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USMNT Roster Reaction-CCL-MLS Week 8

 The USMNT roster dropped this week ahead of the Continental Clasico. We all expected it would be a primarily domestic squad with Sergino Dest. At Goal Keeper the obvious reaction is Sean Johnson will be in net against Mexico with two new keepers coming in with him. On the back line I'm disappointed to not see Miles Robinson, but it's not surprising that Atlanta didn't want to release him for the second time in the young MLS season. 

As it stands Walker Zimmerman, Matt Miazga, Aaron Long, and Josh Wynder are the center backs. I expect to see Miazga and Zimmerman. It's cool for Wynder to get the call up, but he is definitely not ready to play the full Mexico squad. I'm happy that Aaron Long got to go to a World Cup, but he is just not National Team quality anymore. We don't know who did or did not get released by their club (other than Zendejas and Miles) but Jalen Neal and Brendan Craig are a couple of players I would've liked to see get a chance in this camp. On the wing backs it's right back heavy as usual: Dest, Yedlin, Moore, Wiley, and Gressel. I'm surprised to see Wiley at full back, but we definitely need a backup for Antonee Robinson and Wiley has shown a ton of upside.

In the midfield I would say it's what we all expected: Acosta, Roldan, Aidan Morris, James Sands, Alan Sonora, and Jackson Yueill. Yueill is in the same camp as Long and Cowell for me. I'm just not sure that they have shown enough at the club level to get even a domestic squad call up. I think that Paxton Pomykal, Quin Sullivan, Cole Basset, Jack McGlynn, and Josh Atencio are some guys I would've preferred to see called into this camp. Sands is especially valuable in this camp in that he can play the number six or center back. Roldan can play in a variety of places, and Acosta is your field general. 

At the forward position Ferreira, Vasquez, and Jordan Morris are three guys capable of playing on the full national team and that's who I would start in this game. Paul Arriola is a veteran that is capable of playing meaningful CONCACAF games. 

We'll see how Anthony Hudson plays things, but ultimately it's bad practice to play a game against your best rival when most of your best 25 players can't be there. It is a unique opportunity for domestic players to get big time minutes with the National Team. 

In CONCACAF Champions League LAFC finished off Vancouver 6-0 on aggregate and the Philadelphia Union played to a draw at Atlas, which is historically a huge result for a MLS club. So now we get a rematch of the 2022 MLS Cup and the top two teams in MLS last season. 

LAFC haven't lost while coasting through the first two rounds of CCL and this weekend we FINALLY get El Traffico in Carson. The Galaxy are just falling apart, and to add to it all Galaxy President Chris Klein wrote a letter to fans stating he would resign if the team doesn't meet their 2023 goals. I'm sure this is a win-win for Klein. Either the team rebounds and all is well, or he gets to step away from the train wreck that is the Galaxy. 

Elsewhere in the MLS there are some TERRIFIC games this weekend. The Sounders travel down I-5 to take on the Timbers. My first ever MLS tweet was surrounding this rivalry in 2019. It's one that even the casual sports fan wants to see. The atmosphere will be wild and I will definitely be watching. Orlando City visit the Twin Cites to play Minnesota United. St. Louis City host the number 1 ranked team in this week's power rankings FC Cincinnati. 

Columbus host the Revs in a battle of teams near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. NYCFC play Nashville SC at Citi Field, home of the Mets (get a stadium built NYC!). There are just great games everywhere. I went on a heater last week highlighted by my pick of the Fire over Minnesota. Let's stay hot folks!

Week 8 Picks:

San Jose-SKC DRAW

Atlanta over Toronto

Orlando over Minnesota

LAFC over Galaxy

Dallas over RSL

Stay tuned this weekend as I'm going to breakdown some USMNT player pool club situations. There are currently a lot of American's that are going to need a new club this summer and I want to break it down for you! Have a great end of week everyone! 

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