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Beware The Bust

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The USMNT’s 10 Most Disappointing Players

With so much optimism justifiably emanating from the USMNT faithful about our crop of young talent (even US Soccer produced a video!), let’s take a stroll down a proverbial Boulevard of USMNT’s Broken Dreams and examine some past failures. Here are ten (10) USMNT players who did not pan-out as expected for our national team, and their backstories.   

Age alert: I am older than most readers, so this list stretches back. Some of these names are not known to the younger generation of fans, and that’s probably down to soccer’s lack of popularity at the time they played. But for those that do remember them – or for any I missed – please share your own views in the Comments section or take it to Twitter, where I am on @DisgruntleUSMNT.

Oh, and – as you already know – there is really only one candidate for the top spot on this list. Since the placing of spots 2-10 are relatively arbitrary, this will not be a “wait for it” reverse ranking / countdown. Let’s just go with the obvious one first. Enjoy!

1. Freddy Adu (2005-present)
Picture this: you are at a summer barbeque with extended family. You are bantering about soccer with a relative, when you are interrupted by your soccer-hating thug of a cousin. He ruins your conversation by insulting the game, intermittently sprinkling in “sissy sport” and suggests that the game be played with two balls when…….he pauses and says, “Hey, whatever happened to that, like, 15 year-old kid that was supposed to be so good? Frankie something?”

So that’s Freddy Adu, the US Soccer bust so colossal that even people outside the sport recognize his name. We will not rehash his career, as its’ unfortunate shortcomings have been penned thoroughly, and we are probably only a couple years away from a “30 for 30” episode on it. I will personalize his story only by adding that his performance in the 2011 Gold Cup Final against Mexico – a 4-2 loss – had me very encouraged that, still only aged 22, he was going to evolve into an impactful USMNT player. He was creative and dangerous on the wing against a very talented Mexican team. But after the match, Bob Bradley was fired, and Adu officially disappeared into the USMNT player pool void. The tale ends even more sadly when you consider his career has landed him in the cesspool of popular American culture, Las Vegas.

2. Jovan Kirovski (1994-2004)
The younger fans may recognize Kirovski as a commentator from BeIN Sports or in his current Technical Director role for the LA Galaxy. Some older fans who remember him may object to his being ranked so high. He did, after all, play in the Quarterfinals of Champions League in Borussia Dortmund’s 1996-97 UCL-winning season. (He was not named to the bench for either the Semifinal or Final but is technically labeled the first and only American to win the competition.) He also was capped 62 times.

But to frame his potential as a youngster, consider only this: Kirovski was at Manchester United as a teenager in 1995. (!!!) Die-hard US youth soccer fans, as I was at the time, did not dare dream of an American achieving such an elite soccer status. Saying to a friend that you hoped to one day play at Old Trafford was akin to the kid at the science fair bragging that he would discover life on Mars. Old Trafford was a far-off, ethereal soccer fiefdom where only the world’s elite players (read: not Americans) honed their trade.   

So when, one year before hosting the 1994 World Cup, and with the popularity of the sport soaring, we heard that Kirovski was at Manchester United, we wrote songs and spun yarns about him in the town pubs until the ale ran dry. Well, not really, but you get the point: more than the Next Big Thing, he was going to be the First Big Thing, the first-ever American making world-class plays alongside the global games’ biggest names: Cantona, Beckham, Scholes, Keane, etc. (Pardon us for not realizing at the time that the unforgiving grind of the UK Academy System meant most youth players there never saw the field for the senior team.) He never stepped on the pitch for United’s senior team and transferred to Dortmund in 1996, where he stayed until 2000, gathering 20 senior appearances and scoring one goal.

After Dortmund, Kirovski knocked around some lower-tier clubs in England, scoring a handful of goals but never finding a steady Starting XI role before joining MLS in 2004, after which time he never got another USMNT call-up. Even when he did wear the shirt, he was basically a non-entity; he featured in the 1999 & 2003 Confederations Cup, but never played in a World Cup, despite being healthy and available in 1998, 2002 & 2006.

3. Roy Wegerle, aka Wegs, Roy Boy & The Grand Daddy of Dual Natties (1992-98)
Some 1990’s-era USMNT supporters are probably fuming reading this name. How could I declare a striker who secured 41 USMNT caps and played in 2 World Cups “disappointing”? As with Kirovski, it’s about the expectation.

As background, the South-African born Wegerle secured his US citizenship in 1991 by marrying an American woman. At this same time, his club status was ascending rapidly: he was in the middle of a scoring binge for Queens Park Rangers in England’s top flight that would see him score 29 goals in 65 matches for the club from 1990-92. This success led to speculation about which national team program he would represent, as it was rumored at the time that he could wear the shirt for as many as five (5) countries: his native South Africa, USA, England, and (allegedly) two different countries through his parents, at least one of which was Scotland.  When he chose the US in 1992, it was a major coup for the USMNT: our first real Dual Natty with world-class talent! Certain of us believed that we had managed to snag him from a red-faced England National Team.

And Wegerle did not disappoint. He stormed on the scene in his first USMNT game, a nationally-televised 4-1 U.S. Cup win against Ireland’s first-choice team in May of 1992. On the game’s most memorable play, Wegerle bull-dozed his way through a series of defenders and flamboyantly delivered a majestic back heel pass to John Harkes, who slammed home the game’s final goal. “Wegs” or “Roy Boy” had arrived! And along with the European-based Harkes, Earnie Stewart, Eric Wynalda and Tab Ramos, our hope was that he was going to form the creative, attacking core of the USMNT team for the ensuing 5-6 years and take us to a new level.

