Predicting USMNT roster for summer tournaments

The provisional USMNT roster for the CONCACAF Nations League finals has been released and Gregg Berhalter named a shortlist of 40 players.

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And that got us thinking: who will be playing for the USMNT in two friendlies, the Nations League finals and Gold Cup this summer?

The likely answer is those squads will be very different, especially for the Gold Cup, with a large chunk of the European-based USMNT stars given time off in July as the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, among others, may give way to an MLS-heavy squad.

USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has already hinted at chopping and changing his squad this summer, as he will keep a core group of guys he can rely on but rotate others in and out to keep everyone fresh.

Berhalter also said that is what he plans to do for 2022 World Cup qualifying (which starts in September) as three-game windows mean it will be nearly impossible to play the same team for three games in less than 10 days.

Below is a look at my projected USMNT roster for the friendly against Switzerland (May 30) and then Nations League finals (23-man squad submitted on May 27), plus the friendly against Costa Rica (June 9) and then the Gold Cup.

Projected USMNT roster for Switzerland, Nations League finals: 23-man squad

Goalkeepers: Zack Steffen, Ethan Horvath, Matt Turner

Defenders: Sergino Dest, Reggie Cannon, Aaron Long, John Brooks, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Matt Miazga, Antonee Robinson

Midfielders: Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Giovanni Reyna, Sebastian Lletget, Christian Pulisic, Brenden Aaronson

Forwards: Josh Sargent, Daryl Dike, Tim Weah, Jordan Siebatcheu, Gyasi Zardes

On the bubble: Nicolas Gioacchini, Bryan Reynolds, Miles Robinson, Jackson Yueill, Paul Arriola, Walker Zimmerman, Kellyn Acosta, Sean Johnson

Projected USMNT roster for Costa Rica friendly, Gold Cup (July 10 to August 1): 23-man squad

Goalkeepers: Matt Turner, Sean Johnson, David Ochoa

Defenders: Kyle Duncan, Aaron Long, John Brooks, Julian Araujo, Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman, Sam Vines

Midfielders: Sebastian Lletget, Jackson Yueill, Paul Arriola, Kellyn Acosta, Cristian Roldan, Jonathan Lewis, Andres Perea, Michael Bradley

Forwards: Daryl Dike, Gyasi Zardes, Konrad de la Fuente, Ayo Akinola, Jozy Altidore

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