Pre-match: 2026 World Cup Roster

I would guess if Richards can’t go it won’t be a centerback who replaces him but Morris or Tessmann. But I’m guessing Richards will be on the roster.

 

If the medical staff says Richards won't be ready until the knockout matches, I'd still take him. Ideally, he can go against Turkey. Just cuz I'd like to test him before the knockout stage.

 

I am not dropping Richards period. Unless the staff were to say he cant play until August. If he could make one knockout match thats good enough reason to keep him on the roster.

 

Completely agree.

We can get out of the group stage without him and with a fortunate knockout draw, there's a reasonable chance our R32 and R16 opponents will be teams we can beat without him. QFs are the make or break for me.

 

I value Tab's opinion. But him not understanding the Brady minutes and calling Dest a RB has me discounting the rest of it somewhat.

 

I don't know what I would do, because I'm not the coach. But I do think that Poch probably agrees with you, which is why there's one too many defenders on the roster.

 

For all those interested in Aaronson drama:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/73...aronson-wedding-details-usmnt-world-cup-camp/

"Aaronson was named to the U.S. men’s national team 2026 World Cup roster on May 26. The only problem: When he and his then-fiancé, Milana D’Ambra, picked a date for their wedding more than two years ago, the expected start date for World Cup training camp was June 1.

That date moved up by a week last December, which meant Aaronson’s wedding day, May 30, 2026, was now smack in the middle of World Cup training camp and two days before a friendly against Senegal."

So yeah, it looks like they asked US Soccer, set the date and then it moved. Even moreso:

"Aaronson went to U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino in March when the U.S. met for friendlies against Belgium and Portugal and — with Milana’s endorsement — offered to move the wedding date. Aaronson said it was an easy conversation with Pochettino because of how open the coach is during camps.

“I told him I’m completely OK with moving my wedding,” Aaronson said. “I can move it, I’ll do whatever I can to be on this roster. Me and my fiancée were on the same wavelength. Milana gets a lot of credit for that. It’s not easy to be leaving on a wedding night. But she’s been with me since the beginning, she knows how many days that we’ve been through doing all the football stuff. For her to be as cool as she is, it’s amazing.”"

There you go.

 

At this point the roster is the roster. The question is will the bench players be able to come in if needed and get a job done. In the Senegal match Miles, Roldan, and Berhalter were sub par.

Ream was also poor IMO and Tab, Marcello Balbola on CBS Sports, and Herc Gomez agreed that Ream was poor especially defending the ball. Ream just waits and waits and waits ...

 

people have dared question poch about his decision, so i know one thing for damn sure- hes not adding a cm. period.

thats just who he is.

a dick.

 

Sounds like more drama on this board than the real life situation behind the scenes with USMNT leadership........................

 

It is a moot point unless an injury occurs but why should Poch add a CM we have: Adams, McKennie, Tillman, Gio, Berhalter, and Roldan for 3 starting slots in a 4-2-3-1. Aaronson can also play CM.

 

Balboa's Tim Ream rating starts at 2:30.

 

Only one of those guys is a natural 6.

 

as a theoretical replacement for richards.

 

True. But Roldan has been doing it for years at this point. Wes and Tillman have both done it. Tillman more recently and less extensively, Wes the reverse.

But most importantly, we likely are playing a double pivot (no true 6) if Adams isn't in the game.

Cardoso & Tessman aren't natural 6's either. Neither is Musah. Neither is Morris. Nagbe was the 6 in Columbus, not Morris.

 

There's no such thing as a natural 6.

 

I think we are forgetting there are way more days off between matches then previous WCs. There's a full week off instead of 3 to 4 days. So, the "need" to rotate players isn't anywhere near where it was in the past.

 

I don’t agree that a double pivot does not mean “no true 6”. Usually there is still a division of labor where one guy does more holding, enough to make them the 6. Today two guys playing as 6s seems more common than ever (because of the popularity of positional play systems). Under Poch we have done something in-between those two options.

I cannot think of a double pivot without a player operating more as a 6 that has been successful in front of a back 4. All the best 2 man CM setups I can think of had a clear division.

