Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #693: Roster projections with Greg Velasquez

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

Greg joins Belz to give his 26 for the World Cup, his starting XI, and acknowledge that in both cases it could go several acceptable ways. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedpodcast.com/store  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the scuff podcast when we talk about U.S. soccer. Hey, everybody, it is that time. A roster will be announced on Tuesday in New York for the USMNT's World Cup. But first, scuffed professor of Rosterology, Greg Velasquez, is at the dais. Greg, how are you? Man, it is, Rastrology is next to impossible with Pachitino. I feel like he hasn't, he hasn't given us a very clear trance. trail of breadcrumbs. I mean, you can, you can look and find crumbs anywhere that lead in every

direction. Yeah. Which is pretty fun, but it's like, it really just turns into, I really hope these guys are there. And then after that, I have no idea. Yeah, I guess to sort of structure our conversation, should we just, I guess we'll just both talk about what we want and what we think Potch will do, which is, like you said, kind of almost impossible to predict. at the same time. And it'll be a little bit confusing, but I guess, but we're going to do it.

Let's start with goalkeeper. It seems like the guys in the mix are Matt Freeze, Matt Turner, Chris Brady, Diego Cochin, Zach Stephan. Is he even in the mix? Probably not. I don't think so. And what's wild is,

is Cochard in the mix because of the breadcrumbs? Because of like, it feels like some guys who are plugged in. in the media are kind of like tiptoe dancing around it. Yeah. Like they know something. And they're kind of not allowed to say that they know it. It does, it does feel like there are rumblings.

And I guess one question is, does one of Turner or Freeze have to stay home for locker room reasons? So that'd be the 2020 play, right? Where Berthorhalter was riding with Turner and Stefan kind of alternating all through. qualifying and then Stefan sort of shockingly has left home and the only real kind of explanation isn't like oh well you know Berhalter suddenly decided that Horvath and John Johnson are actually ahead of

Stefan. Very much felt like he wanted one guy to feel confident and secure not constantly be looking over his shoulder for every at every single rep right? So I mean right so the argument would be well then Turner has to stay home

so that Freeze doesn't stay stay looking over his shoulder. But then again, Turner's not really... I mean, Turner's like such a team player, it seems like. Is he really going to be a problem if he's not starting? And then I'm just... With all that, I'm just assuming that Freeze is the number one, which he probably is, but...

I think for POTCH freeze is the number one. For me, I'd start Turner. But it's kind of one of those... It's like the P-Foc phenomenon in interview from the last cycle, whereas mom was like, well, did you score any goals? then what are you complaining about? P. Fox's mom. What a hero.

Turner is probably, I think Turner is probably a better shot stopper. His historic highs are higher than Frieses. He is currently in his league doing better than Fries. He's sort of hitting his old marks again. But in his chances he had, he just didn't do enough. And not only did he not do enough,

but the optics of his starts were pretty rough with a bunch of goals again. him. Whether those goals are his fault or not, it's like, if you're already behind as a goalkeeper, you have to do so much to jump the guy at you or you need him to have a bunch of howlers. And Fries hasn't really had a ton of a string of howlers. And Turner also has some on his on his belt. So it's like, I just don't, I don't think Turner's jumped Fries in Pachino's mind. And because they're so close, I could see Pachino just being like, Turner, you're

staying home, you're not a problem in the locker room, but just your existence in the locker room will unsettle our number one. The guy I have is the number one. And I'm not messing with it. You're not a problem, but your existence is a problem. That's the thing. It's a tough thing to say to a human being. Yeah, it is, it is funny how the goalkeeper depth chart works.

It's like you said, either you have to go crazy or the person ahead of you has to go crazy in a negative way or you just have to do the Tanya Harding. you know, find a wrench, hit him in the knee. So, yeah, that's what I'm expecting. I wouldn't be surprised if Turner has to stay. And the thing is, because Turner's such a team player, it's kind of one of those where I would expect him to be like, I get it.

