Qatar 2022 - USMNT 26 Man Roster

26 Man Roster (Club; Caps/Goals)

Goalkeepers:
Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 20/0)

Ethan Horvath (Luton Town/ENG; 8/0)
Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 10/0)

Centerbacks:

Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 46/1)

Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 33/3)

Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 11/0)

Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 29/3)

Fullbacks:

Sergino Dest (AC Milan/ITA; 19/2)

Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 29/2)

DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami CF; 75/0)

Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 3/0)

Shaq Moore (Nashville SC; 15/1)

Midfielders:

Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 24/6)

Tyler Adams (Leeds United/ENG; 32/1)

Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 37/9)

Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 19/0)

Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 53/2)

Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 12/0)

Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 32/0)

Wing Forwards:

Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 52/21)

Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 14/4)

Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 25/3)

Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 49/11)

Center Forwards:

Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas; 15/7)

Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 20/5)

Haji Wright (Antalyaspor/TUR; 3/1)

Steffen!?!?

The first enormous shocker is the omission of Zach Steffen.  He was with Berhalter at Columbus Crew and seemed to be the 1st choice keeper until injury struck during qualifying.  However, after not getting much playing time at Man City and being in poor form recently at Middleborough, it appears that Berhalter has decided to demote him to 4th string.  Again, this is shocking because nobody would have been surprised if Steffen was the starter in the WC.  Perhaps Berhalter thinks that Steffen on the bench is not great for the locker room as Horvath and Johnson are.

Ultimately, this definitely means that Matt Turner is our undisputed #1.  Personally, I am happy with Berhalter's choice.  I don't think I've seen Steffen really deliver on the promise as the next great US keeper.  He just doesn't instill me with confidence.

Pepi!?!?

The 2nd massive shocker is the absence of Ricardo Pepi.  Pepi struggled in Bundesliga last season, but has recently found his scoring touch in the Eredivisie.  Given his huge impact in qualifying, I am still dumbfounded that Berhalter would leave him out.  Like Steffen, I thought Pepi would have had a fair shot at the starting lineup.  However, it seems that Berhalter's choice in his mind was between Sargent and Pepi, and Sargent's form in the physical Championship gave him the edge.  (It also seems that Ferreira was never in danger and is probably the #1 striker.)  I am also very concerned how this impacts our future dual-national recruiting of Mexican Americans.

Pefok?

Pefok is another talking point as a snub.   However based on Berhalter's statement during the announcement, it looks to be that Haji Wright took his spot because of Haji's fine form in Turkey. Pefok, currently mired in a bit of 2 month goal slump in the Bundesliga, never did much in the US uniform however, and so I can't be too outraged.

Ream!

The welcomed surprise for me is the inclusion of Tim Ream.  I would have flipped out if Ream wasn't on the roster, screaming about how we didn't learn from that 2017 T&T game when Arena started his man from his Galaxy days, Omar Gonzalez, instead of EPL starter Geoff Cameron.  Omar subsequently gave up an absurd own goal that cost us the 2018 World Cup.  Ream is the captain of his EPL team, playing alongside Jedi Robinson (the US starting LB), playing against great world-class players (including ones from England whom we're playing in our group) and doing it successfully week in and week out.  Perhaps he isn't fleet of foot, but I'd definitely start him against England when we'll need to be hunkered down on the low block, trying to survive and counter.  Now if Berhalter starts mistake-prone Aaron Long instead and it costs us, the screaming may continue.

Random thoughts:

- In terms of offshore influence, only four players were raised outside of the US: Carter-Vickers, Dest, Jedi, and Musah.  The last 3 are starter-level quality for us.  This is a contrast to the 8 that we had in 2014.

- With 26 roster spots now instead of the 23, I think Berhalter used his extra 3 spots on Shaq Moore, Cristian Roldan, and Jordan Morris - 1 bonus player per position (Def, Mid, For).  All 3 are MLS guys that shouldn't see much of the field unless an epidemic hits our team.  I would think they are all great locker room guys.  The criticism could have been that Berhalter is just loyal to his guys, but Steffen and Pepi's cuts undermine that belief.  As for Morris, I will still be happy for a guy that clearly cherishes playing for the US, even if he wasn't brave enough to take his talents to Europe.  I am a little surprised that Arriola and his work rate was passed over, but clearly Berhalter thinks Jordan has a higher ceiling.

- 17 guys from Europe, 9 from MLS.  In the infamous 2017 game in T&T, we only had 5 guys playing in Europe on the roster, and look what happened.  If its my call, these 6 - Johnson, Long, Moore, Roldan, Morris, and Ferreira - would not have made it.  Unfortunately, I think its possible that the last MLS-only camp cupcake may have swayed Berhalter's opinion on the last few spots, to the hurt of those plying their trade in Europe.  Steffen, McKenzie, Brooks, Tillman, Pepi, and Pefok are my choices instead there.  5 CBs make more sense than a 5th fullback.  Tillman can play mid or wing.  Pepi and Pefok give us more variety of offensive options that a goal-starved team could always use.  Or perhaps I am anti-MLS after all, it seems.

- When its all said and done, there wasn't a surprise roster decision to the magnitude of Klinsmann's absurd exclusion of Landon Donovan in 2014.  In case you have forgotten the price we paid for his ego, the experience of Donovan would have been our best hope of finishing that lofted ball in front of an open Belgian goal to win and propel us to the quarterfinals.  Instead we had some MLS lifer shank what will forever be remembered as a "wondolowski".

This year, even with the surprises, we still have our top talent all relatively healthy and available.  Pulisic, Weah, Aaronson, Reyna, McKennie, Adams, and Dest!    Can't wait.

Likely Starting Lineup:

---------Ferreira--------

Pulisic-----------Reyna

-Musah--McKennie---

--------Adams---------

Jedi-Ream-Zimm-Dest

---------Turner----------