Wegerle kind of did that; he featured for the 1994 World Cup squad and played in some big games in the 1990’s, including a memorable 4-3 friendly win over Germany. But overall, he was tepid in a USMNT shirt, scoring only 7 goals in 41 caps.

With the benefit of hindsight, Wegerle was already 28 years old by the time he played his first cap for the US and may well have been past his prime. At the club level, he was never able to replicate the spell he enjoyed with QPR from 1990-92, and he ultimately came to MLS in 1996. He made the 1998 World Cup as a member of the now-defunct Tampa Mutiny in MLS. He did not play, but most USMNT supporters would agree he had quite an impact when he (allegedly!) informed USMNT Coach Steve Sampson of the extra-marital indiscretions of a teammate who would later be left-off the roster of that tournament as a result. But that’s a story for another day.  

4. Frank Klopas (1987-1995). Perhaps Klopas’s name should be on here with an asterisk, with the attribution of his status owed to a strange relationship he apparently had with then-USMNT Manager Bora Milutinovic in 1994.

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Klopas played professionally for AEK Athens in Greece, where he was born before coming to the USA as a child. In those days, Athens was consistently the best club in the Greek top flight and regularly participated in Europe’s elite Cup competitions. Because US Soccer was so out of sync with the rest of the footballing world’s calendar at the time, Klopas was rarely available to play in any USMNT friendlies. As a result, he was overlooked in for Italia ’90 in favor of guys that played professionally for the Albany Capitals and Milwaukee Wave, as well as even a few collegiate players.  

But just before the 1994 tournament, Klopas’s stock skyrocketed. He enjoyed a brilliant run of form for Athens, including a goal-scoring surge, and followed it up by scoring in a series of USMNT pre-tournament friendlies that cemented his place in the team. USMNT supporters were ecstatic to see a striker from a big global club so in-form just as the tournament was beginning. A Greek warrior would lead our attack!

Then, shockingly, Klopas never saw the pitch in USA ’94. Most curiously, he was not brought on as an attacking substitute in a 1-0 group stage loss to Romania. A draw in that match would have given the US top position in the group and would have meant they avoided Brazil in the next round. Equally head-scratching was Klopas not getting called into that Brazil game, a 1-0 loss, despite the absence of Harkes (suspension) and Ramos, who was viciously elbowed during the match and had to be substituted.

The tale of Klopas not playing has gone largely undiscussed in the annals of USMNT banter. Still, for a player in his prime during the most important soccer tournament in our country’s history, Klopas needed to will his way onto the field. He did not, despite a toothless US attack in the tournament’s two most important games.

The most diehard among USMNT faithful will point to Klopas’s swan song with the team in 1995, when he scored against Argentina in the legendary 3-0 Copa America upset, as his most crowning achievement. This was certainly a fantastic individual moment, but most USMNT from that era will recall that so more was expected of him on a much bigger stage a year earlier.

5. The American striker Leading MLS in Scoring for the Last 25 Years (1993-present). When I initially started to compile this list, it quickly ran past 10 candidates when I considered the number of consistently high-scoring MLS strikers that never turned into regular USMNT contributors. So rather than scrutinize each individual’s specific circumstances, I elected to lump them together under a collective, straightforward thesis: topping MLS in goals scored rarely leads to an effective tenure in the USMNT lineup.

Since I am not much of an MLS fan, I will leave the arguments to the more informed pundits to debate the particulars: does Wondolowski endure as the most disappointing USMNT striker ever due solely to his miss against Belgium in 2014? Does Roy Lassiter feel like more of a disappointment than Brian Ching? Should Taylor Twellman have moved to 1860 Munich when he apparently had an offer? What was lacking in Edson Buddle’s game? How come Jeff Cunningham never got a European offer? Is Teal Bunbury being overlooked right now as a result of the failure of all his predecessors?

These are not debates I care to engage in, but certainly MLS supporters will have their own personal recollections here, and their stories are welcome.  

Jonathan Spector(2) of the USA MNT during an international friendly match against Paraguay at LP Field, in Nashville, TN. on March 29, 2011.Paraguay won 1-0.

6. Jonathan Spector (2004-present). Just like Kirovski, Spector joined Manchester United as a teenager. The key difference between the two playing ten years apart was that I could watch Spector play on television, and I did!

Most notably, his first-team debut came against Arsenal in the FA Community Shield in 2004. This symbolic match kicks-off the Premiership season by pitting the prior season’s Premiership winner against its’ FA Cup Champion. As an 18-year-old, Spector started for an injury-plagued United and did not look out of place at all against a first-choice Arsenal side. He even came close to scoring a goal when he screamed a laser inches wide of the right post after an impressive run through the midfield. Seeing this, I imagined an American scoring on his Manchester United debut as the precursor to an illustrious USMNT career.  

And his career as a USMNT was not poor by any stretch. He played brilliantly in the 2009 Confederations Cup run, was on the 2010 World Cup team despite not seeing the field, and was welcomed back into the squad in 2015 for a series of successful friendlies against top European teams. Still, going from starting for Manchester United at age 18 to never playing in a World Cup game for your country has to be seen as falling short.

