At halftime, the USSF announced a massive 40-man roster for the Gold Cup. The release is
here.
The roster is heavily MLS/Mexico based in order to look at new players and give established Euro-based national team players a break from NT duty. The only Euro-based regular on the roster is Pulisic.
Gold Cup squads are the typical 23, but as an added twist, teams that qualify for the quarterfinals can replace up to six players with other guys on the provisional roster. I'd expect some of the MLS NT regulars to be held in reserve until the knockout rounds.
GK
Joe Bendik (Orlando), Jesse Gonzalez (Dallas), Brad Guzan (Atlanta), Bill Hamid (DC), Tim Howard (Colorado), Sean Johnson (NYCFC)
Gonzalez is an intriguing name here because he played for Mexico at the 2015 U20 World Cup. He'd have to file a one-time switch to play for the US, but Stu Holden is reporting that he'll suit up for the US if called upon this summer. He's not ready to challenge for the #1 shirt for the NT, but he's someone I'd like to see added to the pool. The last U20 cohort had a really strong group of US-developed GKs (along with Steffen and Horvath), all born in 1995.
I also note that David Bingham has played himself out of Arena's summer plans following a rough start to the season with San Jose. I'd like to someone other than Guzan/Howard get the nod for the group stage, probably Hamid or Gonzalez.
Horvath might have been nice here, but I think Arena doesn't want to take him away from what could be a crucial preseason battle for the starting job at Brugge.
RB
Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), Matt Polster (Chicago), Graham Zusi (KC)
Slim pickings here with no Yedlin or Chandler. Zusi is a known quantity and Lichaj basically is too, despite not getting much NT attention during the Klinsmann years. Polster is now playing RB for Chicago after spending most of his first two pro seasons at CM. He's gotten good reviews this season once he returned from injury, but I'm unsure of his upside.
CB
Matt Besler (KC), Steve Birnbaum (DC), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Matt Hedges (Dallas), Matt Miazga (Chelsea), Jonathan Spector (Orlando)
I'd love to see a Hedges/Miazga combo. I get the feeling that Bruce is high on Hedges and wants to give him an opportunity to move up the ladder. Miazga might pair well with him in the same way that Zimmerman pairs well with Hedges at the club level.
LB
Greg Garza (Atlanta), Justin Morrow (Toronto), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna)
I'm not a fan of Garza at the NT level, as I think he simply lacks the pace to be effective. In an alternate universe, Morrow might have been a decent but unspectacular backup LB for the US over the last five years. At the end of the day, Villafaña has been decent enough for the NT and neither of the other two are young high-upside types likely to take his job.
CM
Kellyn Acosta (Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia), Michael Bradley (Toronto), Joe Corona (Tijuana), Dax McCarty (Chicago), Cristian Roldan (Seattle), Wil Trapp (Columbus)
Acosta and Roldan are the most interesting youngsters here, but unfortunately neither are the prototypical #6 that we need to push Bradley in his current role. Still, I'd expect Acosta, at least, to be given a big chance here. We do have some interesting DM types in the pipeline, but they won't be ready by 2018 so I think we're going to have to ride out Bradley and McCarty.
AM
Paul Arriola (Tijuana), Tommy McNamara (NYCFC), Darlington Nagbe (Portland), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Kelyn Rowe (NE), Kenny Saeif (Gent), Gyasi Zardes (LA)
Saeif is a 23 year old Israeli-American winger who has been with Gent for three years. He played in the CL two seasons ago and extensively in the EL this past year. He has represented Israeli at the U19 and U21 levels and played in senior team friendlies, but he's not fully cap-tied. Holden reported that he's in the process of filing a one-time switch. If true, there's little doubt that he'll be on the Gold Cup roster. I'm not sure exactly how good he is, but since we don't have a ton of NT-level wingers available right now, it's worth a shot.
I hope that Rowe gets a shot, as I think he's raised his game in recent times.
Emerson Hyndman would have been good here, but he's injured.
FW
Juan Agudelo (NE), Jozy Altidore (Toronto), Clint Dempsey (Seattle), Dom Dwyer (KC), Jordan Morris (Seattle), C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia), Chris Wondolowski (SJ)
Arena just had to sneak Wondo onto this preliminary roster, didn't he?
Dwyer was recently naturalized and is now eligible for the US. I'd like to focus on him, Agudelo, Morris, and Sapong. Bring in Jozy and/or Clint for the knockouts as needed.