Curb Your Enthusiasm: US Youth National Teams, Prospect Hype, and Youth Development Thread [The DA is DEAD updates]

tmracht

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Would that also include games in the U-20 World Cup next year?

He isn’t starting caliber player on this team to me but definitely a nice late game replacement when you have a lead. Varas will likely still roll with Clark-Aaronson-Sullivan up top, though I’d like to see Sullivan and Aaronson swapped.
Yep would roll to the U20 world cup if he's in it.
 

tmracht

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No Luna in the 11.

Alvarado, Edelman and McGlynn with Pax, Quinn and Clark up top.

Kinda shocked about Luna but he will be impact off the bench and he's logged a lot of minutes.
 

rguilmar

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Game is scheduled to start at 9 but the other semi is in extra time headed to penalties so there might be some delay. Lots of fans there though presumably for the Honduras game.
 

Titans Bastard

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It's nice to totally take the crowd out of the game early on.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Caden Clark’s a bit off so far, but we’re dominant and looking slick so not too fussed about it.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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We look utterly irritating to try and play through in the press. Honduras can’t deal with it at all unless we cough it up in midfield and even then, barely.
 

rguilmar

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This has been enjoyable so far. Wish that last move resulted in a goal. It was really slick.
 

Titans Bastard

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This half has been wild. These kids are just balling out there. The technique on display is fantastic, and there's been so much good interchange. Honduras is fortunate not to be losing by more.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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This half has been wild. These kids are just balling out there. The technique on display is fantastic, and there's been so much good interchange. Honduras is fortunate not to be losing by more.
This is still true at 3 - 0, US could have 6 based on the play.
 

rguilmar

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This half has been wild. These kids are just balling out there. The technique on display is fantastic, and there's been so much good interchange. Honduras is fortunate not to be losing by more.
The technical improvement by US youth teams is impressive to see. It supports the concept that we aren’t looking at a golden generation but rather a marked improvement in player development here. These are tough field conditions as well- not a knock on Honduras but just the reality of playing game after game on the same field during a rainy season.
 

tmracht

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The technical improvement by US youth teams is impressive to see. It supports the concept that we aren’t looking at a golden generation but rather a marked improvement in player development here. These are tough field conditions as well- not a knock on Honduras but just the reality of playing game after game on the same field during a rainy season.
Yep and the players are taking good touches off the bad bounces, great sign.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Honduras actually showed up for the second half so the US doesn’t look quite as impressive. Still looking pretty good though and the presence of Honduras attacking moves should open up even more transition.
 

67YAZ

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Great job by the coaching staff. This team is so much more fluid and organized than than at the start of the tournament.
 

rguilmar

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That would’ve been a heck of a goal by Honduras. US in “see it out” mode this half.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Ref has gotten kinda trigger happy, but it does seem to have reduced the losing CONCACAF team rage fouls so fair play to him.
 

Titans Bastard

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It's 3-0 early in the second half and this game is extremely comfortable for the US. They're generating a lot of nice chances and playing pretty soccer. DR can't keep up — they've had a nice run, but they also had a pretty easy path to the final, and it shows.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Great story for DR to make the Olympics, but yeah, the US is a bridge too far for them.

5 - 0 and we just subbed in a much more dangerous front line honestly. This could get USWNT group stage level rude.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Not sure how much is just that it’s hot and they’re already up 6 - 0, but the level of the buildup does drop very noticeably when Craig’s not in there.
 

rguilmar

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Brandan Craig is a young man's John Brooks. Dude has the eye for the 40yard pass, and the touch to match.
It’s rare to have a CB taking most free kicks. Hopefully he ends up being a little more mobile than Brooks.
 

Titans Bastard

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Leaked u20 roster for an upcoming camp/tournament.

View: https://twitter.com/amcalabrese12/status/1570796755620626439



This team was fun as hell in qualifiers, and now they've added Jonathan Gomez (LB), Justin Che (CB/RB), Kevin Paredes (AM), and Caleb Wiley (LB). I imagine they'll try to get Slonina for when the actual U20 WC rolls around.

Edelman has really broken in at RBNY in the last month or two, which bodes well for the team since the #6 position has been shallow.
 

