He's younger than Deandre Yedlin and fills in the LW spot quite nicely. He's also adept at playing through the center, and he and Pulisic could combine well. Other than that, nice to see some new blood in for the Gold Cup. Dwyer is the kind of player I could see feasting on CONCACAF opposition, but I wouldn't bring him to the World Cup.
Hopefully the Gold Cup 23 man roster is one that lets the USA take a decent look at what we have available. I don't think most fans put that high of a priority on winning it, so it would be nice to leave players like Bradley at home and see how the team does without them.
The draw against Venezuela was lackluster. I'm hoping the altitude has something to do with the sluggish play and underwhelming performance. Playing like that against T&T won't get us the vital 3 points from this set of games. I think Altidore is currently the best forward for the USA as Wood is struggling with injury, so I was disappointed that he didn't even feature.
Edit: Here's some Saief highlights. Obviously doesn't tell the whole story but he has quality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW1JufDIIg4
GK:
For years Jesse Gonzalez said he wanted to play for Mexico. If we could cup tie him, that would be a plus because he is very young and the current starter for FC Dallas.
I'd really like to see what Hamid could do in a USMNT game. He is handicapped with the worst team in the MLS making him hard to evaluate. I don't think Howard is in good form this year.
It should be OK for Arena to not select him without causing a stir, but I don't know if his personality could handle that.
Defenders:
Justin Morrow is having a very good year with Toronto. Eric Lichaj was named player of the year for Nott Forrest in the Championship (I think it may actually be two years in a row). Jonathan Spector is playing very well with Orlando right now. I have hyped up Jorge Villafana before. Gold Cup seems like a great place to see if the success of these players translates to international play.
Many MLS fans say Matt Hedges of Dallas is the best defender in the league. Having watched numerous Dallas games this year, I don't even know what he looks like or what is his number. It may be that he is like a lock-down corner, so good that he never gets tested and so doesn't appear on your TV screen. I just don't know.
Midfielders:
I'd love to see Dax McCarthy get a turn instead of Bradley for a bit. Red Bulls just can't seem to put it together since he left and Chicago is play-off team since he joined. I think Nagbe is a better version of Bedoya. Pulisic is clearly the best player for the USMNT right now.
The other choices are certainly interesting. Zardes does not look in form following his injury. McNamara is not even starting for NYCFC. I don't think Kellyn Acosta is quite ready yet, but I like him as a central midfield substitute (do we ever do that?). Kelyn Rowe is having a good year, but I'm not sure he is at international level. I don't see us using Pontius if we have Pulisic or Dempsey on the field.
Will Trapp is an OK selection at center midfield but I feel like I would rather see Dillon Powers as a #8 instead. Power's size would be good for the Gold Cup.
Forwards:
The list looks like Arena wants to play a 442. Jordan Morris can play advanced Forward. CJ Sapong is the only target man we have. Wondo is the best poacher. Dempsey is the best False 9. Dwyer is a pit bull as a defensive harrier type forward. Altidore is good facing the goal.
None of these guys, except for maybe Dwyer, can play up top by themselves. They need to work off of another player to be effective. I think Zardes works best as a forward working with a partner as well. If we are going to play 442, we need the Gold Cup to figure out who partners well with each other.
Dwyer is the closest thing resembling Giovinco's energy, so we could try him with Altidore to recreate the Toronto offense. Dempsey could hang back off of either Sapong or Morris. I like the thought of Demspey feeding balls to Morris better than passing to Sapong. Sapong can be the Route 1 plan B of the 88th minute.
Putting it all together, and letting Bradley roam in the Jermaine Jones role:
-----------Dwyer---Altidore-------------
Nagbe---Bradley----McCarthy------Pulisic
Morrow---Hedges----Spector--------Lichaj
---------------Hamid--------------------
Save the more conventional line up for the World Cup qualifiers.
On the Venezuela broadcast, Holden noted that article and said he spoke with Gonzalez's agent who told Holden that Gonzalez will play for the US if picked. This was after the 40 man roster was announced.
BREAKING: Jesse Gonzalez part of prelim 40 man Gold Cup Roster. Confirmation from agent that if in final roster, will rep USA & be cap tied
— Stuart Holden (@stuholden) June 4, 2017
I'm pretty sure even the article suggests that he was hoping to play for Mexico, but if he got an offer for the senior US team first, he'd accept it.
"Even now, he suggests that if U.S. head coach Bruce Arena came in with a surprise call it could spark a fresh chain of events."
edited to add pertinent quote