I'll be supporting you from home. But then if, if Frees has, if Turner won't be on the roster, right? If that's the case, Freese has an injury in the next week and a half, Turner actually comes in and is the starter for the World Cup. Would be the, that'd be the sequence. Right. You'd go from not on it to starting, if anything,

happened to freeze before game one. Because I think you have within 24 hours, up to 24 hours before your first match for an injury replacement, for a true injury replacement. Okay. And it doesn't seem likely at all that Brady or Cochin

or John Polskamp is going to start a World Cup match. I mean, they easily could. Netherlands Keeper last cycle was pretty green. But it's again, it's funny that Kachan's in the discussion here. He hasn't been called up for a long time. He was in a camp, never played for the senior team, has not been playing first team soccer at any point. But because of the rumblings were like,

and probably also a little bit because he was my draft, drafted goalkeeper for our draft a few weeks ago. Yet to be, yet to be published. Oh, that went a few weeks ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, he's a guy. I saw this coming. I knew that he was going to be in of a shout.

first team ball or not. You're good at drafts. I'll give you that. So I'd start Turner. I think Fries is our started through this whole tournament, and Turner might well be left off if these cryptic comments from the Jimmy Conrads are leading us that way. It is not the most interesting thing to talk about,

at least from my point of view, goalkeepers, but man, it's going to matter. It's going to matter a lot. So freeze or Turner, I guess. Centerback, not a position of strength, as we have we and everyone else has covered for a long time. Chris Richards is hurt. It's got some torn, quote, torn ligaments, end quote, according to the reports. That's just how the Europeans say it.

They always say torn, like torn muscle. So it's like an ankle strain. It's a high ankle sprain. Exactly. We say tweaked his quad and the Europeans are like he has ruptured his quad yourselves. Because they're both technically correct, right? Like any, any strain is a little tear partial or thorough. So they're not wrong, but come on, guys.

Like that's terrifying. Rupure is a word that shouldn't be used for a small tear. All right. So Richards probably be back in time and health. He's not going to play this weekend, I don't think, for Crystal Palace. And then they have their conference league final in the middle of the week coming up. So he's doubtful for that as well. But, you know, strong indications he'll be back in time for the World Cup.

He's coming. He's CB1. Tim Ream, let me just go through the rest of the list. Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, Austin Trustee, Noah Kai Banks, and Miles Robinson, I think are I mean, Tristan Blackman's, there are some breadcrumbs, perhaps stale ones leading in his direction. Zimmerman was at the Gold Cup, but didn't play all that much. Yeah, so I guess how many centerbacks do we need, knowing that we're going to probably, that we're almost certainly going to have an, I always want to call him Antonio Freeman, Alex Freeman. His father's name is Antonio, knowing that we're going to have Alex Freeman who can kind of be an elbow back.

he can but he hasn't played centerback you know like everyone everyone keeps talking about this potch system where freeman and scally can be centerbacks but they haven't done that they've played right back like exclusively uh and just stayed at home and yeah and then occasions so i don't know if potch is willing to consider those guys emergency depth at centerback uh i also don't know how eager potch would be to bring a fifth centerback when he doesn't even like if he doesn't like his third and fourth centerbacks. Right. To keep piling on.

But with Richard's hurt, there is some sense that, or some extra incentive to bring an extra guy. Also, Tim Rame just isn't doing that well. And he's really right at the edge of that age cliff, if not already falling off of it. The age cliff that you and I have already long ago. I've landed. descended from. So it's, again, yeah, it's just going to be whichever sort of mediocre centerbacks we

bring, we just have to hope they do it, they do a job. Cameron Carter Vickers jumped in against Iran in a can't draw or lose game. Some people might call it a must win. But he wasn't a guy I was counting on to score. He was the guy I was counting on to make sure that we didn't get scored on. And he did that. And he did that. You know, after no role in qualifying last cycle came in and was up to the task,

I think we have guys who can be up to the task. I don't think it's like I'm not in panic mode about the centerbacks. I'm just not awed by any of them. Right. And the thing is, even when you're awed by them, they can still make mistakes, you know? So I'm going to say, Richards let me get my hard copy out here I'm going to say Richards Reem McKenzie

trustee and Banks all five of all okay you got banks coming I love it I mean he put USMNT in his bio you know everybody's talking about that on Instagram get off Instagram Greg quit quit it oh man I haven't done I haven't done all the sleuthing but I appreciate the sleuthing that everyone else is doing

So is this the Bell's wish list? Is this the Pachitino rejection, or is this both? Are you and him in Los Angeles? That is my decision, partly because of the Richards injury and partly because of the Ream-age Cliff. I feel like, you know, it could happen in the World Cup where Tim Rheim plays, and it just everybody realized. including Pachitino and Jesus that it's not going to work. Yeah. And so, and then what if you only have Richard's Ream and two other centerbacks,

then you're in a little bit of a pickle. So that's my, that's my thinking there. And I think 26, 26 is a lot. And there is, there is room around the roster. I do have a pretty major omission. It's not going to come as a shock for anybody. but what do you think on centerbacks? So I've got Richards.

I've got McKinsey. I think those guys could end up being the starters. Once again, we might have that re-moment. Ironically, you know, longtime followers of scuffed probably watched McKenzie

have one of those exact moments in the U-20 World Cup. When he came in hurt, Tab tried to use him, get him on the field, and he was just as a right back. Yeah, that's true. Out of position.

had a bit of a shocker, and I don't think played again. We also saw on the women's side, Becky Sauerbrun, absolute icon and legend. Same thing happens. Age comes for us all. So, you know, she lost it in the competition, group stage game against Mexico in the Women's Gold Cup, and didn't play again. Oh, that was hard to watch. So it could definitely be the case that, yeah, Rieme kind of gets exposed in a game where we say, okay, we love him. He's a great leader.

He's, again, he's become a legend. And Mark McKenzie's our new starter for the remainder of the tournament. Yeah, and give Tim a headset and a clipboard. He's the new defensive coordinator. So I've got Richards. I've got McKenzie. Ream is obviously going. And then I'm bringing, I'm still bringing Zimmerman on my wish list because of his commanding nature

that I think can be come in handy in a World Cup. like final stretch scramble those minutes where everything is everything is like there's no tactics anymore and it's just like smash your head into the soccer ball yeah Walker's ready for that he's a real man

uh and then banks I'm bringing banks as well because come on like bring banks so you're bringing five as well just not trust just Zimmerman instead of trustee yeah and I don't expect Zimmerman to make it he hasn't been called up I don't think since the gold cup. So I think that's a long shot, but I won't be surprised if

Pachitino brings trustee or Miles Robinson. And I can't be that bothered. I don't mind that he brings one of those guys instead of the 12th attacker, because I think the 12th attacker is indistinguishable from the 11th attackers. We'll get into the attacker section. Or the 13th or the 14th. Even though you might really like a guy. Like at some point, just pick between one of the two or one of those four that are the same dude and that's the one that you'll play if you have to use it yeah I think I agree with that too so uh you do care about no nookai like you want him there he's he's a fun pick like at some point there's a there's a psychological aspect he might be better than some of our guys like that's certainly possible

uh yeah that that was the scuffed experience in 2019 through 2021 just like this this this guy that hasn't played very much for his club, Tim Waya could actually just be better than the other guys that we have who have been playing for seven years as grown professionals. And we saw that sometimes that is true. And if he's not, he will just be a depth piece, just like our other mediocre depth pieces. Yeah. Okay. So we both have eight players in the goalkeeper and centerback positions. Let's move to fullback. So right back in the mix are Dest, Freeman, and Scali. I don't think I'm missing anybody there who really is going to be on this roster.

And then left back, it's Jedi, Anthony Robinson, and Max Arfston. And Desk can play on the left, and Scali can play on the left as well. And I think the other guy that we've got to throw in for full thrown us here is Timwaya, because he has played fullback for Pachino. And he can play on the right or the left. So Potch is willing to use him there. So that can give you a flex spot as you're sort of balancing the complete picture of your roster. And like how many do we bring?

We have spaces to burn with 26. Do we need to burn one here? Or is Tim Wea a guy that if we have plans for him in the attack, does it disrupt those plans to bring him into defense? Or can we kind of, is the picture so fluid with some of the, the other options that we can play guys out of position. And again, with Pocitino, we know he will do that. He plays Sergenio Dest as a right winger.

He played Miles Robinson as a right back, not like a center back. Like he was playing, Miles Robinson played right back for a game. So Gino Desk played true right wing, not like right wing back. He played right winger the last couple of times he's played for us. So does that Timway a flex spot signal the end of the road for Joe's Gally, maybe? It sure could. And Scali's a guy who I'm not going to lose any sleep if he's missing.