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Other than Slonina, who's missing who's even eligible and desirable? Pepi and Kobi Henry I guess. Obed is still injured. Joe Scally famously misses eligibility by 1 day (DOB 12/31/2002). Don't see Cade Cowell there either, maybe he's serving his suspension from the taunting of Costa Rica or something. So it's pretty close to a total A-team.

But yeah getting Che and Paredes and especially JoGo in there from the Bundesliga, mid-season, is just a masterful job by the YNT GM, whoever-that-is right now. Those are young hot-prospects that are starting to make benches for the first team, getting them released is a coup for the U20s.
 

rguilmar

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Kristian Fletcher is out there too but I’m not sure if his stock has fallen over the last year or so.
 

67YAZ

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BGuti! Nice recognition for him.

Sergio Oregel also got the call to the U19 squad from the Fire.

The U19s are heading to Slovenia to play Malta, Croatia, an Scotland.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Antonio Carrera (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Emmanuel Ochoa (San Jose Earthquakes; Salina, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (7): Noah Allen (Inter Miami CF; Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Reed Baker-Whiting (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.), Alexander Freeman (Orlando City SC; Plantation, Fla.), Kobi Henry (Reims/FRA; Lakeland, Fla.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Celina, Texas), Thomas Williams (Orlando City SC; Titusville, Fla.), Joshua Wynder (Louisville City FC; Louisville, Ky.)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Benjamin Cremaschi (Inter Miami CF; Miami, Fla.), Zach Booth (Leicester City/ENG; Eden, Utah), Bryan Moyado (LAFC; La Puente, Calif.), Sergio Oregel Jr. (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, Ill.), Jack Panayotou (Georgetown; Cambridge, Mass.), Marcel Ruszel (Torino/ITA; Chicago, Ill.), Owen Wolff (Austin FC; Austin, Texas)

FORWARDS (4): Favian Loyola (Orlando City SC; Orlando, Fla.), Rodrigo Neri (Atletico Madrid/ESP; Madrid, Spain), Oluwakorede Osundina (Orange County SC; Redmond, Wash.), Marcos Zambrano-Delgado (Philadelphia Union; Gladwyne, Pa.)
 

Titans Bastard

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Kristian Fletcher is out there too but I’m not sure if his stock has fallen over the last year or so.
He's an '05 and I don't think he's done enough to play up for a strong U20 team. Check back next cycle!
 

67YAZ

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Really nice day for the kids, especially the Chicago Fire prospects.

The U20s take down Paraguay 2-0 with BGuti netting and Chris Brady keeping a clean sheet. They won 2 of 3 this window, only falling to Mexico 2-1. Diego Luna banged in 2 and got great reports.

The U19s capped a clean sweep of three matches by nipping Scotland 2-1. The Fire’s Sergio Oregel got the first one.

The U17s lost 2 of 3, but did win their last match of the window 2-0 over the Czechs.
 

rguilmar

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Really nice day for the kids, especially the Chicago Fire prospects.

The U20s take down Paraguay 2-0 with BGuti netting and Chris Brady keeping a clean sheet. They won 2 of 3 this window, only falling to Mexico 2-1. Diego Luna banged in 2 and got great reports.

The U19s capped a clean sweep of three matches by nipping Scotland 2-1. The Fire’s Sergio Oregel got the first one.

The U17s lost 2 of 3, but did win their last match of the window 2-0 over the Czechs.
The US played very well in that game, controlling play for like 60-70 minutes. Mexico scored two very nice goals, but anyone watching that game would say the US was the better team throughout. Mexico spent a bulk of the game defending for their lives.

And Luna continues to bring joy to us all.
 

tmracht

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The US played very well in that game, controlling play for like 60-70 minutes. Mexico scored two very nice goals, but anyone watching that game would say the US was the better team throughout. Mexico spent a bulk of the game defending for their lives.

And Luna continues to bring joy to us all.
Agree with all of this. Especially the Luna joy.
 

Titans Bastard

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There are a lot of camps over the next month and rosters are starting to come out.

