By Sanjay Sujanthakumar
CARSON, CA – The first camp of a potentially pivotal year and decade for the USMNT culminates in a friendly against Costa Rica Saturday in sunny Carson, California. This isn’t your typical “Camp Cupcake” of ages past where, if someone emerges on track for a role with the varsity team when it reconvenes during a true international break, this month is considered a success.
If there’s a measure of success for this camp, it’s in Mexico next month. Before the spotlight shines on the MNT in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals in June and six crucial Hex games in the fall, Olympic qualifying undoubtedly eclipses the March MNT friendlies in significance. After back to back cycles of Olympic qualification failure on American soil proved portentous for the MNT missing the 2018 World Cup, Gregg Berhalter pragmatically prioritized Tokyo 2020 and refresh “the group” with a heavy dose of youth ready to be deployed to Guadalajara in about six weeks.
In terms of the importance of the Olympics, Berhalter said, “I’m not necessarily sure it has long term ramifications on the national team program, but it’s a strong age group that we have right now and it would be nice to put these guys in a position to compete in the Olympics. We’re not gonna be able to pull from all the players in this qualifying tournament, but nonetheless it’s still an opportunity for guys to step up, be battled tested in a Concacaf qualifying format, and learn from it.”
It remains to be seen which players will be released by their clubs and how Jason Kreis will piece together his roster for Olympic qualifying. For many, Saturday is both a chance to make a lasting impression on Kreis and an opportunity to make their first appearance for the team they’ve aspired to represent their whole life. That makes this camp- and friendly- quite unique.
Of the honor, 18 year-old LA Galaxy right back Julian Araujo said, “It would be a blessing just to play here in front of all the fans here and having most of my family come… Probably around 40 people, for sure. Most of my family will definitely be here… It’ll mean everything. Being able to represent my country doing what I love, I can’t even explain it. Being able to play in front of everybody here, representing US. It’s a whole other feeling.”
Wolfsburg winger Ulysses Llanez, also a SoCal native, Galaxy academy product and Mexican-American dual-national, echoed Araujo. “I have family there, friends there, so just debuting back home in a stadium I’ve always wanted to play in will be a dream come true.”
Jesus Ferreira received a FIFA waiver just in time to make his US debut Saturday night.
There seems to be no doubt about their international allegiance. And Jesus Ferreira – another dual-national in camp – officially committed to the US, was cleared by FIFA following a waiver process, and Gregg Berhalter revealed in Friday’s press conference that the FCD forward will start Saturday vs Los Ticos. This is relieving yet encouraging news for fans, whose anxiety about winning over dual-nationals was peaking when Sergiño Dest decided to stay with American men’s program.
In addition to Araujo, Llanez and Ferreira, there are other youngsters getting their first taste of the senior team, and some veterans blended in to the squad to guide the next generation.
LAFC’s Walker Zimmerman described it from that perspective. “It’s been a lot of fun. This is my fourth January camp, but I have taken all my experiences from my first one or two… guys like Michael, Sacha… who were showing me the ropes, helping me understand what it what it means to play for the US and how to represent this country. And so now, seeing all these young guys it’s been great because they’re coming up, they’re asking questions, you’re able to teach and also befriend them, make sure that they feel comfortable.”
Excluding the keepers, there’s just six players not eligible for the U23s (Aaron Long, Zimmerman, Chase Gasper, Sebastian Lletget, Paul Arriola, and Gyasi Zardes). But there’s still a spectrum in terms of current status in the pool among this squad. “We talked about the theme of this camp being stake your claim or seize your moment and everyone has a different situation,” Berhalter said. “Some guys want to make the Olympic qualifying group, some guys wanna be starters on that group, some guys want to be starters on the full national team, some guys want to be involved on the full national team. Everyone has a different way that they’re looking at this, but collectively, can we perform well as a group, and then individually, can guys make a case for their involvement moving forward?”
Two additional kids to keep an eye on Saturday hoping to crack Jason Kreis’ Olympic qualifying 20-man roster are Brendon Aaronson and Christian Cappis.
Brendon Aaronson missed the cut for Tab Ramos’s U-20 team, but is poised to make a claim to an Olympic roster spot.
Although Aaronson was called up for the Nations League camp in October and pre-camp in November, both he and Cappis missed the cut for Tab Ramos’ U20 World Cup team last summer. Aaronson burst onto the scene for the Philadelphia Union early last season, but too late in the cycle to get a look. Reflecting on that, he said, “For any kid you always want to represent your country at any level. Not being a part of the U20s was pretty hard but it wasn’t the end of the world. I really wanted to be with the U20s but it just pushed me to even do even better, and it just pushed me to try and get to the next team, so the U23s. And I think ever since the U23 camps, I’ve really done well in all these camps, and it just gave me the extra oompf to just go farther with it.”
