Pre-match: 2026 World Cup Roster

It feels like people have been trying to project Pepi out of the roster for a bit. Like not even just Doyle but content creators who tend to lean more anti MLS.

Yeah I've said this before. I like Timo. Have no problem if he's in the squad, but I also just wonder if he (and even Brendan) may fall victim to the idea that they would clearly have roles, but I almost wonder if either could be displaced who by guys who may give more dynamism off the bench.

 

I think if Agyemang hasn’t gotten hurt it may have been more of a question but it’d be a massive shock if he’s not there.

 

Ehhh, he cost us the Panama game, but the team had a match against Uruguay from which Uruguay needed nothing to help us get through, and the team played like they had spent the previous 72 hours booking Caribbean vacations for that coming weekend.

I agree, Weah was a colossal idiot, though I think the coaches accidentally primed the players for it, based on reports (these refs are trigger happy morons type warnings before we came out to play), but I also think we need to note that the fact that in a do or die scenario where we needed a multi goal win, we didn't even create a single shot on goal in the first 75 minutes? That suggests a lot more problems beyond Weah's temperament and stupidity in that moment (and the idiot ref's role in it, per usual with Concacrap).

 

I mean he doesn’t get a red card we advance out of our group. And the team doesn’t have to expend so much energy playing with ten men going into Uruguay. Berhalter is still the coach right now if not for that red card.

Interestingly in the HBO doc there’s lots of clips of Berhalter telling the team in advance the ref is bad they have to keep their heads, etc.

 

Having watched the Copa in real time like most of us, and remembering the sting of what happened, and how, I found it VERY gratifying to hear Gregg tell the team in the pre-game preparations, "I'm going to tell you guys right now, Barton is a bad ref. But bad refs are a part of soccer..."

Overall, I find that series (well, the first two episodes) to have relatively little new information that we didn't know--Gregg's pre-game talk about the ref was probably the most significant little nugget so far--but it's a well-produced piece that functions as a good hype video for new or casual fans who don't know very well, or at all, who our team and our players are, and how the last four years have gone, and what the expectations have been. Anyone who watches this will go into the World Cup understanding basically who the USMNT is (and hopefully invested in a good outcome).

 

Thank you, kindly, sir!

 

I think if Gozo is selected it’s Brendan Aaronson who doesn’t make the cut.
Poch has two reserves in Weah and Luna who can press effectively, what does he need Aaronson for? I’m soliciting answers to that non-rhetorical question.
What Poch doesn’t have is a very fast winger with a great shot.
I think I’ve talked myself into it. Poch is going to take Gozo!

 

Wouldn’t even know there’s a WC unless you logon here.

Abysmal.

 

I like Bogert. He is a very reliable reporter and fairly circumspect. Doyle is a bomb thrower who owes his prominence to the attention economy IMO.

 

Doyle absolutely has his shit starter moments, mostly because he’s a big prospect guy and way too online (and it’s a reaction to other shit starter). It’s fairly easy to identify them.

In this case, I don’t think the Gozo and Hall excitement is shit starting; it’s his inner prospect geek shining through on two kids who looks very good (and Mehmeti for that matter) and he’s not reining it in because it makes better copy and clicks than “these kids are too inexperienced” which is probably the right answer. But unlike straight shit starting … there’s a lot of real thinking there.

And the reality is that Doyle is one of the best analysts we have in American soccer. His tactical analysis and player evaluation is miles ahead of the youtube crowd, and is frankly ahead of a number of the former players out there in terms of those elements. (Obviously, they excel in mindset and technique conversations but team-wide tactics is not something they do great in and rarely touch).

I do wish the US soccer media would hire more former coaches — it’s weird to me how it’s basically all players except Jesse Marsch for a short run and Gio Savarese for an hour on Saturday nights on MLS’s wraparound show.

 

Yeah, it’s not suprising Jozy’s view. One only needs to listen to Jimmy Conrad’s views of his coaches to see that he basically is the same way — very protective of those who game him a shot and clearly harboring some level of resentment to those who cut him.

This shouldn’t be a shock — these guys are the top of their sport, working their ass off for something, in a field that requires high levels of confidence in themselves — of course it’s going to go this way.

Jozy had a decent 2019 and was basically never healthy or good again. Berhalter brought a hurt Altidore to the GC, he played sparingly and not great, and then he and Bradley were rightly moved on. Could Jozy have been better than Sargent and Zardes in the fall of ‘19? Maybe, but who really cares? It certainly wouldn’t have been a consideration in ‘22.