The U-17s, who will be traveling to Guatemala in February for the CONCACAF U17 championship:

GOALKEEPERS (2):Adam Beaudry (Colorado Rapids; Castle Pines, Colo.), Duran Ferree (San Diego Loyal; San Diego, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (8):Noahkai Banks (Augsburg/GER; Dietmannsried, Germany), Christian Diaz (LAFC; San Bernardino, Calif.), Tyler Hall (Inter Miami CF; Miramar, Fla.), Aiden Harangi (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Zwingenberg, Germany), Stuart Hawkins (Seattle Sounders FC; Fox Island, Wash.), Sawyer Jura (Portland Timbers; Bend, Ore.), Christian McFarlane (New York City FC; Elmont, N.Y.), Oscar Verhoeven (San Jose Earthquakes; Pleasant Hill, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew SC), Cruz Medina (San Jose Earthquakes; San Francisco, Calif.), Edwyn Mendoza (San Jose Earthquakes; San Jose, Calif.), Santiago Morales (Inter Miami CF; Weston, Fla.), Paulo Rudisill (LA Galaxy, Irvine, Calif.), Pedro Soma (UE Cornella/ESP; Coconut Creek, Fla.)

FORWARDS (7):Ignacio Alem (D.C. United; Potomac, Mich.), Christopher Aquino (Seattle Sounders FC; Pasco, Wash.), Micah Burton (Austin FC; Mounds View, Minn.), Andre Gitau (Unattached; Richmond, Texas), Ezekiel Soto (Houston Dynamo FC; Menifee, Calif.) David Vasquez (Philadelphia Union; Los Angeles, Calif.), Adrian Wibowo (LAFC; Los Angeles, Calif.)
I know some of these players by reputation but have zero first-hand opinion about any of their abilities. One player to note is left back Christian McFarlane, who is a 2007-born player "playing up" with a mostly 2006-born group. He's been to one or two English YNT camps in recent months, but returns to the fold here. Cruz Medina, a winger, has growing hype.


The U-19s also have a camp. Unlike UEFA, the U-19 nomenclature in CONCACAF is not part of any official competitions, so the U-19 program only ever has friendlies and camps. The current U-19 program is being run as a U-18/U-19 hybrid, which basically means there are players born in 2004 (almost like U-20 B-team players who are on the younger side of the cycle) and players born in 2005 (who are too old for U-17s but eligible for the next U-20 cycle).

GOALKEEPERS (2):Gavin Beavers (Real Salt Lake; Las Vegas, Nev.), Charles DeMarco (BW Gottschee; New York, N.Y.)

DEFENDERS (8):Kamran Acito (Duke University; New York, N.Y.), Reed Baker-Whiting (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.), Noah Cobb (Atlanta United FC; Chattanooga, Tenn.), Grayson Dettoni (Bayern Munich/GER; Munich, Germany), Drew Murray (Unattached; San Jose, Calif.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Celina, Texas), Walter Portales (Club America/MEX; Los Angeles, Calif.), Fritz Volmar (St. Louis City SC; St. Louis, Mo.)

MIDFIELDERS (6):Favian Loyola (Orlando City SC; Orlando, Fla.), Bryan Moyado (LAFC; La Puente, Calif.), Sergio Oregel Jr. (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, Ill.), Tyler Pasnik (Rangers/SCO; Bishopton, Scotland), David Ruiz (Inter Miami CF; Miami, Fla.), Sam Williams (University of North Carolina; Tenafly, N.J.)

FORWARDS (7):Kristian Fletcher (D.C. United; Bethesda, Md.), Korede Osundina (Orange County SC; Redmond, Wash.), Nighte Pickering (Memphis 901 FC; Frisco, Texas), Malick Sanogo (FC Union Berlin/GER; Berlin, Germany), Tarik Scott (FC Dallas; Dallas, Texas), Darren Yapi (Colorado Rapids; Denver, Colo.), Marcos Zambrano (Unattached; Gladwyne, Pa.)
I wouldn't expect too many of these guys to be able to make the U-20 World Cup roster. However, there are a lot of center forwards here, and with good reason: the U-20s just don't have a lot of good forwards. Ricardo Pepi is young enough to be on the team, but is seen as having advanced past the U-20 level, and behind him it's been bleak. Paxten Aaronson played as a forward in qualifying, but that's really not his position. So maybe someone here will make a statement and be a serviceable 9 for the U-20s.


Speaking of the U-20s, they should have a roster coming out soon.
 

Titans Bastard

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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
 

InstaFace

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There's no way they're going to leave the U20-eligible guys who were called into the USMNT senior camp off the U-20 roster, right? Jonathan Gomez, Paxten Aaronson, Gaga Slonina, Jalen Neal.

