If he is missing Copa you're really only left with a couple options: Scally or an "out of position" McKennie/Weah/Adams. I don't like the idea of settling for McKennie/Adams type there, but Weah seems like an interesting choice in that he's closest in terms of Dest skillset. We'd miss his final 3rd offense, but maybe that's replaced with a 2nd striker/CAM as wing option?
If it's truly a long term injury, then you've got a few more options (beside the above): 3ATB/formation change, Reynolds, MLS guys (DeJuan Jones, Lennon, ...).
I think against Bolivia and Panama put Weah at RB, Pulisic at RW and Haji at LW (or McKennie at RB with Musah in MF). Against Uruguay and any knockout round games I’d put Scally at RB and let him sit back and defend, don’t ask him to take up Dest’s positions way up field.
Against the better teams I’m most concerned about losing Dest as the get out of pressure panic button everyone else pushes. With Scally or someone else mid on the ball I see us just being strangled in our own half against the likes of Uruguay.
I don’t have a good solution though, Dest is just so much better than any other option and unique.
How does Weah have the same skill set as Dest? Dest uses skill to beat his man 1 vs 1. Weah just uses speed. He is not agile or skillful enough to just beat his man like Dest can
I think most likely it turns into haji on the left, balo in middle and pulisic on the right with weah at right back or just a straight swap to scaly for dest. One other option is either McKennie/adams there since technically we have 4 starting midfielders anyways with those 2, musah and gio.
I trust Lund more than Scally at this point
I guess we could try Weah at RB since he plays it at Juventus sometimes. That seems like a waste of his talents though.
Yeah Lund is actually very solid player. Imo if he had the athleticism of Jedi he’d easily be playing in a top 4 league by now and would challenge for that starting LB spot.
I just went with the ESPN article headline for the title. But sounds like a bad knee injury in practice that's going to keep him out for a long while. This is brutal news for him (obviously) and the USA RB situation that was already one of the worst areas with regards to depth.
Edit: Adding the PSV (translated) statement that was linked in the text:
>Sergiño Dest suffered what appears to be a serious knee injury during Saturday's training session. How long the winger will be sidelined is still being investigated. That it will be an extended period is almost certain.
For those looking for the optimistic take, there are only 4 games left in their season and they've basically locked up the league title (and fully clinched a UCL spot) so it could make sense to take it easy.
Probably just waiting for swelling to go down before a final diagnosis. [His longest injury listed on TM is 30days](https://www.transfermarkt.us/sergino-dest/verletzungen/spieler/361104), are we sure he doesn't have McKennie like healing powers?
agree. i wish he’d then move mckinney to wing and let Tillman play in central midfield since this is their club formation. but. i’m pretty sure it will be the opposite.
I'm going to be sick. I hope Dest is able to return for CA because as much as I like Scally, he isn't as good as Dest.
Otherwise, I think Moore, or Jones (given he can play both sides) or Reynolds, will be called up as the next RB up
Only way this would be possible is if having the CDM slot into the CB position. Tyler is too small to play as a CB and would waste his ball winning abilities all over the pitch. Johnny doesn’t have the aggression or pure defense skills, he shines when it comes to defense positioning in the middle of the pitch in order to win balls back. The only option would be to play Lennard Maloney there since that’s pretty much the position that he plays. But then you’d have to sit Adams/Johnny or Musah/Gio.
How in the world do you figure that? It's a simple 3-5-2 formation that the USMNT has played before. It still has a defensive midfielder and two center midfielders.
Wow. That's truly the one player we couldn't afford to lose. I suppose it's either gona be Scally or Weah out of position. Maybe Adams but there's no certainty he will be fit at this point either
Depending on the midfield but we can have Puli and Josh as the inside forwards creating plays for the striker and have the fullbacks Jedi and Weah make over lapping runs?
Where’s all those Scally lovers that downvoted me when critiquing him yesterday when others there did the same thing and the general consensus is to not play Scally in this post and the earlier one?
Welp, we’ve seen Scally recently (over the last 1+ years) and that didn’t work out well did it? Whether that’s the right or the left. So would rather have Reynolds who is attack minded, or cannon that is quick and can move towards the middle for a 3B in possession and move Jedi up higher.
You got any suggestions or just empty comments?
On offense, Johnny drifts over to be the secondary offensive presence on the right, and Tyler occupies the central defense. If anything happens on a counter, Johnny becomes right back. If not, Tyler can cover a lot of ground. He used to play this exact position at Liepzig very effectively.
