I honestly don't know what my dream 23 for 2022 is at this time. For me there are still a handful of positions that I'm not sure who I'm leaning towards. I believe a lot will depend on how the U-23 Team fairs in Olympic Qualifying & the Olympics themselves. I expect a couple names to get fast tracked/solidify themselves if the team does as well as we all hope.

That said, I'd start with the following:

GK: Steffen, Horvath, Johnson
D: Dest, Cannon, A. Robinson, Brooks, McKenzie, Richards, Otasowie, TBD
M: Mckennie, Adams, Musah, Cardoso, TBD, TBD
A: Pulisic, Reyna, Balugon, Sargent, Weah, TBD

Defensive TBD: I'm not sure who to take as the 4th outside back. I could see Yedlin going or one of the young guys (Araujo, Bello, Reynolds, etc...). All depends on How the youth progresses over the next 12-18 months.
Midfield TBD: i could see any number of players claim the back-up to McKennie & Musah. Aaronson, PomyKal, Green, Ledezma, & Holmes...all have a shot.
Attack TBD: Again there are a handful of names I could see claiming this spot depending upon how they progress over the next 12-18 months...Ulysses, Konrad, Mueller, Alvarez, Morris are the ones I feel have the best chance at the moment.

There are going to be some difficult decisions any way you look at it. And with the versatility of many of these players there could be some shock selections based on specific opponents or desired skill sets.

Keepers: Steffen, Horvath, Ochoa
LB: Bello, Hernandez-Foster
LCB: Brooks, EPB
RCB: Richards, McKenzie
RB: Dest, Reynolds
Holding mid: Adams, Cardoso
Box to box: McKennie, Musah
"10": Reyna, Mendez
LW: Pulisic, Llanez
CF: Sargent, Soto
RW: Weah, Mueller

Just missed out: Miazga, Ledezma, Otasowie, Balogun (???)

****its still two full years away until the World Cup which is in December 2022, so the rest of this club season, plus a full season, and then the beginning of the next. A lot of moves will happen between now and then. Depth is the key to this super young squad as they look towards 2026 which even Berhalter has acknowledged is the ultimate goal of this cycle- to get the squad back to relevance and picking up steam towards the following cycle.

No doubt about it. We have a lot of guys that seemingly do that right now. Musah plays wing for his club but he's a central mid. We've seen Adams do the rb thing. McKennie played everywhere at Schalke. Reyna has played all over the attacking midfield. Once the game gets scrambled these guys will still know what to do and won't be so out of position ala Bradley Jones and bedoya. The most encouraging thing is that in that tournament setting the coach can rely on a core group of players. He won't have to have a like for like substitution because things players can switch their role of if the coach wants to switch tactics that's fine as well. They have the ability to adjust.

I was going to start a counter thread for nightmare 23 for 2022 but could only think of a few guys I would hate to see make the 2022 roster (Hamid, Ream, Bradley, Roldan, and a whole slew of left backs)

Yesterday the folks at ESPN dropped their latest version of their USMNT 2022 WC squad. I held off commenting on it because I had to be sure that it wasn't their attempt at an April Fools joke. Apparently wasn't a joke, even if some of their selections are laughable.
1-9 were the usual suspects
1) Pulisic, 2) Brooks, 3) McKennie, 4) Adams, 5) Steffen, 6) Dest, 7) Reyna, 8) Musah,
9) Sargent
# 10 & # 11 should probably be on the list, but to rank them so highly is where things start going off the rails for me....especially who they have at # 21.
10) Long, 11) Miazga
# 12 is where I started questioning if their 23 was a practical joke...especially when you read their write up
12) Zardes: "If there's a forward in this player pool who is intimately familiar with the intricacies of Berhaulter's system, it's Zardes. The 29 year old scored 19 goals in his sole season in Columbus under the now US Boss, and possesses the mobility and nose for goal that would make him a trustworthy reserve in Qatar." While the facts of his accomplishments under Gregg may be accurate there is No way that he should be this high up the list. IMO he should be a reserve at best...especially considering some of the other names left to be listed...
13) Cannon, 14) Weah, 15) Horvath, 16) A. Robinson, 17) Yueill
Yueill is a bit of a stretch for me, but I can also understand that selection considering how badley the other U-23's performed.
18) Reynolds, 19) Dike, 20) Lletget, 21) Richards
How they have Richards (a Bundasliga starter) so far down the pecking order of CB's is beyond me.
22) Matt Turner, 23) Jordan Morris.
The Alternates is where the BS gets really deep and questionable:
1) Jozy Altidor, 2) Brenden Aaronson, 3) Walker Zimmerman, 4) Paul Arriola,
5) Nicolas Gioachini
-
Why ESPN believes that the team needs 3 CF's (Sargent, Zardes, & Dike) is beyond reason. Especially when Weah & Morris could also used as CFs if needed.
How one of the hottest players in the pool (Aaronson) is in the alternates boggles the mind. Arriola's inclusion is also laughable considering the other wingers we have in the pool.

Couldn't agree more with that. At least Long is a physical guy and Yueill has his passing range I'm really not quite sure what Cannon offers over Yedlin or Reynolds at opposite ends of the spectrum.

There's nothing Long does better than EPB, Richards and McKenzie

Yueill needs a move...hes not better the LDT or Owatasawie

Lletget has no business being picked over healthy BA, Green or Ledezma