Agyemang I think is a unique physical profile and just brings something different. But Wright is fine and had a very good reason as much as I’d like to find a way to bring Hall I can’t justify it over him.
When Jozy got hurt, we didnt start Wondo the next match. I disagree with your lineup there, with Bradley as a 10 and Dempsey as a #11. Bradley was an 8 and Dempsey was the 10. But we are all fans here so we all have our own interpretations of the lineup.
In 2014 we played a 4-3-1-2 diamond with 2 strikers and we brought 4. Did we bring the right 4, that is a separate discussion that is strictly opinion based. In 2026 Poch plays a 4-2-3-1 and we will likely bring 3 strikers. Given that the roster is 26 instead of the 23 used in 2014 we could bring 4. I am certain that 10 years later we will be arguing about if Poch brought the right 3 or 4.
I haven't taken any of the Gozo stuff seriously, but I finally clicked on a highlight up thread of a goal. Other team turns it over deep, RSL squares to Gozo, who either muffs a shot or adjusts his body well to get it on goal depending on your POV and scores from 10 yards finishing a 2 on 1. In other words, nothing remotely predictive about how he might contribute at the international level. So, I watched highlights from the games against two of the better MLS teams (Miami and Dallas). He played 90 min. but didn't appear in the highlights against Dallas. Best I could observe, he is not asked to work back hard on defense on a turnover. In the Miami game he played 90 I think again and this time he got into the highlights a couple of times. Once with a nice stepover and go down the sidelines. Once he showed average touch on a ball over the top and didn't get a shot on frame. He still didn't seem like he was going to work back at a sprint on a turnover. Nothing I saw in what are admittedly only highlights suggests he has any business on the WC squad. He looked quick, but what did I miss? Or are people calling for him just having some fun?
On the Dallas game, Mastroeni had recently moved him from wingback to one of the 2 creators behind the 9 in a 3-4-2-1. He had significantly more defensive responsibilities as a wingback, but was still contributing offensively. I agree that RSL's success this season has come mostly against weaker teams (I'm curious to see how well we play agasint Minnesota this weekend, as a benchmark test away from home against a mid-table but decent team). Regardless of the opponent and position, though, Gozo brings tireless energy and confidence, and has made several memorable long sprints to recover defensively after a turnover. If he gets a European transfer this summer, RSL will have a very hard time replacing him. I could see him as a potential desparation substitute for Dest or Weah, I guess. He seems to have a great attitude about everything, so maybe he wouldn't get too flustered finding himself suddenly on a much higher stage than he's previously experienced. It seems like a long shot that he gets called up and even longer that he gets game time , but he's the kind of player Poch likes, could fit the position, and there's a slight possibility he could help the team in the right situation.
He's probably being assessed by the staff, but its very late in the process. .......................Dest and Weah on the right side haven't exactly been beacons of health, and both had recent issues. Those kinds of wide players aren't the most well-stocked in our depth chart. A guy like Bernard Kamungo, who plays as a winger/wingback/forward, was capped as recently as 2024. Gozo is kid WELL known to the USSF. He's played for our U15s, U16s, U17s, U19s, U20s, and U21s (which was really the pre-Olympic U23s). Do I think he's on the initial World Cup roster? No. Do I think he could be named an alternate and invited to our next camp? YES. Seeing as he's never been called up, this alone would be a great step for him with the program. We have to remember that Poch isn't assessing the future in any way. All he cares about is who he wins with RIGHT NOW in June of 2026. These younger guys aren't being evaluated for ceiling or potential. Its........................who is better for this team RIGHT NOW. This isn't an All-Pro team on paper. For a guy who has NEVER worked with his teammates or staff before squad announcement to make it would be an extreme surprise to me.
I am an RSL fan and I love Gozo as a player, so just want to add to his case for a roster spot and the win-now argument. In each of their last 20 games for RSL: Gozo: 14 goal contributions (8g, 6a) Luna: 7 goal contributions (5g, 2a) Gozo has started in all 13 games this season. RSL has 1.9 PPG in those starts. Luna has started 6 of the 13 games this season. RSL has: 1.5 PPG when Luna starts. 2.3 PPG when he doesn’t. So if Poch is taking Luna, he definitely should take the guy who is playing him out of the water at the same club for the last 9 months. Someone who plays more, scores more, assists more, and wins more.
He’s not a complete player, and I haven’t actually put him on my roster, but if you’ve watched him over the course of this season, there’s reason to put him on a roster. He has the physical tools to not only compete at a higher level but create some issues. And he has really strong finishing skills, both in terms of smart placement — that goal you saw was intentional —and in terms of hitting a number of absolute bangers. The latter of which is enticing because they are the kind of goals that can’t be stopped and are hugely valuable when you are struggling. He also plays a position where cohesion and defense matter far less. So yeah, he’s pretty much the archetype of the kind of young players who are surprise additions and make an impact at the World Cup. Yedlin made an impact in 2014 from the FB position basically all on speed; Gozo has more skills going for him than Yedlin ever really had. But there’s lots of good options at his position.
You watch RSL, so I defer to you, but it is an interesting opportunity to wonder what we get from stats like these. In the two games I watched the extended highlights from, Luna was much more involved (again, just based on highlights) and showed some nice class that I didn't ever see from Gozo. That's probably down in part to position, and it was a small sample, so, yeah, but I find it hard to believe that Luna is only half as useful as Gozo as those stats suggest.