Same. But my guess is that spot we have earmarked for Nokey Banks. Could well be Joe Scali's spot. Okay. Despite the fact that earlier I said he's never, Potch's never played Scali at centerback. I've suddenly turned Scali into our fifth centerback and fifth fullback. So who are the other?

So you got Dest, Freeman, Jedi, Arfston coming, and then Scali, a question mark? Yeah, I think Arf is going. I think Potch really likes him. I think he's done enough in his games to show that he can defend. Again, going back to that Gold Cup where in the friendlies before it, the sort of standard consensus media take was that Arf just can't defend in a back four. But he has done that a lot for us. and he's been at minimum, like, capable. So I think, I don't think that he's done anything to get himself off of this roster.

I think you're probably right that Potch is going to call him up. He would be the one that I leave off, though. No, no disrespect to him. I do, I appreciate a lot of what he's done, but I just don't think. I do think the defensive limitations are a thing. like he's he hasn't been maybe as bad as everybody says but uh and then you know the the the one B one stuff that he's able he's been able to do you know there's been games where it felt like we ran the whole attack through max arfston um i just don't i just don't believe that that

is going to work that much this summer so i want i just want desk scally freeman and Jedi, given that Dest and Scali, and like you said, Tim Way, I can both play deputize on both sides. I think we're going to see a lot of Alex Freeman this summer.

So. Okay, so you're leaving Arfoff for you. You think Potch is going there? I think you're right that Potch is going to call him up. And then it's maybe it's Scali, maybe it's Banks who get the

acts because of that. Maybe it's Austin trusty. Who knows? But that leaves us with 12 players after we've covered the goalkeepers and the defense.

Now we go into the midfield, which is a mess. I mean, it's a mess in that it's complicated. So I think your categories are going to be more precise to mine, but I've got the number six position as Adams,

Testman, Burrhalter, and Morris in the mix? I'd start with that. We can start with number six. I love it. I would probably put Roll Dawn as Adams backup maybe. I don't know. For Pachitino.

But, man, it is such a pickum for everyone behind Adams. Yeah. Because Testman has not had a strong spring at Lyon. Sebastian Burrhalter has had an excellent MLS season, but, you know. We just can't be convinced. I think, yeah, I think that there's still just, I'm going to be reluctant to trust Sebastian Burhalter or Aiden Morris.

Don't trust them. You know, we're up one, 20 minutes left. like let's see this out. I'm going to be, I'm going to be very nervous. I would get it because, again, we don't have a lot in our bag, but I'd still just be like,

let's just put McKinney back there with that. Let's drop McKinney a line. 100%. Yeah. There's a winnowing effect that happens in these World Cup games, I think, where you,

it's like, it's really clear who, well, maybe in the lead-up, it's not really clear who's better between the 11th and 12th attackers, but then somehow in the World Cup It's like a centrifuge, and it just like clarifies, you know, everything.

People get put into categories. Like, he can do it. He can't. And, yeah, I don't think Burrhalter or Morris are going to end up in the he can do it category at the World Cup. Unfortunately. Certainly, I would say for me, emotionally, I will feel that way. And I might well feel that way about Testament, too. You kind of don't know until they see him coming on.

I remember when we went down three, two, finally, to Brazil in the 2009 Confederations Cup, and then the subs coming on, like, at the end to try to get our goal back was like, it was Sasha question. I was like, oh, it's not going to happen. Like, you might really appreciate Sasha and his creativity and all this, but in a final against Brazil, it's just like, that's just not going to be the sub to do it. No. And I feel like that is what it's going to look like when these guys come on.

Testament, testament I'm a little bit more unclear about, at least in my emotional way I'm assessing it. But he could end up in that category too. And we could also, again, just be wrong. And they'll get through it because these guys, if they come in, their job is not going to be to create a goal against Brazil in a final. It's going to be, don't screw up, boot the ball into the stands for the next 10 minutes.

So stay locked in, stay ready. Yeah. Yeah. You know, again, Johnny Bornstein got through an entire tournament without a single massive. And he was the guy for an entire cycle, that he was the punching bag, right? It was known. I mean, even the managers were trying to find a way to get him off the field. And because of other injury, like we were playing Carlos Bokenegger left back.

