Completely agree that he is a lock. It is wild that the US had easily their worst calendar year since 2017, (6 losses, 0 trophies) and Luna was the player on the field the most for that year, yet his USMNT play and status has been widely regarded as a “success” somehow. Like
I'd say Luna was very good against CONCACAF caliber competition. Hasn't been as impactful as we've ramped up the quality of competition during the fall friendlies. Poch very much seems to like his intangibles. USMNT coach Pochettino gives Diego 'Big Balls' Luna new nickname “I was surprised, his nose was broken," Pochettino said. "I didn’t want to say anything because he was bleeding! I said, ‘How do you feel?’ He said, ‘Coach, please let me keep playing because at least after halftime, I'll go out.' "The doctor said, 'Yeah, OK, you go on,' and the first action [after coming back on the field], assist and we scored. I said, big balls!"
Having all three of Luna, Berhalter and Roldan — if that is what Poch does — seems like it would be a bit of a roster selection own goal.
I think he's been good. The goal production is technically down since the GC, but he's also had a number of great passes that haven't been converted on the other end. If one of those is converted, he's looking at similar production to his overall US production on a per minutes basis. I think he struggled in one match -- maybe South Korea? I can't remember. But was very good this last window.
So true, his inclusion in the roster has nothing to do with soccer and everything to do with Poch thinking he has something else the team needs . I would like to point out that in the one game that mattered against a Concacaf opponent, (final v mexico) Goal.com, Sports Illustrated, FotMob all had Luna as the worst rated player on the field. He has really struggled vs teams that are decent. Which makes sense because his MLS playoff record is horrendous too. He cannot hang in MLS against good teams either. RSL only was able to win 2 games vs actual playoff teams all season either. Basically +95% of the time he has played against any sort of quality competition in 2025, he has not been able to help his teams win the game.
I mean, that's just horseshit. Dude has 4g and 4a in just over 1,000 minutes for the US, including goal production against Canada and Uruguay. This is also not true, as Goal.com rated Freeman and Agyemang worse, and had Tillman, Arfsten and Ream rated the same as Luna. Also, Sports Illustrated just used the fotmob ratings, so basically it's just Fotmob had him lowest ranked in one game. It wasn't a good game for Luna, but there's no reason to make up shit. It's also one game.
Oh my bad, I meant NBC Sports, not goal. Just was trying to find some other opinions that were out other than mine that show that he was really bad against a Concacaf team too that’s all. Yeah I mean I clearly think he has no business being on the national team and has been one of the main reasons that 2025 was a really poor year for the team. I have to watch him week in and week out for RSL for 3 seasons now so I just want a break when I get to watch the US haha
There's nothing about this that is remotely backed up by actual facts. He's had a very good year for the national team and was one of the bright spots, period. He assisted on our only goal in Nations League. He was the primary reason we didn't crap out early in the Gold Cup, being vital against Costa Rica and basically winning the Guatemala match. He was the starting LW against Uruguay in our biggest win of the year and very well could have had an assist if Pep had hit the goal against Paraguay. The US' only really big struggle this year was Nations League, and that's hardly on Luna, who played a sub role and outperformed his starters. He also didn't start the Switzerland match, which is the only other big loss. The dude has 4g/4a in 950 minutes. Christian Pulisic has 0g/1a in 350 minutes.
I thought we already went over the facts? The US lost 6 games in 2025. That is tied for the most losses in a calendar year in the last decade. Luna started 4 of those losses and the American that was on the field more than any other in 2025. The US won 0 trophies in 2025. Something they have not done for 4 calendar years. RSL recorded their second most losses in club history after turning the keys over to him. He is literally going to lose his way to a World Cup. It is absolutely impressive. He isn’t doing it at club level, and he isn’t doing it at the international level. Yet he can do no wrong in many’s eyes for some reason, including Poch, the one person that matters haha
By your logic we are in deep doo doo! Pulisic, who is a lock starter...not just a lock to make the roster imo, was on the field as a starter for 3 losses by my count. Considering the fact that Pulisic played significantly fewer games than Luna, that makes him a bigger danger to our success than Luna. (higher losing percentage and all that). Of course it is possible that none of the losses were Pulisic's fault but they were Luna's... By the way...I know some will be confused so I'll say it to be clear. I don't actually believe Luna is better than Pulisic.
Forget club ball. If you just watched the USMNT games in 2025, you'd see a lot more contributions by Diego Luna than Christian Pulisic, and not just because Pulisic skipped the summer. I don't give a rip what these guys do with their clubs. When you put the USA crest over your heart, you have to deliver. Luna has. Pulisic hasn't.
Pulisic hasn't delivered for the US????? Luna has? Pulisic is well on his way to being the best US player of all time. Luna played a lot in a pretty bad year for the US and didn't even do all that much against poor competition in the Gold Cup where he was the main man. I really like Luna, but I'm not sure he should be on the World Cup roster. There is certainly no comparison between him and Puli. I think people are getting carried away with putting so much weight on 2025. Why does that arbitrary 12 month period matter so much? Poch has basically shown that there isn't much rhyme or reason with his rosters from camp to camp. I don't think he necessarily has an allegiance to any of "his guys" when it comes to March and June. He will call up the team that he thinks will be best for the World Cup at that time.
Key word is "recently". Pulisic hasn't contributed as much as Luna for the USMNT since Poch took over.
Who cares? Are you saying that Luna should play over Puli? 2025 isn't the end all, be all. In fact, it was mostly a throw-away year in terms of being a meaningful time for the national team.
I've been vocal on how I think Pulisic should be used for the USMNT. Either as a second striker in a front two or the first attacking sub off the bench. This team has shown it can be more successful without him.