GGG Announces the 2021 USMNT Gold Cup Roster
If you’ve had a chance to read my last blog post, USMNT Announce 60-Player Preliminary Gold Cup Roster, than you saw my preferred 23-player roster, selected from the provisional roster that came out two weeks ago (if you didn’t get a chance to read my post, follow that link!). Yesterday, USMNT coach Gregg “GGG” Berhalter announced his 23 man roster for the Gold Cup. The roster breakdown is below:
Goalkeepers:
Matt Turner - New England Revolution
Sean Johnson - NYCFC
Brad Guzan - Atlanta United FC
Defenders – Left-Back:
Sam Vines - Colorado Rapids
George Bello - Atlanta United FC
Defenders – Center-Back:
Walker Zimmerman - Nashville SC
Miles Robinson - Atlanta United FC
James Sands - NYCFC
Donovan Pines - D.C. United
Defenders – Right-Back:
Reggie Cannon - Boavista
Shaq Moore - CD Tenerife
Midfielders – Defensive-Midfielder:
Kellyn Acosta - Colorado Rapids
Jackson Yueill - San Jose Earthquakes
Midfielders – Central-Midfielder:
Sebastian Lletget - LA Galaxy
Eryk Williamson - Portland Timbers
Gianluca Busio - Sporting Kansas City
Cristian Roldan - Seattle Sounders
Forwards - Winger:
Paul Arriola - D.C. United
Jonathan Lewis - Colorado Rapids
Matthew Hoppe - Schalke
Nicholas Gioacchini - Caen
Forwards - Striker:
Daryl Dike - Orlando City
Gyasi Zardes - Columbus Crew
First, let’s talk about some of the notable players who didn’t make the roster for GGG. The absence of Matt Miazga, Erik Palmer-Brown, Johnny, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Bryan Reynolds are easy to explain – according to Berhalter, all of these players need time with their respective clubs or need time to figure out their situation with their clubs. For example, as reported by Tom Bogert of MLS:
Personally, I am only truly sad about the absence of Cameron Carter-Vickers. I get it, though - after a good season with Bournemouth and with his contract expiring at Tottenham, CCV needs to sort out his club situation. Another notable exclusion is Julian Araujo. Again, Tom Bogert had this to say:
I never thought that Araujo was truly interested in the Mexican National Team, but here we are. I want to see Araujo in the USMNT picture because I truly feel like he could be in the competition with the likes of Sergiño Dest, Reggie Cannon and Bryan Reynolds, among others. I think the last player that many USMNT fans are going to be upset not seeing in the Gold Cup is Caden Clark. Brian Sciaretta of American Soccer Now reported that, of Clark’s absence, GGG had this to say:
Again, while it’s sad, it makes sense. The last thing that I saw from Berhalter’s press conference was that he did not include any current FC Dallas players because, "there just hasn't been enough".
Next, let’s look at who did make it. I like to work in sections, so let’s break this down by position. The easiest position to discuss the goalkeepers, mainly because Matt Turner of the New England Revolution made the roster. To be honest, I don’t care who the other ‘keepers named to the roster are - Turner is the starter, plain and simple. I not-so-secretly love that Sean Johnson made the roster, as a veteran backup who GGG has trusted in the past, but it’s still Turner and the rest in my mind.
The group of defenders that Berhalter selected is a pretty solid group. My preferred backline from the provisional roster was Sam Vines, Walker Zimmerman, Miles Robinson, and Reggie Cannon - all of them made the final roster. However, GGG added James Sands and George Bello, which I am VERY happy about. Sands has been such a solid youngster for NYCFC and Bello has been attracting interest from European clubs. The curious selections for me are Donovan Pines and Shaq Moore. I honestly thought we’d seen the last of Shaq Moore a few years ago, but I guess some solid playing time in the Spanish lower divisions has helped his USMNT stock. And no offense to Donovan Pines, but… why?
As I mentioned in my post about the provisional roster (psst….you can read it here), finalizing the midfield selections must have been tough for GGG. Given the options available, I sincerely think GGG did a great job with this part of the roster. The midfield includes Nations League standouts Kellyn Acosta and Sebastian Lletget, who I assume will have starting roles. Adding the likes of Jackson Yueill, who has been in Berhlater’s plans all along, and MLS veteran Cristian Roldan, as well as young standouts Eryk Williamson and Gianluca Busio, the Gold Cup midfield should be more dynamic than the Olympic Qualifying one was.
Lastly, let’s dive into the forwards, as there are some interesting selections in this group. To the naked eye, it looks like GGG only brought two wingers - Paul Arriola and Jonathan Lewis. However, as Ives Galarcep of SBI reported:
This is an interesting tidbit – we haven’t seen Matthew Hoppe or Nicholas Gioacchini on the wings, but clearly the USMNT coaching staff sees something we don’t. While I’m not too sure about this logic, I think it’s clear that Lewis and Arriola are the starting wingers. At striker, it looks like the fans will get what they’ve wanted: Daryl Dike. Gyasi Zardes also made the roster, serving as the veteran influence up top. I am happy with this combination - it honestly makes a ton of sense.
The real question with this roster is going to be formation. Will the USMNT play the typical GGG 4-3-3 formation, with a deep-lying 6 and two 8s in the midfield? Will we see more of a 3-5-2? Will GGG possible implement a 3-4-3? It’ll be interesting to see how the formation and player selection adapts as we move through the Gold Cup tournament. Honestly, as I have been typing this, the idea of a 3-5-2 has become more interesting to me.
With that in mind, below is my 3-5-2 starting XI for the USMNT Gold Cup:
FW: Daryl Dike - Gyasi Zardes
MF: Sebastian Lletget - Sam Vines - Kellyn Acosta - Eryk Williamson - Reggie Cannon
DF: Walker Zimmerman - James Sands - Miles Robinson
GK: Matt Turner
Let me know what you guys think of this roster and of my potential starting XI in the comments below!