And then because we ran out of centerbacks due to injury, it was like, nothing we can do. We've got to run, we got to run Borenstein. And he was fine. That's what I always cling to for any of these. You don't want to say bottom half the roster because with Adam's injury history, who knows? We don't have Johnny anymore probably. Or we don't.

We won't have Johnny. I don't even know who our other center mid will be. So it's like these guys will probably see quite a few minutes, one of these guys. I think, so just to put my opinion out there, I think I want Adams Testman. and Burrhalter to come. And I just don't care.

I mean, I think it's going to be rolled on, like he's going to be there. So I guess I'll just take him. And Morris is the odd man out. Because I, well, in Burrhalter and Roaldon's case, I think it's just that they're going to be there, whether I want it or not. And so that's that, I suppose. I'll weigh in with my opinion here. I feel like Adams rolled on in Testament are the three for me that if it came to it in a match,

I think they would not be like surprised by the, by whatever is coming at them, like the pace or the movement where they wouldn't be like, oh, I didn't expect it to be this fast. So I think like I worry about that with both Burrhalter and Morris. Whereas I feel like Roldan or Testament, if they have to step into a match. would at least be ready to deal with it. They might run into their limitations as players where they can't deal with it. But I feel like they wouldn't just be like, have a couple of times where they're roasted just for like, oh my God, I didn't realize that this was going to happen this quickly.

Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to imagine them getting shell-shocked as much as it's easier to imagine it with Berlter and Morris. So you're just bringing three of these guys. Adams rolled on in Testman. that's who I'd bring but again I don't there because there's extra spots I don't care if Seb Burrhalter or Aiden Morris gets one of those spots over a Diego Luna like that's not

gonna like me like how do you leave Diego Luna home I just I just can't bring myself to be that upset about okay so we're up to 15 now on your roster 16 on mine oh no no no we actually didn't get my my to my roster bells because you I mean you kind of editorialized here and You left off my fourth center mid, which is Eunice Musa. Oh, okay. I have Adams rolled on Musa in Testament. So I'm leaving Burrhalter home, and I'm bringing Eunice Musa. I don't think that's going to happen.

It's definitely not happening, but it probably would be the right call. Although, you know, people will say Burhalter can whip in a nice set piece. Maybe we use that to score a goal late, you know? You sure can, but man, I don't, I've never really thought that the set piece specialist sub or is really a thing that a manager is doing in soccer. Unless again, they're like pretty much equal everywhere else, but I'm not bringing in for that. Okay. So you've got six, we both have 16.

You added Musa, which is not happening, but probably the right call in the sort of grand scheme of soccer. Number the, some more of advanced midfielder, like the number eight. I've got in the mix, McKinney, Tillman, Raina, Luna, Musa. We'll just take Moosa off the list and have him as a six. Thank you. Anybody else to add in this position? I don't think so unless you want to, like, I mean, throw in Jack McGlynn.

Oh, yeah. So who are you bringing, Greg? And why? So I'm bringing McKenny. I'm bringing Malik. I'm bringing Raina. And that's, for me, those are the guys that, if they are not called up, I will be like, I have questions.

If Luna's not there, if McGlynn's not there, I'm not really going to have any questions. Yeah. It'd be nice if Luna could be there, given his bloody nose and everything. But I don't know. Yeah, he's a bubble guy for me too. And even here, this is where at least, you know, for the roster,

I think we can call these guys eights. For the actual 11 in formation, it gets a little trickier because McKenney doesn't play eight for Pachito. Raina doesn't play eight for Pachino. Tillman hasn't really played it for Pachino. So out of all these guys, for Pach in the midfield, there might only be one of them starting unless he's like, nope, time to. you know, Johnny's out.

I don't trust Testman anymore. Roldon's still too much of a stretch to have on the field if Malik is not on the field. So then it's like, is Malik going to drop a line in defense and play as a center mid in the 4-4-2 that will probably use at times? Like that's a real question, which again is why the number six role, there could be two of these guys in the starting 11, which is what makes it such a nerve-wracking position. And it would be sure would be nice to have Musa back there with Adams, wouldn't it? In my head, yes, just for stability.

Ball progression. Okay. So McKenny, Tillman, and Raina, we're up to 19. Let's move to Winger. The Wingers are Pulisic, Wea, who we mentioned earlier as a potential right-back, left-back, Brendan Aronson and Xavier Gozo. I love it. I saw Brian Shoretta has Xavier Gozo on his World Cup roster, but not Gio Raina.