One key factor in Spector’s lack of USMNT success is that he basically played only Right Back, a position Steve Cherundolo had locked down for the first half of Spector’s USMNT career. Then came a manager, Jurgen Klinsmann, who clearly did not hold English Championship players in high esteem, regularly omitting guys like Spector, Tim Ream & Eric Lichaj, even though they all played regularly. Thus, despite featuring so prominently for Birmingham in 2014, Spector was overlooked in favor of a teenage D’Andre Yedlin from MLS and a dreadfully out-of-form Timmy Chandler (more on him later) from the Bundesliga. Certainly some positional diversity would have helped Spector get more caps, but it was not meant to be.

7. Sacha Kljestan (2007-present). Most USMNT supporters over the last 10 years would agree Kljestan’s club form has well outpaced his USMNT performances. But the reason I consider him a disappointment is perhaps bizarrely personal. Let me explain:

I, like Kljestan, grew up playing soccer in New Jersey. I have played against dozens of guys like him: wiry, uncoordinated-looking, seemingly blown over by a stiff breeze. On the pitch, they display amazing footwork and creativity alongside almost needless confrontation toward opponents and even teammates. They regularly lead the team in yellow cards and almost always incur the wrath of teammates but make up for it because they have more talent that shows-up in big spots.

Off the pitch, meanwhile, they embody the rebellious counterculture. In my day, that constituted openly smoking pot – before it was trendy to do so – wearing baggy, unkempt clothes with Doc Martens shoes, and attending alternative music festivals, among other things. They were frequent targets of the “bully-boy” football player crowd, but always had something to say back. So many of these kids had talent but rarely developed it; almost none played in college despite having the tools to do so. (There were three kids on my high school team that fit this profile. 25 years later, one is a successful art entrepreneur, another has spent time in prison, and the third is an openly gay rancher in Montana. Unique for sure!)

So when I saw Sacha play for the first time –deking between defenders, scrapping with opponents, barking at teammates – I thought: one of these Jersey “punk ass bitches” – the moniker that another high school teammate of mine branded this type of player – has finally made it to the USMNT stage! Never mind that Kljestan did not actually fit this persona off the field; with his greasy, matted long hair and creepy pedophile-ish mustache, he looked like one. And that was enough; I was rooting for him!

As far as his USMNT tenure goes, his ardent supporters would argue he must have been black-balled by Klinsmann. How else could he be left out of the USMNT picture when he was starting for a UCL Quarterfinalist at Anderlecht? Neutrals like me that really wanted him to succeed would state plainly that he just did not look effective when he had his chances. He was not “positive,” as the Brits say, always passing back when he needed to dig deep for that Jersey punk attitude and take players on. His USMNT legacy will be mixed at best, but for me personally, he is uniquely unsuccessful.

David Regis, USA vs Germany, 2002.

8. David Regis (1998-2002). The disappointment of David Regis’s tenure stems from an almost mythical beginning to his USMNT career. Regis was born in France and married an American in the late 1990’s, becoming a US Citizen just weeks before the 1998 World Cup in France.

An important backdrop to his introduction was John Harkes not getting named to the US team for personal reasons, despite being miles better than most players on the roster. USMNT Manager Steve Sampson and US Soccer’s Press team needed to distract from the issue and flaunted Regis’ arrival in a genius PR stunt. It was as if they were saying: “Don’t worry about Harkes, there is this guy that was almost named to France’s squad, but who has agreed to play for the US!” I’m paraphrasing, but there was popular belief amongst willingly-persuaded US fans like myself that Regis was carefully evaluated to play alongside Deschamps, Zidane, Henry, etc. in that tournament. Never mind that he was 30, had never been called-up even for a friendly, and had been playing for a club in Germany that had just been relegated – we got him!

Regis was actually pretty good at the 1998 World Cup. But of course the U.S. as a team was dreadful, finishing dead-last in the tournament’s first-ever 32-team format. Afterwards, Regis was portrayed in the media as a polarizing presence. He had drawn the ire of other players who felt his presence was undeserved. Oh, and he did not speak any English, so he was not exactly a “clubhouse guy.”

Regis improved his USMNT clubhouse posture enough to get capped an additional 24 times, including a bench spot at the 2002 World Cup.. That said, the tone set when he entered onto the USMNT stage was probably a bit unfair and set expectations of his capabilities way too high.   

9. Luis Gil (2014-present). Before there was Christian Pulisic, there was the lingering question on every USMNT supporter’s mind: “Who is the next Landon Donovan?” And I remember typing a search term like this into Google some time in 2011. I landed on a 2010 ESPN article (it’s still out there) profiling a 16 year-old Luis Gil, who had just signed a Generation Adidas contract. Reading it, I got VERY excited, as did many USMNT supporters that read articles like this about Gil in other outlets.

Perhaps this and other articles set unreasonably lofty expectations for Gil, but his hype felt warranted since so few soccer media outlets at the time – especially ESPN –wrote blustery pieces about individual USYNT players. Further, Gil kept the hype train moving by finding success with the USYNT U-17 & U-20 teams, where he displayed excellent play-making and strong leadership in big spots. There were evidently European club trials, and though none panned-out, he was firmly on the radar for the next generation of USMNT breakout players.