I don’t think Jozy sees it that way. I suspect the dude thinks he was ready to go for ‘22.

 

This is such an interesting debate. On one hand, his long term upside is so tantalizing in a space where we are so weak, it’s incredibly tempting to lock him in. And, of course, if he is ready to play, he’s big, fast, and a good passer though lacking in experience and cohesion.

On the other hand … he hasn’t played in a while. So he’s not sharp. He’s never played with anyone on the team and only been in one camp. So we don’t even know if he’s going to be good for us, or what it would take him to get up to speed. What if he comes in and he’s not ready, not a good fit for the tactical plan or takes too long to get up to speed?

And on a culture and messaging standpoint … it won’t take much for a teammate to make a leap from “when he was playing he was waiting for Germany but now that he has not shot there he’s good with the US?” What happened to performing at club or competing for jobs?

We have a lot of potential exceptions starting to add up and each one starts to make a dent in the focus and common cause.

Given the number of words on each side, I suppose it sounds like I am saying not to bring him. But I’m not saying that … I just think it is a very tough decision if he wants to come. And can you invite him and get him to keep him mouth shut if he turns it down? Because then you get a lot of the downsides without the upsides.

 

Yup, it’s a hairy situation overall. I don’t think the last part about get him to quietly decline is an issue. In the discussions with his team they’ll have a sense of if he wants in. If it’s not fully 100% they just won’t outright say a spot is yours. If they’re talking with him now it’s about the WC so he’d know he’d have to be committed. If he’s.’not ready’ to commit his future thats just the same message/ status quo.

 

The flip side is the person whose spot he would take it’s Miles Robinson who is both coming off injury and hasn’t been playing great and probably doesn’t deserve to go. But also I think a 5th centerback is pretty low risk. 26 man rosters are too big anyways and I don’t think you’re really risking much if you take fliers on all 3 of Banks, Gozo, and Reyna. It’s more the team culture/chemistry stuff which is difficult to gauge because it’s such an intangible thing we can’t really see from the outside. I think 23 man roster it’d be a different dynamic of course.

 

I think there’s no new info but it is notable to see moments like the locker room after the Copa losses or halftime of the Iran game where the medical staff is trying to get Pulisic to the hospital and he’s resistant, etc. It’s also just extremely well done.

 

I’m not sure if this has been brought up, but bringing in Banks would be like when we brought in Julian Green, in a way. Like for like in that you’re trying to solidify a young dual national into the USMNT fold. But Green took LD’s spot, essentially, whereas Banks might actually fill some holes on the bench. I know Green scored in Brazil but he was never to be heard from again, basically. I agree with the commentary here that Banks is the long play, a good play, and putting him on the squad could lock things down, potentially, for the future in our backline.

The main point of contention is that he declined an invite, didn’t get one from Germany, lost his starting spot in club, and NOW is “back” open to playing for the NATS. Quite interesting debate indeed!!’ Gettin me hyped for next week’s announcement and the Tourney itself. Keep it going everyone!!!

 

That’s why I think if Banks comes it basically has to be as a fifth true CB — someone like Freeman is not a CB. That’s not what Doyle did, and I think that’s too risky.

I’d be okay leaving Scally home and bringing Banks from my roster. That’s really fundamentally transferring my injury risk from CB to not being able to play my (and I think Poch’s) preferred formation if Freeman goes down.

Which again is why I struggle with Gozo. Bringing Banks as part of 4 CB is very risky. Leaving Scally home means that you really can’t play the flexible RCB/RB role if Freeman is off the field in terms of presenting an unpredictable vector of attack.

I get the plus; it’s easy to visualize a late banger from Gozo that is the difference in a match. But, especially paired with Banks, it feels like a higher reward / higher risk scenario, and perhaps more than I would take.

The other place to trim is in the attack. We’re probably taking more than we need because we feel our better players are there.

 

Well.............................if Agyemang hadn't gotten hurt, there was a debate. Now there really isn't.

Heck, Pepi was one that I said wasn't as concrete as people have made out. I saw him on the bubble for sure.

Ricardo Pepi hasn't scored a goal for the USMNT since November of 2024 against a poor Jamaica team.

By the way, that game against Jamaica in 2024 is the last time Pepi started a game for the USMNT.

He's barely been involved in the Poch era. There are reasons for that (injury, etc.), but its true.

Even when Pepi has gone to these recent camps after getting fit, he's not being started. He's getting late game sub appearances.

So I understand why there's a little bit of a discussion about his actual role.
At this point, i'd consider it a shock if he didn't go to the World Cup.
That would mean a guy like Sargent goes, and he has an even worse track record of scoring with the national team.

