Pre-match: 2026 World Cup Roster

I couldn't possibly bring myself to drop Timmy. He's got verve that we really need, even if he's coming off the bench. He's also got versatility up and down the right sideline that's useful in a tournament.

 

[QUOTE="tomásbernal, post: 43653278, member: 113365"]I couldn't possibly bring myself to drop Timmy. He's got verve that we really need, even if he's coming off the bench. He's also got versatility up and down the right sideline that's useful in a tournament.[/QUOTE]
Because not taking one of our lead players (in top 10 of the field players easily) who is also able to play multipple positions would be Klinsmann level nonsense.

 

It's not by a good margin at all and Haji as also scored in a world cup so experience needs to be considered there. The other factor is that with Patrick Agyemang out you're going to need a physical CF potentially in certain scenarios and that's not going to be Balogun or Pepi. Haji might take a few games off once in a while as he has for Coventry but to suggest he's one dimensional is just not true at all.

 

One-dimensional might not be the right descriptor. Haji isn't going to create a goal on his own. He will put the ball in the net at a good rate when he makes the right run and gets good service. Balogun and Pepi are much more able to create their own space, with the ball, to score a goal. They are also both able to put the ball in the net at a good rate when they make the right run and get good service.

 

Going into the 2030 cycle, most likely to be on the 2030 roster. Nothing to take too seriously.

1) Matt Freese
2) Chris Brady
3) Matt Turner
4) Duran Ferree
5) Diego Kochen
6) Patrick Shulte
7) Jonathan Klinsmann
8) Brian Schwake
9) Gaga Slonina
10) Brandon Nowaza (Nozawa?)

 

McGlynn, Berhalter and Zendejas all fall into a bucket where, the way I think about it, their primary differentiating skill is basically extremely accurate and consistent ball striking, especially when not under pressure.

I don’t know if they “lose” more of this ball striking under pressure than top players or if they simply don’t have the skills/tools to create the space and therefore get less of those chances, but either way, they all tend to differentiate when they get those open shots or can have a second or so without someone on them.

That’s obviously set pieces, but it’s also sometimes in longer passes when there’s no pressure applied and sometimes when a ball falls to them outside the box and sometimes when we get odd numbered breaks.

Obviously, someone like McGlynn isn’t a better player than Weston McKennie … but if we have a ball fall to us 3 yards outside of the box with no defender around and time to shoot … we’d be far better off with McGlynn shooting than McKennie, for example. Of course, McKennie’s going to create more chances, for sure.

So the interesting question for guys like McGlynn for me come down to … how many chances are we really going to get like that — set pieces and open shots and when? If you watched any of the last Houston game highlights, he takes four or so shots from outside the box and sinks two of them. Is he better to play against weaker teams where we get more chances … or is he worth playing against a better team where we can’t generate anything and hope our one chance is one we can get him on? (That’s where set pieces make more impact as the taker is discretionary.)

In the end, I really struggle with carrying these kind of guys — I just think in the games where you need that goal against the run of play, their weaknesses cause more problems than the perhaps lucky break gives you.

If the player is more well rounded, I’m more inclined. I think Berhalter gives a bit more; Reyna is not just a finisher but a creator for others; etc.

McGlynn simply has that foot. Zendejas is more well rounded, but I’ve continually seen him struggle against bigger and stronger players to the point that he’s been one dimensional (and frankly, zero dimensional) for the US.

 

This and the defender question is the right question … but I’d argue the first thing you need to cover before you think about tactical versatility is cover for injury, suspension and rotation.

Role versatility may be more important up top — but here, I think the most important thing is to avoid disaster if a starter gets hurt or gets yellow card accumulation or whatever.

This is where the numbers question becomes complex, because while Tillman and McKennie can both play CM, can you really put them on the CM depth chart in the same way if they are starters elsewhere?