From there, though, I really do not know what happened, other than – like most of the other US players in his age range – Gil just never arrived. Were there injuries? Did the hype overwhelm him at too young an age? He is still only 24 but looks thoroughly out of favor, bouncing between MLS, USL & Liga MX clubs without securing regular minutes. Perhaps I am paying the ESPN article too much favor, and he was never that talented in the first place? But I was certainly not alone, which is a big reason he lands on this list.
 
10. Timothy Chandler (2011-present). I placed Chandler last on this list because he is the only mention who we can reasonably declare “too soon” to be calling a disappointment. He is 28 years old and just completed what was probably his best Bundesliga season. Most importantly for his USMNT prospects, Chandler displayed positional flexibility, showing strongly as both a defender and winger, where he scored goals and doled-out assists at the highest rate of his career.  

Now…about his attitude: Chandler has looked positively awful at times for the U.S., appearing some combination of uninterested, lost, lazy, or annoyed. His alleged comments to Bobby Wood that Wood should effectively prioritize club over country may not be true, but they at least seem like something he would say given how he has performed for the USMNT.

But Chandler can still find a USMNT renaissance that will wipe his name from this list in the future. He recently made overtures to US Soccer in public interviews, claiming he really wants a call back into the team. And if his club form continues, the new USMNT manager will be unable to ignore him. With so many unproven youngsters coming up and other seasoned players retiring or falling out of favor, the time is perfect for Chandler to seize his opportunity to be a critical asset to the 2019 Gold Cup & 2022 World Cup success. I certainly hope he takes it.

Honorable Mention: Frankie Simek, Marc Pelosi, Bobby Convey, Aron Johannsson, Mix Diskerud, Joe Gyau, Robbie Rogers, Benny Feilhaber

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American Transfers: Stock Up & Stock Down

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The 2024 summer transfer window closed on September 1st and over a dozen Americans made a move in the two-month span.  These players range from youth players, like Mathias Albert, to veteran players like John Brooks.  Some moves were great, and some were not.  This article will review several of these transfers and determine if it was a stock up or stock down.

Sergiño Dest & Malik Tillman to PSV- Stock Up

Both Dest and Malik Tillman went on loan (with option to buy) to PSV in the Eredivisie at the start of last season.  Both had a great season where they could have gone to a better league for this season.  PSV decided to trigger both player’s buy option, making them permanent players for the Dutch club.  These are good moves in my opinion because Dest had a regrettable loan to Milan two seasons ago and a difficult relationship with Xavi Hernandez. 

Dest needs another season (in his case, half a season) with the Dutch club to develop, recover his young career, and show clubs that he can compete in the UCL.  The same goes for Tillman, who needs to further develop his attacking, work rate, and ability to compete in the UCL.  If both can replicate and/or take a step up from their performance from last season, they should return to a top 5 league.  (Note: Bayern has a buy-back option for Malik Tillman)

Santiago Castañeda to Paderborn- Stock Up

The Tampa-born Colombian-American spent last season with the 3. Liga with Duisburg where he appeared in 31 matches with 2 goals and 2 assists.  This season, he is with Paderborn, a consistent 2. Bundesliga club and he already has a goal in 5 starts across all competitions.  This is impressive when you realize that Santiago will be turning 20 years old on November 13th.  US fans (who do not follow USL closely) are just now learning about him and some probably have already written him off because of his background. 

He is taking a similar path as Lennard Maloney, who played in both 3. Liga and 2. Bundesliga before moving back up to the Bundesliga.  In Santiago’s case, he started with Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship before moving to Duisburg.  To add to the move being a stock up because of moving up a league, he is also a CDM, a position that the US is lacking depth at.  Other American CDMs who are in about his age (+/- 1 years old) are Daniel Edelman, Moses Nyeman, Marcel Ruszel, and Ethan Kohler (although, he is being converted to an RB) to name a few.  If he continues down this path, he can become the #1 American CDM in his age group followed by Pedro Soma (who is 2 years younger than Santiago) in the next age group.

Paxten Aaronson to Utrecht- Stock Up

The Paris Olympian will be heading back to the Eredivisie, but this time, he will be joining fellow Americans Taylor Booth and Rickson van Hees at Utrecht.  Paxten had a successful half season with Vitesse where he had 4 goals in 14 appearances.  As a CAM, he is competing against Gio Reyna and Malik Tillman (both being only a year older) for a spot on the USMNT.  Right now, he is not beating either one of them out, even with Gio being injury prone and Tillman’s lack of producibility for the USMNT. 

Gio has had several occasions of great moments with the national team and Tillman is coming off a 24-goal contribution season.  Going back to the Eredivisie would greatly help his development before heading back to Eintracht Frankfurt.  Also, if he has a more productive season than Tillman, then there is an argument to make Paxten the #2 CAM for the USMNT.  Currently, Tillman has 4 goal contributions in 5 matches across all competitions to Paxten’s 1 assist in 4 matches.

Caleb Wiley to Chelsea with loan to Strasbourg- Stock Up

This is one of the players who needed a move this summer and who was able to get an upgrade.  Caleb Wiley arguably has the highest ceiling amongst our U23 LBs.  Now, Strasbourg is employing him more as an LWB, which is, in my opinion, his best position.  Last season at Atlanta, Wiley started as a LW that led to a fantastic form.  When he moved to LB, he became inconsistent and stagnated, but he played more as a LWB and his form went back up.  Along with that and with him turning 20 in December, he needed to get out of MLS. 

