With the release Thursday of the US national team roster for the upcoming Under-20 World Cup, the presence of MLS experience headed to New Zealand is apparent.
Seven MLS players are on the 20-man squad, with the possibility of an eighth in Philadelphia Union midfielder Zach Pfeffer to be the final player included if Arsenal's Gedion Zelalem does not receive eligibiity by the roster deadline on May 15.
FC Dallas midfielder/defender Kellyn Acosta is headed to his second U-20 World Cup, and he has racked up more than 30 MLS appearances to date, second only to Toronto FC's Marky Delgado among those going to New Zealand.
Meanwhile, New York Red Bulls defender Matt Miazga has garnered consistent playing time so far this season, and the other four called up (San Jose Earthquakes' Tommy Thompson, Real Salt Lake's Jordan Allen, LA Galaxy's Bradford Jamieson and Sporting Kansas City's Erik Palmer-Brown) have all gotten playing time so far this season. Allen and Jamieson have scored goals for their respective teams, as well.
US U-20 head coach Tab Ramos discussed the MLS players involved during a conference call with reporters on Thursday following the roster release.
While the US played well defensively in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, which also served as the World Cup qualifying tournament, Ramos acknowledged the attacking struggles in that tournament and discussed the need to make some changes for the World Cup roster.
"Where the changes have come is obviously going forward. Obviously we didn't have Rubio Rubin here. … Jordan Allen was injured, and now he's in great form. Bradford Jamieson is in better form now. There are a lot more options now, and I feel more confident in this team in terms of what we can do on the other side of the ball. Because although in qualifying we created and had more shots than any other team, we didn't convert, and we have to be a lot more clinical in the World Cup because certainly there are not going to be as many chances as in qualifying."
Thompson's positional versatiity was hailed by Ramos as a benefit to the squad, though he would not indicate whether he would use the Earthquakes' attacker as a starter or substitute option.
"Tommy Thompson can fit into a number of different positions," Ramos said. "If you've seen him play in midfield, he finds space all over the field. He can play wide either side of a 4-4-2, or he can play up front in either one of the two forward positions, advanced or as a secondary forward."
Defensively, Ramos was pleased with the recent performances put in by Miazga and Palmer-Brown. In particular, Ramos explained the benefit of US national team call-ups for Miazga's prospects this season with the Red Bulls.
"Matt has advanced and done really well," he said. "I was discussing before in a previous interview that in September, October of last year we started to have some doubts about his play and in December we brought him in and he didn't get a lot of minutes last year for the Red Bulls. In December we put him through a fitness camp for MLS players who weren't playing, and we took him to Honduras to play [at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship].
"I thought as the tournament went on he got better and better, and I think that benefitted Matt going into the Red Bulls preseason. ... Not to take away anything from [New York Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch], but I think Matt had a good base to start. And I think the fact that he's playing 90 minutes for the Red Bulls shows how much improvement he's making, and like any player the more confidence the coach has in you the more confidence you have in yourself."
With Palmer-Brown, the U-20 boss explained that the Sporting KC defender, long the subject of transfer speculation to Italian giants Juventus, paired well with another youngster, Tottenham defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, in the last US U-20 friendly against Croatia and that having the duo brought into this U-20 World Cup could pay dividends for the next U-20 World Cup as well, as both players will also be eligible for the 2017 edition.
Regarding Delgado, who was perceived to be a surprise inclusion given his absence in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, Ramos explained, "Marky got hurt right before qualifiers. We've always considered him a very good player and one who can help us a lot. He played 90 minutes last night in the Canadian Cup game and played 90 minutes in both games for us in Europe the week before last. He's in good form. It's a good moment for him."
Ramos also addressed the absences of two more MLS players, Columbus Crew SC winger Romain Gall and Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan. While Gall was the leading scorer for the Americans at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship and also shared the Golden Boot at that tournament, a recent knee injury and the fact that he hasn't seen action for Columbus yet this season led Ramos to conclude "at the moment he was not in his best form and we had to make another selection."
For Roldan, the number of options ahead of him on the depth chart ended up sinking his chances of getting the call, with Ramos citing the likes of Emerson Hyndman, Joel Soñora and Junior Flores as higher up the pecking order. Flores himself didn't get the selection, either, to go to the World Cup.
"Could Roldan potentially do the job for us in the World Cup? Absolutely yes," Ramos said. "He's a good player. So is Junior Flores. But in the end I couldn’t select too many players that play the same position, so those guys were left on the outside looking in but by a very small margin."
