Ryno01 said:

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After yesterday Im not. He cant finish against Jamaica....how can we expect him to against better competition

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This is a troll right? He already has finished against better competition

Soooooo... I just find it unbelievable he can't find one person on that list that you can lose to make room for Sargeant.

Even if you think his PT will be limited, you need him to start building cohesion with the rest of that group moving forward.

This should be interesting.

jeffk said:

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Soooooo... I just find it unbelievable he can't find one person on that list that you can lose to make room for Sargeant.

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I think Sargent will be a really good player in a couple years but he's extremely unproven at this point. I'm ok with him being left off and I'd be fine if he was on the roster. Either way, I could only see him as a sub late in a game we're losing so it really doesn't matter if he's there.

I'm glad to see Duane Holmes make it on the roster because he looked really good last night. I think our midfield will be our strength at this tournament and defense will be a big question mark without Brooks in the middle of it. The up front options leave a lot to be desired as well.

I'm definitely tuning in Sunday to see them play Venezuela as it'll be the first time to see our first team play together in 18 months or so.

I agree that it doesn't really matter how much he plays, but that practice time with the squad is huge for our team development moving forward.

We're rebuilding. I like that Berhalter has brought in a new generation and is trying out a whole bunch of different players.

Starting Sargent v Jamaica but not taking him to the Gold Cup signals to me that he was never going to play in the Gold Cup, for whatever reason. I assume Sargent knew this ahead of time. Maybe the coach thinks he needs some rest this summer, I don't know. There's no doubt in my mind that Sargent is in Berhalter's long-term plans. If he's not, we've got the wrong coach.

All I care about right now is qualifying for 2022. I like Gold Cups quite a bit, but right now all I care about is a successful rebuild. I'd be absolutely thrilled if Berhalter came out and said "I'm trying to find a group of players who are at the right ages and places in their careers to qualify for 2022 and compete in 2026 when we're hosting."

Let's say we win the Gold Cup (don't laugh)

Do you/we say wow I believe in Team USA now and buy $150 tickets in Houston to watch them qualify?

I don't .....which is why we should've went young.....they hired the Vice President to be President and looks like we have Bruce Arena #2 as head coach...just with a Columbus Crew flair

Think you're right on with the rebuilding.

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The Gold Cup roster, on paper, is a good one. It's not ideal and there are certainly some holes like left back, central defense depth, the No. 6 questions, and questions as to how promising newcomers will integrate into the team. U.S. Soccer is still working through a developmental gap and having a balanced roster with experience that features players excelling at every position is still not possible.

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I think Berhalter is trying to balance integrating youth and potential with experience and consistent players for his roster selections.

ASN Take on GC Roster

The only reason I'm ok with Sargent not playing this summer is if they felt a summer off would be better for him than playing in the Gold cup or World Cup.

Arena won the damn Gold Cup then **** the bed in qualifying.

Ryno01 said:

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It's almost as if developing young players and winning are mutually exclusive in US soccer eyes.

What a ****ing joke of a roster.

I Am Mine said:

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Ryno01 said:

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It's almost as if developing young players and winning are mutually exclusive in US soccer eyes.

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US soccer is as corrupt as FIFA. Nothing they do surprises me.

akm91 said:

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Think you're right on with the rebuilding.

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The Gold Cup roster, on paper, is a good one. It's not ideal and there are certainly some holes like left back, central defense depth, the No. 6 questions, and questions as to how promising newcomers will integrate into the team. U.S. Soccer is still working through a developmental gap and having a balanced roster with experience that features players excelling at every position is still not possible.

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I think Berhalter is trying to balance integrating youth and potential with experience and consistent players for his roster selections.

ASN Take on GC Roster

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A few will be surprised to see Josh Sargent not on the team given that he could also have played at the U-20 World Cup. But Sargent has not played a lot of soccer in 2019 for Werder Bremen. Even when he was sitting on the bench for the club's first team, he was not playing important reserve matches.

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So a catch 22?

He's not playing because he hasn't been playing but if he were playing they'd play him?

I Am Mine said:

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What the hell happened to #playyourkids

This is fun...

https://www.transfermarkt.com/spieler-statistik/teuersteelf/marktwertetop/plus/0?taktik_id=16&land_id=184&altersklasse=&kontinent_id=0&yt0=Generate+XI

I think Sargent was going to be included but with Llget's injury that changed the calculus.

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The injury suffered by the versatile Lletget left Berhalter feeling he couldn't carry three players who are only strikers. The manager had kind words for Sargent after the Jamaica game, during which he got almost no service but still managed to take the USA's only shot on goal. In the end, however, Altidore and Zardes were preferred

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Berhalter's reason for leaving out Sargent

I agree with you that him not making the GC roster means he should've been with the U20s in retrospect. I don't agree that he lacked opportunity though. I will point out that since he isn't playing regularly with Bremen, Berhalter has no clue what the kid can do until he brings him into camp.

They've been training for awhile together and he got to start a game. The team's performance was horrendous last night, which hurt anyone's chances, but he still had plenty of chances to impress. Also, Duane Holmes looked to be the best player on the field during his short time and I never saw that kind of impact from Sargent.