With Roldan I would say 1.5ish seasons. Most of his career CM reps have come as an 8. Seattle also seem to be holding 3 ATB in possession, which gives the DM/CM more license to play two-way.

Wes probably has under a dozen reps as a 6, mostly in his last season with Schalke. Even then he wasn’t the primary pivot for buildup.

Tillman has 3-5 games, all during an injury crisis, and it did not end well.

I somewhat disagree about Cardoso. He did take off in Brazil once he got a run of games playing as a shuttler in a diamond but that seemed to be about his lack of experience + his broader skillset. Inter moved him back inside next to a 6 and then to the 6 itself before he moved to Spain. In Spain at least 80% of his minutes have come as a 6, either as the marginally more two-way one, or as the primary pivot and more dedicated holder. He’s good around the box and at attacking crosses so he would step up or stay high after set pieces but he was a 6 for Betis (who usually played two 6s behind a 10). With Atletico he is playing as a 6. His back to goal pivot game, press resistance, passing lane reading, and feistiness are what make him a 6. His comfort in/around the box are signs of what got him signed by elite clubs.

Tessmann is a natural pivot but is not a natural on the defensive side of the ball.

Nagbe is just so incredibly press resistant and reliable in his passing that it makes sense to start play through him. Especially when he was older it also makes sense to have Morris play more two-way. With Boro his CM partner (who got named Champo player of the season) was more dynamic so it made more sense to have Morris play more as the 6. I think that or having him as one of two 6s is more natural than considering him an 8.

Musah does not have the natural defensive instincts and doesn’t move the ball as well as he should.

 

That’s a very English perspective!

 

That is all fair and true.

But to me, a "natural 6" is a player who plays in front of the backline by themselves. Or can handle doing so.

Base of the diamond. 4141 inverted triange. 352 inverted triange. It can be a rangy destroyer type (Makelele, Kante, Adams) or a possession distributor guy (Nagbe, Pirlo). Or a freak who can do both.

For me, the only guy in the pool who can do that is Adams. And he does have some limitations in distribution. He is a destroyer/shield type.

Morris, Tessman, and Cardoso are all tidier with the ball, but don't have the range and atleticism to be a shield by themselves. They have to have a partner. Tyler doesn't.

I'd put Roldan and Berhalter in that same category.

Wes, Tillman, and Musah have the athleticism to do it, but lack the instincts to stay back and have way less experience doing it. I would not trust any of them as a lone 6 either. Have to have a partner.

That's why I say Adams is our only real/true 6. He is the only guy I'd trust back there by himself. Nagbe maybe, but he's retired.

All the others have to have a partner. Tyler doesn't. Now, that does not mean he shouldn't. Or that having one does not help him. It does.

But with him back there, even if you want to call it a double pivot, the partner can be a LOT more advanced and not have to worry as much. And that helps our team out offensively. Both other CMs can.

Sure, we'll still be in 2 blocks of 4 when defending deep. But almost everyone does that, unless it is 541. Whether that is Wes, Tillman, Berhalter, or Reyna.

I would not trust any other single guy to do it on our team. Bringing Morris or Cardoso or Tessman or Musah wouldn't change it. Putting Wes or Tillman back there would not change it.

Division of labor is all fine and good. But it is markedly different in a 2 man CM (flat-ish and diamond), a 3 man CM with a CAM, and a 3 man inverted triangle with a 6 at the base and two 8/10s in front..

Adams is the inly guy we have that allows a diamond or the dual 8/10 setup. And I think Wes & Tillman function best as dual 8/10s. Maybe Berhalter as well.

 

I think a similar but different question for me is, when we attack, how many players should we keep back and does that number change based on who stays back? (Of course, it changes by opponent).

I know there have been games when players have had a tendency to be the player who stays home much more than the other, but I don't really remember seeing us play where one player stays home all the time (Maybe when the CDM split the CMs in the build up?).

In the last game, Tyler got forward less than Berhalter, of course, and by a good amount, for sure ...