I realize they probably won't integrate Ricardo Pepi just to have a quality striker for the U20 WC (but maybe Groningen / Augsburg could be convinced it will improve his value), but those other 4 seem like they'd matter to the team.
 

Titans Bastard

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There's no way they're going to leave the U20-eligible guys who were called into the USMNT senior camp off the U-20 roster, right? Jonathan Gomez, Paxten Aaronson, Gaga Slonina, Jalen Neal.

I realize they probably won't integrate Ricardo Pepi just to have a quality striker for the U20 WC (but maybe Groningen / Augsburg could be convinced it will improve his value), but those other 4 seem like they'd matter to the team.
Yes, if available I think all these guys would make the team. Cade Cowell, too.

If we set aside that nobody is truly a "lock" because clubs don't have to release players, U20 locks are probably:

GK: Slonina & Brady
RB: nobody
CB: Neal & Craig
LB: Gomez & Wiley
CM: Edelman & McGlynn for sure, the rest are tough because it's competitive
AM: Paredes, Aaronson, Cowell, probably Sullivan. I hesitate on Gutierrez because he never gets released so I don't have a solid feel for how the U20 staff rates him.
FW: nobody, unless Pepi decides he wants to boss a U20 WC
 

67YAZ

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Yes, if available I think all these guys would make the team. Cade Cowell, too.

If we set aside that nobody is truly a "lock" because clubs don't have to release players, U20 locks are probably:

GK: Slonina & Brady
RB: nobody
CB: Neal & Craig
LB: Gomez & Wiley
CM: Edelman & McGlynn for sure, the rest are tough because it's competitive
AM: Paredes, Aaronson, Cowell, probably Sullivan. I hesitate on Gutierrez because he never gets released so I don't have a solid feel for how the U20 staff rates him.
FW: nobody, unless Pepi decides he wants to boss a U20 WC
During Tuesday’s training camp media session, BGuti implied a little irritation, diplomatically, here saying he’d love to join the national team camp, but it’s the club’s decision. But big picture, it’s a good sign that he and Brady are locked into camp because they have big roles to play this season.
 

InstaFace

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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.
So who fits into those first two categories? Looking at the recent call-ups, I see:

GK Chris Brady (Chicago Fire) - essential to his MLS club
GK Alex Borto (Fulham U23) - Unavailable in Europe, I guess? Or just didn't make the cut / didn't want to take the flight
CB/RB Justin Che (Hoffenheim) - Unavailable in Europe, probably a good sign his club doesn't want to release!
CB Kobi Henry (Reims B) - Unavailable in Europe, Reims paid Orange County decent money for him
LM Brian Gutierrez (Chicago Fire) - essential to his MLS club, I guess
CM Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders) - injured, but if he wasn't he'd be essential to his MLS club
AM Rokas Pukstas (CRO / Hejduk Split) - Unavailable in Europe, getting first-team appearances
LW Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg) - Unavailable in Europe, getting plenty of first-team run (!)
LW/CF Dante Sealy (Jong PSV L/F FC Dallas) - dunno? Getting minutes every week for PSV's U21s, but not usually starting.
RW Kristian Fletcher (DC United... for now) - unclear here, there've been rumors of a UEFA sale for like a year now
CF Ricardo Pepi (Groningen L/F Augsburg) - Unavailable in Europe, every-week starter in Eredivisie
CF Malick Sanogo (Union Berlin U19) - Unavailable in Europe, starting every week for the U19s, 11 goals in 11 games

Also worth noting that CM Alejandro Alvarado (Vizela) has made a bunch of senior-team appearances, so you'd have expected him to be Unavailable in Europe and it's pretty cool that he made it.

Anyway, if you add in the 5 guys at the senior camp, that's most of a full roster that's unavailable for "good reasons", but I'm of two minds whether I'd want to even see them in U-20 camp. Justin Che, Ricardo Pepi, Kevin Paredes? Absolutely not, keep fighting for your spot in the Big 5. Stay healthy and we'll call you for the WC. The Chicago young'uns (Little Fires? Bonne Fires?) also make sense since they're in first-team contention (but surely Javier Casas isn't?). But you'd hope you could get a release for Sanogo or Fletcher or Kobi Henry, I think.
 
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