I'm puzzled as to why so many people automatically want this kid starting on the US national team when he's proven nothing professionally. He's young and clearly has a ton of potential but he isn't at the level many are putting him on.

PatAg said:

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You can't convince me anyone other than jozy should start over Sargent, and even that is debatable

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Agreed. I might be in the minority, but I'd prefer Sargent over Jozy.

And if it's even close....get him as much international time as possible before 2022.

OregonAggie said:

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I agree with you that him not making the GC roster means he should've been with the U20s in retrospect. I don't agree that he lacked opportunity though. I will point out that since he isn't playing regularly with Bremen, Berhalter has no clue what the kid can do until he brings him into camp.

They've been training for awhile together and he got to start a game. The team's performance was horrendous last night, which hurt anyone's chances, but he still had plenty of chances to impress. Also, Duane Holmes looked to be the best player on the field during his short time and I never saw that kind of impact from Sargent.

I'm puzzled as to why so many people automatically want this kid starting on the US national team when he's proven nothing professionally. He's young and clearly has a ton of potential but he isn't at the level many are putting him on.

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1) I really don't think Berhalter had "no clue" what Sargent could do. But let's assume that's true. If it is, then you don't bring him into camp...especially because you know he would've been a key component for the U-20s. If he truly had "no clue" about Sargent then he was never going to realistically pick him for the GC. This isn't a January training camp to assess players you don't know about. And if it was, you definitely wouldn't call a guy in for that and the expense of the U-20 WC.

2) Sargent is the epitome of an in the box striker/poacher. These players, for better or for worse, rely heavily on service. He had appalling service in that game and that's going to impact his performance much more than a midfielder or a defenders.

3) It's not a matter of wanting him to start. While I think we need to cautiously groom the young talent, he's not our best striker. It's about a decision that is dumb no matter how you look at it. In my view, there are only 3 plausible scenarios.

A) It was going to take a minor miracle for Sargent to make the team because either Berhalter had no idea what he could do or knew what he could do but didn't rate him. In that case, he's dumb for keeping out of an assured important role for the U-20

B) Berhalter thought there was a chance he could make the squad but wasn't certain so he called him in. But he played his way out of contention. That's dumb (at least partially) because he threw some jacked up formation out there with jackass players (Yueill? Seriously?) which was always going to heavily impact Sargent more than others.

C) Berhalter thought he was a shoe in to go but he played himself out of contention. See point B above.

akm91 said:

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I think Sargent was going to be included but with Llget's injury that changed the calculus.

Quote:

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The injury suffered by the versatile Lletget left Berhalter feeling he couldn't carry three players who are only strikers. The manager had kind words for Sargent after the Jamaica game, during which he got almost no service but still managed to take the USA's only shot on goal. In the end, however, Altidore and Zardes were preferred

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Berhalter's reason for leaving out Sargent

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This makes a modicum of sense...but it still strikes me as stupid, Not sure why you include a 27 yr old striker who has no prayer of developing into anything remotely elite over a younger player who can grow. Is Zardes going to be an impact player against Mexico or Costa Rica? Probably not. In fairness, Sargent probably wouldn't be either. But what do you really lose in present day talent if you have to start Sargent over Zardes? If you're fielding your best XI then neither are starting but let's say you have to start one of them. Worst case scenario, Sargent is slightly worse than Zardes in current ability. But he undoubtedly has tons more potential than Zardes. And, I'd much rather sacrifice a little bit of current ability for the opportunity to get a young player some good CONCACAF experience before WCQ next year.

Exactly.

The Injury might have changed B's roster choices, but Sargent still shouldn't have been the casualty.

Your Scenario B and C is similar to why I didn't like him playing Adams at RB when he's been killing it at CM/DM for Leipzig.

When you've already got a ton of moving parts because you're a new coach, it's not the time to pile on more variables to the equation. You simply can't evaluate any one piece effectively when you're screwing around with so many new things at once.

We'll call that the Jurgen Syndrome....

I'm done worrying about it.

Maybe this will light a fire under his ass like never before.

He was also the only player creating anything vs Jamaica.

Meanwhile Trapp gets burned multiple times and makes the roster.

Ryno01 said:

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That's fine but why take Jordan Morris? We know what he is at this point, right?

Is Jonathan Lewis better than the Ginger?

no doubt.....I really think not putting Sargent in is a reaction to Jamaica game and not big picture

I think he heard the booo's and this is the lineup to win.....but who cares if we win Gold Cup....we want World Cup wins....but isnt that the core being of US Soccer? make the rich kids pay to play to worry about the bottom line.....NOT worried about big picture, marketing the game, and building a culture

I don't think it will be this, because of GB's extensive history playing in Europe...but the last thing we need to do is to try to prop MLS up again. It's a great league for what it is. There is nothing wrong with being a 2nd tier league below EPL Bundesliga and a couple others, and you feed your top tier players into it.

But lets not act like Zardes and Morris are on the same level as Sargent, please don't think we are too stupid to question your explanations coach.