— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) May 21, 2016I didn't even realize today was the day Jurgy would be releasing the roster. I'm torn about Lee's exclusion. He is absolutely one one the best attacking midfield options the United States has to offer right now. Fans constantly preach about needing creativity in the midfield, and Lee brings that in spades. Watching Revs games would tell you that. He is so often the focus of other teams gamelans that it leaves other players open, only helping Lee out since he's so good with the ball that he can take on that pressure and distribute to teammates accordingly. So I really thought he should be in the squad for the big tournament.
But then I started to think. I put the country aspirations aside and focused on the club. By being left out we get Lee for the games he potentially would have missed on June 18 and 22. I mean I'm not saying the U.S. will make it that far, but theres a chance. A slim, slim chance. So now we dont have to worry about that. We don't have to worry about him missing time to go to training camp ahead of CA2016. We dont have to worry about him missing time coming back from CA2016. We don't have to worry about potential burnout form being on a different training schedule and regiment. We dont have to worry about reintegrating him in a short amount of time, which would break any cohesiveness this squad on an upward trend has. He gets to build even more chemistry with Kei Kamara. We can capitalize on teams whose players had to leave for the tournament with a nearly full strength side. Having Lee with the team could be huge for us.
Oh and Je-Vaughn Watson was selected to Jamaica's squad. Less worried about him for the reasons above since he plays a different position, meaning less interaction with other players on the Revs when on the field. Less time to build that chemistry back. Also I'm not exactly giving a hot take by predicting Jamaica do not make it very far at all. Less of a chance than the U.S. to win it all.
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