Okay. Well, I mean, go for that. I can't see Potch leaving Raina off. I think Potsch has had the same. Raina has had the same effect on Pachino that he has had on the scuffed podcast hosts, which is like, no, he's coming. He's very good at soccer and our other players are not good in the same way. Right.

But the Gozo stuff is interesting because, again, a lot of these media guys who are dropping rosters probably already have the roster or have heard about conversations that the staff have been having about these choices. So when a bunch of them have Gozo, then I am like, is Posh going to do this? Is he going to get real cute here at the end? And again, it would be fine. Zendahas is another guy who could easily be on this list. Yes. And if Gozo is over Zendahas or Luna, while that might raise some eyebrows,

I mean, sure. You're trying to scramble to win a game. You bring in Julian Green and he backboards one in. Like, it can happen. Like that goal from Julian Green was like the least clean strike in the history of the World Cup. So Gozo, yeah, it would be. it would be crazy to bring Gozo if not and not Luna you know I feel like but man it'd be fun it'd be fun to bring Gozo just watched a really really long comp of all his good stuff this season

I mean he's doing a lot he's doing a lot of good stuff he is taking people on 1v1 he scored I mean he scored a overhead kick and some like real bangers why not it's not we're gonna we're and I like, we're going to be all for the totally reckless inclusion of a couple of these guys. Where we, what we aren't doing anymore is saying, I think he should probably just start. I think you should probably just start him. And that's because some of the guys that we were saying that about four years ago are locked in starters, which is fantastic. That's right. We've been right all along, everybody.

Tim Wales, just my guy. I just really want Tim Webb. I think I'm leaving Brendan Aronson out of my roster. which I don't think it'll be a surprise anybody, but I've got Pulisicuea and Gozo coming as wingers. And obviously Tillman will play some winger. Raina probably, I mean, Raina could play some tucked-in winger. McKenney.

I mean, McKenney's played as a tucked-in winger for Potch a lot. That's mostly what he's done. So, yeah, to your point earlier about how you probably have to have two sixes, two people from the number six category start in a game. There's plenty of wingers. There's plenty of wing options, even if you only bring three in that vein. And I just don't think throwing Brendan Aronson on

at the end of a game is going to get us a goal. Even Desk, Sergenio Desk goes in that category. Could step in as a winger and you bring Freeman on or can Desk can be coming off the bench as a winger and Freeman could be the starter from the get-go. So yeah, let's do it. Let's put Gozo on there, Bels. Poor Brenda.

You wouldn't bring Gozo on to close a game out, right? Whereas you might see Brenda as being able to do that. I feel like for all the little brothering we do for Brenda, and it is earned. He can go in there and be a part of closing a game out. He can be like a little bit of a grown-up on the ball, as long as he's not tasked with doing people one-on-one because we have to chase a goal,

he can get in there and be steady and receive a ball and find the next pass. It's true. That's true. I need to give Brenda some love. We can't just cut him with no love. I mean, the truth is he's probably going to be there. And that's okay.

Yeah, I have mine mine, but it's not nearly as fun as the lottery ticket. So you don't have Gozo. I don't. Okay, so you have Pulisic-I and Aronson. I'm pretty boring. Yeah, I do. So we're up to 22 now, I think, for you. Yeah.

So the other thing, what I have is I have Pulis, Brenda, and Weaa. But I also have, I also have Lundejas. And it's not just because of two Latino fellows. It's because I feel like Pach likes them both a lot. And I don't think he would drop both of them for Agozo, who he has never had in camp before. and I just feel like one of them is going to make it in. Okay. So that puts us at 23, leaving three spots for Stryker.

Seems pretty clear. Yeah, I think it is clear. It's, it's, uh, the, the players in the mix are balligan, peppy, Haji Wright. And I mean, I guess we could say Josh Sargent's in the mix. He's not really. And, um, Julian Hall, who, uh, is like kind of a gozo level. I mean, he's kind of a tap-in merchant in the, in MLS this season, which I know is good.

I know, don't, I'm not speaking heresy here. He's getting in a lot of good positions. He's got, I think, nine goals so far this season, and he's like, I don't know, four or five off the golden boot. But it's going to be balligan, pepion, right, isn't it? I'm quite sure that it will be. So in doing this, we've kind of talked about who the surprises could be. It would be Gozo would be a surprise. Banks would be a surprise.

