The dust has settled, the final roster was announced and now the USMNT is truly set to go for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. After an up and down qualifying campaign and two continental titles along the way Gregg Berhalter has made his choices and he will either sink or swim with them at the World Cup.
The US roster left little debate that this is the most talented group of American players ever and that Berhalter balanced talent with who best fits his system. Ricardo Pepi not being on the roster given his form raises questions but essentially everyone who needs to be there is there.
Now the USMNT shift their focus to Wales, who also announced their 26-man roster, and based on what Gregg Berhalter stated last night getting three points against Bale and company will be vital for the USMNT’s chances. Here is a look at the snubs and biggest concern for the USMNT…. striker.
Snubs
Who got snubbed was one of the hot topics last night when the roster was announced, the biggest snubs were Zack Steffen and Ricardo Pepi. Steffen was the USMNT number 1 goalkeeper until Matt Turner took over the position last year. Steffen also had his position in jeopardy when Ethan Horvath came up huge during the Nations League final. Steffen seems like a big snub but in reality, he has been playing himself off the team with poor performances at Manchester City and his early hiccups at Middlesbrough. It was a case of too little too late.
Zack Steffen of Middlesborough (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Ricardo Pepi is an eye raiser especially considering his place was taken by Haji Wright. Pepi was made the heir apparent but a year without scoring buried his chances of making the World Cup squad. Despite getting into form with Groningen, the reality is that Wright has been doing it consistently in Turkey for over two seasons now and seems to have a good understanding with Christian Pulisic, they were teammates and friends at the youth level. This decision could have been made based on the chemistry between the team’s most talented player and one he is familiar with.
Jordan Pefok has been having a good run of form for over two years, but never was a proper fit in Berhalter’s system, the coach got lucky as Pefok is going through a major funk right now and it aided the decision to leave him off. Pefok was never going to the World Cup, when he was scoring Champions League goals the striker was being left off the squad.
The second-tier snubs are Reggie Cannon who is dropped in favor of Shaq Moore, while both are at the same level in terms of quality the reality could have been that Moore played for a side that was fighting for important things in MLS while Cannon is playing for a weak mid-level team in Portugal.
Erik Palmer-Brown has improved greatly at the club level but never has gotten a three-game run with the USMNT. A very interesting talent you feel that at 25, this was Erik Palmer-Brown’s chance.
Striker and fluid play
Christian Pulisic (Getty Images)
When looking at the USMNT roster one thing is for certain, the system is designed to open up spaces for the major talents on the team. The striker position will be more key in opening up spaces for Reyna, Pulisic, Weah, or McKennie to score. The US look like a team that will have their goals spread out rather than centralized on a powerful striker at the tournament.
Neither Ferreira, Wright, nor Sargent are international caliber goal scorers, their major asset will be in assisting rather than scoring. Today one would think Sargent is ahead of the pack of strikers to start against Wales.
Predicted World Cup lineup against Wales
If the USMNT took the field tomorrow against Wales the starting lineup would look something like this:
Turner -GK
Dest – RB
Zimmerman – D
Ream – D
Robinson – LB
Adams – CDM
Musah – M
McKennie – CM
Reyna – RW
Pulisic – LW/F
Sargent – 9
