Connor Dale (Inter Miami), Jason Nemo (Chicago Fire), Muyi Ajayi (NYCFC)

Dale and Nemo return from the October camp and Ajayi is added in place of Zach Crider. In my early opinion, Heinemann now has the top three keepers from this class with Dale the presumptive number one. 

Zach Crider (FC Cincinnati)

Crider is the only player dropped from the keeper group from last camp and while this does not take him out of the picture, it shows that Heinemann currently rates Dale and Nemo over him, which I agree with at this time. 

RB, Finn McCraney (Chicago Fire), LB, Brendan Leon (Portland Timbers), LB Richmond Luong (Columbus Crew)

The full-back group gets completely turned over. It’s a pretty weak position group from my early evaluation, so it’s not surprising to see a lot of experimentation here. McCraney and Luong are solid players, but not what I would expect from a USYNT level player. I have not seen Leon play. Portland Timbers’ U15 team plays regionally, not in MLS Next, so I don’t have access to their video. It’s a bit concerning that he isn’t playing up for their U16s. 

RB, Dominik Lester (FC Cincinnati), RB, Fred Bond (Atlanta United), RB, Christopher Thompson (Philadelphia Union), LB, Seyi Fakiyesi (Atlanta United), LB, Ahmed Abarkane (FC Barcelona), Justus Jones (FC Dallas)
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Thompson, Fakiyesi and Jones were all dropped from the October camp. The only player that was dropped that really surprises me is Fakiyesi who in my opinion is clearly the best domestic left-back option. I hope to see him back in the next camp. 

Abarkane might be the best left-back in the class overall, but he plays in Spain and likely won’t get an opportunity until this group plays in Europe. 

Lester and Bond are in close competition for my top right-back in the class and both have not yet been invited to a camp. 

CB, Jeremiah Munoz-Alexander (Charlotte FC), CB, Owen Jorgensen (St. Louis City), CB, Orion Joliff (San Jose Earthquakes), CB, Luca Antongirolami (Sporting KC), CB/RB, Landon Mulvenna (Philadelphia Union)

Two players have been added to this group and one player has been dropped. Munoz-Alexander is a fantastic addition. He is one of, if not the top center-back in this class, especially in distribution. 

Mulvenna is also a great addition. He can play both center-back and right-back. Long term he might be more of a right-back or defensive midfielder, but he is a super tough defender and has great passing range. 

Jorgenson, Joliff and Antongirolami all return. Jorgenson is another one of the top center-back options and Antongirolami is left-footed and growing on me. I have not yet had the chance to study Joliff. 

CB, Slate Collins (LAFC), CB, Zion Salmon (Inter Miami), CB, Rocky Rommell II (San Jose Earthquakes), CB, Costantino Muscedere (NYCFC)

Collins is dropped, which from what I have seen, is hard to to argue with. Salmon and Rommell are both solid left-footed options. Rommell in particular has impressed me when I have watched him play. Muscedere is an interesting player. He has a great physical profile and defends very well. He is still a work in progress on the ball, but projecting long term, I think he is a USYNT level player. 

DM, Nathan Tchoumba (Colorado Rapids), DM/CM, Vinny Garcia (LA Galaxy), DM/CM, Lisandro Torres (LAFC), DM/CM, Niccolo Vafiades (NYCFC)
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Tchoumba, Garcia and Vafiades return from the last camp. Tchoumba and Garcia are two of the top players in this class and the staff must have liked what they say from Vafiades considering they only brought back ten players, most of which are no brainer selections. Lorres is the new player here who is also a Mexico Youth International. He provides the flexibility to play as a six or an eight. 

CM, Matthew Arana (Houston Dynamo), CM, Kamil Castillo (DC United), CM, Christopher Morales (Chicago Fire), CM, Samuel Gallego (Philadelphia Union), CM/AM, Finn Dean (Sporting KC), CM, Abdoulaye Diop (Philadelphia Union), CM/AM, Anthony Applewhaite (Mainz)
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I truly cannot understand what Heinemann and the staff are not seeing from Matthew Arana. In my opinion he is clearly a top five player in this class and a dual national with our biggest rival, Mexico. Hopefully they will correct this error soon. 

Castillo is another obvious pick for me, but I believe there might still be some confusion on whether he is eligible after playing for the Dominican Republic in the U-15 Concacaf Championship two years ago. Hopefully that tournament did not cap-tie him and he is still eligible to play for the United States without a one-time switch. 