 

The old saying that it is "a young man's game" still applies to this WC. Physical stamina is paramount. Hopefully, our roster will reflect this.

 

It’s going to be less so for us this time as we have a ton of time in between matches in the group stage.

 

Stamina actually increases with age, up to its peak at around or after 30 IIRC. Speed hits its peak much earlier (very early 20s I think).

 

I think another way to think about the roster is how much cover do you need for various formations, how many wildcards can you bring, and how do you create space above and beyond the +3 on the 2 deep roster a 26 man roster allows for?

(I’m going to say that one of the +3 will always be a third striker. I really can’t see not bringing three real strikers. So it’s down to +2).

Here’s my starting 2 deep for this exercise. Don’t worry if it is off yours; there’s swapping to come. Just needed a starting baseline for what Poch seems to play and roles.

CF Balo/Wright/Pepi
LW Pulisic/Luna
RW Dest/Weah
CAM McKennie/Tillman
CM Tessman/Berhalter
CDM Adams/Roldan
LB Jedi/Arfsten
LCB Ream/Trusty
RCB Richards/McKenzie
RB Freeman/Scally

Wildcards/situational players:
Reyna (assuming Tillman and McKennie are the CAM depth chart)
Gozo
Aaronson
Fifth CB (Banks or Robinson assuming you bring two nominal RBs aka Scally)
Third string ball winning CDM (Morris)

Givebacks from the 2 deep:
Berhalter — with Tillman and McKennie, you can slide one back and replace with a CAM/winger
Arfsten — I really like Max, but if you aren’t ever going to play him for defensive reasons … Weah or others can back up over there.
Scally — If you don’t think he can be dangerous from the Freeman position, you might as well bring a Fifth CB

And there you go — between the +2 from the 26 man and three clear guys who could go either way, you can take five players out of eight or nine in contention.

I think a fifth CB is a no brainer, frankly. Between Richards’ injury, Banks’ potential upside if he’s really interested and how moving to a “real” 3 ATB also creates more flexibility at the FB / winger positions, one spot absolutely goes there.

After that … I think a lot depends on how you view moving Tillman and McKennie back and how often you want to do that. Adding Reyna gives you a great late game offensive dynamic in that scenario. Now, if you want to go defensive there … do you slide them back and add Aaronson … or do you simply take Morris instead and keep Tillman/McKennie’s defense forward?

In terms of Gozo … If I want to bring him, I think I might line him up mentally against Arfsten. I really, really hate LWB/LBs who are right footed … but if you are going to really keep Max off the field because of his defense … I wonder if you aren’t better off sliding Weah over as backup LWB and putting Gozo on the roster. Weah won’t provide much offense from that side, so overall the offensive profile of Gozo + Weah at WB is pretty mediocre compared to Arfsten + Weah (or Freeman or Dest). But if you are on the Gozo train, this or Scally may be your call.

Scally comes down to a similar eval — is it worth playing the RCB/RB if Joe Scally is the one providing the offensive threat? Does it have the same effect?

 

I think it’s as much a mental thing as it is physical. Young guys probably aren’t as fussed by playing in a World Cup match. Older guys are maybe more likely to play with scared money. Some of our best WC performances have come from guys that viewed it as an opportunity rather than a reward.

 

What is this talk about age and an old roster?

We don't have "old guys." We have one one old guy in Ream. He's the CAPTAIN.

Our second oldest field player at our last camp was Roldan, who is 30. He's not playing for the Sounders like he has any issues.

Other forwards and midfielders at the last camp were 24, 23, 27, 25, 23, 24, 23, 27, 25, 24, 26, 25.

You'd have to be 13 years old to think the USMNT has "old guys" on the roster that need replacing with young legs.

Its weird to realize that other than Roldan..................Pulisic and McKennie are the oldest players amongst our midfielders and forwards. These guys are in their primes right now. Tyler Adams wasn't at the last camp. He's 27. In his prime right now.

 

For me if you want to bring Banks as a 5th center back and Gozo both it’s either Morris or Reyna that get cut. So if you want to bring both you either sacrifice a third CDM or the potential of what Reyna can bring in a super sub role.

Now you could also cut someone like Berhalter or Arfsten but they just seem like Pochettino favorites who are going.

I don’t think Scally is going either way and Miles Robinson has slipped off the roster I think and there’s not another 5th centerback who I think is worth it other than Banks. So without Banks you have the 4 centerbacks, Freeman in the flex role, and Tessmann who can play there in a pinch.