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Message: [QUOTE="SubbaBub, post: 5311911, member: 523"] No elite keeper (Turner is the best of a mediocre, but Poch will pick whomever is playing for the friendlies and that person will have the inside track) Richards is OK, not great. Ream is old and slow. No one has stepped up to grab these spots and it doesn't appear anyone will. Clearly the weakest spot on the pitch. Dest and Robinson are the fullbacks/wingbacks depending on the formation. Poch should at least try a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-2-1 formation with 3 centerbacks. Clogging the middle with mediocrity might be the best approach. Adams didn't play great in the gold cup whether that was fatigue after a long but successful run in the EPL season is tbd. Attacking midfield is another area of extreme mediocrity. The Mexico debacle was primarily due to an inability to possess, hold, or move the ball through the middle third. The turnovers and loose passing is going to mean a quick exit. Poch has a ton of (too many) options that are all the same player and none seem to have the quality necessary to impact the offense. That includes McKennie. I just hope Poch decides not to dwell on Musah. He can dribble and hold, but does both for way too long and he hasn't been involved in creating enough chances for the runtime that he's been given. Needs to really show at the club level to change my mind on this. Berhalter seems a lot more dangerous. McGlynn and Luna, too despite Mexico. Pulisic is going to be the focus, Weah will probably start the opposite side but any of the above midfielders could probably do just as well, but Weah does actually score and create from time to time. Still would like to try Weah at right fullback or wingback in case Dest isn't 90 minutes a game fit. We will need depth there. None of the guys from the GC or past callups meet the bar. As for Striker, whether pure 9 or with a withdrawn midfielder formation, Poch is going to pick the guy scoring the most adjusted for level of competition at the end of the club season. We will see everyone until then, so there really isn't much to discuss. The question is will he pick one of the EPL or Championship guys if someone has 20 goals in a lesser league. If we are going to advance, I think Poch is going to have to play multiple styles and rotate the mediocre guys based on matchups, the GK will need to be hot, the D better than we've seen, and someone is going to have to score. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach