UNITED STATES NATIONAL team manager Gregg Berhalter unveiled his 25 player roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Mexico in Cincinnati and against Jamaica in Kingston. The roster contains generally few surprises as all but four players (Sam Vines, Reggie Cannon, Jesus Ferreira, and Joe Scally) have been on the roster for at one of the first two qualifying rounds.

In terms of injuries, there are three absences. Sergino Dest has a minor back injury. Gio Reyna continues to miss time for a hamstring injury and Gyasi Zardes is also unavailable due to a knee injury.

Here is a look at the roster followed by thoughts.

Detailed Roster by Position

 
(Club/Country; Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 9/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 24/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 12/0)

DEFENDERS (9): Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 22/1), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 8/0), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim/GER; 4/0), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 17/1), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 14/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 0/0), Sam Vines (Royal Antwerp/BEL; 8/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR; 69/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 20/2)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 42/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 20/1), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 7/0), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 33/8), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 27/7), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 9/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 29/0)

FORWARDS (6): Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg/AUT; 13/5), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 41/8), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 2/2), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; 4/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 40/16), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 16/1)

Pulisic’s return

Christian Pulisic has not played much soccer this season. After one outing in August with Chelsea, he tested positive for COVID. Then after two games in the September international window, he suffered an ankle injury. It was only earlier in this week when he made his return in a competitive game.

Berhalter said he is unsure of how much of a role Pulisic will play in these upcoming games.

"We're going to see what type of minutes he gets this weekend," Berhalter said of Pulisic. "He just started training with the team at the beginning of the week. It was unexpected that he was going to play against Malmo. He ended up playing a little bit. For us, it is about progressing him in a safe way. We know he's valuable to the team. We want him on the field. But we're also not willing to risk anything. It's about how he feels and depending on that, it will dictate what type of role he plays in these two games."

"It's a luxury to be able to bring a guy like Chirstian into camp, even though he's not 90-minutes fit."

Scally and Ferreira

The two newcomers to the team for this window are Jesus Ferreira and Joe Scally. This is the first World Cup qualifying call-up for Reggie Cannon and Sam Vines but both were big parts of the Gold Cup team this summer.

For Ferreira, he has played with the U.S. national team before but only in January camp friendlies. His dip in form in 2020 saw him fall out of favor but a strong 2021 season has clearly boosted his stock.

Ferreira is there to backup Pepi and Berhalter has said he as the intelligence to adjust to numerous roles. This sort of fills the role left by Matthew Hoppe – who hasn’t been playing in Spain – and with key players like Reyna, who is injured, or Pulisic, where it is unclear how much he will be able to play.

“When you look at Jesus' body of work with the national team, he's been playing a No. 9,” Berhalter said. “We think his performances - albeit against lesser opponents - we really liked what he did at the No. 9 position. We know he's a guy who can link play, we know he's a guy who can arrive in the penalty box, we know he's a guy who leads the line defensively to build pressure, and he's been in outstanding form in Dallas. We know he's been playing more of an attacking midfield role but Jesus has the type of intelligence, game intelligence, that makes him able to adapt to a position very easily.”

Scally is a welcome addition, and it properly rewards a player who is breaking through right now and playing well on a consistent basis. Even with Sergino Dest out, it’s hard to see him starting against Mexico.

"It's also his form," Berhalter said of Scally. "If you look at what's changed from month to month, he's played in another five Bundesliga games and a Cup game where they beat Bayern Munich 5-0. He had an assist the other day. This is what we're looking at. How's the player performing? When we see him going against Leroy Sane or Alphonso Davies, he's being tested and he's standing up to these tests. For us, it was about gathering enough information. He's a young player that we want to see performing consistently at a high level and he's done that."

Brooks & Central defense

The decision to leave John Brooks off the team was a surprise. The Wolfsburg defender had struggled the past month in the Bundesliga, but had a strong midweek game in the Champions League against Sevilla. Berhalter said the decision to leave off Brooks was based on form and that he anticipates that Brooks will be back with the team.

