The only reasons Pulisic wouldn't make the rosters is either injury or if there's some attitude element we don't know about. Donovan was 32 and Klinsmann is an extreme egoist. I'm sure Poch has his ego but he brushed away their little back and forth over the summer and I think it's pretty damn unlikely he pulls a Klinsmann.
This is a candidate for signature-line worthy post. But in my case, I am going to continue to honor long-time poster OldGuyFC. RIP old guy.
If he's doinking Adams's or McKennie's girlfriend, he'll be left off. Or Poch's girlfriend. Nothing short of that will keep Pulisic off the team except obviously injury. He might be able to get away with doinking Arfsten's girlfriend. Not really, but you get the picture. That said, I say that both in reference to real, well-known USMNT history and also in acknowledgment that Pulisic seems to be in a bit of a low place right now. Hopefully it's temporary.
I'll add the mystery of whether we decide to go with three or four in the back. I have a feeling that Poch is being deliberately cagey with what he's showing the opposition, especially as all of our opposition is familiar. Mexico and Canada are playing like they're going to play, for the most part. I don't think we're going to set up much like we played against Belgium or Portugal at all, and I think he'll likely hold something in reserve against Senegal and Germany as well. Is that wise, springing something on our own players as well as the opposition? I don't know, but we'll find out. I think that Poch really wants them all to feel like nobody's roster or starting spot is truly safe as much as I think he wants to keep the opposition off-balance in their preparations. Even one of the most open-and-shut races on our squad, that of starting GK, was deliberately put into question last month (and probably solved, but my point remains).
I think this is one of the reasons Freeman is so critical. Poch wants to play with something more aggressive and less predictable, and Freeman allows us to play with more defensive cover while not losing the threat posed by that player. Whether it's a CB or Scally ... no one is going to seriously worry about that player doing anything offensively. And if we play a straight 4 ATB, we lose a lot defensively.
Absolute agreement. I've considered Freeman not only a roster lock but one of our new core players for months now. It's frustrating that he made the move to Villarreal exactly when he did, but I understand that big moves are both tempting and fleeting. He is one of the key guys who allow us to play the way that Poch wants us to play, and no potential replacements or tactical rejigging quite replaces his impact. That's not to say that I think that he's the same caliber player as Weston or Christian or Tyler or Richards, but his abilities are integral to the way that Poch would ideally have us play, hence he's an integral part of the best version of our team.
But he's not in a back three. It's a fluid back four where he sometimes attacks and hopefully Jedi learns when Poch wants him to attack and to stay. I'd guess 2/3's Jedi and 1/3 Freeman. Keep the other team honest. BTW, those two outside backs with CRichards and Trusty / McKenzie are a pretty strong and athletic bunch. Only Ream doesn't fit that.
I sometimes wander if each of us should have someone here we check on regularly. We ain't spring chickens and I fear some the are missing here are no more. Would be nice to know and send them off with a toast.
Yeah, I'm literally a generation older now that I was when I first started posting here. Most of us can say that.
It's a hybrid-role in the sense that tactically, he's a right-back, but positionally, he's a right centerback in a back-3.
Good players go on a bad run of form. The better the player, the more they get the benefit of the doubt. If the US is going to do anything at the World Cup, Pulisic needs to be the "straw that stirs the drink." Hence why Poch was trying so hard at the last camp to put him in a position to be impactful. Could our desire to make Pulisic the focal point come back to bite us if he continues to struggle with whatever is going on right now? Yes. But if we're going to go down with the ship, it might as well be betting on Pulisic as opposed to Reyna or Tillman or somebody. [I do wonder about this hip injury he's dealing with.]
Lets get real. If you aren't betting on Pulisic to be a key cog this summer then just who the hell are you betting on in his place? Good grief.
Indeed. Pulisic is the straw that stirs the drink. It's why Pochettino spent the last window trying to unlock him. I know he can be streaky, but the difference between the first half of the mIlan season and the second is stark. He's in a rut for both club and country. It's certainly a worry. Fingers crossed that he drags himself out of it. Maybe his hip injury has been a bigger problem than has been revealed.......................
Yes. And to me he provides excitement and possibilities going forward and a lot less commitment getting back and defending.
FWIW, I asked AI (so take with appropriate grain of salt) what the odds were of us playing Belgium in the real tournament were, and it came back with like 10-15% chance. If they both finish second, they'd play in the R32. If they both finish first and then win their R32 game, they'd play in the R16. Not huge, but not that small.
One of the annoying things about this World Cup, especially from a host-perspective, is the way they've designed the knockout stage path compared to the 32 team World Cups. In the past, if you were able to finish 1st in your group, you were likely to draw a mid-tier opponent in the Round of 16, which theoretically provided a path to the quarter-finals without needing to eliminate a top-tier team. For example, our reward in 2010 for finishing 1st in our group was getting to face Ghana in the Round of 16 (although we failed to take advantage of that opportunity). Of course, that would typically require us to finish above a top-tier team in the group stage (England in '10) -- but that wouldn't have been necessary as the (seeded) host. However, this time around, they made it so that the winner in our group has to face the winner of Belgium's group in the Round of 16 (unless some 3rd place team knocks out either of the 1st place teams in the Round of 32). So essentially finishing 1st in our group gives you a similar path to the quarter-finals as finishing 2nd in our group in 2014 did (except with one additional must-win game this time).