I think if it's in a FIFA window, the clubs can't refuse, even if it's a friendly for us. There must be some restriction on the number of players called at some level, but can't seem to find one.
I think it's pretty simple: He wrested the job away from Pepi and the others in '22 because: 1. Berhalter's an idiot 2. He had his mega breakout season at the perfect time. 3. Berhalter decided to ignore that Pepi had ended his cold streak with the USMNT/Augsburg in late '21-'22 w/a spectacular 2+ months with Groningen....and 4. Sargent had done nothing with the job in '21, and had a terrible final season with Bremen in '20-'21 and terrible first season with Norwich in '21-'22.... 5. Pefok had left Young Boys after a huge season, and cooled off considerably following the move, and had a disastrous performance at the Azteca. 6. Vasquez having his breakout Summer/Fall '22, instead of Summer/Fall '21. Since then Ferreira had a terrible run as lead striker in the summer, fall and winter of '22. *Sargent broke out big time as the striker with Norwich Haji Wright broke out for nearly 80 goal contributions in Denmark, Turkey and England since 2020. *Pepi continued his form with Groningen, then with the USMNT, and then with PSV as a super sub. *Balo switched to us, while blowing up with Lille, had a poor debut with the US Nats, and a middling season with Monaco before breaking out with some great performances at the Copa America *Vasquez cooled somewhat, but continued to be effective until an unfortunate fall off after moving to Liga Mx and has looked good when in the shirt. *pefok had a bit of a bounce back season after dissapointing stretch from fall '22 through early winter '23. For Ferrira to catch up, he has to catch guys doing it in Europe: Balo, who appears clearly better than he is, Sargent and Pepi who have much better club pedigree, and the latter, more impressive performances in the shirt, Vasquez and Pefok are depth too, and Haji Wright has gone from nowhere in terms of the program four years ago, to the preferred backup striker for many now...He can't catch up w/o going to Europe and he can't get to Europe because of his cost prohibitive contract/wages, and his club has an option for him even in '26, another 3 seasons from now....so? I can imagine he could go to Europe and really blossom, but he's not going to get there, if ever, for a while yet...so there's no way for him to break back into the program as anything barring a catastrophic collection of injuries at striker. That's just the way it is. In fairness, I'd be trying to figure him out as a false 9/and wing forward because I just don't think he has the size to be a lead striker for us, but if you move him to false 9 or wing forward, you see the play fall off, so....I just see him as out of the program going forward barring a calamitous scale of injuries.
He's not at all likely to get into the picture for 2026, but you never know for 2030. I've never particularly been a fan, but a new coach means new evaluations and while everyone is pretty certain that if we hire from abroad, they will have no interest in MLS players, you never really know. Klinsmann called up a college kid and a guy from USL so you never know how a newcomer will see things. I seriously doubt he'll ever be a factor outside of games where others are unavailable or we have a serious injury crisis, but I don't think we should ever be assuming a player at 23 has his future determined. He's still got a lot of years ahead of him and it's not like we have a ton of strikers getting starting roles in top leagues. There's Balogun, there's Pefok and then you quickly get to guys like Pepi who comes off the bench in Holland, guys in Mexico, guys in the second tier in England. It's still not a position overcrowded with quality. I wouldn't bet on him, but there is room for any striker that scores regularly and works his way up to a good club situation because we're not exactly crawling with guys who play regularly and score goals in top leagues.