FloFC continues its series looking at Gregg Berhalter's first team camp with the U.S. men's national team, which prospects he has chosen, and how their chances are shaping up.
Nick Lima | San Jose Earthquakes
At 24, Lima missed just 11 minutes of regular season playing time for the Earthquakes last year, starting 34 games and going the full 90 in 33. On a chaotic Quakes team that barely even tried to play defense, that is impressive consistency. Lima is now getting European looks.
He’s not in the upper tier of MLS fullbacks, but playing with the defenders with whom he was forced to play (and in Mikael Stahre’s wack system) isn’t conducive to excelling at an elite level. Lima can be mistake-prone and has to quit ball-watching on marking assignments.
But Berhalter praised his overlapping ability in camp, and Lima is feisty and hard-working in one-v-one defending situations. His ability to play on either side of the backline will help him earn a spot as international depth.
Corey Baird | Real Salt Lake
As either a winger or forward, Baird makes the right runs and puts up good numbers — 8g, 5a in 1,903 rookie minutes was enough to win Rookie of the Year last season. He looks like the solution to RSL’s striker issues. A 22-year-old Homegrown, he fits all the boxes RSL wants to check.
Watching Baird improve on the ball and in front of goal will be interesting in 2019.
Justen Glad | Real Salt Lake
Glad wasn’t quite the Defender of the Year-caliber center back some expected him to be in 2018. But in 33 starts as the anchor of RSL’s defense, he improved as the season went along. He moves well in space and stops the ball at an elite level.
But he still needs to beef up physically to deal better in tight situations, and his late-season playoff benching by coach Mike Petke was a challenge to Glad. He has a chance to prove something in this month’s friendlies, and then in March once the MLS season starts.
Harrison Hamm is a sportswriter who covers American soccer and MLS for FloFC. He also covers sports for FanSided and The Comeback, and has freelanced for the Washington Post.