Dave Sarachan has called up an extremely young USMNT roster this international break. How might this impact the friendly against Brazil?
Interim USMNT manager Dave Sarachan made a statement with his selection for this round of international friendlies, choosing only two players above the age of 25. More than half of the squad for the friendlies against Brazil and Mexico are 23 or younger.
Those figures don’t include 18-year-old forward Josh Sargent, who has featured in the past three USMNT friendlies, and scored a goal against Bolivia in May. Sarachan stated Sargent wasn’t called up as “he is still getting integrated with Werder Bremen.”
More notably, this squad is also without wunderkind, hero and future president Christian Pulisic, still only 19, who wasn’t called up after picking up a knock during Borussia Dortmund’s game against RB Leipzig last weekend.
With no Pulisic, some of the easy narratives the announcers might rely on go by the wayside. Fear not, however, as this is an intriguing chance to see who else in the squad might become fixtures on the 2022 and 2026 World Cup qualifying teams.
Brazil, meanwhile, are bringing many of their best to MetLife Stadium. Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Casemiro highlight a typically star-studded Brazil squad.
With that in mind, let’s focus on some of the storylines in the lead-up to Friday night.
Who will the U.S. utilize to subdue the Brazilian attack?
Although the entirety of the USMNT was rightfully castigated for failing to qualify for the World Cup, the team actually scored the most goals (17) of any team in the Hex. The defense didn’t fare as well, allowing 13 goals, third-most in the final round.
Much of the problem came from the lack of a strong center-back duo. Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler didn’t impress together, and neither has been called up for this set of friendlies.
A common duo the past few matches has been Matt Miazga — on loan at Nantes from Chelsea – and Swansea’s Cameron Carter-Vickers. Miazga is 23 and Carter-Vickers only 20. A more likely pairing with one of them (most likely Miazga), however, is Wolfsburg starter John Brooks, scorer of that beautiful, emotional goal against Ghana in the 2014 World Cup.
Duos need to have chemistry, so the hope is that one of these pairings finds something that sticks. Interestingly, a dark-horse duo for these friendlies would involve a pair that already have chemistry.
The only uncapped player on the USMNT roster, Aaron Long, and his New York Red Bulls partner, Tim Parker, both made the team.
Regardless of who starts, fans should not expect the team to go without conceding a goal or three — Brazil brought their star attackers. It’s more about looking for progress.
How much time will Neymar spend on his feet?
This isn’t only a slight against Neymar and his penchant for flopping, as he had one of the best possible responses to that line of criticism after scoring against Nimes.
https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1035941913227091968?lang=en
It has more to do with the absolute beating Neymar tends to take in international matches. Neymar was fouled 10 times by Switzerland in the World Cup, with a report afterwards stating this was the most a player had to endure in a World Cup match in 20 years.
One has to wonder how much room and freedom to move the United States will allow Neymar. The ref’s handling of early challenges will dictate much of this storyline.
Should the United States players be able to get with more fouls, that might be to the detriment of fans in the stadium. If Neymar is being harassed in a friendly, he might be pulled quicker than expected by his manager Tite.
On the flip side, it will be interesting to see how the MetLife crowd responds to Neymar if he does partake in any extended theatrics.
Without Pulisic, young midfielders will be key
Pulisic is quite obviously already the talisman for the USMNT, and he’s also the source of much of the playmaking in the squad.
Paul Arriola should send in some testing crosses and Bobby Wood has a knack for ending up in dangerous positions, but with the team at the start of a new cycle, it’s more interesting to consider the fresher faces in the squad.
This might be the perfect opportunity for another youngster to showcase their abilities. Midfielders Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams are two that have the talent to do so.
McKennie, who turned 20 on Aug. 28, has already been hailed as being a potential star down the road for Schalke. That includes a lovely profile by the official Bundesliga YouTube account, no less.
Don’t expect McKennie to chip in too many goals himself, but his tireless box-to-box play might spring some attacks.
Adams, meanwhile, will be joining RB Leipzig at the end of the 2018 MLS season. Still only 19, Adams plays within the Red Bull system as the fulcrum between defense and attack, passing it ahead quickly after recovery and often joining in the attack.
While these two youngsters will not be the ones scoring the goals, they might be able to create attacks from the midfield.
Tim Weah, Neymar’s teammate at PSG, will most likely not start but is another name to be excited by as the USMNT forges ahead.
It might be a rough game on Friday, but there’s much to hope for as the future squad is solidified.