams starting keepers and get plenty of playing time to prepare for the WC. Well they have been the starters but have not played that great. Not bad but not at the level you’d like to see especially for playing 2nd division soccer. And Steffen can’t seem to get past his injury bug. Then there is Matt Turner who transferred to Arsenal this summer. The perhaps good news is he’s getting terrific training work. But as expected he’s pretty much riding the bench behind starter Aaron Ramsdale. And seeing how Ramsdale has led the Gunners to first place in the EPL that isn’t going to change. So Turner will have to get his minutes in their Europa League and Cup matches. Still should get enough work to be in form come November. Horvath has been playing ok as has Sean Johnson. Hard to know what Berhalter will do keeper wise in the two upcoming friendlies. For sure we will see Turner get at least one start. The other start might be a flip between Horvath and Johnson depending on who has looked better in camp or it might just be Turner getting both starts.

What we need:

  1. Somebody, please for God’s sake, to make their case for keeper #1.

Defenders

This is a difficult group to describe because so much is going to depend on who is healthy in Qatar. Certainly the hope is that we have the right players healthy to continue with the outside backs pushing forward down the wings and relying on the center backs supported by Tyler Adams to hold a high defensive line. The problem is that you have to have at least one fairly fast center back to play this way. Walker Zimmerman is very solid especially in the air but he needs a partner with some quickness. The plan being Chris Richards. But Richards is getting very little playing time for Crystal Place (EPL) and is now injured. Its a good thing we have a lot of depth in the back as we have so many injuries that we are going to need it this week. Going into the camp I expect to see Aaron Long paired with Zimmerman in the middle. Sergino Dest at RB (with his main backup being Joe Scally) and Sam Vines at LB (with his main backup being Scally). Expect to see both Mark McKenzie and EPB get minutes in these friendlies. My question here is why Tim Ream wasn’t called in? I get he is 34 but his is staring every week for Fulham (EPL) and is their team captain. He’s very familiar with our players and has plenty of international experience. I would have called him in over EPB but I ain’t the coach.

What we need:

  1. Determine our #2 LB, Vines or ?
  2. Determine our best CB paring if Richards is not available.
  3. Determine if we need to shift away from the high line if we don’t have enough speed at CB.

Midfield

Finally we get to some good news. Even missing Yunas Musah this camp we have some terrific players and solid depth in the middle of the field. Depending on the opponent most expect to see what has become known as the MMA midfield in Qatar. When McKennie, Musah, and Adams are all on the field that’s a midfield equal to just about any team on the planet. They are that good. Then as backup we have Luca de la Torre (who may be the best passer of the bunch), Kellyn Acosta who while erratic sure does up his game when its a big one (see his performances against Mexico). Then as backups we have Cardoso (who is rocking the Brazilian league) and Malik Tillman (starting for Rangers in Scotland and has shown well in both league play and UCL). And Tillman is a very versatile player who can go wide as a winger or straight up top as a #9. Not much to worry about with this group!

What we need:

  1. Determine who, if anybody, can be a like for like replacement for Musah. Come Qatar even if all three of MMA are healthy, they can’t go 270 minutes. Going to have to be some subs and likely they won’t start all 3 group stage matches. Another option is to bring one of the forwards (Brenden Aaronson!) back into the middle.
  2. Determine if Tillman or Cardoso are potential options for Qatar as final roster spots are filled out.

Forwards:

Another group that is difficult to describe. They can play so many ways depending on who is available and the opponent. For sake of discussion here, I will outline how things look if we go with a 3 man front line and a pressing approach. This is critical because probably the main snub not called in to this camp is Jordan Pefok. Pefok is scoring almost at will in the Bundesliga and has his side, Union Berlin, sitting in 1st place. But he plays a traditional #9 role and is not well suited to the hard press we typically play. Still against England, when we may not press as much, he may have a role. Just because he wasn’t called in to this camp don’t rule him out for Qatar.

So with that out of the way we have 3 players in this camp who do fit our fast press mode we want out of our #9s. The problem for the last year is that they mostly weren’t scoring. Front runner right now seems to be Jesus Ferriera. He has scored 18 goals for Dallas FC (MLS) this season and is a terrific presser who can also drop deeper to support the build up. But he’s on the small side (5′ 9″ and only 150#) and the worry for him is if he would get physically beaten by opposing defenses. Then there is Josh Sargent who seemed to be THE guy until he had some less than stellar performance for the Nats and wasn’t scoring for Norwich City (EPL then relegated to Championship). But he’s found his scoring touch in a big way so far this season tallying 6 goals and an assist in 10 matches. Lastly its Ricardo Pepi. The Dallas FC wonderkid who transferred to FC Augsburg (Bundesliga) but then just never found his stride. He tansferred to FC Groningen during the last window and scored a goal in his first start. Both Pepi and Sargent are excellent pressing forwards and big enough to play in the middle. But not quite the ball handler as Ferriera.

Then we have what is probably the strongest group in our pool. The wingers. Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Aaronson, Jordan Morris, Paul Arriola, not to mention the currently injured Tim Weah. There are just so many ways to play this group of guys and that makes it very difficult for opposing teams to prepare for. The only real question with this group is just who do you start? There is really no practical way to start Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, and Aaronson. Even if you move say Aaronson or Reyna to midfield (and that means sitting McKennie or Musah). So it really is good news because no matter which way you decide to play you are going to have several world class guys waiting on the bench. And that kind of depth is what is needed to succeed in a WC.

What we need:

  1. Plenty of playing time for Pulisic, Aaronson, and Reyna.
  2. Determine the better option for a final roster spot between Morris and Arriola (both could go especially if you deem Tillman not ready).
  3. Who is going to be the main #9. I think we see Ferreira and Sargent each get a start and Pepi get 30 or so sub minutes in both matches.

We have a week long camp and two friendlies to get this right. Sure, if some player not in this camp has an outstanding form over the next two months they could still earn a plane ticket to Qatar (especially Pefok). But like it or not what we see this week is going to be very very close to the final 26 man roster come November. Its been a long time since we have played any friendly matches that have the importance of these two. Both of our matches are against teams also headed to Qatar so expect to see a bit higher level play than one sees in a typical friendly. Players need to make their cases. Their is no tomorrow as the saying goes.

The friendlies are as follows:

US vs Japan – Friday September 23 at 0826 EDT. Shown on ESPN 2

US vs Saudi Arabia – Tuesday September 27 at 1400 EDT. Shown on FS!

Steve Birrer
Steve Birrer

Soccer Analyst

Steve is an avid fan of all things soccer and the O’s. Originally from the west, he grew up in the Baltimore area. He returned to the west for college where he earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University and spent 36 years working at the Idaho National Laboratory prior to retiring in 2013. It was during his school years in Baltimore where he learned to play soccer and that developed into a life long passion. He played competitively for over 40 years and was a four year starting goalkeeper at MSU. He also coached and refereed in the Idaho premier soccer and High School programs for many years.

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