U.S. men's roster: Gregg Berhalter names team for opening camp in 2019
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Dec 20, 2018
All 27 players play for MLS teams. (A 28th player will named at a later date.)
Most of the first-choice players Berhalter will likely build his team around, though, are in Europe, where he has begun the process of introducing himself to his new players and officials at the clubs.
Of the 11 players who started in the 3-0 loss to England in November, only midfielder Wil Trapp, Berhalter's captain on the Columbus Crew, was called in for January camp in Chula Vista. Brad Guzan and Jorge Villafana, who play for MLS Cup finalists Atlanta United and Portland, respectively, started against England but aren't in the 27-player squad announced on Thursday.
Of note ...
-- Michael Bradley, the U.S. captain in the previous cycle but used for only two of the 12 games under interim coach Dave Sarachan, was recalled. He has more caps (142) than the other 26 players on the team combined (137).
-- Twelve players are uncapped, and seven of them have never attended a senior national team camp.
-- Six players are age-eligible for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo: Reggie Cannon, Jeremy Ebobisse, Justen Glad, Mark McKenzie, Djordje Mihailovic and Auston Trusty. Only Cannon has a senior cap. McKenzie, the only teenager, played for the U-20s that qualified for their world championship in Poland in May.
-- Two players have been traded in the last week: Greg Garza from Atlanta United to FC Cincinnati and Keegan Rosenberry from Philadelphia to Colorado.
-- Besides Guzan and Villafana, other MLS players not on the initial roster include Jozy Altidore, Bill Hamid, Darlington Nagbe and Tim Parker.
Berhalter: “In putting together this domestic-based roster, we started with a number of players who we think can be a core part of the group moving forward. We then looked at players that excelled this year in Major League Soccer, and finally chose players that can play a specific role in our game model. We are very excited to start to implement our ideas about the style of play and the culture we want to develop in the National Team.”
U.S. Roster:
GOALKEEPERS (4):
Alex Bono (Toronto FC; 1/0)
Sean Johnson (NYCFC; 5/0)
Tyler Miller (LAFC; 0/0)
Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew; 6/0)
DEFENDERS (10):
Reggie Cannon (FC Dallas; 2/0)
Greg Garza (FC Cincinnati; 10/0)
Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; 0/0)
Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0)
Aaron Long (NY Red Bulls; 2/0)
Daniel Lovitz (Montreal Impact; 0/0)
Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union; 0/0)
Keegan Rosenberry (Colorado Rapids; 0/0)
Auston Trusty (Philadelphia Union; 0/0)
Walker Zimmerman (LAFC; 4/1)
MIDFIELDERS (10):
Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 23/2)
Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 17/2)
Corey Baird (Real Salt Lake; 0/0)
Michael Bradley (Toronto FC; 142/17)
Russell Canouse (D.C. United; 0/0)
Marky Delgado (Toronto FC; 6/0)
Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 5/1)
Djordje Mihailovic (Chicago Fire; 0/0)
Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 5/0)
Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; 11/0)
FORWARDS (3):
Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers; 0/0)
Christian Ramirez (LAFC; 0/0)
Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew; 40/6)
U.S. Schedule:
Jan. 27: USA vs. Panama in Glendale Ariz. (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2, Univision Networks)
Feb. 2: USA vs. Costa Rica in San Jose, Calif. (3:30 p.m. ET Univision Networks)
18 comments about "U.S. men's roster: Gregg Berhalter names team for opening camp in 2019".
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no nagbe? hmmmm.
I had high hopes for Darlington and I’d rather see him than a couple others, but he isn’t ruthless in a finishing way. So many opportunities that he passes on or lacks the desire/confidence to become a consistent scorer. He, along with several others, I would work endlessly on finishing. Daily, intense, and they would get mad enough to score in bunches or throw in the towel.
DARLINGTON WAS RATHER SLOW, DID NOT IMPROVE SKILLS IN THE LAST 2 YEARS AND DID NOT MASTER GOAL DIRECT KICKS. dOUBTFUL HE WILL EVER BE AN INDISPENSABLE PLAYER FOR OUR NATION's TEAM .EVERY MIDFIELDER SHOUD HAVE SOME SKILL TO SHOOT DIRECTLY TO THE GOAL.
Bradley instead of Nagbe... new Coach but some things never change. Bradley's shelf life expired 4 years ago.
I don’t get it j. Is he there to show the others how to be professional, to wear the Captains band? I wish Greg the best and our team.
Michael Bradley? Why?
Because he is still the best US No. 6. Take that as a complaint about the quality of the current player pool. We actually need at least three quality No. 6s in the pool.
Trapp isn't good enough. In Spain they call the 6 position the "pivot" because it is the center of both the defense and the attack. Trap doesn't have the skills needed for the 6 offensive role.
Bradley???? Back to status quo! Sad!
Bradley? First sign of new coach in state of denial.
Zardes? Physically a beast, but low soccer IQ...samo-samo. Let's see how long this experiment lasts.
I suspect that Zardes is in camp as a stand-in for an injured Altidore, which I don't expect to please you either.
Trap is not Bradley's replacement. Trap simply doesn't have the skills necessary for international competition. He is half a number 6. Since he comes from Berhalter's club, Trap is not going to get the mentoring he needs to improve his game from the MNT coach. Berhahlter better have at least two other sixes in the player pool.
I think most people, if not most people then at least Soccer America readers, understand that the MNT doesn't have enough quality in the pool at the 7 to 11 positiions.
If you don't agree with me, look at the contrast with the WNT which for 30 years has had world class forwards as reserves.
Let's take a vote people, yes or no for Bradley and Zardes? I'm a NO!!!!!!
No!
Great to see christian ramirez still in the mix of it. Pride of La Quinta High School in Westerminster Ca. Where I played at and coached.
With only three players called in as forwards, it speaks to the lack of talent and depth at the 7-11 positions. And the fact that Zardes, whose first touch is laughably bad, is one of them says it all. Bradley is decent, not great, as a 6, but I think Trapp has potential. When the Europe-based players join the pool, I’d like to see McKinnie back in that role. The omission of Nagbe is a puzzle, we have very few (two? three?) players with his skill on the ball.
NO!NO!NO! enough of the OLD squad. Supposed to be a youth movement with the MNT, what's going on? If you need more forwards get them from the U20,U19,U18. Looks like Berhalter is not the right person for this task. I would rather stick with Sarachan, he actually had the right idea that the MNT fans wanted and demanded.
Bradley,s life span expired with the loss to Trinidad . Nagbe has no mental narrowness to distribute the ball. Stay with thr youth aimmind for Qatar22