If Pochettino intends to use Weston, for example, as a pair with Tyler now that we likely have Tillman and Dest healthy, then Weston should be in the CM 2 deep. But if Weston and Tillman are both starting elsewhere … they can’t come in as a rotation item. They may not be reliable to be a backup for injury, etc.

I think we Dest healthy, we can reliably count one of them as a CM if we want to. That puts Tyler and McKennie as starting CMs, though McKennie invariably moves forward if a guy like Tillman or Dest goes out (if Dest is playing RW).

Therefore, you need at least 2 backup CMs, with one of them likely playing a larger role if McKennie goes forward. You need a Tyler replacement (Roldan or Morris) and you might want a McKennie analog (Tessman or Berhalter).

The reason for a fifth CM is either because a LOT of stress is put on McKennie as a backup for other positions and so there’s a chance that if someone goes down early like Tillman, we’re looking at only 3 CMs all tourney … or because you want a third defensive-first CM like Morris available for if Tyler and Roldan are perhaps tired or not available and you want to go defensive.

I could go either way. The above is why I’ve left Berhalter off my roster a decent number of times and Morris off mostly. Because I like the idea of both McKennie and Tillman forward, I do tend to take one.

It comes down to 3 decisions for me:

• Do you think Joe Scally plays the Freeman role well enough that if Alex is out, you’d rather play him or would you adjust tactics to a standard 4 ATB or a real 3 ATB?
• If Jedi goes down and you want to go more defensive, do you play Scally or switch someone like Weah or even Dest over to the left?
• How much do you intend to play a real 3 ATB and do you need 5 real CBs because of it?

I really don’t have good answers for any of these.

I am very skeptical of Scally’s ability to do what Freeman does. On the other hand, is Miles going to do better? This is one of those selections where I think we take someone — we basically have to for back up reasons — but I don’t care that much who it is.

I think Trusty is in. I think he’s either starting over Ream or the backup LCB.

One of Miles or Scally goes but I seriously doubt both.

One of Roldan or Morris must go. If you are going to skimp and bring one extra attacker, it’s probably here, but the thing that catches me is that Pochettino has NEVER played McKennie back and I think Tillman has only gone back to the back two in reserve and maybe one other time?

McGlynn actually mostly plays RW. He plays RW for Houston most of the time, and he played RW for the US. He’s just not good enough defensively to be central.

Luna is my Pulisic reserve and the most well rounded of the group. If you are counting McKennie back, that leaves space for a Tillman backup and another reserve, making it easy to bring both Aaronson and Reyna.

That puts me at 6: Trusty, Scally (or Miles), Roldan, Luna, Aaronson, Reyna.

And the question more becomes … do I bring a Gozo despite having Dest, Weah, McKennie and Freeman all able to play his position, or do I bring a Berhalter for set pieces and additional CM depth or perhaps even a 5th CB. Or do I bring a Morris in case Roldan or Adams goes down and we simply don’t have much defense there?

Gozo is certainly more exciting. He’s probably the best choice in a tournament where we stay fairly healthy. And we know rotation won’t be a big thing at least early on — it’s very spaced out.

Will he play? And if he does, is there someone we’ve assumed going to doesn’t really need to be there?

 

Nobody who actually watches McGlynn play and knows the game would come to that conclusion. Of course posters who told us that Wil Trapp was a better DM than Tyler Adams don't know the game.

McGlynn is actually one of the best passers in the pool from open play. From open play as a passer he is better than Berhalter, Roldan, and Tessmann. McGlynn also has very good technical skills, a very good touch, and has very good dribbling skills, able to take on and beat opponents off the dribble; see his last goal for the US and a couple similar goals for Houston over the last 18 months. He is a more precise corner taker and a much better direct free kick taker than Berhalter.

Unfortunately he is below par as an athlete; low work rate, low pace, low quickness, and a poor jumper.

But give him his due, he does several things very well.

 

I don't want it to sound like I'm bagging on picking Gozo, I'd be a bit excited if they picked him (partially because I believe the talent evaluators for the team are better talent evaluators than I am). But I don't think this reasoning is great:

If we're looking for the line between respecting talent and potential vs fetishism, I'd say this is it.

