The US men’s national team head into the third window of the World Cup qualifying Octagonal next week, set to host top-of-the-table Mexico in Cincinnati before traveling down to Jamaica to face the sixth-place Reggae Boyz. They will do so with a 25-man roster full of familiar faces, but one that also brings along a couple of newcomers and springs some surprises.
Enough preamble. Let’s dive in:
Who’s Here
• The best news on the page is that Christian Pulisic is back. The star winger had missed the better part of two months after dribbling directly into the hurt locker against Honduras in the September window, and only just made his return to action this week with Chelsea. He damn near got himself a goal in his return.
He is clearly a starter for the US based upon pure talent, but there is a building consensus among US fans that the overdribbling that got him hurt against Los Catrachos has become a feature of his US play, rather than a bug. And it’s a feature that has limited his effectiveness over the past two years – Pulisic hasn’t actually recorded a goal or an assist from open play since the 2019 Gold Cup. That’s a long time.
I do wonder if US head coach Gregg Berhalter will maybe decide to play Pulisic on the right side (where he’s been more consistent if less spectacular throughout his club career) and keep Brenden Aaronson inverted on the left. Aaronson’s not as talented as Pulisic, but he’s been more effective for the US recently.
• Reggie Cannon, who only just started getting onto the field for Boavista again, is back in the mix. Cannon had been an ever-present for Berhalter since the 2019 Gold Cup through to this summer, but club limbo cost him some sharpness and, presumably, the past few camps.
He is one of three right backs on this roster, along with veteran DeAndre Yedlin and 18-year-old newcomer Joe Scally, who has probably been the biggest revelation of the young European season thus far from a US perspective.
For those of you who haven’t been watching, Scally is an absurd athlete who’s been comfortable playing on both the left and right side, and at both wingback and fullback. He had his best outing of the year this past weekend:
Also in at fullback are presumed starting LB Antonee Robinson as well as Sam Vines, who seems to have leapfrogged Atlanta United’s George Bello in the pecking order.
• There are zero surprise inclusions in central midfield. There is one surprise omission, which we’ll get to in a bit.
• Ricardo Pepi is back, as expected. But the forward depth chart behind him has been rearranged largely, it seems, due to injury (Gyasi Zardes), lack of club form/opportunity (Josh Sargent, Matthew Hoppe) or underperformance in previous camps (Jordan Pefok, Daryl Dike).
So presumably Tim Weah and Pepi’s club teammate, Jesus Ferreira, are the backup No. 9s. Weah hasn’t played there much this year but he’s played there a bunch in the past, and is a natural at putting vertical pressure on opposing backlines with his ability and inclination to run in behind.
Ferreira, if he plays as a 9, is precisely the opposite type of No. 9 – i.e. a false 9 who comes into pockets and links play rather than a vertical threat. In truth he’s a playmaking second forward and I am somewhat surprised to see him in this particular camp, even if his club form has been superb.
Who’s Not Here
• Let’s start at the back: Sergino Dest, the hero of the last window, picked up a lower back injury this past week and missed FC Barcelona's Champions League win at Dynamo Kyiv. He did, however, make the bench, which led me to assume that he’d be available for these qualifiers.
Not calling him in is probably a concession to the injury (a trans-Atlantic flight with a back issue is no bueno), but might also be a concession to the types of games the US are facing in this window. Dest has been great when he’s played at home against teams where the US will be on the front foot. Against Mexico that’s not necessarily going to be the case – and remember, in the Nations League final against Mexico Berhalter actually started Dest as more of a midfielder than a fullback, and had to sub him out regardless. Barca, meanwhile, have recently started using him as a winger rather than a fullback – though it remains to be seen if that’ll continue to be the case with a new manager in town.
And obviously the Jamaica game is on the road, so it’s likely a more robust defensive presence is called for.
• The four center backs are Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman, Chris Richards and Mark McKenzie. Yes, that’s correct — no John Brooks.
I think this one’s pretty straightforward: based upon his club play Brooks has been good enough to be here for the US. But based upon what he showed in the September qualifiers, it’s very easy to make a case for the other guys over him.
