There’s enough “normal,” insightful roster analysis articles out there, so let’s try something a little different. This will be…let’s say a little “less professional” than the other roster articles you may have read.

There’s also enough stuff out there about the snubs, who should be with the U23’s, etc. I will say that I can deal with this roster aside from the Forward/Winger group. I was pretty disappointed not seeing Sargent, Weah, Holmes (I know also a midfielder), and even Novakovich. C’est la vie.

Goalkeeper:

Zack Steffen: He’s been the future No. 1 since he balled out during the 2015 U-20 World Cup. Steffen saved a penalty against Colombia to win the US their round of 16 game in that tournament and looked like the next great American keeper. He’s had a couple ups and downs since then, but is on the up with a move to Man City coming in July. He will likely play every game possible until then to make sure he qualifies for an English work permit.

Sean Johnson: Johnson is the MLS keeper with the best reputation for foot skills and Mr. Berhalter clearly values those highly. He also played great this past weekend. And to toot my own horn a little bit, I called this in my Interest Ranking article over the weekend.

Ethan Horvath: I have seen very little of Horvath beyond the occasional highlight (Brugge isn’t on a lot and I’m not risking a #jankystream on a keeper. Sorry.), but the standard take on him is “not good with his feet.” I guess we’ll find out if GGG agrees.

Center backs:

John Brooks: Brooks has been killing it for Wolfsburg lately (if you disregard the spanking they just took at the hands of Bayern on Saturday) and seems like a perfect fit for Berhalter’s system. But which Brooks are we going to get? The world class CB from the Copa America Centenario or traffic cone John Brooks vs. Costa Rica in the Hex?

Matt Miazga: Got out of purgatory with Nantes and is now playing regularly with Reading. My read is that he’ll be in a battle with Aaron Long for one of the starting CB spots. Unless…

Aaron Long: I think Long could very well be a starter…at the Lovitz LB/CB role from the games we saw in January. If not he and Miazga are fighting to partner Brooks in the middle.

Tim Ream: This is the other guy I don’t think is here to be a real CB. He’s played left back before and is a really good passer. Ream seems like a good bet to be a candidate for the LB/CB spot. Sure his team gives up truckloads of goals, but good passer, right?

Omar Gonzalez: I thought we had all agreed to never mention Omar again? Was Gregg not CC-ed on that? What’s going on? I’d post the Couva gif here, but I just don’t have the heart to do that to myself. *PTSD-ing*

Fullbacks:

DeAndre Yedlin: D-day is coming. Either he starts at RB and that “Inverted RB” thing wasn’t as permanent as many thought, or Yedlin is going to get benched and a whole bunch of “he’s a starter in the Premier League” people are going to be pissed. Lol.

Nick Lima: Lima has looked pretty bad with the Quakes so far this year after looking pretty good with the NT. Either the quality of the January camp competition was why he looked good or Berhalter’s system fits him better than Almeyda’s. We’ll see.

Daniel Lovitz: Is he even a fullback? It just felt weird to include Lovitz with the center backs though. How has he even played this year? Do people actually watch Montreal?

Midfielders:

Mostly stays in a small area on D

Christian Pulisic: Looks like CP is getting the keys to this thing. He’s for sure a better, more dangerous player than Mihailovic, but what is his passing going to look like in this system? Berhalter has mentioned building around Pulisic a couple times. Let’s see what it looks like. One thing is for sure he’s not going to be responsible for tracking wingers back into his box like he was for Sarachan. Look how little the left 8/10 moves in this system.

Weston McKennie: Weston has to be looking forward to getting away from Schalke for a few days. There is supposedly a divided locker room, they’re getting killed regularly…I don’t see how Tedesco makes it much longer. BTW he’s a perfect fit for the right side 8/10 Roldan played in January. Go get em’ son.

Tyler Adams: Does GGG trust Adams’ passing enough to play him in the role Bradley/Trapp played? If he does Tyler is the starting 6 forever. If he doesn’t than Trapp or Bradley play there (Trapp would be my guess) and Adams takes over the inverted RB role. This is the thing I’m most curious to see in this whole window.

Helpful graphic created by Susaeta that shows the roles of each position. Is Adams a good enough “QB” to take that role from Trapp and Bradley? Please be YES.

Wil Trapp: If Adams isn’t the starting 6 then Trapp is my guess for starter here. I think Berhalter values Trapp’s passing and knowledge of his “principles” enough that he just beats out Bradley. He’s still hella boring though and maybe not up to international standard.

Michael Bradley: The haters will be out in force, but Bradley is still a pretty good option. He’s not prime Bradley anymore and I’m sad that the best of his career was wasted by a coach that didn’t know what he was doing, but he’s solid depth at this point.

Sebastian Lletget: Da Boy beat out Mihailovic with his in game performance imo, but I’m thinking Mihailovic will be with the U23 team anyway. He’s a handsome bench option.

Cristian Roldan: So I don’t really watch the Dog Whisperer, but I did see an episode where that dude took a bad dog and let it follow around this big, old, calm, bulldog. The bad dog took its cue from the old dog and chilled. Roldan is the old (I know he’s not actually old) dog for Weston to follow around.

Wingers:

Paul Arriola: I think Arriola is a starter with this group. I don’t believe he’s “internationally dangerous,” but he tries really hard and knows the system.

Corey Baird: I remember hearing an interview with a baseball (maybe football?) player where the player said something like, “If you think the players’ egos are big…you should go upstairs.” The point being that the coaches and GM-types had even bigger ones. I think Berhalter thinks he can make any winger dangerous if that winger will just follow his principles. None of this was about Baird…he’s fine.

Sorry, Tyler. I know the Holmes snub hurt you personally.

Jonathan Lewis: I like Lewis, but he was one of the more confusing selections. He seems like a perfect fit for the U23 team and less deserving than someone like Weah or Holmes…

Forwards:

Gyasi Zardes: *sigh* He knows the runs Berhalter wants him to make, he tries really hard, and his feet are concrete.

Christian Ramirez: Looked good in limited January minutes, but I’m really surprised he made it over some of the Euro guys.

Jordan Morris: Honestly, I don’t think there’s much difference between Morris and Zardes. Morris has a little better touch, but doesn’t know the system like Zardes. Maybe that’s why he’s here…Zardes clone?

Starting Lineup?

I’m just going to steal this straight from Susaeta (who you should really be following on Twitter). Steffen at keeper and Trapp as the 6.

What’s nice is that with a seemingly logical coach in charge these predictions might be close. Remember trying to predict Jurgen’s lineups? *shudder* Now let’s play these games already.

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