We see what happens to players who stay in the MLS too long, i.e. John Tolkin, who has struggled to transition his club form to the USMNT, and Brandon Vazquez, who is now struggling to start for Monterrey and out of the USMNT picture.  Playing in a top 5 league and being developed into an LWB can help him unlock his full potential.  To add, Wiley already has 2 starts, a halftime substitution, and an assist for Strasbourg.

Rodrigo Neri to Atlanta 2- Stock Down

This is one of the most disappointing moves for those who follow the USYNT U20 team and the future state of the USMNT striker position.  Neri’s young career has dramatically fallen in just one year.  He was part of the Atletico de Madrid academy since 2021 but left their U19 team for Valencia U19 to now Atlanta 2.  Based on Be Soccer, Neri had 0 goal contributions in just only 11 matches for both Spanish U19 teams.  7 games in and Neri already has 3 goals and 1 assist for Atlanta 2.  This can either mean he has improved, returned to his Atletico U19 B form (where he had 17 goals in 32 matches), and/or that MLSNP is weaker than División de Honor Juvenil (the league that Atleti U19 is part of).  Either way, we can already see that his lack of goals has impacted his international career. 

The last time that he was part of the team was the U19/20 March camp against Morocco and England.  He was left off the CONCACAF U20 Championship for Keyrol Figueroa and Marcos Zambrano.  This is after being part of the U19 team that participated in the 2023 PanAm Games where he had 1 goal in 5 matches.  Besides that, he had scored a goal against England and a brace against Norway when he was part of the U17 team in 2022.  AS USA even had a piece on Neri back in 2022 calling him the next big thing for the US. 

Usually, this far of a drop would almost take you out of the international conversation but knowing US Soccer’s habit of calling up MLSNP players like Sergio Oregel Jr., there is still a chance that Neri can be back in the conversation in time of the 2025 U20 World Cup.  The only positive thing about this move is that it could help him get his career back on track.

Vaughn Covil to Las Vegas- Stock Down

For Covil’s career, this was the right move to make.  For his international career, it only leaves the Philippines for him.  His chances with England were never going to happen.  2-3 years ago, you could have said he had a chance with the US and even more with Canada with the right development.  Now, he is better off committing to the Philippines if he wants to have an international career. 

It’s a stock down move because it would’ve been better if he had made a deal with an EFL League 2 club than coming to the USL Championship and because he is limited to just one national team instead of four.  Hopefully, he does well at Las Vegas and can get a call-up by the Philippines.

Jonathan Gomez to PAOK- Stock Down

This move is one of the most disappointing of all the transfers this summer by an American.  While at Louisville and with the USYNT, he looked like a future LB/LWB option for the USMNT and another dual national battle with Mexico.  When he went to Real Sociedad and after his successful loan to Mirandes in La Liga 2, things were in an upward trajectory.  He left Real Sociedad (likely because they didn’t want to extend his contract, so they opt to sell him to make a profit) for reigning Greek champions, PAOK.  When it should have been a positive that he will be playing in his first season at a 1st division, it is a negative because of it being the Greek Super League 1.  PAOK is also in the Europa League and that should’ve been a positive for his career, but the Greek champions left him off their UEL roster. 

He is still only 21 years old and if he does well enough for them, then he can move up to a better league in a season or two.  At this moment, he has slipped out of the conversation to compete with Lund, Tolkin, and Wiley to be the future #1 LB/LWB.  To make matters worse, Caleb Wiley’s 2024/25 season has started off well at Strasbourg with 2 starts and an assist.  You could argue that during the 2023 U20 World Cup that JoGo was the better of the two at the LB/LWB position but now Wiley is above him on the depth chart.

Aidan Morris to Middlesborough- Stock Up

Like Caleb Wiley, Morris needed to leave MLS to further his development and avoid the situation that John Tolkin is in.  Even though Morris has been underwhelming for the USMNT, he has the potential to be a consistent player of the 23-26 men roster.  So far this season with Boro, he has been a standout and quick favorite amongst the fans.  Going to the EFL Championship was one of the best choices he could have made as his next stop.  The physicality of the league will teach him how to become more physical and his quick decision-making.  The development could easily put him in the top 4 CDM options for 2026. 

The biggest question for him is, can he transition his great club form to the national team.  If he can pull it off, he can jump ahead of Lennard Maloney and Tanner Tessmann, depending on how he does with Lyon this season.  This is a top 3 move by an American player not just because how the season is going so far for him but because Boro will be competing for promotion and development potential.

Tanner Tessman to Lyon- Stock Up

Tessmann’s transfer saga is one for the books.  He was closely linked to Inter Milan and Fiorentina until both fell apart because of disagreements.  Towards the end of the transfer window, he got a move to a top Ligue 1 club, Lyon.  If he had stayed with Venezia, he still would’ve been playing in a top-five league, but Lyon is the better option.  Venezia will be fighting to stay in the Serie A like they did in 2021/22, whereas Lyon is consistently a top 10 French club, and in many cases a top 5 club. 

To add to that, Lyon is in the UEL.  The season is not going well for Lyon right now, but they can recover and compete for UEFA qualification.  The club and the fans will be more demanding than Venezia because of their prestige, he can learn from veteran players like Matic and Veretout and it would require him to compete for starts.  It’ll be a real test for him after his last time in a top 5 league did not go as well and two great seasons in the Serie B.

All of these will help him take the next step and help him be in the top 3 CDM USMNT conversation.  The battle Tessmann, Aidan Morris, Maloney, Johnny Cardoso, and Tyler Adams (once he returns) for the top 2 CDM spots on the USMNT will be a joy to watch this season.

