I rate Horvath ahead of Steffen tbh, and Slonina is the future.
Might never know. If there’s any relationship that might be totally fugged, could be GGG and Steffen more than Gio.
Steffen is not the guy.
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Yeah, I like this. Zimmerman provides depth as one of the CB pairings if needed.
Gio centrally is the move for me as I think he plays much better there than on the wing. MMA is a great midfield against lesser opponents but I don’t think they bring the necessary skill set to unlock the final third against good teams. I don’t mind sitting one of them for Gio, with Wes being behind the other 2, IMO. The Dutch coach basically said as much. They can have all the possession they want through the midfield but we don’t think they can break us down when it mattered.
I’d like to see if that can improve with better attacking options like Balo as well.
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Feel like the Steffen situation is way easier to explain than the Gio one. Steffen lost form and played poorly for the usmnt and club prior to the World Cup. He was third string keeper at best, and I’d rather have a third sting keeper (the least likely player to play a single minute) to be someone happy to be there and not disappointed to be third string.
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Yep, Steffen has been in disastrous form, injury issues, etc. You can’t really demote someone to 3rd keeper. That’s a ticking time bomb.
As far as Reyna, his talent is obvious but I also think he needs to break through as an every game player this year coming up for Dortmund. That feels like the leap he needs to make on an individual level. Be healthy, be that guy, and play consistent minutes all year. He was that guy 3 years ago, but the last 2 years have not been that.
If you aren’t playing full 90s with your club because of injuries or form or whatever, it’s hard just to be the automatic guy in your national team XI.
Just feel like a flair player with constant injuries is always going to be the guy who fans want to play more often and plays less than they want. It is a fact of the sport.
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He was bad at City and for the USMNT in the WC lead up, but he was improved a lot at Middlesbrough and found some form again.
Dortmund fan here: Gio needs 2-3 injuries to starters to become a starter himself, barring massive leaps/drops in form. Dortmund plays a 4-2-3-1 and he is behind the top 3 (Malen, Brandt, Adeyemi), likely behind Reus as first 10 off the bench, and will be competing with JBG and Duranville to come on for the wingers. I love Gio’s skill and don’t want him to leave, but he will likely need to, in order to be The Guy somewhere.
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I think writing Gio in pen anywhere is honestly really hard as long as he can’t play 3/4 of the time and has some growing up to do
He’s one of the top two or three talents on the team, but he needs to be in the pitch
I think Weah is a good guy to play if your defense elsewhere is solid enough to survive his foibles there
He’s creative and fast moving forward but when he starts back-heeling in the defensive third I want to throttle him
I actually like Scally going forward, I thing he’s a better passer than Dest
Good options.
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Brighton would be great for him. Just a class organization. Everton would make me nervous.
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Over half hour into the first Gold Cup game and we are lucky to not be down 0-2. Bad defending on a set piece gave Jamaica a free header to go up one. Then Aiden Morris gives away a penalty. Bailey got his spot kick saved but scuffed the rebound badly on a wide open net.
Jamaica does have some attacking depth with their two forwards and two wings proven Prem players. Some young talent too.
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Jamaica has a tough squad, that was their hard A team and they have done a nice job adding talent. We looked the better team in the 2nd half, but could tell that was our B squad who had hardly played together.
I’m sure we will see them again in the knockouts. Without Matt Turner, that was most certainly an L last night.
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Are we using anyone that projects to be first teamer
Yedlin, Morris, Roldan have been but probably not again
Ferreira is young enough that he could be back but it sure seems like he had his shot and squandered it
Realize some of these other guys can grow into roles occupied by some vets like Zim, but the current “A” core is so young there aren’t lots of open slots where you can see guys aging out
Busio, Aidan Morris, Ferreira, Mihailovic, Cowell, Reynolds are all prospect-y. Probably missing a few.
I paid a little attention to the logic around this roster vs. Nations League but a lot of these guys are too old/bad to be contributing at Copa let alone the next World Cup. I don’t get why more guys off the U20 weren’t brought in.
Yedlin, Miazga and Jordan Morris in particular seem pointless to me.
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So that you can field a competitive team. You can’t just roll a U20 team out there. Guys who have been in the program can help pave the way for the younger guys.
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Neal, Sands, and Tolkin in addition to the names Dylan mentioned. Not necessarily first XI but copa or WC squad potential pending how things play out.
But crazy stuff happens in national team squads. Thought Brooks would be the CB for three more WCs after 2014. May never get back in the squad. Demarcus Beasley was still getting playing time in 2018 WCQ and we never thought Ream would be a starter in the WC. Injuries, form, manager with a particular fetish…who knows.
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I assume they’re here what like Jarret Jack was to G League Ignite
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