The good thing for Brooks (which Berhalter acknowledged) is that he took ownership of his recent slump and is determined to do what he has to do to get back onto the team. He didn’t make excuses or call out the coach.

“The decision to leave me out of this this camp isn’t surprising given some of my recent performances.”

Impressive accountability from John Brooks. Here’s his full statement to @FOXSports on being left off the latest #USMNT roster: pic.twitter.com/i5CdZzIbSH

— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) November 4, 2021

Brooks is a puzzling player. He’s remarkably talented but has been prone to stretches where his form dips. He may or many not be in such a dip anymore, but clearly the staff wants to see more from him before they call him in. There is also the question whether or not it is productive to call him in unless he is going to start?

“Regarding John Brooks, it was a really difficult decision,” Berhalter said. “A lot of it was based on how we thought his performances were with the team the last time he's been performing. I saw some of John's comments [to Doug McIntyre at Fox] and that is all you can ask for in a player's response. Normally what players do is they start picking off other players and saying this guy is doing this. All John did was take accountability for his own performance. We saw him play midweek in the Champions League against Salzburg and we thought he had a good game. He's working his way back into form. I don't assume this is going to be his last time in the national team. I am sure he will back. It's just about regaining your form and performing at a high level when you get the opportunity.”

As for central defense, Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, and Walker Zimmerman seem like the most likely trio to see minutes in the upcoming two games. While Zimmerman played well in October, Robinson has been a mainstay since the Gold Cup and Richards has been a regular with Hoffenheim – while also playing well against Costa Rica.

"Chris Richards has been playing well for Hoffenheim. They gave him off last weekend but he'll be back in the lineup this weekend. He's played a lot of minutes and has been doing a great job. We liked his performance for the most part against Costa Rica. We thought he did a great job."

"Miles Robinson has been steady force for us in virtually all of the Gold Cup and all of World Cup qualifying thus far. We feel like he's a real solid option.”

"Walker [Zimmerman] had a fantastic game against Jamaica. We know he can either start the game or cover. We're satisfied with that.

"Regarding Mark [McKenzie], Mark has had World Cup qualifying experience playing in a couple of these games. For him, he has that athleticism, he has the ability to cover the backline,  he's a very good 1v1 defender. We feel that if we're going to be pressing high, he's a good player to give us cover in this camp."

Busio rising

Gregg Berhalter singled out Gianluca Busio when discussing his roster with the media and he indicated that Busio is indeed pushing for a starting spot in the USMNT lineup.

Considering that Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie look like strong bets to start against Mexico, the way Busio sneaks into a 4-3-3 formation is with him replacing Yunus Musah. While Musah started three games last window, Busio has been playing more minutes with Venezia and Musah has struggled at Valencia with his defense.



"Gianluca will definitely be pushing for a starting position. He's been in great form with Venezia. He's ended up being a key player. When you talk about a young player's transition to Europe, especially the level he went to, he's handled this better than just about about anyone I've seen. It's been absolutely amazing to see his transition into Serie A. He's done a great job and he's in good form right now."

It might be hard for Berhalter to ignore defensive shortcomings for the Mexico game. While that hasn’t been a hallmark of Busio’s game, he’s improved substantially on the defensive side with Venezia the past two months.

Forward depth

It has been a tough time at the club level for many of the U.S. team’s forwards. Josh Sargent hasn’t played well for Norwich. Jordan Pefok has been cold the past five weeks. Gyasi Zardes had been dealing with injuries.

Ricardo Pepi broke out in November and has three goals so far in qualifying. Still, at the age of 18, there will be a lot of opportunities and pressure on him to perform in these upcoming two days.



"It's a short window. We see Ricardo playing a large  portion of these two games," Berhalter said.

But who is behind him? Tim Weah has played the No. 9 for Lille and looks to be a backup in that position even if he starts on the wing. Jesus Ferreira has also played the No. 9.