Kochin certainly would have been a surprise, but for these breadcrumbs that everyone's kind of sprinkling around. Those would be the surprise inclusions. I mean like a cheeky little like Tim Tillman jumping in over over some guys, but that seems really unlikely. Yeah. And not nearly as sexy of a pick as as those other surprises. And the surprise snubs would basically just be Brendo, Arstyn, Scali. Is that kind of what we're thinking? I mean, seeing Brian Shoretta put out a roster without Gio Rain on it does make me wonder

if there's a surprise snub coming there. But a lot of the... Yeah, a lot of the media folks have really enjoyed taking shots at GEO too because of how much love he gets despite just... not really existing as a soccer player outside of, that's not true anymore. He plays a little bit. Yeah, he plays 25 minutes a game.

Yeah, but for years now, he has barely existed. There have been stretches where he doesn't exist. And that hasn't slowed down, certainly my calls for him to be a part of this team. I think there's some, there's, given his other history,

there's a certain element that kind of enjoys taking him down a peg. Sure. Yeah. Which is all part of the fun of sports. And as you have pointed out, the problem is we have no idea if he can help us beat a team like Parabai. We just couldn't know if he'd be able to come in and be influential in a game against our first World Cup opponent. And he was pressing in that game. Like he was a pressing defender. So for all the talk about like, well, you just can't, you can't use him because he can't defend.

Like, he was defending. He was doing fine. He can do this. Yeah. He looks pretty healthy and not, you know, he's not flying all over the place, but he doesn't look hamstrung. He's in my 11. He would be in my 11. Yeah, same.

Well, let's do your 11 right now. What is your 11? Well, my 11's not going to be what the 11 will end up being. But I've got, so I have Turner and goal, which, you know, he's more likely to be cut entirely than be starting. And then I have McKenzie and Richards. as my center backs. I've got Jedi and Dest as my right backs, as my fullbacks. We're going Tyler Adams

as our sort of holding mid. And then the front line is going to be Pulsick, McKinney, Balo, Gio, and Wea. But this won't be it because this has desks like being a helper in the midfield in possession. And it's got McKinney defending as a center mid in the 442.

I feel like that's probably not going to happen. So it's Pulisick McKinney, Wea, Balo, and Gio? Yeah. And again, this runs into a big potch issues because whether we defend in a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1, McKinney would be defending next to Adams as sort of that two-man central midfield. Which he has not done. Potch just hasn't done it.

So I just, I don't think that's going to happen. I think it's more likely that one of these, one of my attackers is on the bench or Malik is the guy tasked with defending next to Adams, which Potch hasn't really done that either. So either way, my 11 doesn't seem like it's very potch compatible. Yeah. I thought you were going to put Musa in there next to Adams, which would make a lot of sense. All right. I think that's, I think that covers it.

I mean, it's going to be exciting when it's announced, and then we can just kind of talk about who's there. and not about who's not there. Rostter comes out Tuesday. We did a draft, Greg, Sanjay, Charlie Bowman, I a couple days ago of all-timer USMNT players. We each chose 13 players. World Cup players.

World Cup players. Yeah, right. World Cup, U.S. World Cup players on the men's side. That was a lot of fun, and that'll be dropping pretty soon. Go back and check out the J.T. Batson interview, if you haven't listened to it. Pretty good stuff, I think. And then we'll be doing probably call-in shows after the World Cup games and then recaps a couple days later because there's a nice solid week between each game. So plenty of time to digest the information and really think about it before we publish something.

So lots to look forward to. Greg, anything else on the lineups or roster? Well, again, the beauty of this midfield issue is that even when you're going to look forward to, Greg, Greg, anything else on the lineups or roster? field issue is that even when the roster comes out, we'll get to do a ton of wild speculating about what that 11 is going to look like. Yeah. Not just the midfield, but also the the potch sort of full back rotations and the Freeman versus Desd versus Waya versus it's going to be it's going to be a lot of, it's going to be a lot of fun what if thing, which is, again, it's, that's all part of the buildup in my mind. Like, that's the

fun part. Yeah. It's going to be a lot of fun. Uh, thanks everybody for listening. We'll see you.