Connor Dale (Inter Miami), Jason Nemo (Chicago Fire), Zach Crider (FC Cincinnati)

This is one of the position groups where I have the fewest gripes. Dale is pretty clearly the top keeper prospect in this class and it is great to see him here. Nemo is another very good keeper prospect — Chicago Fire continues to be a factory for the position. I have not studied Crider too deeply, but have heard good things. 

Muyi Ajayi (NYCFC), Marcello Rosetti (Houston Dynamo)

Ajayi is a pretty surprising omission. He is the best passing keeper from this class and has been playing up an age group for the last couple of years. He is a little undersized and may not be expected to grow much in the future, which could explain his omission. It is still a little strange because the selection team did not seem to index too much on physical profiles and projections at other positions.

Rosetti is one of the better shot stoppers I have seen from this class. He does not do anything too difficult with the ball at his feet, but shot stopping is still the most important aspect of keeping and he does that well. 

RB, Chris Thompson (Philadelphia Union), LB, Seyi Fakiyesi (Atlanta United), LB, Justus Jones (FC Dallas)

Fakiyesi is the only player from this group that I would have brought to this camp. He is the top domestic left-back from my early evaluations. He is  an attack minded player that has a good profile.

Thompson has a lot of potential, but is still a little bit raw technically. He is probably the best defensive full-back I have seen in this class and I have heard he has A+ character, so I have no big complaints with this selection.

Jones is a very small left-back that is a solid player, but does not meet the criteria I would have for a United States Youth National Team player. 

RB, Dominik Lester (FC Cincinnati), RB, Fred Bond (Atlanta United)
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It’s not a super strong full-back class, so I don’t have a ton of omissions here, but Lester not being with this group is incredibly puzzling. To me he is very clearly the top right-back in this class and he can also play on the left side. He has a strong physical profile, clean on the ball and plays with good feel and tempo. 

Bond is right behind Lester in my right-back rankings. He is another well rounded right-back that can only play on the wing. He moves very well off of the ball and has the profile that projects to be a good defender long term. 

RCB, Owen Jorgensen (St. Louis City), RCB, Orion Joliff (San Jose Earthquakes), RCB, Slate Collins (LAFC), LCB, Luca Antongirolami (Sporting KC)

Positionally, this might be the weakest group on the roster. Jorgensen is my top player from the group that was selected. He isn’t the biggest center-back prospect, but he is a good defender and he is very confident on the ball. 

Antongirolami and Collins would not have been first choice center-backs for me and I have not seen Joliff play yet.

San Jose has not played difficult teams so far and their tape has not been super available, so I can’t say whether I agree or disagree with this selection.

Overall this group is very underwhelming from a physicality perspective and only Jorgensen consistently makes disruptive defensive plays and has high quality in distribution. I expect a lot of changes to come from this group over the next year.

RCB, Jeremiah Munoz (Charlotte FC), RCB, Landon Mulvenna (Philadelphia Union), RCB, Mikel Akinmboni (DC United), LCB, Zion Salmon (Inter Miami)

If you consider Nathan Tchoumba a six, which it looks like U.S. Soccer does, then Jeremiah Munoz is very clearly my top center-back from this class. I have no idea why he isn’t here, it’s a concerning decision and it makes you really question the staff's evaluation ability.

Mulvenna is another player I really like. He is a tenacious defender and might have the best passing range in this class. He isn’t projected to be much taller than 6-0, but size does not seem to be a strong consideration for this group, so the decision is puzzling to me. 

Mikel Akinmboni, brother of USYNT U20 center-back Matai is a similar style player, but right-footed. His passing and size are his strengths, and while he struggles a bit in space, I wouldn’t have minded seeing him here. 

If U.S. Soccer was determined to have a left-footed player in this group, I would have gone with Salmon over Antongirolami.

DM, Nathan Tchoumba (Colorado Rapids), DM/CM, Niccolo Vafiades (NYCFC), DM/CM/AM, Vicenta Garcia (LA Galaxy), CM, Christopher Morales (Chicago Fire), CM, Samuel Gallego (Philadelphia Union), CM/AM, Finn Dean (Sporting KC)
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Tchoumba and Garcia are two top players from this class and fairly no-brainer selections to this team. Tchoumba can play as a 6 or center-back and is one of the highest ceiling players in the class. Garcia can play all three midfield positions and at this very moment is one of the top performers in this class. 
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Gallego is a tricky, do it all, left-footed midfielder that is very skilled on the ball. Vafiades, Dean and Morales are solid players, but I am not sure I see an intriguing upside. There are other players that would have interested me a lot more. 