If we were putting together an all-pro team on paper then justification for Gozo over Luna matters. [I don't think that positionally, they're competing for the same spot anyway.] This is a TEAM that has to become used to playing with each other under the tactical/strategic setup of the coach. Luna has played in 17 of our last 20 games. The most of any midfielder/winger. How many players have more caps in the Poch era than Luna? Two. Tim Ream and Max Arfsten. End of list. Ream and Arfsten are safely in. Luna is safely in. Tillman is safely in. Pulisic and Weah and McKennie are safely in. Aaronson.......................?? Less sure, but I think he's in. Reyna? No idea. Your guess is as good as mine. Most minutes played by attacking midfielders/wingers in the Pochettino era: 1) Malik Tillman – 14 caps, 1,046 minutes 2) Diego Luna – 17 caps, 948 minutes 3) Christian Pulisic – 11 caps, 703 minutes 4) Tim Weah – eight caps, 585 minutes 5) Weston McKennie – eight caps, 551 minutes 6) Brenden Aaronson – 13 caps, 506 minutes 7) Gio Reyna – five caps, 157 minutes
So Big Mou off to Real Madrid. That means a Red Wedding is about to happen. Can MLS get the money bags to grab the likes of Vini and Mbappe? . I know I know they’re off to Saudi. Special one is gonna send a message and Ronnie is gonna call in favors. But is there anything else MLS can grab off of the impending roster explosion? Might be a good time to try I’m legit excited to see Jose’s Madrid project because I know absolutely nobody is safe and we are going to see some names gone. I will literally be more surprised to see Mbappe in Madrid next season than not
This is an interesting dynamic. As Reccossu notes, we haven’t seen Gozo play at any higher level. He has no caps, at all. So it’s a double risk. And as Kevin Morris notes, he’s playing Luna out of the water. And in Poch’s 3-4-2-1 type system, they’d likely be playing the same role: one of the dual 10s. If anything, Gozo has an edge because he can play the Dest wingback/winger role in a pinch.
No, you wouldn’t play Gozo anywhere near a Poch 10, I don’t think. He’s not a possession 10 in any way; he’s not really any kind of 10 in any way. RSL can play him a bit more central in a pure counterattack, but he’s still more like a straight forward there. The only real role he’s suited for on our team is the RW or RWB role, IMO. Keeping him wide also keeps him away from difficult defensive assignments. You wouldn’t want him centrally defending. If he was going to play a second role somewhere, it’d probably be striker, TBH, skill set wise. He’s also not playing Luna out of the water. Luna actually has a higher G+A/90 in league play this year. For some odd reason Kevin Morris hates Luna and tacked on a bunch of games from last year into his sample, conveniently cutting off at exactly the point to make Luna look bad. Luna’s been very good for RSL this year. I would not take Gozo over him at the 10 position; he’s just not really an on ball player in a central role like that.
On a 26 man roster you can roll the dice on a spot or two if you genuinely believe in the guys potential. It’s not without risk but those end of the roster spots are probably going to guys who aren’t going to play much at all anyways. Last time around we had 4 field players who didn’t seem a minute of time, plus another who was at 4 minutes.
haha no, just picked 20 games as that is about half a season worth and their minutes are too lopsided to include only this season: (Gozo starting 13 games, Luna 6) It is very hard to spin a half-season of goal contribution stats into anything but what it is. My whole point is just that if there is a roster spot reserved for an RSL attacker, then Gozo has consistently and objectively been the better player. So if people want Luna on the team, then they should probably want Gozo even more!
Though I don’t think it’s a single spot reserved for a player from RSL and they’re really competing for separate spots.
Basically, Luna's been excellent for RSL just about his entire career other than late July-October of '25 (post Gold Cup last year he entered a massive multi month slump, really the only one of his career, I wondered a bit if this was from taking on a lot more usage than usual and/or getting few breaks? I remain convinced, for instance, that the reason he inexplicably didn't make the Olympic team two years ago was because he has for a rest after playing largely non-stop for the US U20 team, and RSL from June '22 into early '24)......Not sure though. Anyway, I fully expect him to be on the plane, and he should be.
I don't think anyone beyond the top 17-18 are really safe in my view. GK: Freese, Turner CB: Richards, Ream, McKenzie FB/WB/CB: Freeman FB/WB/WM: Jedi, Dest, Arfsten WB/WM/WF/FB: Weah DM/CM: Adams CM/AM: McKennie, M. Tillman AM/WF: Pulisic CF: Balogun With Big Pat out, Pepi & Wright are probably safe as well. That is 17. 3rd GK makes 18. 8 more spots. M. Robinson, Trusty, Tessman, Roldan, Berhalter, Morris, Luna, and Aaronson seem to me the most likely guys. Especially with Cardoso likely out. I would not take Tessman, but I get the inclusion. But I could see any of them losing their spot to Banks, Zimmerman, Blackmon, Scally, a quick healing Cardoso, Musah, Tim Tillman, Reyna, Zendejas, McGlynn, Gozo Sargent, or even Hall. I was picking Zawadzki for a long while. He can play virtually anywhere. CB/RCB/LCB in a,back 3 or 4. CM. Stay at home FB/WB. Someone mentioned Busio. That seems possible.
🇺🇸 BREAKING: United States World Cup roster info, per sources w/ @PaulTenorio:✅ Players informed they are IN- Gio Reyna- Seb Berhalter- Brenden Aaronson- Mark McKenzie- Matt Turner❌ Players informed they are OUT- Diego Luna- Zavier Gozohttps://t.co/l6FkNIocQQ— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) May 22, 2026
Bogert has been wrong before on specific calls like this. He'd better be wrong again, because no Luna would be detrimental.
Sabbi out after successful sports hernia surgery: Wishing Emmanuel Sabbi a speedy recovery after undergoing a successful procedure to repair a sports hernia on Wednesday, May 20.Can't wait to have you back on the pitch Sabbi 💙📰 | https://t.co/mdBLctBSL9#VWFC pic.twitter.com/Knmx23lKRj— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) May 22, 2026