Berhalter is a more productive player than Gozo. He has more goal involvements and higher ratings. That's not the whole shebang, given we're talking about situational players, but it is a salient fact. It does matter. It matters more than the points you're giving Gozo for his age.

Claiming that, when given one guy who is 20% more productive and broke out a year or two ago, vs another guy who broke out this year and is 19 means that the second guy is axshawly the better player is axiomatically false.

If we're trying to say here that the fact that it means that he will be a better player some day, well possibly, but a) that doesn't necessarily mean anything for this WC roster, and b) still not predictably true. First, the streets are littered with guys who dazzled at 19 but never got any better. Second, guys who broke out at 24 and became dominant at a second tier level at 26 can not infrequently become better at 30. It isn't as common, but Brian McBride and Chris Wondolowski jump to mind. Kyle Beckerman had an even weirder career arc, YNT stud at 17, almost complete nobody at 21, about a Berhalter-level player at 25, crucial to the WC team at 32.

As far as we know, they are each one-dimensional, and each would only play when we're chasing a goal. Neither would be expected to play a lot of D in that circumstance. Even respecting the positional difference, I don't think it makes sense to bash one guy for his D when he's the more productive on O in a situation where O is what you need.
Also, I observe that a lot more goals are scored by set pieces than by blowing by guys 1v1 in the WC. Teams are careful, when you blow by a guy, there's usually another guy.

I wasn't taking either of them either, and yet don't regard it as easy.

Again, maybe, but it is certainly not the level of dumb you're describing.

With 26 guys, some won't play much, that's just math. Some are 'break glass in case of double-emergency.' I don't see it as obviously dumber to have too many central players too contribute meaningfully than too many flank players to do that. In fact, in general, if the double-emergency occurred in the area where you covered less, which is easier to adjust for on the fly? Allow me to submit that, if disaster happened and you have to play someone out of position to cover, then just by being a decent soccer player with a more developed football brain, Berhalter on the wing would be better than Gozo as an 8.

 

Wow, this is the ultimate new %^$& pick…

There is absolutely no way I take a kid, without a cap, over a World Cup veteran, who is still playing at a higher level than the kid.

 

Lots of good posts.

I think the main questions are:

1) What is the appetite for playing Wes/Tillman as CMs? Poch has shown next to none so far. But if you do it, it means less CM spots for others and more AM spots available. Personally, I like 1 of Wes/Tillman partnering Adams more than any of our other options (Tessman, Berhalter, Roldan, Morris, Johnny). Poch has begged to differ and Johnny looks to be out injured

2) Are we really gonna play 3 ATB for real and therefore do we need 5 out and out CBs? Are you comfortable with 4 + Freeman (as a RCB)/Tessman (proper CB) as the 5th?

I think everything else is pretty much locked. 3 GKs. 3 strikers. 4/5 FB/WB types with Jedi, Dest, Freeman, Weah, and Arfsten. That is 11.

You have 15 spots for:
CB: 4 or 5
CM: 4 to 6
AM/WF: 5 to 7

Maybe Scally sneaks in as a 5th CB/6th WB.

Locks (7):
CB: Richards, Ream, McKenzie
CM: Adams
CM/AM: Wes, Tillman
AM/WF: Pulisic

That is 8 more spots.
1-2 CB
Your CM/AM allocations are gonna depend on how you plan to deploy Wes/Tillman.

I think it is a waste to not avail yourself of the versatility. The partners for Adams & Pulisic are the weakest spots on the XI, for my money. Ali g with Ream & GK.

 

There's also the fact that Berhalter is part of the team and Gozo isn't.
[Sebastian has 11 caps under Pochettino. Gozo? Zero.]

This isn't an all-Pro team on paper.
Pochettino has been preparing this group for a year and a half now.