"Jesus will be fine playing the No. 9,” Berhalter said. “The other thing to consider is that Tim Weah in the Champions League has played up top for his team. He has played that off and on all season for Lille. He's comfortable there. Christian can play there if needed. We feel that in this two-game window, we have enough options at the No. 9."

It is a tough decision to leave Daryl Dike off, however, as the Orlando City forward has been in form. In fact, since he first started playing first team minutes in July, 2020, Dike has scored 26 career goals for both Orlando and Barnsley. He also has three for the U.S. team.

But the comments Berhalter made seemed to suggest there could be skepticism based on his style. The fact that Dike couldn’t make this roster despite being in form, no roster size limits, the ease at which he could arrive in camp since he’s domestically based, and the fact that so many other forwards are struggling doesn’t bode well.

I think it's more of what we're looking to do in these two games and how we're looking to play with some of the important attributes of the No. 9 position and the profile we're looking for. We see want to be stretching the opponent, we still want to get behind the backline, we still want to be aggressive pressing the opponent. We're looking at the profile of these guys and saying who really helps with that? Who is going to give us the best chance for success in these areas? We want dynamic movement in the penalty box. These types of things are important.

"Daryl is getting back to his form," Berhalter added. "I think he will have a role to play on the national team in the future. It's just not exactly what we need it to be right now. Jordan [Pefok], similarly, is a strong, physical forward - more of a stationary forward. We're looking for guys who can run a little bit more."

Starting fullbacks

The Sergino Dest injury is obviously a big setback and the decision to leave him off the roster wasn’t made until Thursday morning. Still, Berhalter was able to bring in five fullbacks – all from Europe – in Antonee Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin, Reggie Cannon, Sam Vines, and Joe Scally.

Scally might get minutes in this window but to see his first cap come as a start against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier is a tough ask. Reggie Cannon also just returned from injury and still hasn’t played much this season.

It seems very likely that DeAndre Yedlin on the right and Antonee Robinson on the left will be getting the start for the Mexico game. Whether that translates into the Jamaica game will largely be dependent on the team’s performances.

Vines returns to the team, and it is deserved after he started most of the minutes at the Gold Cup and has adjusted well into Royal Antwerp despite his injury.

Overall thoughts

The big decision for Berhalter is John Brooks. Brooks is a Champions League defender who had a tough September and most of October. Could a Robinson-Richards combination get the job done? Sure and both those players have done well, but it’s always a controversial decision to make a key player (or at least a highly-regarded player at a big club) unavailable for important games.

To a lesser extent, the decision to leave Daryl Dike off will raise eyebrows. Dike, like Jordan Pefok, is an effective striker that has a style that won’t benefit every team. But the lack of other options could make it problematic if Pepi can’t play, for some reason.

Some of the other cuts are a little understandable. Matthew Hoppe hasn’t played at Mallorca. Konrad de la Fuente has cooled off in recent weeks and is behind Pulisic on the left side.

Sebastian Lletget and Paul Arriola both struggled against Panama (along with everyone in that game) but Arriola is there for his pressing – which Berhalter values – and he did well against Jamaica in the last window. Without the need to rotate squads, Lletget will probably serve as a backup.

Regardless of the decisions around the fringes of the roster, there is a lot of firepower on the roster – especially if Christian Pulisic can start. If that is true, you have a strong starting lineup.

My prediction is that either Steffen or Turner will start against Mexico (I will guess this leans Steffen). Antonee Robinson and DeAndre Yedlin are the fullbacks. Robinson and Richards are the central defenders. The midfield is Adams, McKennie and Busio (Musah’s defense being the question mark), the wingers are Pulisic and Aaronson. Pepi is up top. Off the bench, Weah, Musah, Ferreira, and Lletget (who was excellent against Honduras) are good options.

Is that the ideal starting XI? Probably not. Dest and Reyna would be there, and an in-form Brooks is a strong contender. But it is more than enough to get the job done and with two games instead of three, if the U.S. team can avoid suspensions (Tyler Adams, DeAndre Yedlin, and Weston McKennie are carrying yellow cards) and stay healthy, then it will be able to keep a top XI together.