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USMNT Gold Cup Final Player Thoughts
Posted on 8/3/21 at 3:25 pm
Posted on 8/3/21 at 3:25 pm
Most of this is scattered throughout the 51 page thread, but after letting it digest a few days here are my final thoughts with an eye on a Qatar near 23:
1. Matt Turner, Miles Robinson and Acosta: clearly ready to be apart of a best 23 USMNT roster. There is some depth at CB that could have Miles on the bubble, but a healthy turner and Acosta will be on the Qatar roster.
2. Busio: a technical player transferring to a technical league is great. That said, he will need to physically mature quite a bit to be a big factor. And he may, but I see more Julian green than a core USMNT player going forward in Busio. Busio is a cycle away at least.
3. Hoppe: love his moxy but is far too wasteful at the moment. A very useful player to have especially in concacaf where energy and spirit can really matter. With Sargent, Pulisic, Reyna, Aaronson, Weah, Pefok, Musah, De la Fuente, Dike, he has lot to do to be included as an attacking player in any in best 23 roster at the moment.
4. Cannon, Bello, Moore, Vines: I thought the FBs really showed out well. Bello in particular is the teenager from this tournament I’m most excited about. Limited time, but I love the instinct and willingness he showed to drive forward. Overall our FB depth seems pretty good.
5. Arriola/Gioacchini: I hope Arriola is not done as a useful USMNT player, but his legs did show a lot of bounce. I think the team looked better whenever Gioacchini was out there instead.
6. Roldan, Williamson, Lletget, Zardes, Sands: think these guys can be helpful getting points against weaker concacaf teams but I don’t think any are realistic for Qatar in a year.
7. Dike: mulligan. Hope he’s back playing in Europe soon.
1. Matt Turner, Miles Robinson and Acosta: clearly ready to be apart of a best 23 USMNT roster. There is some depth at CB that could have Miles on the bubble, but a healthy turner and Acosta will be on the Qatar roster.
2. Busio: a technical player transferring to a technical league is great. That said, he will need to physically mature quite a bit to be a big factor. And he may, but I see more Julian green than a core USMNT player going forward in Busio. Busio is a cycle away at least.
3. Hoppe: love his moxy but is far too wasteful at the moment. A very useful player to have especially in concacaf where energy and spirit can really matter. With Sargent, Pulisic, Reyna, Aaronson, Weah, Pefok, Musah, De la Fuente, Dike, he has lot to do to be included as an attacking player in any in best 23 roster at the moment.
4. Cannon, Bello, Moore, Vines: I thought the FBs really showed out well. Bello in particular is the teenager from this tournament I’m most excited about. Limited time, but I love the instinct and willingness he showed to drive forward. Overall our FB depth seems pretty good.
5. Arriola/Gioacchini: I hope Arriola is not done as a useful USMNT player, but his legs did show a lot of bounce. I think the team looked better whenever Gioacchini was out there instead.
6. Roldan, Williamson, Lletget, Zardes, Sands: think these guys can be helpful getting points against weaker concacaf teams but I don’t think any are realistic for Qatar in a year.
7. Dike: mulligan. Hope he’s back playing in Europe soon.
5
Posted on 8/3/21 at 6:25 pm to ned nederlander
One thing to remember about Hoppe is that he's played more as a striker than a winger before this tournament.
And you can bet Lletget will be around for WCQ and I wouldn't be surprised if he was around for the World Cup. He offers positional versatility and Berhalter likes him. Same with Zardes
And you can bet Lletget will be around for WCQ and I wouldn't be surprised if he was around for the World Cup. He offers positional versatility and Berhalter likes him. Same with Zardes
Posted on 8/3/21 at 7:19 pm to ned nederlander
quote:
Roldan, Williamson, Lletget, Zardes
I thought all these guys were pretty good. Better than I expected from all but Lletget who I think will be in Qatar.
The big stock risers were Turner, Hoppe and Robinson.
I thought Dike was pretty poor, and I’m not sure he really fits the squad starting up top. I’m glad the Yueill experiment seems to be done as well.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 7:56 pm to TomRollTideRitter
quote:
I’m glad the Yueill experiment seems to be done as well.
I’ll give Greg some credit for realizing early on in the tournament that Yueill wasn’t up to it and if I remember correctly never came off the bench in the knockout rounds
Posted on 8/3/21 at 8:03 pm to ned nederlander
Going to be a fun next 12 months or so watching these guys fight in their clubs.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 8:06 pm to ned nederlander
quote:
Hoppe: love his moxy but is far too wasteful at the moment. A very useful player to have especially in concacaf where energy and spirit can really matter. With Sargent, Pulisic, Reyna, Aaronson, Weah, Pefok, Musah, De la Fuente, Dike, he has lot to do to be included as an attacking player in any in best 23 roster at the moment.
I don’t think I watched the same tournament as you.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 8:33 pm to hendersonshands
quote:
One thing to remember about Hoppe is that he's played more as a striker than a winger before this tournament.
