“Fixing” the USMNT Roster

I’ve already written one USMNT roster article, but this idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while…so why not?

There was general dissatisfaction with the roster when it was released last week (and maybe a little anger in certain corners). I get it and I felt some of that anger as well. However, after further reflection I think what we are really feeling is weariness with the player pool.

The main sources of displeasure are Zardes, Trapp, Baird, Lovitz, and Roldan. My question is: What are the realistic replacements for these players? Let’s take a look.

Zardes

The easy answer is Sargent. If the two strikers were Altidore (Who is now hurt. This guy can’t be depended upon. He’s basically John Brooks at this point) and Sargent then I don’t think there would have been any complaining.

Let’s not take the easy route though. Who is the USMNT’s third best striker? Christian Ramirez has 6 goals in MLS this year. Bobby Wood doesn’t play for his 2. Bundesliga team nor does Sebastian Soto. Mason Toye also has 6 goals this year. It’d be more fun to see Toye or Soto on the roster, but they are both with the U23 team and will actually play there.

The only reasonable pick to replace Zardes I think would have been Jeremy Ebobisse. He was invited to the U23 camp but Portland would only let him go for part of it. With all that being the case, Zardes as striker #3 is fine as long as he wasn’t going to see the field.

Trapp

My hope is that Jackson Yueill has passed Trapp and Wil is the 24th or 25th man on the roster, but let’s assume he’s not. The distributing 6-type that Berhalter prefers for that position is not ubiquitous in the US pool. Keaton Parks would be an interesting pick here – he’s definitely been better than Trapp in MLS this year, but he’s out injured. After that, who’s left? Unless I’m forgetting someone – nobody.

Baird

The wingers that most people would like to see in place of Corey Baird would be people like Weah (hurt), Llanez (hurt and playing U19 soccer), and Jonathan Amon (hurt, as usual). There are a couple other guys like Gall or that Mueller guy from Orlando, but they aren’t even starting consistently for their low level teams. Let’s face it…if we aren’t playing Pulisic on the wing then our winger depth is Arriola, Morris, Boyd. And those guys wouldn’t start for a good team in the English Championship. Ick.

Lovitz

I can’t remember the last time I watched Montreal play so I’m not exactly the right guy to be analyzing Lovitz, but from what I understand he hasn’t even been that good for Montreal this year (WhoScored has him rated as the 9th best player on the Impact). But again…name a good American left back.

Antonee Robinson is the only realistic option that springs to mind, but he doesn’t fit the *profile for what Berhalter wants from his left back. Robinson certainly can’t play the position the way Dest does and the only other left back is Tim Ream…who’s not really a left back. (Gloster has just started playing with Jong PSV and he’s with the U23s)

Roldan

This is an easy one. I absolutely think Duane Holmes should be on the team instead of Roldan. Pomykal would have been better too, but he’s hurt and may very well have been with the U23s as well.

The young American, Duane Holmes, has two moments of brilliance in the first 30 seconds of this video . It was an enthralling game .Derby County vs Birmingham City – Goals & Highlights – 28/09/19 – HD https://t.co/F8EOJMR3O1

— Roger Faulkner (@rogerfaulkner94) September 29, 2019

Would Richie Ledezma have fit here? He’s more of a 10. People would have loved to have him on the roster, but he is with the U23s and he’s only been starting at Jong PSV for a month or so now.

So what would a “fixed” roster look like?

My answer is basically Holmes in for Roldan. That’s about it. You could make an argument for Robinson over Lovitz as well, but given what Berhalter wants from his LBs I’m not sure you could make a strong one.

The sad reality is that given injuries and the shallowness of the pool…this is it. The USMNT can field a pretty good team if everyone is healthy and in form. When you take out 3 or 4 of our best players…things get sketchy fast. This is the state of the player pool.

Until the U23 and U20 age guys start breaking through and playing regular minutes at their clubs we are going to continue to see these disappointing rosters. *sigh*

*Note* Another hard part about evaluating these rosters is trying to guess at Berhalter’s “profiles.” He has mentioned in the past that he has specific profiles in mind for each position and without knowing what exactly he wants from a left back (for example) it’s difficult to guess what players he has in mind for a given position.