DM, Jason Adeyemi (Atlanta United), CM, Kamil Castillo (DC United), CM/AM, Matthew Arana (Houston Dynamo)
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Adeyemi has the best passing range I have seen from the midfield position. I think he can bring something different to this group.

Castillo is without a doubt one of the best midfielders in this class and checks most boxes you want to see. He played for the Dominican Republic at the Concacaf U15 Championships a while back, but that should not preclude him from being with the United States. His exclusion is another very puzzling one. 

I have been told that Arana's absence is because he was not invited to the camp, which is utterly shocking to me. Arana is a top player in this class and a dual-national with rival Mexico. There is no better ball progressor in this class from midfield — it's mad.

AM, Robert Turdean (Chicago Fire), AM, Alex Hernandez (Colorado Rapids) AM, Nolan Nguyen (Colorado Rapids), WING, Ikenna Chidebe (LA Galaxy), WING, Chato Cerda (Chicago Fire), WING/CF, Sebastiao Nzita (Houston Dynamo)
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Turdean is a no brainer. He was one of the two 2010s to play up with the 2009 group in last year’s U15 cycle and is one of the top players in this class. 

I am very confused why U.S. Soccer has Hernandez listed as a defender. I have never seen him play a defensive position. He is typically an attacking-mid or a left-winger. Perhaps they see him as a right-back? Not sure, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense. I am going to list him at his natural position. As an attacker, I really like his game. He is deceptive, technical and brave on the ball. 

Nguyen is a surprise selection for me given the amount of dynamic attacking-mids in this class. 

The winger group is one of my biggest areas of concern, but again, it’s the first camp and things will likely change over time. Chidebe is a really good player and as long as he grows a bit, he should be a really dynamic player. He can play multiple positions and has a great combination of quickness, technical ability and instincts for the game. 

Nzita reminds me a little bit of Ruben Ramos. He can play a lot of different attacking positions, but isn’t a natural fit at any of them, but he has a great feel for the game and is productive. 

Cerda would not have been in my initial batch of wingers to get a look.

AM, Will Recupero (Not sure), AM, Juan Martinez (LA Galaxy), AM, Josh Jimenez (FC Cincinatti), AM Adin Fikic (FC Cincinnati), AM/WING, Morra Francois (Charlotte FC), WING, Oscar Avilez (DC United), WING, Joshua Boney (Barca Residency), WING, Theo Hallie II (FC Dallas), WING/CF, Eric Lodge (RBNY)
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This is a long list and there are quite a few players I would have preferred to see here. Recupero’s current club status is unclear. He left Boston Bolts and I believe he was headed to Stuttgart in Germany, but there may be some complications with that, not sure. Martinez was either not selected or prefers Mexico, similar to Matthew Arana. Jimenez and Fikic are two good attacking-mids at FCC that deserve a look at some point. 

Avaliz is one of the best players I have studied in this class and I can’t believe he isn’t here. Boney, Hallie and Lodge are also players that I see having a greater ceiling than some of the players selected. 

CF/WING, Jamil Danjaji (Columbus Crew), CF/WING, Da’Vian Kimbrough (Sacramento Republic)
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These two guys were locks to be on the roster as two of the best and most high profile players in the class, but the question was what position they would be looked at. I think they both are being brought in to play as nines, but may also play some wing. 

Timoni Gbalajobi (Philadelphia Union), Jayden Kouadio (Philadelphia Union), Apolo Marinch (Columbus Crew)
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It is a good center-forward class so having Danjaji and Kimbrough at center-forward means some good players are being left off. Both Philly kids, Gbalajobi and Kouadio are dynamic players that have leveled up this year. Marinch is another talented nine that is deserving of a call up, but I have heard that they would only be interested in a USYNT if he was asked to play up an age group.

It’s typical for me to have differing opinions with U.S. Soccer this early on in the process. Thematically, I don’t think the selection team took future potential into account enough and instead played it safe with lower risk players. Overall, this team would have physicality challenges against top competition, especially along the backline and through the midfield. The team leans more towards technical and intelligent players than dynamic and physical players. 

Dale, Nemo, Fakiyesi, Jorgensen, Tchoumba, Garcia, Turdean, Hernandez, Chidebe, Danjaji and Kimbrough are all players I am excited to see here. I believe all are very worthy of being in this first batch of players. 

Ajayi, Lester, Bond, Munoz, Mulvenna, Castillo, Arana, Martinez, Recupero, if he is not at Stuttgart, Avilez, Gbalajobi and Kouadio are the most glaring omissions. My top RB, CB, CM and true Winger were left off of this roster — crazy.

We will see how long it takes for U.S. Soccer to course correct on these players. Hopefully the next camp sees a lot of rotation so they can start to see who the best group of players is.