When Mauricio Pochettino was hired as the manager of the USMNT last September, optimism was at an all-time high. It felt for so long that we were one good coaching hire away from being a serious player on the international stage.
American players were becoming regulars with well-regarded clubs in Europe. The squad seemed to be developing a real rapport and identity together. And, arguably for the first time, US Soccer hired a coach with enough quality to compete at the highest level.
Now, not even a year later, the USMNT has only taken steps in the wrong direction. After a difficult club season of injuries and poor performances, the Americans massively disappointed this summer in international play. After brutal friendly losses to Turkey and Switzerland, the team skated through the Gold Cup before being thoroughly run off the field by Mexico in the final.
However, those results don’t concern me nearly as much as the circumstances which led to said results. When you have your regulars either injured or willingly sitting out of international duty, you’re going to get beaten by stronger squads. That’s not surprising.
What was surprising and worrying was that, in a time so crucial for the USMNT’s momentum heading into the World Cup, so many “regulars” were nowhere to be seen. Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna were all stuck with their clubs due to the Club World Cup. Sergino Dest, Antonee Robinson, Ricardo Pepi, and Folarin Balogun all missed out due to lingering injuries.
And don’t get me started on Yunus Musah and Christian Pulisic. Musah withdrew from this summer’s squad due to undisclosed personal reasons. Pulisic chose to step away to take a break. Why he would skip out on his country to go on vacation, I don’t understand. I get that you’ve played a ton the last couple years for AC Milan. However, you’re supposed to be the country’s best soccer player. Act like it.
It’s a bad look when every commercial during the matches features Pulisic after he deliberately chose not to play for the team.
Nonetheless, I count eight players right there that you would think would figure directly into the regular World Cup rotation.
Full disclosure – I’m finally seeing that Reyna might not be up to snuff anyway.
You can’t expect to build continuity as a team when you’re essentially fielding your B-Team.
The sub-par roster is one thing, but it’s clear Pochettino has no clue what his best XI actually is. Even worse, with the Gold Cup now in the rear-view, he has very few opportunities to figure it out.
Between now and the beginning of the World Cup, the USMNT only has five international camps. That’s not a whole lot of time to see what you’ve got if you’re Poch. The situation becomes even more dire when you consider that these friendlies do not even remotely resemble the pressure or playing in a World Cup match.
So what needs to happen for the ship to right itself?
First, and this is a big one. We all need to pray to all the gods we believe in that nobody suffers any serious injuries.
Tyler Adams needs to get through a healthy season in the Premier League with Bournemouth. It’d be great to see Balogun get a full run in Monaco. Dest and Robinson must have successful and consistent campaigns to establish their respective places. Hell, I’d love to see a guy like Daryl Dike get a full season in. I’m still a believer.
Americans on the move
Next, we need this summer’s transfer activity to pan out well for some guys. It’s been a fairly active few weeks in terms of movement, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to see those moves work out.
I’ll be doing a deep dive on the USMNT summer transfer activity later this week, but there are some obvious moves to point out:
- Josh Sargent is on his way to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, which is a major opportunity.
- The much-maligned Reyna looks to be headed to Italy with Parma.
- Musah could be on the verge of securing a move to the Premier League or Napoli.
- Matt Turner needs to find a new home where he will get legitimate time in goal. His move to Lyon has been stuck in limbo.
- Tim Weah looks likely to move to Marseille from Juventus.
All those are important, but to me, the two most important names to watch that will be in new places are Malik Tillman and Johnny Cardoso.
Cardoso is taking a major risk by moving to Atletico Madrid, where he’ll have to overcome established LaLiga regulars to get playing time. However, the nearly $35 million price tag tells me he will have every opportunity to contribute.
The Tillman deal was baffling to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a solid attacking option. However, I certainly haven’t seen anything that says he should be the second-most expensive American player ever, or a direct replacement for Florian Wirtz at Leverkusen.
Either (or both) of those two having big seasons would certainly be a positive development for the USMNT heading into the World Cup. Unfortunately, I’m fairly dubious about both moves.
Supplements from the B-Team
Finally, the squad could use some passion and desire. It needs guys that really care about playing for the flag and for the badge, because the core group discussed above hasn’t shown much of that.
If Diego Luna isn’t at least in the squad next summer, it’ll be a travesty. He showed more emotion and more care for the USMNT than very few have recently. He may not be as talented as others at his position, but the team desperately needs an injection of “Give-A-Shit,” as I would call it.
A team full of guys just clout chasing and career building won’t get us anywhere. While I think very few from the team that lost the Gold Cup will be in the World Cup squad, it would be a positive to see it supplemented on the fringes with those guys. Plus, there is something to be said for playing every week in MLS rather than rotting on a bench in Europe.
The Squad
There are admittedly some tough calls for Pochettino to make in the next 11 months, but there is so much talent in this confederation. I ultimately believe it’ll be up to the players, though. The fate of this generation of American soccer largely hangs in the balance of next summer’s World Cup on home soil. It’s time for these guys to get their shit together:
Goalkeepers
Matt Turner
Matt Freese
Chris Brady
Defenders
Sergino Dest
Alex Freeman
Chris Richards
Tim Ream
Cameron Carter-Vickers
Mark McKenzie
Antonee Robinson
John Tolkin
Joe Scally
Midfielders
Tyler Adams
Weston McKennie
Yunus Musah
Johnny Cardoso
Jack McGlynn
Tanner Tessman
Malik Tillman
Christian Pulisic
Tim Weah
Diego Luna
Attackers
Folarin Balogun
Ricardo Pepi
Josh Sargent
Daryl Dike (WILD CARD, BABY!)
That’s 26, right?
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