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Who’s a Keeper?

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Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)

The USMNT has had a solid track record with goalkeepers over the last three decades. There seems to be a problematic situation with their current group. Is this an overreaction or a real concern for the USMNT which is less than 2 years away from hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

The average age of the last seven USMNT goalkeepers to regularly start in one of the top two tiers in Europe is 27.5 years old and while it took several seasons for Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard, and Brad Guzan to settle and have continued success they did while all having the opportunity to be the number goalkeeper for the USMNT.

Where there has been a lot of deserved criticism towards Matt Turner’s play with the USMNT lately it’s clear that he remains the best shot-stopper in the pool, but also clear that a transfer from Nottingham Forest is desperately needed to provide regular playing for Turner. Turner’s foot skills remain weak along with the rest of the USMNT goalkeeper pool very much an area that needs improving. Something they could learn from Tony Meola who was hands down the best USMNT goalkeeper with his feet.

Struggles also continue for Ethan Horvath whose transfer to Cardiff City last February was supposed to provide him with the needed playing time to push Turner for the number one goalkeeper spot of the USMNT but, his performance at Copa America didn’t inspire many, along with a recent match for Cardiff City where he conceded five goals.

DOHA, QATAR – NOVEMBER 27: Matt Turner (L) and Ethan Horvath of United States interact during the United States Training Session at Al Gharafa Stadium on November 27, 2022 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)


November 27, 2022, in Doha, Qatar (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

USMNT Youth Goalkeepers

The current group of USMNT goalkeeper prospects appears to be solid, but if history has proven anything there are no guarantees. The list of the failed USMNT youth keepers over the last decade is long. It includes names like Joe Bendik, Alex Bono, Cody Cropper, Tally Hall, Clint Irwin, Dan Kennedy, and Luis Robles, of the over 15 USMNT prospect goalkeepers who have only been capped 18 times, eight of those held by Bill Hamid.

At the moment goalkeepers Antonio Carrera (20), Matt Freese (25), Chituru Odunze (21), and John Pulskamp (23) are on the outside looking in compared to the goalkeepers listed below.

Currently playing for Fulham U-21 Premier League 2 (Reserve League) Alex Borto (20) who was part of the 2023 U-20 World in May and June, but didn’t receive any playing time will need to increase his current playing time to get more opportunities but, I feel Borto is much lower on the youth USMNT depth chart at the moment.

A regular starter for the Chicago Fire over the last couple of seasons Chris Brady (20) is another highly touted USMNT goalkeeper, who has been held back from regularly being called into USMNT youth camps by his club. A move to Europe would provide him with the next level of competition needed to continue his growth as a goalkeeper.

Who would trust a now 18-year-old who hasn’t had any professional experience to start for the USMNT? Not many but Diego Kochen (18) who is currently with FC Barcelona Atlètic in the Third Division is a name that continues to be mentioned, but highly unlikely in my opinion.

As the starter for all four of the U-23 USMNT Olympic matches Patrick Schulte (23) has earned a call-up to the USMNT. Schulte has had a very strong season with the Columbus Crew which accounts for 8 clean sheets over all matches at the time of this article.

Many fans think Gaga Slonina (20) is the best U-23 goalkeeper in the player pool and is destined to be the number-one goalkeeper after the 2026 cycle. Slonina is currently playing in EFL League One the third division in England. Slonina was the starting goalkeeper for U-20 USMNT where he had four straight clean sheets helping lead the US to the quarter-finals. He also was part of the U-23 USA Olympic team but failed to receive any playing time.


October 4, 2022, (Photo by Christian Hansen/Chicago Fire FC)

Aging or Bridge Goalkeeper Options

The list of recent third and often injured USMNT goalkeepers Drake Callender (26), Roman Celentano (23), Sean Johnson (35), and Zack Steffen (29) provide little to no confidence when looking at a current solution and none are likely to break into the top two of the depth chart but, stranger things have happened in the world of USMNT goalkeepers.

Looking Ahead

With less than 2 years until the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it’s unlikely that any of the younger USMNT goalkeepers will be able to play at higher levels and contend for the number one spot, which I believe still belongs to Matt Turner, but, Turner needs to do whatever possible to get a transfer to another top five leagues or worse case Eredivisie or EFL Championship as he needs to be playing matches every week to ensure he’s in form and improving headed into the World Cup with the backup position is up for grabs.

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USMNT

Gregg Berhalter’s Legacy

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Gregg Berhalter’s time as the USMNT manager has come to an end.  USSF has made the announcement that they have terminated Berhalter’s contract after 5 years in charge of the USMNT.  There are many highs and lows during his time as manager with just as many praises and controversies.  After the humiliating defeat at Couva during the 2018 World Cup Qualifying, there needed to be a change and the goal for 2022 was to qualify no matter what and how.  It was understandable for many fans to let bad results during Berhalter’s first cycle because of the goal we had set for 2022.  Now that we made it out of the group during the 2022 WC, the expectations for the USMNT would increase.  Those expectations have not been fulfilled since the rehiring of Gregg Berhalter.  Here are the top 10 reasons he had to go.