Sometimes I wonder if folks on this board have ever played a team sport or have ever played soccer at a decent level.

.........................many of the players on the USMNT haven't even met Gozo.

If you've plated a team sport, did your coach dump a core guy for a new unknown right before a final tournament or game? The equivalent of the suggestion to dump Weah for Gozo. Is that what coaches do? That's a recipe for a culture and locker room disaster.

People say that we took Green or Landon or Beasley or somebody early. Yeah, their first caps weren't AFTER World Cup squad selection.

 

He's not a replacement in any way for Agyemang. He's never played big, he's a finesse striker that just happens to be unusually tall compared to what we usually produce and a lot of other countries strikers (6'4"). I do think he's gotten better at playing inside, especially in terms of his aerial game which was outright bad when he first started to play big 5 soccer, but he's significantly less physical than Pepi or Balo despite the height difference from Balo. He's the most finesse for sure of the 3.

I can see bringing him, but I'd rather just bring 2, come what may, because whatever we'd gain from him would be offset by what we lose in not bringing an Aaronson or Gozo or Seb Berhalter etc. I just don't think Wright moves the needle much as a striker.

The WC experience thing is a thing, but at this point Balo and Pepi have played at the Copa America, or the Champions League, so both have high level hyper intense experience. Not like for like for the WC, but close enough for me.

If Haji goes I won't be pissed, but I'm not sold it makes sense.

 

1. Kochen
2. Brady
3. Schulte
4. Slonina

Klinsmann I don't remotely see it, I don't know who three of those guys are so I should probably get to know some of them. I've also heard we have a goalie kiddo or two who are promising out there including at least one really strong dual nat, but Kochen, Brady and Slonina seem like by far the best prospects that turned 20 between say our last WC and this one. I could see Slonina getting it back, I think Brady is on a trajectory of being better than the Freese version of the Mendoza line as well, Brady has turned in multiple solid seasons playing at a much younger age as a full time starter than Freese, or Schulte or or Turner.

 

It's an intriguing thought, but I get the sense Poch doesn't quite rate Pepi the way the fanbase does. I think if we're chasing a goal and decide to go to 2 forwards, Haji's probably the one we'll see. That's just vibology, though.

 

McGlynn made a lot more sense circa 1990-1998 when we had to pull dual nats to field a halfway competent lineup in certain spots and had to make do with some try hards for depth and offensive a start up position or two. Same with '06 where we had an endless litany of injuries wreck nearly all our attackers and Dempsey was a late developer and if memory serves, apparently injured that spring (listened to his interview on men in blazers last night)....Our '06 squad got a group of death and saw injuries to Wolf, Mathis, Reyna, O'Brien, Convey, Eddie Johnson etc, and so we needed anything we can get.

Now we can field multiple MF/WF/Striker combos with a full collection of starters. We simply can't put on a guy simply because he could bag a goal from 30 yards with a little luck, but can't defend a lick, is very one footed and lacks pace. You take what you can get when you're USMNT 1990-2006 and you've got injuries and such limitations, these days we have depth at all the attacking positions others than striker, so luxury players like McGlynn just make no sense at all to me. He has to be able to defend not only because he has greater competition for a spot but also because the league is far more demanding in terms of pressing and defending than it was circa the 1990s and the aughts.

I just cannot see it. It's one thing to consider a guy who is additive on corners, and set pieces around the field, and is almost competent defending at this level, but no way can I roll a guy out who is that freaking specialized. It's crazy, at least to me. would I take him over some guys I thought might end up on the plane that I think aren't even playable (Roldan, Ream etc), probably, but those guys are on the plane and one of them probably starts, so there's no opening. I just can't see the efficacy of it. Even someone as good as McGlynn is with that shot and service, is so damn limited otherwise, and that shot is so low percentage anyway, that I'd prefer players pass their way into better percentage shots than just cannon off from distance (it's one thing to do that to make the defense honest, it's another thing to have the player and the shot as a purely tactical decision you want to build around, or sub around which strikes me as just ludicrous).