He created a bunch of chances as well.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 9:41 pm to GeorgeTheGreek
Which part do you see differently? I basically said three things about Hoppe:
1. He plays with a lot of energy and moxy
2. He is wasteful with a lot of his touches on the ball
3. Our pool of attacking players is pretty strong so he needs to tighten up his game to go to Qatar.
1. He plays with a lot of energy and moxy
2. He is wasteful with a lot of his touches on the ball
3. Our pool of attacking players is pretty strong so he needs to tighten up his game to go to Qatar.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 10:01 pm to GeorgeTheGreek
Hoops played on the wing in this tournament because he had to play on the wing. He’s a striker - and a talented one at that.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 10:47 pm to ned nederlander
quote:
3. Our pool of attacking players is pretty strong so he needs to tighten up his game to go to Qatar.
But our pool of strikers is laughably thin.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 10:51 pm to Broski
We suck at striker. Hoppe can challenge for the starting role with a strong year.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 10:59 pm to lynxcat
quote:
We suck at striker. Hoppe can challenge for the starting role with a strong year.
Hoppe could suck at Schalke and would still challenge for the role, our rotation right now is a dude in 2bund and two guys in MLS.
We were ready to hand the keys to Dike because he was scoring at Barnsley.
No name should be thrown out at this point. It's all about the hot hand. If Jozy and Bobby Wood are bagging a lot of goals between now and September 5th, call their asses up.
Having seen our current options a lot over the last two months, I'm still unconvinced that an in-form and healthy (doesn't exist) Jozy is not our best option. That's how bad things are right now at the 9.
We can't let Ricardo Pepi fall to Mexico.
This post was edited on 8/3/21 at 11:01 pm
Posted on 8/3/21 at 11:09 pm to Broski
Here's how I feel about the striker pool:
1st tier
Sargent
Pefok
Zardes
Give 'em a chance at the 9 Gregg
Hoppe
Weah
We're still here
Altidore
Wood
Johannsson
Cap tie their asses
Pepi
Mighten
Balogun
Someone please catch fire in MLS or whatever shite league you're playing in... also known as the "some frick" category
Dike
Ferreira
Gioachinni
Ebobisse
Cowell
Soto
Toye
Rubin
Wondo
Wondo
1st tier
Sargent
Pefok
Zardes
Give 'em a chance at the 9 Gregg
Hoppe
Weah
We're still here
Altidore
Wood
Johannsson
Cap tie their asses
Pepi
Mighten
Balogun
Someone please catch fire in MLS or whatever shite league you're playing in... also known as the "some frick" category
Dike
Ferreira
Gioachinni
Ebobisse
Cowell
Soto
Toye
Rubin
Wondo
Wondo
This post was edited on 8/3/21 at 11:23 pm
Posted on 8/3/21 at 11:27 pm to Broski
Whoa whoa whoa. Haji Wright firmly belongs in the some frick category.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 11:30 pm to ned nederlander
quote:
Haji Wright
Woah, woah, woah... let's not be ridiculous now.
(I seriously thought he was out of the game... and now I see he is loaned out to a bottom-tier Turkish super liga team, which basically means he is out of the game)
Posted on 8/3/21 at 11:35 pm to ned nederlander
quote:
3. Our pool of attacking players is pretty strong so he needs to tighten up his game to go to Qatar.
Our attacking midfielders and wingers group is strong. Our #9 spot is the weakness of the team.
Going into the Gold Cup I expected nothing from Hoppe and a lot from Dike. Afterwards, Dike has dropped below Zardes in my mind, and Hoppe may start up top for me. What was really concerning about Dike was his holdup play.
Our striker group is so weak that our likely starter will be whoever is in form at the moment. A front 3 of just wingers may even be a possibility like Aaronson, CP, Reyna.
Posted on 8/3/21 at 11:49 pm to TomRollTideRitter
quote:
What was really concerning about Dike was his holdup play.
If we are being fair, the service to him was arse all tourney. Mulligan is the right group for him. He is still an option with our A-squad
Posted on 8/4/21 at 9:13 am to TomRollTideRitter
quote:
Dike has dropped below Zardes in my mind,
As a Dike stan I've mentioned this after the Qatar game, but he was destined to fail with this roster. No matter the striker, they were not getting service, didn't matter who it was. Zardes has an insane work rate and drops back to midfield to defend, which is why he stood out so much this tournament.
If you look at when Dike is at his best he is able to get service and opens up the attack. At OCSC he has Nani on one side and last year an in-form Chris Mueller, at Barnsley their whole strategy was kick the ball to Dike, and even his time with USMNT against N Ireland and Costa Rica he had the likes of Pulisic and Aaronson on the wings.
It's a legit gripe that he couldn't create on his own, and he needs to get better at that before we pencil him in, but this tournament shouldn't relegate him to not being at the top of the striker pool.
At this point its (in no order) Sargent, Pefok, Dike, Zardes, Hoppe, and Weah (depending on if you see him as a winger or striker).
Posted on 8/4/21 at 9:27 am to Broski
quote:
Wondo
Wondo
Posted on 8/4/21 at 10:55 am to lionward2014
quote:
No matter the striker, they were not getting service, didn't matter who it was. Zardes has an insane work rate and drops back to midfield to defend, which is why he stood out so much this tournament.
I agree with your post, but my problem with Dike is against the better teams we aren’t going to get anyone a lot of service even with our best squad.
Our best creative players like CP, Reyna, etc. are guys that play better in tight spaces with quick one-twos. I don’t really want CP on the wing whipping in a bunch of crosses. I want him cutting inside and running at defenders.
I’m thinking our A team may be better with a #9 with pace who gives good pressure and can hold up the ball. All things equal I think Dike is better than Zardes, but with our squad, I think Zardes may be a better option.
Had Dike showed better holdup play, I’d feel comfortable with a setup for our wings to run past him. Right now he seems like a guy we start in games where we’re going to control the play.
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