GOALKEEPERS (2): Antonio Carrera (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Emmanuel Ochoa (San Jose Earthquakes; Salinas, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (8): Brandan Craig (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.), Mauricio Cuevas (Club Brugge/BEL); Marcus Ferkranus (LA Galaxy; Santa Clarita, Calif.), Alexander Freeman (Orlando City SC; Plantation, Fla.), Michael Halliday (Orlando City SC; Apopka, Fla.), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United FC; Atlanta, Ga.), Thomas Williams (Orlando City SC; Titusville, Fla.), Joshua Wynder (Louisville City FC; Louisville, Ky.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Alejandro Alvarado Jr. (Vizela/POR; Los Angeles, Calif.), Daniel Leyva (Seattle Sounders FC; Las Vegas, Nev.), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; Sunnyvale, Calif.), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union; Middle Village, Pa.), Nicholas Pariano (Duke; Philadelphia, Pa.), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes; Saratoga, Calif.), Owen Wolff (Austin FC; Braselton, Ga.)
FORWARDS (6): Caden Clark (RB Leipzig/GER; Wayzata, Minn.), Jackson Hopkins (D.C. United; Fredericksburg, Va.), Roald Mitchell (Wake Forest; Montclair, N.J.), Korede Osundina (Orange County SC; Redmond, Wash.), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.), Tyler Wolff (Atlanta United FC; Austin, Texas)
The roster for the imminent U20 camp, which will be coached by U17 manager Gonzalo Segares. It's a bit strange that they bumped Mikey Varas up to the senior staff for January camp when this could be the final or at least one of the final camps before the U20 World Cup in May.
In any case, this is a decent roster but certainly not full-strength with a variety of players either unavailable in Europe, not released by MLS clubs, or in the full USMNT January camp.
Some positional notes:
GK: Carrera '04 is likely the #3 goalkeeper behind Slonina '04 (who is with the USMNT) and Brady '04. The '04 class is one of our weaker upcoming birth years but the goalkeeper depth is very strong even with RSL's Jeff Dewsnup apparently deciding to quit soccer. Emi Ochoa is a big '05 prospect who is the subject of a recruitment battle with Mexico. He'll be a real contender to be the U20 starter in the next cycle.
RB: Cuevas '03 & Halliday '03 were on the qualifying roster. Over in Europe, Justin Che '03 is another contender for RB, but Hoffenheim's manager just said he's been promoted from the reserve team, so he's busy. He's also played RM for the reserves lately. Alex Freeman '04 is more of the outsider here; neither he nor Halliday have played much in MLS. I haven't seen Freeman but by reputation he's a converted winger, more of a Bryan Reynolds marauding attacker type RB. Kayden Pierre '03 was in camp recently and was possibly not released (I'm not sure) because he has a good chance of starting for SKC this year. I don't think either of Cuevas or Halliday are epic prospects so it's hard to know what direction Varas will go in come May.
CB: Jalen Neal '03 is with the USMNT right now. Brandan Craig '04 and Marcus Ferkranus '03 were the other CBs from qualifying. None of the three have broken into their MLS first teams yet. Craig is a strange CB in that he is an excellent set piece taker. The consensus is that Ferkranus is the most vulnerable to losing his spot, and the likeliest to do that is Josh Wynder '05, who has really started to make a name for himself in USL with Louisville. He will probably be sold for a very tidy sum (by USL standards) in the near future. Thomas Williams is also in the CB mix.
LB: Jonathan Gomez '03 is with the USMNT right now. Caleb Wiley '04 is a pretty good prospect too — maybe even a better one. Wiley managed 1500 minutes in MLS last year and wasn't released for qualifiers, but if available I think he's a lock for the team. He's the only natural LB in the squad.
CM: The incumbents from qualifying are Alvarado '03, McGlynn '03, and Tsakiris '05, but the CM picture is crowded. I love McGlynn, who is both highly skilled on the ball and a very inventive passer, but he is athletically limited. Alvarado looked good in qualifying but hasn't been able to break through at his small club in Portugal. Tsakiris is promising, playing up a cycle, and is someone I'll be watching closely in MLS this year.
Danny Leyva '03 used to be a bigger name in this age group because he got a run of games with Seattle back in 2019, just after he turned 17. He's had some injuries since then, plus questions about his athleticism. It's not an awesome sign that the Sounders allowed him to go to this camp instead of coming to the Club World Cup, but he did have some good games down the stretch last year. Owen Wolff '04 is one of a pair of Josh Wolff's sons on this roster. Wolff unexpectedly (to me, at least) was a regular contributor and spot starter for Austin FC last year and is only two days too old for the next cycle. He's someone who feels like a late charging talent within this cycle.
Nick Pariano '03 is a college player I've never heard of before. Given how many options we have at the pro level I'd imagine he's a longshot.
Daniel Edelman '03 is the likely captain of this U20 team at DM, but he wasn't released by RBNY where he is a starter. Rokas Pukstas '04 was on the qualifying squad too, and he's started to break into Hajduk Split's first team in Croatia lately. Obed Vargas '05 is with Seattle, where he started(!) the 2nd leg of the Champions League final, and was a regular in the first half of the season before missing the second half with an injury. He would have played at qualifiers if not for said injury.
Lastly, I was keeping my eye out for Ben Cremaschi '05 on the U20 or U19 rosters, but he didn't appear on any of them. He's a hot prospect right now, only appearing on anyone's radar about 12 months ago. In the last month, he signed a homegrown contract with Inter Miami and was in the last round of cuts for Javier Mascherano's Argentina team for the South American U20 Championships. I'd really like to keep him in the fold. We don't know if he wasn't called, rejected the call up, or just wasn't released — another YNT player from Inter Miami is also nowhere to be found on these rosters, so maybe it's the release.
AMs: Let's look at AMs that can operate centrally. Paxten Aaronson '03 is with the USMNT. Caden Clark '03 is here, which is a bit unfortunate only because it's a sign of how his star has fallen in the last year. Clark's loan back to RBNY last year did not go well and we are awaiting his next move. He's under contract at RB Leipzig but he'll need to be loaned out because he's nowhere close to minutes there. Brian Gutierrez '03 can also play in the middle but was not released by Chicago, where he became an important first team player in 2022.
Wingers: Cade Cowell '03 is with the USMNT. Diego Luna '03 is a saucy player who is going to be a cult hero somewhere, but we'll see about his athleticism. Quinn Sullivan '04 is a another Union guy who I think will play a bigger role in 2023 and has already had some Euro interest despite not doing too much in MLS yet. Jackson Hopkins '04 was an injury replacement on the qualifying roster. He's fine but I don't see big upside with him. Tyler Wolff '03 is a player I haven't seen too much of but I'm also a bit skeptical of his upside.
Our best winger is Kevin Paredes '03 with Wolfsburg. Some see him as a wingback eventually, but I'm not convinced yet. Paredes is one of my favorite US prospects right now.
Forward: This position is a huge problem spot for this age group. Of course, we do have Ricardo Pepi '03, but the program sees him as having surpassed the U20 level so he has not been involved and isn't expected to be involved here. Past him, it's weak. Our qualifying team didn't even have real forwards, and we used Paxten Aaronson as a false 9 at times. Roald Mitchell '03 is getting his first call up after we've burned through other candidates. He has a ton to gain from this camp. Korede Osundina '04 is somewhere between a 9 and a winger — I'm not really sure — but I suspect given our pool he's getting an audition as a 9 here.
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2023/01/u-20-mynt-kicks-off-2023-with-january-training-camp-in-bradenton-fla