Part 241: Interlude Part 2: Meet Your US Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Meet the US National Team, v. 2030!

The Partizan Project has paid some very nice dividends, the US now has more quality attacking players now than in all of their previous iterations combined, but we're pretty weak in the back. I am all for any advice on who should start and who should sit, I don't see a good way to get Hunter Fisher, Andrew Paredes, Joey Garcia, and Rodrigo Moctezuma on the pitch at the same time.

Goalkeepers:




The weakness starts between the posts, where the aging Pasquale Paladino will probably get the nod over new team member Gorka Lopez.



The only way Delgado is getting used is if both Lopez and Paladino go down. If that happens we're probably screwed anyways.

Centerbacks:

The problems continue with a very limited set of centerbacks, especially considering the best one is still currently making his way back from a double hernia.




Chris Ramirez is easily the most skilled centerback we have, I'm honestly stunned at how good he is given how often he's been hurt, but he's made of glass and unlikely to play until late in the group stage. Darren Latham is in the twilight of his career and isn't useful in the air anymore, even if he's the most mentally astute of our options. Latham also has to cover the right back spot if anything happens to Isaac Parsons.






Of the rest, Sam Wood is fast and tall but doesn't have the anticipation, concentration, decisionmaking chops, or teamwork to be trusted not to cock things up, Scott Stevens is a Championship quality centerback, and both Matt Herrera and Pablo Ramirez are MLS lifers who have some not awful attributes but whose lack of pace worries me against world class players. I wish I had John Anthony Brooks, at least the version who showed up at this years Copa America.

Fullbacks:

Right back is where we have our first team-member who I feel could play on almost any nation's squad.




Erik Ramirez is largely on the squad because he racks up very good performances despite lacking much by way of speed or technical attributes. He's sadly the best of a poor set of options at left back. His counterpart is Mark Bartlett, who is a defense-only player who I'd consider starting if he had more stamina.



Meanwhile, Isaac Parsons plays for Barcelona, and started more than half of their matches when healthy. He's got glorious physical attributes, very good technical attributes for a defender (Passing 17!) and his work rate and positioning means that he'll seldom get caught totally out and unable to recover once you account for his speed. So long as he's healthy this is the one defensive spot I don't need to worry about.

Central Midfielders:

Here's the strength of this team, which is kind of shocking considering that the US has struggled for decades to develop highly technical, visionary midfielders. Now I have three.




Xavier Hughes doesn't have much pace but has world class field vision, and is strong enough and astute enough defensively that he'll be able to muscle the ball off opponents in the midfield. With Bobby Padilla out we don't have a real defensive midfielder on the squad, so Xavier's going to have to take on additional duties. He's backed up by Isaias Hartman, who isn't fit to hold his jock.




Keith Coleman and Casey Medina will share the attacking-minded midfielder role. Neither are as technically polished as Hughes, but they are both his superior physically. Each possesses good speed, and have a level of flair and/or creativity not usually seen in American players. If we play in a 4-2-3-1, which will probably happen against Egypt at least, expect to see Coleman in a trequartista style role.



Even Matt Brown has a silky first touch, is a devotee of pinpoint passing, and possess devastating accuracy from range, all to go along with the type of pitch-sense that I'm not sure any American before this crop ever possessed. And he's the backup!

Wingers:




Sinan Ulusal is 34 years old and in the twilight of his career... and even with his failing physical skills he's the best we have who plays regularly on the left side. Which means I'm probably going to have to play Hunter Fisher as an inverted winger despite his complete lack of a left foot. He's not going to win any footraces, but he's our leader and we're going to need him to ping in some crosses and corners.



Andrew Paredes, on the other hand, is the second best player on the squad behind Moctezuma, and only a year older than the Real Madrid man. Paredes is still very raw mentally, but his technical skills are very good and his physical assets are excellent. He was good enough on loan at Gladbach to be named best right winger in all of the Bundesliga, and we're going to need him to live up to that billing.

Strikers:


Daniel Bennett is the Chris Wondolowski of this team. If he's our starting striker it means that something very bad has gone wrong.



Joey Garcia is a perfectly acceptable striker. He notched 11 goals in Serie A with Fiorentina, and along with Paredes are proof that the Partizan Project worked. He won't set the world on fire, but he's at least good enough to get playing time.



Finally, we come to the great American hope. He was worth every penny of the £15m we paid for him as a 16 year old, forcing his way into the in-game Best 11 before that lackwit layabout Paul Williams sold him for £30m to Real Madrid, who have made a habit of collecting former Wrexham attackers. He's still out for two days, and will be limited in his early appearances, but I need him if I'm going to bring America to new heights of international glory.