Morales, Gallego and Dean are all dropped from the last camp. None of those players would be in my initial selections. Abdoulaye Diop is one of the most intriguing players in this class. He has a very unique skill set—very tall, very skilled—but he may be out injured as I have not seen him in the squad for Philadelphia in several weeks. 

Applewhaite is a player that I am hearing a lot of good things about. He plays over in Germany for a very good academy, Mainz, and someone that I trust was able to watch him last weekend and he said he was a very smart and skilled player. The DFB have brought him into several regional identification camps even though he does not yet have a German passport. 

AM, Robert Turdean (Chicago Fire), AM, Javier Linares (Philadelphia Union), AM, Noe Santillan (Atlanta United), WING, Ikenna Chidebe (LA Galaxy), WING, JD Adigun (Columbus Crew), WING/CF, Eric Lodge (New York Red Bulls)
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Turdean and Chidebe are the only two returning players from this group. Turdean is a top player in this class and I really like Chidebe. Linares and Santillan are the two new attacking-mid types. Santillas can also play as a striker. Both are solid, but have not blown me away when I have watched them this year. 

Adigun and Lodge are the two new wingers. Lodge plays as a second striker for New York Red Bulls, but he does his best work when he floats out wide and does winger-type things. Adigun has not impressed me much when I have watched Columbus, but Lodge has. Lodge is a very good addition to the group and has a good chance to cement his name into the squad. 

AM, Will Recupero (Unknown), AM, Juan Martinez (LA Galaxy), AM, Alex Hernandez (Colorado Rapids) AM, Nolan Nguyen (Colorado Rapids), WING, Chato Cerda (Chicago Fire), WING/CF, Sebastiao Nzita (Houston Dynamo), AM/WING, Morra Francois (Charlotte FC), WING, Oscar Avilez (DC United), WING, Joshua Boney (Barca Residency), WING, Theo Hallie II (FC Dallas), WING, Deshneck Nkeh (Orlando City)
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Recupero is a big name that is yet again not in camp. It could be that he is not because he is at Stuttgart in Germany and he won’t be brought in until the boys go abroad, but I am not 100% certain he has made it over there. Martinez is another big named Mexican-American player that has not yet featured for this group. Hernandez and Nguyen are both attacking-mid types that have been dropped from last camp. Cerda and Nzita are the wingers that were dropped from last camp. 

There are a lot of quality wingers that have not yet received a look that deserve them over some of the names that have. Francois, Avilez, Boney, Hallie and Nkeh are the guys I like the most. Avilez and Boney and particular are big misses from my perspective. 

CF/WING, Jamil Danjaji (Columbus Crew), CF, Timoni Gbalajobi (Philadelphia Union), CF, Kane Kraus (St. Louis City)
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Danjiji is my top 2010, spoiler alert, and he can play as a winger or a striker. I like him better as a striker. Gbalajobi is my second overall pure striker and I am excited to see him get this opportunity after missing out on last camp. Kraus is another addition. He didn’t catch my eye when I have watched St. Louis, but sometimes you need to watch strikers multiple times to see what they have. 

CF/WING, Da’vian Kimbrough (Sacramento Republic), CF, Jayden Kouadio (Philadelphia Union), CF, Apolo Marinch (Columbus Crew)
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Kimbrough is the big name omission from this group. He decided to play with Mexico’s U16s, up an age group instead. It’s hard to compete if Mexico is going to continue to offer him a spot up an age group. Kouadio and Marinch are both players deserving of a look at some point. 

This is an improved roster from the first camp in October. I am happy to see high turnover. For these younger age groups, experimentation is important. It should take a while to get a feel for the class and the staff should not get attached to who they are comfortable with so soon. 

Of the ten players that return, most of them are very clearly top players in this class and they should be considered core players for this group. These are names like Dale, Namo, Jorgenson, Tchoumba, Garcia, Turdean and Danjaji. 

I don’t have arguments for any of players that were not brought back.

Of the fourteen new players, I really like the additions of Ajayi, Munoz-Alexander, Mulvenna, Lodge and Gbalajobi and I think all of them could become core players for this group. 

There are still some players that have not been given an opportunity that I think are very clearly top players at their positions, that list includes: Lester, Bond, Arana, Garcia, Avilez and Boney. These guys need to get an invite very soon. 

The roster construction for this camp broadly makes sense, though I think the group lacks box to box midfielders. Otherwise, I think there is a good balance of positions, profiles and skill sets. 

Overall, a big improvement from the last squad, but still opportunity, and time, to get the best players into camp.