Okay, going into the first camp who are my starters for 2030? I hope to be here to see how close I got. I assume Poch sticks with a 4-2-3-1/3-2-4-1 (3-2-5) on offense and 4-4-2 on defense. And that Poch sticks himself. But let's call it a 4-2-3-1.

G: Kochen
LB: Miller (even though he is currently a winger)
LCB: Pierre (even though he is right footed)
RCB: Freeman (even though he is currently a RCB)
RB: Gozo (even though he is currently a winger)
LCM: McKennie
RCM: Tillman
ACM: Ellis
LW: Pulisic
Str: Balogun
RW: Sullivan
Subs who play: Freese (?), A. Robinson, Dest, Cardoso, Musah, Mehmeti, Reyna, Albert, Gozo
Subs who don't play: who cares
Interesting players who don't play and may or may not be called: guys born in 2010 or later, Habroune, Tsakiris, Raines, Cremaschi (nice player went from Miami to Italy, a midfielder or winger), Paxten Aaronson (better than his brother but less athletic)

This team has no players who play who are scrubs and has the best top talent of any USMNT. I think they go to the final 8 and have a shot at the final 4 depending on the scheduling. Spain, France, and Portugal are out of their league, but I think they can play with anyone else.

More notes from today (Sun. 9/20):

Yep, my big takeaway from the (otherwise great) Atletico vs Real Madrid Derby is that Johnny Cardoso started for Atletico and played the whole match in a winning effort against a good team. Cardoso looks to be fully back from injury, and though he was left off this USMNT camp for precautionary reasons (otherwise should have been there instead of Berhalter probably), he should be in the November camp for the CONCACAF Nations League matches.

Similarly, Christian Pulisic, though left out of the Sept/Oct USMNT camp, started for AC Milan in their 3-0 win over Lecce and scored a brilliant opening goal (great run, great finish), playing 69 minutes. He too seems back from injury, though in general, I like Pulisic as an opener, not a closer. Bring him into the November camp for USMNT, but he is a player who should give it his all, then be subbed out sometime in the second half. Also for AC Milan, Yunus Musuh subbed in for the last 15 minutes or so, but he's gotten plenty of starts and minutes which is great - can't wait to see what he does in this USMNT camp.

Also similarly, Weston Mckennie started and played the first 86 minutes in Juventus 2-0 win over Atalanta. He too is back from injury and though not in this USMNT camp, should be in the November competitive camp.

I've actually been following 21yo Ben Cremaschi at Parma in the Serie A as well, but he doesn't seem to get any playing time. Made the bench once more in Parma's 2-1 win over Genoa.

Alex Freeman started and played the whole match in Villareal's 3-1 win over Levante. The Levante goal was not his fault and he seemed active. It's the perfect place for the 22yo Right or Center Back - mid-table La Liga club, getting plenty of playing time.

In the Premier League, Antonee Robinson and Chris Richards both started and played the entire match for Fulham and Crystal Palace respectively in a 1-1 draw against Man U and 0-0 draw against Leeds respectively. Not much else to note except good to see them both getting plenty of minutes. Not giving up a goal finally is good for Richards! No sign of Gozo, though, not even on Palace's bench.

Tyler Adams also started and played 88 minutes in Bournemouth's 1-0 loss to Liverpool. It is nice to imagine a world in which Adams is no longer one of the USMNT's top 3 or 4 holding midfielders, let alone a starter. I would frankly start Cardoso or Musuh over Adams in the November break.

In the Bundesliga, Cole Campbell played 87 minutes and actually looked decent, I thought in Elversberg's 0-0 draw at Schalke. His team is doing reasonably well for being just-promoted. The question is, can he make good decisions and be anything more than a speedy white kid (and the face of Black America)? Looking forward to seeing what he can do in camp.

Also in the Bundesliga, 21yo Santiago Castaneda played the whole match and scored the first goal in Paderborn's 3-1 win over Hoffenheim, but I checked, and the goal went in off a deflection and was nothing impressive.

Malik Tillman made the bench and did not play in Bayern Leverkusen's 2-0 win over Leipzig. He really has not been playing well for his club and seems to be losing the faith of his manager. Hopefully he plays better for country (as he did in the World Cup).

Tim Weah got a red card in Marseille's 2-1 loss to PSG. Weah gonna Weah.

And last, in bad news for the USMNT camp with strikers Balogun and Haji Wright already not included due to injury recovery, Ricardo Pepi started for PSV Eindhoven in their 3-2 loss in the Dutch Eredivisie today but only played 10 minutes before being injured. So Pepi is likely out for the USMNT camp(?!). Dest did play the whole match, but the problem is at striker.

sluggo said:

---

Okay, going into the first camp who are my starters for 2030? I hope to be here to see how close I got. I assume Poch sticks with a 4-2-3-1/3-2-4-1 (3-2-5) on offense and 4-4-2 on defense. And that Poch sticks himself. But let's call it a 4-2-3-1.

G: Kochen
LB: Miller (even though he is currently a winger)
LCB: Pierre (even though he is right footed)
RCB: Freeman (even though he is currently a RCB)
RB: Gozo (even though he is currently a winger)
LCM: McKennie
RCM: Tillman
ACM: Ellis
LW: Pulisic
Str: Balogun
RW: Sullivan
Subs who play: Freese (?), A. Robinson, Dest, Cardoso, Musah, Mehmeti, Reyna, Albert, Gozo
Subs who don't play: who cares
Interesting players who don't play and may or may not be called: guys born in 2010 or later, Habroune, Tsakiris, Raines, Cremaschi (nice player went from Miami to Italy, a midfielder or winger), Paxten Aaronson (better than his brother but less athletic)

This team has no players who play who are scrubs and has the best top talent of any USMNT. I think they go to the final 8 and have a shot at the final 4 depending on the scheduling. Spain, France, and Portugal are out of their league, but I think they can play with anyone else.

---

Interesting stuff, sluggo. Who the heck knows what things will look like in 2030. I'm not going to come up with a list that far out. Why do it myself when I can sit back and nitpick yours? =)

Kidding - I mostly agree. I especially like the idea of Justin Ellis at the central "10", though I think he may still be a backup/second-half sub in 2030, and McKennie or Tillman may start at that spot, with Cardoso or Musuh backfilling the central defensive midfield spot that they vacate in your lineup above.

I should have mentioned in my previous post (will edit now)! Ricardo Pepi got injured for PSV today! So the USMNT camp is down to two "strikers" in Ellis and Julian Hall. What do you think they should do in these friendlies? Start Ellis (or Reyna? Gozo?) as a "False 9"? Have to come up with options, because with 4 friendlies so close together, you can't start the same player in all 4 matches.

Edited to add: ugh... Pochettino added Damion Downs to replace Pepi. I mean, does Downs even start for St. Louis in the MLS? Good grief.

Anyway, your post was not about this camp, but about 2030.

My other disagreements are in the backline. I have been the one promoting Peyton Miller, but I think the idea that he will start over Antonee Robinson in 2030 is a bridge too far to predict as a likely outcome (possible, but not likely). I see Miller as providing depth at that position for this cycle. Miller (perhaps like Robinson at his age), would have to improve a ton to be better than Jedi by 2030, and/or Jedi would have to seriously regress. Not that ARob is amazing, but he's a legit Premier League level player and may still be by 2030.

Similarly, I just don't see it in Gozo yet. Could that change by 2030? Maybe, but I'm not counting on it. In a 4-2-3-1, I think the USMNT will likely still have to start Richards and Pierre at center back and Freeman at right back (with Jedi at left back), and play Miller and Gozo off the bench. Or in a 3-4-2-1 (or 5-2-2-1), start ARob and Dest as wing-backs (with Miller/Gozo backups) and Pierre/Richards/Freeman as the 3 center backs (with Trusty and another to be named later as backup).

I'm surprised that you list Richards neither as a starter, nor as a sub who plays. He's going through a bad stretch right now, but he has some track record of being a Premier League-level player and seems decently likely to get back to that as he enters the prime of his career (age-wise).

Finally, as for goalie, sure it could be Kochen. Though I'm getting the feeling he's not very good either, except maybe playing the ball with his feet. But who else we got? The USMNT needs to find some Hail Mary for our goalie situation. Perhaps the longshot of a one-time transfer for Japan's second best goalie (behind the elite Suzuki): Brandon Taishi Nozawa, would instantly become USMNT's GK#1.