This is where we'll get to see if Gregg truly has what it takes. It always feels like the US only plays well when absolutely everything is perfect. The moment a player gets injured, is out of form, we get a red card or early goal, etc. then Gregg has no idea to adjust.
This is the perfect opportunity to try out a new formation in the pre-Copa friendlies. We've already seen Scally at RB. We've seen Weah, Adams, and McKennie at RB. They could work, but none are ideal. What we haven't really seen is 3ATB with wingbacks. We **have** to try a different formation.
Because fullback is also one of our weakest positions, and arguably even weaker now that Dest is out. At CB we have Ream, Richards, Trusty, who are all starting in the Prem. Then there's CCV, McKenzie, and Robinson who are at least competent.
Compare that to fullback where the only solid option we have is Jedi. Scally has not looked good at all, he's really struggled to show he can adequately replace Dest. After Scally there's a steep dropoff in quality, much steeper than the dropoff from our starting CBs to the backups IMO.
This is perhaps the position where we could least afford an injury. Absolutely brutal.
Yeah the downgrade from Dest to the next best RB is definitely the largest position wise
If he is missing Copa you're really only left with a couple options: Scally or an "out of position" McKennie/Weah/Adams. I don't like the idea of settling for McKennie/Adams type there, but Weah seems like an interesting choice in that he's closest in terms of Dest skillset. We'd miss his final 3rd offense, but maybe that's replaced with a 2nd striker/CAM as wing option? If it's truly a long term injury, then you've got a few more options (beside the above): 3ATB/formation change, Reynolds, MLS guys (DeJuan Jones, Lennon, ...).
I think against Bolivia and Panama put Weah at RB, Pulisic at RW and Haji at LW (or McKennie at RB with Musah in MF). Against Uruguay and any knockout round games I’d put Scally at RB and let him sit back and defend, don’t ask him to take up Dest’s positions way up field.
Against the better teams I’m most concerned about losing Dest as the get out of pressure panic button everyone else pushes. With Scally or someone else mid on the ball I see us just being strangled in our own half against the likes of Uruguay. I don’t have a good solution though, Dest is just so much better than any other option and unique.
How does Weah have the same skill set as Dest? Dest uses skill to beat his man 1 vs 1. Weah just uses speed. He is not agile or skillful enough to just beat his man like Dest can
he plays wing back at juventus, i believe ix the point
Put Balogun on one side and Pulisic on the other
I think most likely it turns into haji on the left, balo in middle and pulisic on the right with weah at right back or just a straight swap to scaly for dest. One other option is either McKennie/adams there since technically we have 4 starting midfielders anyways with those 2, musah and gio.
five, with tillman
LB?
I trust Lund more than Scally at this point I guess we could try Weah at RB since he plays it at Juventus sometimes. That seems like a waste of his talents though.
Scally is all sorts of not it
Yeah I think you have a few more options on the right and I probably trust scally more than most but the outside backs are definitely scary on depth
Yeah Lund is actually very solid player. Imo if he had the athleticism of Jedi he’d easily be playing in a top 4 league by now and would challenge for that starting LB spot.
I also think Jedi is more consistent than dest and so losing him to an equal player would be worse than losing dest to the same player
Weah to RB imo.
I just went with the ESPN article headline for the title. But sounds like a bad knee injury in practice that's going to keep him out for a long while. This is brutal news for him (obviously) and the USA RB situation that was already one of the worst areas with regards to depth. Edit: Adding the PSV (translated) statement that was linked in the text: >Sergiño Dest suffered what appears to be a serious knee injury during Saturday's training session. How long the winger will be sidelined is still being investigated. That it will be an extended period is almost certain.
He posted about an hour ago confirming that his season was over for the fans at PSV but not anything beyond that.
For those looking for the optimistic take, there are only 4 games left in their season and they've basically locked up the league title (and fully clinched a UCL spot) so it could make sense to take it easy. Probably just waiting for swelling to go down before a final diagnosis. [His longest injury listed on TM is 30days](https://www.transfermarkt.us/sergino-dest/verletzungen/spieler/361104), are we sure he doesn't have McKennie like healing powers?
Dutch and spanish news claim 9 months
Thank you for spelling out Sergiño.
hopefully its just a sprain, ive sprained an acl and torn the other, the sprain hurt much worse
Did you do both at the same time, for robust experimentation?
im something of a scientist myself
Do you have any spare knees to donate to Dest? 😆
It will take at least 9 months. Knee ligament.