... but he also got forward in attack at times and he also was forward there pressing out of those positions.

Maybe if we make it to playing a Top 10 team in the World Cup, we'll see Tyler truly anchored to the back ... but for the moment, it seems more a sliding scale of who gets forward rather than a dictate.

I'm not saying this is playing the smart way here ... but so much of the "True 6" or "Solo 6" discussion seems to imply that the CDM is rooted to the back. And I don't know that that will be true.

 

Not really. The position didn't exist until a few decades ago and most number 6s started off playing elsewhere. A defender can play there, an old head can sit back there, a playmaker can be a libero there, or there can be a double pivot. There's no natural number 6 player or set role. The above posts give examples of players who became number 6's. It's a tactical rather than a natural position.

 

Agreed so rotating will be for matchups, injuries or cards not rest.

 

That is a good point.

For me, it isn't so much where Adams is relative to the backline but where is is relative to his fellow CMs. Does he allow both of them to get forward more than Roldan does?

We played with dual 8/10s a lot under Berhalter.

Now, Adams is certainly not Nagbe or Wil Trapp in terms of distribution. He is not gonna split the CBs and be one of the 3 anchoring the build. That is Freeman, Richards, and Ream. Ours looks pretty 343 or 3421. At least to me. Adams & Berhalter in the middle. Jedi & Dest wide. Pepi up top with Reyna & Pulisic underneath right & left.

Once we are out of our own end and in theirs? Freeman and Dest move up the right. Reyna, became more of a roaming CAM for true. Dest is playing more like a RW. Freeman de facto MF spot, and the two true CBs are what is back. Everyone shifted right (mostly) except Jedi & Pulisic in space left.

This is the phase where I am hoping Adams' benefits us by allowing his partner to join the attack more. Early on we went down the flanks a ton and dominated the game. Often quickly. After the 2nd goal, Senegal came into the game more & we were on the front foot less.

And then after half we had mass subs. And were protecting a narrow lead for most of it.

I was not too focused on comparing our atracking CM posture in possession to first half, early 2nd, and after Berhalter subbed out. I was just trying to figure out where everyone was, period.

Maybe we did not change a thing with Adams back there vs Roldan. Maybe Tillman played positionally identical to Berhalter late on. Maybe Berhalter was the same in each half.

If we did change it couid have been game state instead of personnel driving it.

Anywho, in my head I still think Adams is the only guy I feel secure with playing a dual 8/10 setup in CM. In attack at least. With all the controversy with no Tessman and only 4 CMs and who should partner Tyler, this is where my mind went.

Adams + Tillman + Wes. Both Tillman & Wes are gonna prefer to attack. Both could be a 6/8, but neither will relish it. So let them come forward more.

Tillman waa only in that spot at the end with us up 3-2. Hard for me to tell if much changed.

 

I can't answer the question. I re-watched the second half, but I wasn't really looking for this, but it's a good question.

The defense was better in the second half, in my opinion. But that was largely putting Tillman and McKennie and Weah on and their pressure absolutely caused problems for Senegal. We didn't have to have a free safety make as many plays because they weren't getting that far that often. Balogun pressed well as well.

The game got a little more chaos driven and it felt like there was less straight time in possession versus offensive transition, if that makes sense.

What I can say is that the "8" in the double pivot -- or whatever we want to call the player more commonly getting forward -- tends to be pretty damn aggressive in positioning. In the first half, Berhalter is pretty consistently ahead of the ball in possession; I don't think that's a mistake by him. I think it's by design.

The same was true against, say, Paraguay in the fall. In the first half, Tessman basically lived a couple of steps outside of Paraguay's box. I don't think it's been the same for every game, but there's been enough times where it's been this level of hyper aggressive.

I wonder if that was different against Belgium or Portugal. Or if it'll be different at all in the World Cup. Probably not against Paraguay and Australia.

I'm more comfortable with Tyler than anyone here, for sure. I'm not sure Tyler is quite the same guy he used to be on this. He's still, by far, the best option. But I'm not sure he's the same guy who blows up counter attacks left and right. Or maybe it's just too much space for even him.