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World Cup Qualifying

In one of the best games in the EPL so far, it's Chelsea vs Liverpool & CP gets his 5th start in a row. Unlike the other 4 starts, Pulisic scores Chelsea's 2nd to tie after going down 2-0 earlier in the half. It's fantastic for CP heading into those qualifiers & earning his club team a point, 2-2. This confidence boost bodes ill for El Sal & the Canucks later this month.
 
Pulisic looked good too and probably could have scored a couple more in this game. Late in the game he made a cheeky little touch pass over the top in the LFC box and nearly found 2 CHE heads for a goal. IMO, Tuchel finally started who he should be starting up top with Havertz in the middle and Mount and Pulisic creating on the outside. Bummed that LFC dropped points from a commanding position although CHE dictated the pace of the game almost all 90 minutes.
Mo Salah is playing the best soccer in the world right now.
 
So in the last 3 days, 2 USMNT players made moves to Europe. Pepi made a transfer ($20M) to FC Augsburg in Bundesliga. They're in a relegation battle right now and need to score goals. Daryl Dike just was bought for $9.5M by West Brom in the English Championship. West Brom is currently 4th in the championship standings and looking to move up a couple of spots for automatic promotion vs having to go the playoff route.
 
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Beer?halter has just called up 19 MLS guys for a "pre" camp....camp. These will practice for 2 weeks before all our Euro guys seasons' are over and they make it across the pond. Hopefully, most of these guys will NOT make the final roster, although you can always count on Acosta, Zardes, Roldan, Arriola and Lletget being there.

But guys like Bassett who scored late vs Bosnia in his FIRST cap and another kid called up with NO caps is just insane. OK, maybe Beer?halter has a Plan B with these guys in case our Euro guys can't make it. But this "pre" camp smacks of the experimentation Beer?halter is so fond of. You can be certain that every coach in Europe & So. America knows exactly who his starters and back-ups will be at this stage and start them in the remaining qualifiers to get them sharp for the group stage games.

Don't take my word for being worried about Beer?halter & his final roster. On a list from Pro Soccer Talk's NBC sports guys of the top 25 from the US player pool, only 3 are from MLS: Zimmerman, M. Robinson and Jordon Morris. Thank goodness at least these 3 are in the "pre" camp.
 
Beer?halter has just called up 19 MLS guys for a "pre" camp....camp. These will practice for 2 weeks before all our Euro guys seasons' are over and they make it across the pond. Hopefully, most of these guys will NOT make the final roster, although you can always count on Acosta, Zardes, Roldan, Arriola and Lletget being there.

But guys like Bassett who scored late vs Bosnia in his FIRST cap and another kid called up with NO caps is just insane. OK, maybe Beer?halter has a Plan B with these guys in case our Euro guys can't make it. But this "pre" camp smacks of the experimentation Beer?halter is so fond of. You can be certain that every coach in Europe & So. America knows exactly who his starters and back-ups will be at this stage and start them in the remaining qualifiers to get them sharp for the group stage games.

Don't take my word for being worried about Beer?halter & his final roster. On a list from Pro Soccer Talk's NBC sports guys of the top 25 from the US player pool, only 3 are from MLS: Zimmerman, M. Robinson and Jordon Morris. Thank goodness at least these 3 are in the "pre" camp.
I think there is a very real need for Berhalter to have a contingency plan as no Euro side is going to allow their players to leave their league's country if the country puts in travel and quarantine restrictions for anyone travelling to red flag COVID countries...like the US. Remember South American countries were also on those lists in the late summer/early fall and Liverpool ended up not playing with Becker, Fabinho, Firmino for games in EPL and were just sent straight ahead to UCL sites to get the quarantine out of the way. US players also missed time in EPL while quarantining (which really didn't matter because a couple of those players, like Pulisic, were injured anyway.) And we've seen lately more and more of the top US talent in MLS is moving to Euro based teams.

I don't have a problem with Berhalter calling in all these players to get a taste of the level they need to be at in order to remain in the pool. Klinsmann was trying to win qualifiers with teams like this. Building depth the right way is never a bad thing.
 
I think there is a very real need for Berhalter to have a contingency plan as no Euro side is going to allow their players to leave their league's country if the country puts in travel and quarantine restrictions for anyone travelling to red flag COVID countries...like the US. Remember South American countries were also on those lists in the late summer/early fall and Liverpool ended up not playing with Becker, Fabinho, Firmino for games in EPL and were just sent straight ahead to UCL sites to get the quarantine out of the way. US players also missed time in EPL while quarantining (which really didn't matter because a couple of those players, like Pulisic, were injured anyway.) And we've seen lately more and more of the top US talent in MLS is moving to Euro based teams.

I don't have a problem with Berhalter calling in all these players to get a taste of the level they need to be at in order to remain in the pool. Klinsmann was trying to win qualifiers with teams like this. Building depth the right way is never a bad thing.
I agree. Very smart move.
 
Building depth the right way is never a bad thing.
Of course not, but this ain't it. The WC is too serious to screw up again. These young MLS guys will have plenty of time (4+ years) to improve their skills and get international experience. Our best players with all kinds of Euro experience are still relatively young & will be even better in the 2026 cycle. Making it even harder for most of these MLS guys to break through. Unless our coach insists on playing them "to build depth".
 
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