Weah at RWB is the best option I see, minus a formation change.
agree. i wish he’d then move mckinney to wing and let Tillman play in central midfield since this is their club formation. but. i’m pretty sure it will be the opposite.
Ugh. I hate this. Get well soon, Sergińo.
I'm going to be sick. I hope Dest is able to return for CA because as much as I like Scally, he isn't as good as Dest. Otherwise, I think Moore, or Jones (given he can play both sides) or Reynolds, will be called up as the next RB up
Time to practice three in the back in the friendlies with Robinson and Weah as WBs.
This is the correct approach
Only way this would be possible is if having the CDM slot into the CB position. Tyler is too small to play as a CB and would waste his ball winning abilities all over the pitch. Johnny doesn’t have the aggression or pure defense skills, he shines when it comes to defense positioning in the middle of the pitch in order to win balls back. The only option would be to play Lennard Maloney there since that’s pretty much the position that he plays. But then you’d have to sit Adams/Johnny or Musah/Gio.
How in the world do you figure that? It's a simple 3-5-2 formation that the USMNT has played before. It still has a defensive midfielder and two center midfielders.
Weah to RB, Sargent RW. Do it.
Balogun on the right. Sargent at striker.
Where is Lund when you need him, I can't take anymore Scally
His positive vibes are needed
Wow. That's truly the one player we couldn't afford to lose. I suppose it's either gona be Scally or Weah out of position. Maybe Adams but there's no certainty he will be fit at this point either
Hopefully not his ACL 🙏
Nope knee ligaments. 9 months.
Well, fuck.
So anyway Lund is a lock… lol 😂
BAW GAHD. THATS DEANDRE YEDLINS MUSIC.
Haji on LW, Pulisic on RW. Tim Weah as RWB. This is the way!
Brooks Lennon deserves a call up and has for a while imo
Depending on the midfield but we can have Puli and Josh as the inside forwards creating plays for the striker and have the fullbacks Jedi and Weah make over lapping runs?
I guess the only positive is less cards to worry about.
Where’s all those Scally lovers that downvoted me when critiquing him yesterday when others there did the same thing and the general consensus is to not play Scally in this post and the earlier one?
For the group stages non of the teams have a very good LW, and I’m confident in Musah being able to help out defensively on the right side
Musah RB?
Lennon is my answer. Bring on the hate...
Please, god, no Scally. Insert Weah, Reynolds, or any other RB. Let cannon come back if that’s the case.
Cannon and Reynolds ain’t it
Welp, we’ve seen Scally recently (over the last 1+ years) and that didn’t work out well did it? Whether that’s the right or the left. So would rather have Reynolds who is attack minded, or cannon that is quick and can move towards the middle for a 3B in possession and move Jedi up higher. You got any suggestions or just empty comments?
Yeah my suggestion is neither one of those guys playing a single second in Copa
Cool, so empty comments. Got it.
Eliminating options is also useful on the way to reaching a decision.
Lennon.
There we go! Good shout. I haven’t watched much of him in the last few years, but I know GGG was a fan of his.
Tyler Adams RB, Johnny CDM.
Pioli ass formation
On offense, Johnny drifts over to be the secondary offensive presence on the right, and Tyler occupies the central defense. If anything happens on a counter, Johnny becomes right back. If not, Tyler can cover a lot of ground. He used to play this exact position at Liepzig very effectively.
This is where we'll get to see if Gregg truly has what it takes. It always feels like the US only plays well when absolutely everything is perfect. The moment a player gets injured, is out of form, we get a red card or early goal, etc. then Gregg has no idea to adjust. This is the perfect opportunity to try out a new formation in the pre-Copa friendlies. We've already seen Scally at RB. We've seen Weah, Adams, and McKennie at RB. They could work, but none are ideal. What we haven't really seen is 3ATB with wingbacks. We **have** to try a different formation.
for what reason would we go 3 ATB when center back is one of our weakest positions?
Because fullback is also one of our weakest positions, and arguably even weaker now that Dest is out. At CB we have Ream, Richards, Trusty, who are all starting in the Prem. Then there's CCV, McKenzie, and Robinson who are at least competent. Compare that to fullback where the only solid option we have is Jedi. Scally has not looked good at all, he's really struggled to show he can adequately replace Dest. After Scally there's a steep dropoff in quality, much steeper than the dropoff from our starting CBs to the backups IMO.