Charles Jackson
A busy summer is about to begin for the United States men’s national team and coach Gregg Berhalter has released his 27-man squad for friendlies against Colombia on June 8 and Brazil on June 12th. With the Copa América group stage starting on June 23, these friendlies are a chance for Berhalter to test new things and see where his team stands ahead of the USMNT’s biggest tournament since the 2022 World Cup. It’s a critical time for the team that, among other things, need to figure out how to replace Sergino Dest on the right flank.
The 23 year old suffered an ACL injury which will make him miss the Copa América and in addition to being a USMNT starter, Dest is also Antonee Robinson primary backup on the left side too. Dest has strong ball possession and allows the USMNT to suffocate teams in attack while maintaining a strong defensive shape. No Dest, Chris Richards is someone who could fill in at the back while Shaq Moore and Joe Scally were also called up to this team to show what they can do.
“We’re really using these games to see individually and collectively how we can play and when you can play against teams like Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay, what you get is information and that information is going to help you grow and improve as you move toward 2026,” Berhalter said of the goal of these friendlies. “I can give other examples of where, at the beginning of this group, some These games really help provide us with important information that has helped us grow and improve to get to where we are today. So we want to continue with that. I’m really using these games to help this group progress both individually and collectively.”
List
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City/WAL; 9/0), Sean Johnson (Toronto FC/CAN; 13/0), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 39/0)
DEFENDERS (9): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 16/0), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo/ITA; 3/0), Marcos McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 13/0), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC; 18/1), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 56/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 16/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 41/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 29/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/ALE; 9/0)
FIELD MIDS (8): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 38/2), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 11/0), Luca de la Torre (Celta de Vigo/ESP; 20/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 51/11), Yunus Musah (AC Milan; ITA; 35/0), Gio Reyna (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 26/8), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 10/0), Timmy Tillman (LAFC; 1/0)
ADVANCED (7): Brenden Aaronson (Unity Berlin/ALE; 40/8), Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA; 10/3), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 23/10), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 66/28), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 23/5), Tim Weah (Juventus/ITA; 37/5), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 9/4)
Looking at the defense
“Look at what we are trying to do with Sergino going down, we have to figure out the right-back situation and there are a few different options we can consider. We have similar things with Joe Scally and Shaq Moore, we have a winger who can play there Timothy Weah who played for his club, we have central midfielders who can play there at Weston [McKennie] and Yunus [Musah] and then we have defenders that we are looking at [to see] they can play there,” Berhalter said of his options at right-back ahead of those matches. “So we just wanted the skill in this training camp to have options and flexibility. Part of this may revolve around a defender, but the first objective is to see how we fill that right-back position, because we know we will miss Sergino.”
This is a lot to unpack as Berhalter named every possible option he has, but it shows how difficult it is to replace Dest. Berhalter needs to change the system by playing a back three or an unnatural right back to make things work. Before a competitive tournament, drastic changes are not what a coach wants to make, but Berhalter doesn’t have many options to do otherwise given the circumstances he has been given.
Although Richards is a more defensive option at right-back, he is someone who makes sense to use his experience to Crystal Palace. In theory, Richards, who has the versatility to play as a midfielder or defender, or even as a defensive midfielder at times, could help the team transform into a defender in possession, allowing Antonee Robinson to advance when he can to help fill it out. the creative void without Dest.
Olympics on the horizon
Although Berhalter mentioned that some players like Kevin Paredes were left out of this team due to the fact that they were keeping an eye on preparing for another major tournament of the summer, the Olympics, which mainly consists of an under 23 team, he also mentioned some of the over 23 age players in potential that could be in contention for this event. Three players over 23 years old can participate in the Paris Olympics and some who could be Brandon Vazquez, Trustworthy AustonIt is Walker Zimmermann. As the aim is to increase positions where the U23s are not strongest, it makes sense that a striker – potentially somewhere between Vazquez and Jesus Ferreira – would be added to the squad for more consistent performances. Central defense is also a place where more experience could be an advantage for Marko Mitrovic. The under-23s will play their last friendly before the Olympics, on June 11th, against Japan. After that, the final lineup will be named in July.