To that end, it’s hard not to look past the win in Honduras when Brooks was subbed at the half. I don’t think that’ll be his last US appearance, and I don’t think the goal the US conceded was entirely his fault. But mistakes like that one and his performance against Canada leave the door open for younger, more mobile center backs to jump ahead of him at least temporarily, and that seems to be the case here.
EDIT: Hell of a statement from Brooks on accountability and understanding Berhalter's decision:
Also worth noting: No Tim Ream. He's been very good for Fulham this year, and there's a real case to make that he should've been included over McKenzie, who is barely playing in Belgium.
• I am disappointed we won’t see Luca de la Torre, who made a cameo as a ball-carrying No. 8 in the last window and has generally been very good for Heracles Almelo this year. And I will always respect the fact that he posted his own ball progression compilation:
De la Torre works his socks off out there and adds an on-the-ball dynamism that has, at times, been missing from the US. Granted that shouldn’t be the case this time around with both Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie (who’s in the best form of his young career) in the squad, but it’s still disappointing that de la Torre isn’t a part of this team.
Also worth noting: Last year you could caveat de la Torre’s Eredivisie performances with “yeah, but he got worked any time he faced Ajax or PSV.” You can’t do that anymore – he was one of the best players on the field in his side’s very credible scoreless draw with Ajax this past weekend.
• OK, let’s talk about that forward depth chart. We’ll start with the European contingent:
- Sargent has seven shots and zero goals in nine games for Norwich City
- Hoppe has played 89 minutes all year for Mallorca and has one shot
- Nico Gioacchini has two shots and zero goals for Montpellier
It’s easy to rule those guys out. It’s harder with Pefok, who has 9g/1a in about 1400 minutes for Young Boys this year. However, he hasn’t scored in about six weeks and seems to have lost his starting job. He was also poor for the US in the September camp.
Of the MLS contingent, Zardes would’ve been called if he’d been healthy. Dike has been in good goalscoring form for Orlando City with six goals in his past eight appearances – though it’s worth noting a couple of those were penalties – but he struggled mightily in his US appearances this summer.
Going beyond that list would’ve required a surprise call-up for the likes of Brian White or Miguel Berry, or a return to international action for Jozy Altidore. Jozy has been superb since recovering from foot surgery and looks fitter than he has in years, so I’ll admit I’m a little disappointed not to see him here.
EDIT: The more I think about this the more surprised I am Jozy isn't here. He's looked *really* good over the past few weeks, and coming in as a potential super-sub in either of these games – especially the Jamaica game, given he's traditionally dominated Caribbean opponents – seems like the ideal role for him.
EDIT v2: Ok one more edit here. This is from the Berhalter call on Thursday:
That framing certainly makes sense and does at least partially explain some of the omissions. That includes Jozy's – he's never been a super-dynamic off-ball threat no matter where he's played.
• Jordan Morris also just returned to action, but calling him as he’s trying to get fit eight months after ACL surgery would’ve been fairly crazy. So Paul Arriola gets what I’m presuming to be the fourth winger spot over Morris and Konrad de la Fuente (who has had some good moments for Marseille, but who doesn’t yet attack the box the way wingers need to in Berhalter’s system).
Unspoken in all of this is that Gio Reyna is, unfortunately, still hurt. The hamstring injury he picked up in September has lingered to a worrying degree.
Best XI
This is the only two-game window of the Ocho, so this is an opportunity for Berhalter to run out what he deems to be his best team in both qualifiers.
The only real notes on that are that 1) it’d be a lot to throw Scally to the wolves – i.e., into the XI against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier – in his first-ever US appearance, so I wouldn’t be shocked if Yedlin got the start instead, and 2) Adams is one yellow away from missing a match for yellow card accumulation, so a change at d-mid could perhaps be enforced in the Jamaica game (I am very here for a Kellyn Acosta redemption arc).
But yeah, squad rotation shouldn’t play anywhere near as big a role in this window as it did in the last two. Throw your best at ‘em both.