 

We have reached the stage in the ramp-up where a lot of US fans (1) realize that the USMNT is still a mid-tier team and thus still unlikely to make a deep run, (2) emotionally don’t want to accept that, and (3) start indulging in fantasies about some hitherto unknown player who will change all of that by revealing himself to be a global superstar, resulting in a 1980s sports movie montage leading to tearful scenes of our plucky young player hoisting the World Cup trophy. The arguments then become about WHICH unknown and inexperienced players(s) we should take. Because OBVIOUSLY there are a bunch to choose from. Obviously.

 

Klinsmann had a pretty serious neck injury so tbd on him. I'd add Michael Callodi

 

I'm 100 percent going based on form with that... and will also admit Weah vs Belgium has left a sour taste in my mouth

 

Here's the thing:
If I have Adams, and Roldan on the plane, and I do, and I have McKennie and Tillman, and I do, just how many more 6's that can play 8 in a pinch do I need? I can pick from a pile that includes Tessmann, who can also play CB, Berhalter, whose probably got the best set piece along with Reyna on the team, and Morris....you have to make cuts somewhere and just how many 6 first options do you want on the plane? Do you want 5? Do you want 4? Do you want 6?

I am taking Gozo over Morris (and honestly, another one too) because how many goals did the US score in group stage games? 2 in '22, 4 in '14, 3 and a howler in '10, ONE in '06, 5 in '02 (and one Donovan goal that was waived off that I'd count), and I believe 2 in '98? was it 3 in '94?

We have a long going track record of just not scoring goals at the World Cup, even this team we expected so much from really struggled to score goals against some really ---- teams at WC '22, 2 total goals against Wales and Iran is "not good," to put it kindly. We've actually generally defended fairly well at WC's no matter who was back there other than the Czech Republic match and a first half against Slovenia going back decades. The long standing issue has been anemic goal production. That giant pile of holding/defensive mids being promoted aint putting balls in the net (save Berhalter's set pieces, which I would bring).

So for me, i want goals. Especially when I'm playing at least one legit defensively stout team like Paraguay.

I don't need a million 6's to advance, I need adequate coverage and guys that can put the ball in the net. That, not for nothing, is also why I'd likely put Seb on the plane as the last CM I'm taking (and I'd take him over Roldan but I know Roldan is a fait accompli).

 

Ehh, Gozo isn't a nothing, some people have been on him since at least '23-'24 (not me, I only found out about him in '24), and he's like to move for double digits to a big 5 league in one of the biggest transfers ever for domestic players in the league within the next 2-8 months.

To some degree, I see myself in your description, but Gozo isn't what you're describing, that would more fit, probably Cavan, whose just not going and isn't close to going, or Albert etc. I don't want Hall going, but there's an argument for him as 3rd striker, and I do want Gozo to go, and the fact that Tenorio, probably a top 3-4 USMNT beat writer making a call for it underlines that it is something, same with Poch's assistants going to a Real Salt Lake game TO WATCH HIM (and probably see how Luna's doing too).

This isnt' a fantasy, it was a fantasy several months ago, this is a long shot to moderate shot now.

 

Let me also say his with my stance on players, while you want to take the best, at some point you also have to take a risk on a player going into the WC in good form catching fire as well.

Weather Weah or not was the right pick on my part, I do think Gozo is playing at a level where you have to seriously consider dropping someone for him. You could argue Julian Hall as well, but with Haji/Balo/Pepi I think that's less of a thing.

 

For some of those lineups, it was "one 6 ain't enough Jack, you better make it three." With apologies to George Thoroughgood, John Lee Hooker, and originally Rudy Toombs

 

I don't think you bring in anyone who has zero familiarity with the rest of the team, and/or international football in general. I'd be shocked if that happened. I tend to be conservative with this kind of stuff though.

 

It’s definitely a roll of the dice but worth it if you think Gozo is good enough.