Crashing out of the 2024 Copa America

We were invited and given the rights to host the 2024, Copa America.  The USMNT’s first time participating and hosting the tournament since 2016.  The only players to appear in both tournaments were Christian Pulisic and Ethan Horvath.  On paper, the 2024 squad was better than the 2016 squad in almost every position.  Jürgen Klinsmann had a weaker squad but managed to reach the Semi-Finals in the 2016 Copa America.  It is one of the biggest accomplishments for the USMNT in recent history.  When you look at this year’s roster and what they did last year, the minimum goal should be the Quarterfinals and at most a Semi-Final appearance.  The USMNT did not come anywhere close. 

Players like Weston McKennie and Musah greatly underperformed.  A lack of discipline cost us games, like Tim Weah’s red card, and the foul that led to the Uruguay goal.  Against Bolivia, the USMNT only scored 2 goals against the worst team in CONMEBOL (1 win and a -10 GD in their WCQ campaign).  Giving up a lead when a man down and ultimately losing to Panama should never have happened, especially against a team that the USMNT has only lost to at home 3 times since 1993.  This put the USMNT in the worst possible situation in the tournament, a result against Uruguay and a win or draw for Bolivia. 

Good news did arrive for the USMNT when Bolivia tied the game, but this led to Berhalter informing our players prior to a set piece about the score.  This gave the indication that he wanted to chase for a draw, which has been a common theme during his tenure.  You cannot rely on Bolivia to bail you out.  You MUST go for the win.  As Herculez Gomez said, it is a loser mentality. 

People will blame the refs, Weah’s red card, or not having Dest, but that is not an excuse for poor in-game management by Berhalter.  After the firing of Gregg Berhalter, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle wrote an article where he said that our group exit from the 2024 Copa America is the first time the USMNT had been eliminated in the group stage of a tournament that was being hosted in the US.  That is just one more stain on the legacy of Gregg Berhalter.

Poor Match Results

As mentioned, the poor result against Panama, a team we should have defeated even with a man down.  There are plenty more matches to talk about.  Since being rehired, Berhalter has a 7-1-6 record.  The most infamous would be against Trinidad & Tobago away.  Again, people will use the excuse that Dest got a red card, and it does not matter since we had qualified for the next round of the 2024 Nations League.  That was a game you should not have lost even with a man down, more so than the Panama match.  There are many other games that can be mentioned but let’s look at more record first.  Berhalter has an overall record of 44-13-17.  When playing outside of the US, the record is 4-7-8. 

Against top 20 FIFA ranked teams, the record is 5-5-8.  Four of those wins came against Mexico and the other being against Iran.  When we compare him to Klinsmann and Bob Bradley against top 20 FIFA ranked teams, Klinsmann was 10-6-14 and Bradley was 9-5-15.  For Bradley, only 3 of those wins were against the same team (Mexico) and 6 in total were against the same teams (2 times against Ecuador, Germany, and Mexico each) for Klinsmann.  This record would make Berhalter the winningest coach by percentage in USMNT history, but there are important contexts to include.  Jamaica was just seconds away from eliminating us in the NL Semi-Finals until an own goal by Cory Burke.  The USMNT did rally to defeat them 3-1 in extra time, but it was still humiliating for the team. 

Then you have the loss against Colombia before the Copa America where we lost 1-5.  The last time the team conceded 5 goals was in 2009.  A 1-3 defeat against Germany back in Oct of 2023 where we were not competitive at all.  From June 5 to November 25, 2022, the US had a 1-5-1 record.  The last match I will reference is the match against Honduras in San Pedro Sula where we had no control over the game in the 1st half.  It was not until Ricardo Pepi helped save Berhalter’s job with 2 assists and 1 goal to give us a 1-4 win.

Tactics

One of the biggest problems that Gregg Berhalter has is in-game management and pre-game tactics.  His go to formation is a 4-3-3, which is not always bad, but it is defensive minded and creates little chances.  We have seen that over the 5 years of having him as a manager.  During the 2022 WCQ, our goals per match were 1.5 and 1.8 during the 2021 Gold Cup.  The goals conceded per match was 0.2 during that Gold Cup and 0.7 during the WCQ.  Yes, statistically we would not concede a goal, but the USMNT was likely to only win 1-0.  No one likes a 1-0 game, because not only is it boring, but it is risky.  All it would take is for the opposition to score 1 goal to take 2 points from you.  Make it a mission to get 2 goals every game to give you some breathing space.  Berhalter also looks to park the bus, even when it is a tie. 

Against Panama in the Copa America, Berhalter decided to park the bus when it was tied and with a man down at the start of the 2nd half.  That is a high toll to ask the players to park it for 45+ minutes.  You knew you were playing Uruguay next, and that Panama has a very good chance of beating Bolivia.  A draw against Uruguay was going to be very difficult.  Yes, we were a man down, but that does not mean we should have given up getting the 2nd goal.  As we saw, we conceded a 2nd goal and it cost us to be in the worst possible situation in the group stage. 

Besides parking the bus, Berhalter wants us to score primarily off the wings and from crosses.  Against Jamaica during the 2024 NL, we attempted 41 crosses with only 11 being accurate.  None of the 3 goals in that match came from a cross.  Against Trinadad & Tobago at home during the QF of the 2024 NL, they went 11 for 39 on crosses.  The first goal did not come until the 80th minute mark, which should never have come close to being a draw against Trinadad & Tobago at home.  Only 1 of the 3 goals we scored in the last 10 minutes were from a cross.  When BJ Callaghan led the team during the 2023 NL, our crosses were reduced to 17 attempts in both matches.  In both matches, the goals came from up the middle where the team scored a total of 5 goals and 0 goals conceded. 

