USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has confirmed that he will rotate his roster throughout the summer tournaments as he looks ahead to World Cup qualifying.
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The U.S. men’s national team play friendlies against Switzerland and Costa Rica in late May and early June before then competing in both the CONCACAF Nations League finals and then the Gold Cup.
Berhalter has plenty of options for his squad and says he will need all of them as he plans for how to manage the three-game windows during CONCACAF World Cup qualifying which begins in September.
“We are certainly trying to hone in on a best eleven,” Berhalter told CBS Sports. “But if you can imagine now with the qualifying window, having three games, we are going to have to rotate. There is no chance that we are going to be able to play the same eleven for three games straight.
“For us it is about using Nations League and Gold Cup, two very important tournaments, to see what our group is about and see who can step up and play part of the role. When you look at Chelsea, when you look at these top teams, they are rotating constantly. They have their ideal eleven but you can mix and match two or three players in at any time and the level doesn’t drop.”
What is the USMNT’s Best XI?
I think most USMNT fans, and Berhalter, know exactly what their best XI looks like right now.
And although it will be hugely important to play that young team together as much as possible during the summer to build chemistry, it is right to share minutes around in particular positions.
We all know that squad rotation would have got the USMNT into the 2018 World Cup, and the U.S. certainly have a deeper player pool of young talent to choose from this time around.
For what it’s worth, here is my USMNT best XI as things stand:
—– Steffen —–
— Dest — Long — Brooks — Robinson —
—- Adams —- McKennie —-
—- Reyna —- Musah —- Pulisic —-
—– Sargent —–
