Gregg Berhalter called a Gold Cup roster. And I’m sure someone, somewhere, was upset about it. That’s fair; I don’t really know why a few of these players were called up, either. I mean, I know the ostensible reasons. But there’s something about calling up Bradley Guzan in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty one that doesn’t square with me. Nevertheless!
There is a Gold Cup roster. And it’s filled with mystery, because beyond the grand existential question of “why do anything at all,” questions swirl around this roster simply because it’s so clearly not a first-choice roster. There’s no Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Sergino Dest. As Berhalter said around the CONCACAF Nations League camp, not many of those players were ever going to participate in the Gold Cup. They need a real rest and offseason. That means, however, that “winning the Gold Cup” isn’t directive number one for this team. How can it be? Sure, they will want to win. They will be trying to win. But if winning was the all-important goal here, we’d call in some bigger players. We did not. Instead, we called forward a bunch of players that Berhalter wants more information on.
Berhalter also did not call up a few players that would have been of significant interest to many people, players like Ricardo Pepi. Matt Doyle had a pretty good read on those players as well, and it’s not because they’re not valued or wanted by the program.
…but also, if you want to read into other things…
Time will tell if this move pays off or not for Berhalter and the U.S., but it will certainly make for a tense couple months.
So I tried to make sense of all of this, splitting everyone into tiers of interest. I know. You’re welcome.
The Courtesy Calls
Brad Guzan
Sean Johnson
Here we have the two guys that I think are least-likely to play a part in the United States Men’s National Team moving forward. If they are, they’re probably fighting for the third goalkeeper spot. I don’t think there’s much of an argument to be made that either of these guys are in the top three U.S. goalkeepers at this point, or will potentially be in that pool in a year or two. We will, however, probably need one or both of these guys to fill out a roster over the course of World Cup qualifying, especially if injuries come through at some point. So here they are. Still needing to be included for purposes such as this.
Hold Your Spot
Reggie Cannon
Kellyn Acosta
Sebastian Lletget
Jackson Yueill
These four guys are the only four on the roster who took part in the Nations League games, and they are probably called up here because they all play in MLS (except for Reggie Cannon, but Boavista looked like an MLS-or-worse team this season, so it tracks). I don’t know if I would go as far as to say that these players’ place in the top U.S. 23 is “tenuous,” with the exception of Yueill. But they are all in a position where they had mixed reviews coming out of the CONCACAF Nations League, and they will be looked at as the leaders of this team. They also have plenty of people on this team that are young, hungry, and wanting to take their spot. This tournament, for these players, is as much about how they play as it is about how other people play. Are they still the guys Berhalter is going to be rounding out his squad with? Or will they be overtaken?
Welcome Back. Now Prove Us Wrong.
Cristian Roldan
Shaq Moore
Walker Zimmerman
Nicholas Gioacchini
Jonathan Lewis
Gyasi Zardes
Paul Arriola*
This group of players is probably the most diverse in terms of actual circumstances, so much so that I put an asterisk next to Paul Arriola’s name, since he never really got “dropped” from the USMNT, but was out for a long time with injury and had to work back to fitness and form. But, for one reason or another, all of these players were one-time USMNT call-ups that were deemed to be not in Berhalter’s best 23 of players. All of them, however, have a chance to break back into that group here. Roldan, in particular, has been an admitted blind spot for me, since all I can remember is that loss to Canada. But he’s basically the biggest reason Seattle has remained the best team in MLS even without Jordan Morris and Nico Lodeiro. Gyasi is Gyasi, and really didn’t have much competition to push him at striker until very recently. Gioacchini showed promise in European friendlies. Jonathan Lewis is an old Berhalter favorite called in once again. Zimmerman is a set-piece monster and we desperately need more depth at center back.
Shaq Moore is the most random inclusion on this roster, to me. The journeyman right back has been on a trek around Spain, and specifically the Segunda in the last couple years. Most of these guys aren’t particularly young, and I don’t think any of them are regarded as definite must-includes on future USMNT rosters, even as depth pieces. So it’s up to them to change that with their Gold Cup performances.
Show Me Something, Kid
Matt Turner
George Bello
Donovan Pines
Miles Robinson
James Sands
Sam Vines
Gianluca Busio
Eryk Williamson
Matthew Hoppe
Ok, so not everyone on this list is a “kid.” Matt Turner is 27 (which is 23 in goalie years). But almost all of these guys have either gotten very limited looks with the national team, or haven’t made their senior team debut at all. For this reason, this is the most exciting group of players, because they’re the ones that we pay far more attention to their ceilings than their floors. Gregg has noticed how much we talk about Turner…
And he should! I’m excited to see James Sands, Eryk Williamson, and Gianluca Busio, and frankly the U.S. could do far worse if that was a midfield trio for a game or two. Hoppe springs eternal in the human breast / Hopefully with a different team he will be blest. I still think left back is a very open conversation that Sam Vines and George Bello can work their way into, and the same goes for Miles Robinson at center back, whose passing range really has improved dramatically this year.
Donovan Pines is a bit of a flyer, but why not? He’s another player who can be a set-piece hero, and you can really not have too many of those. Not all of these players will hit and stick with the national team, but they are the ones to be excited about.
Daryl Dike
Daryl Dike
There is one person on this roster who I am pretty damn certain will be an important USMNT player in the very immediate future, and it’s Daryl Dike. I don’t even think we need all that more info on him. I’m just happy I get to see him play more for the U.S.
These are just from his limited time back in MLS, which felt like someone whose already learned to ride a bike tasked with putting the training wheels back on and dared to ride ten feet forward. There is a bit of injury concern:
But here’s hoping it doesn’t prevent him from playing. Or, if it does prevent him from playing, here’s hoping the Gold Cup call-up will just give him a nice little mini-vacation. He’s earned one, and I don’t think he’s particularly long for MLS. Keeping him healthy is a high priority for multiple parties.
Stream Schedule
One more show this week, and it’s today!
Olivia Moultrie Is a Thorn
And she is 15 years old, which makes me feel ancient. Good for her.
Vamos Ramos
I know the MLS retirement community is the standard joke, but PSG really has built world soccer’s version of The Villages over the past several years, with like a play-pen for Mbappe. Too bad that… might not last much longer.
Yeah that’s right, I linked to The Sun. I’m a bad boy. I don’t care.
Enough is Enough
It was implied that Memo Ochoa was referring to the homophobic chant, rather than explicit, but it’s still good to see Mexican players tackling this a bit more head-on.