OT: 26 tickets to USMNT

Until Japan it seemed like they had so much confidence and momentum building. Hopefully that's just an outsiders perspective and inside that locker room they're ready to show the world who they are. When will we have a competent striker? Excited to see what Reyna will do on the big stage. Also, I love Weah and hope they play him as much as possible. 

Man, I hope Gio Reyna can get healthy and stay healthy. And everyone else.

Guess Pepi was a shooting star - flamed out too soon. I wonder if he'll improve & get back into the mix someday.

The USMNT didn't look so good in the two warm up friendlies. Fire Gregg!

What does 26 tickets mean?

Edit: never mind, I get it. 26 tickets punched for the players selected. 

Gregg has a CB problem.

Aaron Long has been mediocre at best in the tuneup. And honestly I think that's actually being pretty forgiving of his performance. And the thing that no one is really wanting to talk about, myself included, is that Zimmerman has had some pretty severe lapses since his great qualifying run in 21. Miles being out is a big blow. Richards with a knock was unfortunate. Sands not getting a look is.... peculiar. Brooks is obviously a pipe dream to settle the squad at this point. The long and the short is we have a CB problem... again.

Curious who gets the call up top. Gregg doesn't seem to be interested in bending to the will of the public opinion. Im curious if he digs in on Pefok. Although, let's not confuse the fact that Pefok has had plenty of opportunities for the national team and done little. But his club form has been impressive lately. 

At this point the team just needs to be as healthy as they can be. Then from there, let's see more Weah as a spark. Aaronson as an energy guy/super sub. Musah healthy. Please. And fingers crossed that the stars align.

I think this is pretty close to accurate, though I could see Sean Johnson in if Steffen isn't 100% fit by then.

You listed 27 players. Morris is the obvious one to be left out. He basically offers nothing Arriola doesn't.

Otherwise I think this is probably pretty close, barring injury or some tinkering around the edges. For example, my guess is Pepi is in instead of Pefok, and perhaps another CB instead of McKenzie. Also, if Steffen isn't going to start I could see Sean Johnson being the 3rd keeper instead, because I'm not sure if Steffen is going to be cool just being on the bench.

Also, are your all caps players your starters? If so, there's basically zero chance Musah doesn't start, and I'll be shocked if a healthy Weah doesn't start either. 

And damnit, Long better not start.

The kid in serie a should be on the team

i duno anymore. im tired of this build up every x years only for us to look flat etc... Are we any good? What are expectations? Can we get out of the group round? Someone who follows this blindly, please share!  I get excited, and let down... lions / jets fan style each time. Just trying to see where expectations should be!

Will the US score a goal this World Cup is the question.

Gregg's biggest problem is that his players are made of glass and his selection sucks.  I like the roster above with some tweaks, but think GBB will get funky with it.

We will also look so much different than the last two putrid friendlies if we are able to bring Musah, Weah, Jedi, CCV and Richards.  But that is like relying on Reyna's hamstring to heal.  If 1/2 of those guys are not available, particularly Musah, we should lower expectations.  If we get out of group, that would be amazing.

On roster, I am a big Sands fan and think he brings versatility (CDM and CB better than Long), but think he's unlikely.  I also think Ream is a no brainer based on what the team just displayed (lack of energy/leadership, a better complement to Zimm, and someone who is familiar w Jedi and played against folks like Wales and England for a living).

I think it should be Ferriera who is left home, but know he is a GB fave, and it needs to come down to Sargent or Pepi staying back...and I think its the right choice to leave Pepi.  If Gregg leaves Pefok home, that would be idiotic given the lack of service, chances and utility he has been able to get out of the position.

I think he will bring SJ over Horvath, but I would bring a dude like GaGa to give him the experience heading into 2026.

And then finally, I am really curious if we get a "Julian Green" project type flyer at the last minute.  I don't think we will, but fun to speculate.  My favorite would be (old guy surprise) Darlington Nagbe or (new guy surprise) Paxton Aaronson or Florian Balogun.

The best thing would be to fire Berhalter and bring have an assistant take over. He cares more about whether players fit his "system" than winning games. And I think he also does a poor job of player evaluation as well - someone like Long clearly does not even fit his system, yet he's started the last 6 games.

That aside. I would start Scally over Dest. Musah over Mckennie (assuming Musah retains his pre injury form). Morris should be off the roster. Sargent and Ferreira can play the wing. Brooks and/or Ream over Long and maybe CCV.

Berhalter's unwillingness to incorporate a lot of these guys is frankly unforgivable. I kinda think we're just F'd. 1 point and 2 goals scored might exceed my expectations at this point.

Aaron frickin Long better not be on the bus. He couldn’t carry Agoos’ jock. 

Pefok *should* go, but probably won’t. Scally sure as hell should go, but probably won’t. 
 

If Pefok goes, it may mean GB is bending on his system and is willing to play a countering style. Which Jordan is quite well suited for. 

Fortunately, our group is trash.  Exit in the first round of the knockouts.

Tim Ream is playing the best soccer of his career in the best league in the world. He needs to be on this team.

I will be pleasantly surprised if Pefok makes the team. The one in form goal scorer in our player pool and he can't get a sniff.

Everyone is arguing about which strikers and which cbs to bring and play. I want to talk about the goalkeeping pecking order!

Turner is the much better shot stopper especially lately. Make him the number one, make Horvath 2 since he's seeing playing time then bring an up and coming talent like Slonina for three! 

I know people want the USMNT to be this possession style break down the other team with passes type team, and maybe that dream isn't dead in the long term, but man after seeing the team play worse than the sum of it's parts, I want to see some different tactics.  There's nothing wrong with being a high pressing, counter attacking type of team.  Lots of teams do it at a high level.  The USMNT has athletes.  Just lean into that to punch above your weight.

Just really hope either Sargent or Pefok are at Striker in Qatar.  Ferriera had every opportunity to take that job, and outside of one game hasn't shown anything.

The team sucked in the friendlies.  They are not going anywhere with those turnovers in the back third of the pitch. Long and Zimmerman have problems and there are no other options. McKennie has problems with focus and intensity and if these friendlies were another problem with his partying he should be benched.  They need to generate 2X to 3X the scoring opportunities in games like these but they can’t even move the ball up consistently. Their listless play seems more focused on winning a meaningless ball control stat rather than creating opportunities.  And ball control is worthless when you turn it over in the back third. 

I heard an interesting point on Sirius XM after this window.  The analyst (don't remember his name) speculated that part of what we're seeing with the mediocrity and missed expectations with the USMNT may have a component related to the media coverage of the team.  Here was his logic....

In England, and most international countries, the general population is following their team like a religion (not unlike why we're all here on MGoBlog for Michigan coverage).  The media in those countries has no need to drum up fan interest in the sport or national team - it is already there.  Thus the media coverage in those countries is more critical and measured - setting expectations more aligned with likely outcomes.  

In the US, the media and fan sites have a bias (whether conscious or unconscious) to rally support around the team in a crowded sports landscape.  Therefore the coverage tends to focus on more hype, the positive, grabbing any glimmer of potential from an outcome (Gold Cup) or player (Pulisic) and throwing that out as a reason to follow the sport.  The result is to inflate expectations beyond what is realistic.  

The US has indeed made progress.  We did well in our region and are squarely in the World Cup.  We may be able to snag some points in the group stage.  We are still not a top-15 team relative to the rest of the world and still have depth problems, coaching concerns, injuries to top players, and structural limitations.  Finally, while no one would question England's status relative to the US, it isn't like their international performance has been stellar for a long time and Italy, another long standing hotbed for talent, isn't even participating for the second Cup in a row.