The United States men's national team released their 23-man squad for the Gold Cup on Tuesday, and a lot of people got upset. There were a bunch of notable omissions and surprise inclusions, but if we're taking a second to think about the team and breathe, there's not a ton to freak out about. Here's the really important stuff.
5 key takeaways from the USMNT’s Gold Cup squad announcement
Jurgen Klinsmann annoyed some fans with his selections as always, but they’re nothing to be concerned about.
Mike Lawrie/Getty Images
Where the heck is Geoff Cameron?
Stoke City asked him to chill out this summer. It stinks, but if he had a handful of minor injuries, it’s good for his career if he sits out and gets totally healthy for the start of Stoke’s preseason. It’s not clear if he’s going to be a center back, right back, defensive midfielder or utility man for them going forward, but if sitting out the Gold Cup gives him the best chance of nailing down some important role with Stoke, it’s good for his national team career.
DeAndre Yedlin and Gyasi Zardes listed as midfielders, Fabian Johnson as a defender
Generally, U.S. Soccer doesn't play games with or guess on their positional listings. If someone's listed as a midfielder, they're probably going to play in midfield. So it was notable when DeAndre Yedlin, who has spent most of his time with the national team, Seattle Sounders and Tottenham Hotspur as a right back, was listed as a midfielder. The same goes for Gyasi Zardes, who has played more striker. And Fabian Johnson, who has gotten a long run in midfield for Jurgen Klinsmann, looks to be moving to left back.
In the cases of Johnson and Yedlin, these are positive developments. Johnson is the team’s best left back by a mile and just one of many serviceable players in midfield. Yedlin has a long way to go defensively at right back, but has been extremely effective in his outings as a right winger for the USMNT. If those are the positions those two players are going to play in the Gold Cup, it’ll make the team better.
Zardes' inclusion as a midfielder, however, is questionable. He's been okay on the left wing for LA Galaxy and the national team, but has had plenty of games where he was invisible as well. He's been much more effective as a striker, and on a team light on in-form strikers, it's weird that he won't get a shot to play there.
That crop of Under-20 and Under-23 defenders better pan out
Is this an uninspiring central defense group or what? John Brooks has put together some solid Bundesliga seasons and probably hasn't reached his ceiling yet, but the rest of this unit ... yikes. Omar Gonzalez is 26 now, so he probably won't improve that much, and he's wildly inconsistent. Tim Ream is solid, but physically limited. Ventura Alvarado has been average for Club America and worse in his first few national team appearances.
Here's to hoping Shane O'Neill, Steve Birnbaum and Christian Dean have spectacular second halves in MLS, while Matt Miazga, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Erik Palmer-Brown continue to develop. If the four center backs in this squad are among the best options in 2018, that'll be pretty brutal.
Groans all around for Chris Wondolowski's inclusion
Chris Wondolowski is having his sixth consecutive excellent MLS season. He's also 32, hasn't scored in a meaningful USMNT game against high-level competition and has more famous misses in a national team shirt than he has goals. Despite his spectacular play for the San Jose Earthquakes, his inclusion in USMNT squads continues to baffle fans, and rightfully so.
But it’s nothing to be too worried about, because...
Reminder: Klinsmann can make six changes
At the conclusion of the group stage, every team is allowed to swap up to six players out from their initial roster, substituting in players from their 35-man preliminary squad. There’s a good chance that Klinsmann lets some American and Mexican-based players bounce after the group stage so that their teams don’t get too annoyed with the number of games or amount of preseason training they’re missing.
This means that you're likely to see MLS vets like Matt Besler, Alan Gordon and Lee Nguyen swapped in for other domestic-based players halfway through the tournament. And who knows, we might even get a group stage look at Stanford wonderkid Jordan Morris, who probably missed out on the group stage to take a physics final or something.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)
Defenders: Ventura Alvarado (Club America), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Timothy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (FC Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Alfredo Morales (FC Ingolstadt), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Alternates
GK Bill Hamid (D.C. United)
DF DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo)
DF Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City)
DF Greg Garza (Club Atlas)
DF Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana)
DF Brek Shea (Orlando City)
MF Joe Corona (Veracruz)
MF Perry Kitchen (D.C. United)
MF Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution)
FW Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution)
FW Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy)
FW Jordan Morris (Stanford)
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