It was some of the best football that this group of guys have played in the last 5 years.  The players can score more goals than 1 and can score goals without crossing the ball.  As we can see, Berhalter does not know how to react when things do not go to plan as we saw against Panama and against Colombia.  A coach needs to be able to react and make the right call when things go sideways.  That is a major weakness of his and pundits have pointed it out in the past.  After Wales got their goal in the 2022 WC against the USMNT, Berhalter responded by substituting in Jordan Morris instead of Gio Reyna.  Gio Reyna is a playmaker, Jordan Morris is not.  At the time, the US did not have a playmaker on the pitch and that would be the time to use our best player in that role, Gio Reyna.  That is not the first time. 

During his 2nd cycle, Berhalter would commonly substitute Gio Reyna off when he decides to hold a draw or goes a man down.  The US did not win a single game when Gio was subbed off.  During the Copa America, Berhalter left Johnny Cardoso on the bench for Tyler Adams.  Johnny was developed in Brazil and played in several Copa Libertadores and was a standout in LaLiga once he arrived. Tyler Adams only played a total of 138 minutes between the EPL and the EFL Cup last season (Adams was out for majority of the season due to injuries).  Common sense would say to start Johnny Cardoso, but Gregg Berhalter did the complete opposite.  Besides that, Weston McKennie had been playing poorly for the USMNT all year and looked visibly unfit during the Copa America. 

Berhalter continued to start McKennie and gave him a total of 258 minutes.  Berhalter continued to award McKennie with starts and minutes when common sense would say that he must be benched.  Berhalter also had a major problem with rotating players and that had a major impact on the endurance of the players when it came to tournaments.  It was noticeable during the 2022 WC and Copa America.  These are all things that will be remembered by fans.

Player Selection

During his 1st cycle, Gregg Berhalter called up an astounding 65 different players in just competitive matches alone.  During the WCQ, he called up 39 different players to the camps.  Yes, after the 2018 cycle, the USMNT had to rebuild, but does it really require trying out 65 different players to figure that out?  For the WCQ, 13 of the 39 did not make the final cut.  I can understand making 2-3 changes every camp at the youth level, but this is the senior level.  He had already been with the team for 2 years.  He should have had a better idea who he needed to bring with him to the WCQ, which started in the Fall of 2021. 

The changes in the WCQ roster make sense if there is an injury, but not all the changes were made due to injuries, i.e., Gianluca Busio and Paul Arriola.  Berhalter had from 2019 to the Summer of 2021 to determine his WCQ roster and the alternate players.  When creating a team, either for business or sports, you need cohesion, or brotherhood to Berhalter, to get the best out of the team when the results matter. 

Continuously making changes for the most important competitive matches in your tenure will lead to problems.  By the end of the WCQ, the USMNT tied for 3rd in points and only qualified through goal differential.  The USMNT had a record of 7-4-3 with the away record being 1-3-3.  Who knows what that record could have been if the roster was more consistent.  Berhalter has improved his roster selection by focusing more on the players in Europe than the players in the MLS.  The argument for having half the roster or more being MLS players because they were veteran players and the players in Europe were too young.  It is an understandable reason, if that is the case. 

He did make significant changes to the roster when he took back control of the team by removing Jordan Morris, Jesus Ferreira, and Cristian Roldan from the team.  In this current cycle, Berhalter called up 36 different players in the 14 matches he oversaw.  To note, 7 of the 36 are or were MLS-based players.

Achievements

Gregg Berhalter does deserve big credit to the achievements he made while the manager of the USMNT.  While in charge of the team, he won the CONCACAF Gold Cup and won the CONCACAF Nations League in 2021 and 2024.  Now, you can make an argument that the players had a bigger part in that, when this is the best generation of players we have ever had.  Berhalter was still the manager and deserves the credit as well. 

After the US failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018, Gregg Berhalter accomplished qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.  It might not have been the prettiest World Cup for the USMNT, but the team did advance to the first round of the knockout stage.  That will be a positive note for his legacy as a USMNT manager.  The only thing that is missing from his list of achievements is a signature win.

There is one more piece to Gregg Berhalter’s legacy that will be remembered by many fans, but I doubt would be a footnote to his legacy (it would eventually be forgotten).  That being his relationship with the players.  I touched a little on in the “Tactics” section by awarding players starts and minutes when they did not deserve it, but it goes further than that.  It is known and visible that Berhalter showed favoritism towards certain players, those being the players on the “leadership committee”.  These players continued to play match after match when they did not deserve it or were too physically tired to continue. 

Tyler Adams mentioned in a press conference during the 2024 Copa America that he never speaks to Berhalter about soccer outside of the camps.  Whether with just a few or everyone, it is a concern that a coach does not speak to his players about the sport, on or off the field.  During the Copa America, it began to look like the players saw Berhalter as more of a friend than a coach.  It can be seen just as a fan by comparing the discipline of the players in the 2022 cycle to the 2024 cycle.  That is a huge concern within a team because it creates complacency and that was visible during the 2024 Nations League and the Copa America.

On paper, Gregg Berhalter will appear to be a top USMNT manager in its history, but once you peel those away and look deeper, he would be ranked below the likes of Bob Bradley, Bruce Arena, and Jürgen Klinsmann.

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