With two final friendlies before the World Cup starts in November, the United States men’s national team turned in a lesson in how to inspire pessimism. A disjointed 2-0 loss to Japan preceded a dull 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia, leaving the team utterly momentumless 55 days before they kick off against Wales in Qatar.
The team went into the international break hoping to shore up their roster and build cohesion, but the combination of injuries and poor performances stood in the way of those objectives, leaving Gregg Berhalter some difficult choices ahead of Nov. 9, when the final roster will be announced at an event in New York City.
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In this edition of the Big Board, which examines the current state of the roster and the process for selecting a final 26-man roster, an unrealistic assumption is made: that all players without a serious, long-term injury will be available for selection. Given that as many as five possible starters missed this camp because of injury and at least four others picked up injuries of varying seriousness during the window in training or games, it’s best to approach this exercise with that as a constant backdrop.
With that, here’s a look at where things stand:
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How we’re doing this
We’re going position by position, from goalkeeper to attack, and sorting the player pool in four tiers based on recent form and Berhalter’s perceived preferences since the beginning of World Cup qualifying.
Those tiers:
Tier 1: Projected starter. Roster locks and players who are clear starters at their positions.
Tier 2: World Cup contributor. Players expected to be on the roster and contribute on the field, either as a starter or sub.
Tier 3: Roster bubble. Contention to be on the 26-man squad and provide roster depth.
Tier 4: Not this time. Players who have been around the team but likely won’t receive much of a look for inclusion.
Then comes the good stuff: the projected 26-man World Cup squad that will be in Qatar.