Despite the U20 omission, Cappis – a Houston area native who couldn’t sign with FC Dallas due to the well-intentioned but nevertheless ridiculous MLS Homegrown territory rules – is now a regular with Hobro in Denmark and deservedly in the mix. “For Gregg to call me, and said that he’s been watching me play, and seeing me do well, that meant a lot to me.”
In terms of their U23 midfield competition, circumstances could favor Aaronson and Cappis. After undergoing surgery in October, U20 World Cup standout Paxton Pomykal left camp to rehab a lingering injury. And Richie Ledezma appears to be on the verge of breaking in to PSV’s first team, which could complicate a release for qualifying (long term, that’s a good problem to have for the program). But Aaronson and Cappis aren’t thinking beyond the pitch they’re on and what’s under their control.
“My mentality has always been the same. Do the best you can, compete every day, and just try to get better. It’s definitely a little bit nicer being in the squad a bit more, and you’re a bit more comfortable, but everything kind of stays the same for me, as far as how I go about things,” Cappis said.
“For me it’s doing as best as I can here and showing the coach that I can play and just showing that I can get called back to these camps and just proving myself in any way,” Aaronson said.
Both are capable of and open to a couple of different roles in the middle of the park in order to get minutes.
“If I had to pick a position, probably more of an 8, kind of box to box, but lately I’ve been playing 6 especially here and I’m actually kind of good at it, so maybe that’s my position for the future. But I can do either one, and wherever gets me on the field is where I’m gonna play,” Cappis said.
“People say that I’m an 8 or a 10, I like to say that I’m an 8.5. Like right in between there, it really doesn’t matter for me, I think that either position I’m gonna do my best in, and I don’t really see myself as one of them,” Aaronson said.
Berhalter has been impressed by Aaronson, and expects production. “Dynamic, good in positioning, good in body shape to turn, and with him, same thing like Sebastian [Lletget], attacking midfielders we measure by goals and assists.”
How Berhalter decides to build his midfield beyond tomorrow will be a defining aspect of a massive year for the MNT, and it still hinges on (a healthy) Tyler Adams.
On a conference call with the media Monday, noting Adams’ versatility but also the current depth at right back, Berhalter said, “We see him primarily as a central midfielder. We always have seen him as central midfielder.” But Friday, when I asked about the 6 and Adams, Berhalter clarified, “I didn’t say 6, though.” I then asked about a double pivot, which he didn’t rule out.
“I think that’s a subtlety that can perhaps be used against a specific type of opponent. Depending on the needs of the game, depending on what’s gonna get us to win in the game, we’ve used a double pivot a lot in the past. We’re comfortable working with a double pivot. To us it’s about positioning, it’s about unbalancing the opponent, and if it needs a double pivot to do that we’d certainly look at that.”
Experimentation ends when the Hex begins in about seven months.
The emergence of wingers (Tim Weah, Gio Reyna) and/or central midfielders (Pomykal, Ledezma, or Lletget locking down his spot) could definitely influence how Berhalter uses Christian Pulisic and Adams. But if the default is a single pivot and he’d rather unleash Adams as a box to box menace (why not?), the question is who is the 6 and who else would be in front of him with Adams. Jackson Yueill could be the former and Weston McKennie could in theory be either, but bereft of an attacking mid (Ledezma, Pulisic, Lletget) a Yueill-Adams-McKennie trio doesn’t seem balanced, especially for Berhalterball. We might have to until the entire pool is available for senior team selection – June at the earliest – to learn the manager’s real preference.
We probably won’t have to wait to see fullbacks bombing on on both sides, whether it’s the U23s or MNT. When asked about Rangers right back Matt Polster, Berhalter joked, “Unfortunately right now, the right back position is stocked. I wish some of those guys were lefties.”
With Sergiño Dest secured forever and Colorado Rapids’ Sam Vines and Minnesota United’s Chase Gasper entering the picture this camp, there’s long-term hope at left back, where Berhalter leaned on the serviceable but 32 year-old center back Tim Ream for most of 2019. Berhalter said, “There’s no secret, we like our fullbacks to attack. We like them to be dynamic… We want our fullbacks to be aggressive going forward. We want them to be technically good players being able to help support buildup and then arriving to give crosses and finishing, and finish off attacks in some cases. So we need them to be aggressive. The two guys we have in camp right now fit that profile and now it’s just a question of can they raise the level to play international soccer.” Vines will start Saturday.
Sanjay Sujanthakumar is a journalist and soccer coach based in Los Angeles. A frequent contributor to TYAC, you can follow him on Twitter @tha_Real_Kumar.