Pre-match: Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinals @ Jamaica (Nov 14) & v Jamaica (Nov 18)

If I were a new coach, and especially if my first camp was decimated by injuries, I would probably call in a similarish roster.

Even guys like Malik and Brenden who were very poor in last camp. I don’t think any new coach would be so quick to write them off just yet.

But I’ll say, the most glaring omission continues to be Lennard Maloney and a more suitable left back behind Jedi (Tolkin? Brown? Bello? Wiley? Who just returned from injury) besides Lund.

Campbell can wait a minute.

Glad to see Horvath dropped (for a minute, at least).

The most disappointing omission is of course Anrie Chase (and Luca Koleosho). But maybe that’s out of Poch’s hands.

And, I really hope he doesn’t have to build our defense around Tim Ream.

 

I will say that the least important position on the USMNT over the last several years has been backup left beck. Cuz we have not had a more consistent 90 minute player in all the games that have mattered than Antonee Robinson.

We want fresh eyes on the pool, this is what we get. Pochettino evaluating guys like Busio, Tessmann, Morris, etc. and liking them. May like them in his system more than a guy like Maloney.

Right now Pochettino isn't making decisions based on performance in the last two friendlies. He's likely still making decisions based on the tools of the players and how they fit into his system. How they're looking to him in training, etc. He called Malik Tillman an "unbelievable talent" in a recent interview. The most obvious thing in the world was Malik Tillman being in this camp. We see that talent for PSV all the time. Its Pochettino's job to bring that to the national team.

We brought in a world class manager so that he could do his thing. I'm letting him do his thing. If he thinks Fossey isn't good enough, then that's an evaluation I live with.

 

Least important until he finally ISN'T available due to some reason. Failing to plan is planning to fail. This does not suddenly become untrue because we have gotten a better coach. Color me unimpressed.

 

Yeah, Pochettino has literally said in an interview what that plan is.

This isn't a Gold Cup.

This is 2 games.

 

This unbalanced roster will be ok if it’s part of a bigger picture. I’m hoping that Pochettino has a new plan, which may involve different roles for certain of our established players, as well as different formations. It’s just hard to understand based on the players he called in, in particular the defenders.

 

Where are they training ahead of the trip to Jamaica?

 

I don't think Pochettino and these world-class coaches put rigid labels on players in terms of position. In Pochettino's mind............Weah, Musah, McKennie, etc. can play that role in his system. All three have done so in Serie A. Do people remember it wasn't that long ago that Pulisic was tried at wingback for Chelsea? I don't think Pochettino will take our best player out his most impactful position, but that happened. It was the real world.

Everyone here labels Chris Richards as a centerback. Chris Richards is a CB!!! We have him in the CB folder!! See!! But Chris Richards has played a lot of midfield recently at Crystal Palace. He also played both RB and LB at Bayern effing Muching. Bayern effing Munich. He played right back against Athletico Madrid in the Champions League.

This is the modern footballer.
Malik Tillman's positions played over the last couple of years in club soccer. CF, LW, RW, #10, #8, #6, LM, RM

So what is he? He's a soccer player.

Its up to Pochettino to take these skills sets, these puzzle pieces, and put them together into a winning product.

And yes, the fact that he didn't bring in Lund and Fossey after the last camp does tell us something about how he feels about them. That he thinks moving Ream over the LB in an emergency (as he said in an interview) will be just as viable as Lund playing there. So obviously, he needs time to be acquainted with other LBs in the pool if he's not happy with Lund. We heard thru the grapevine that he's been in touch with Nathaniel Brown. [If that's real or not we don't know.] But if true, that tells us he's not resting on his laurels. The fact that people are talking about George Bello tells us something about the state of that position. Not that I have anything against George Bello, but he's in the Austrian League for a reason. And Pochettino and his staff may look at film of a guy like Bello and say "not up to our standards." Same for Shaq Moore and DeJuan Jones and Nathan Harriel and other fullbacks we've called up over the last calendar year under Berhalter/Varas.

Why do people think this is crazy? If Scally can't go........................then plan B is Musah at RB and somebody like Johnny or Busio or Tessmann starting in central midfield. That Pochettino might think that's a better version of the USMNT than Fossey at RB and Musah in midfield. Is that so shocking? Really? Musah just played the position very well against Real Madrid.

 

I think the back 3 is basically gonna be what we did last window where Scally is strictly a stay at home RB and essentially part of a 3 man backline with either Wes or Musah as a RWB/RM. May not actually be called a back 3 in how it looks but that's what I think we'll do and I'm fine with that.

My biggest complaint for a long time with our midfield is they're just too static when they don't have the ball. Well Morris and Busio have shown they actually move around, and Tanner is also fairly versatile. Plus those 3 add something we really don't have which is passing so calling them in again doesn't bug me... Hell people talk about how bad we were against Mexico (we were) but I thought the issue was more bad play from other guys where as Busio and Morris I think were just too naive (thinking things would get called that didn't).

I think Miles gets a bit more hate than he should, but I probably wouldn't have called him. Honestly I put a lot of the issues from the Mexico game in build up on the back line. Thought with McKenzie out the backline lacked spacing, communication, and passing. So while I won't crucify Miles's inclusion overall and he clearly has a role, I do think he moves behind Trusty

 

Huh? Scally over Jedi?

 

Oh also on Maloney, he did miss Heidenheim's game yesterday with another knock so I'm not gonna complain about that much

 

I would think a tactically sophisticated (read: flexible game planner) manager would value players who can play more than one role/position well. Musah is one of several people in the pool who fit that description. Hopefully the days of “system first, players who fit the necessary roles second” are behind us.

 

This is right in a vacuum, but not having any backup FBs means you have lost flexibility in the event of an injury or fatigue. There is no need to have 5CBs and 2 FBs even in the name of putting the best players on the field. Have a FB on the squad and then you can still play Weah at RB if you want depending on the game state.

I think we should have learned long ago that many soccer players and coaches aren't really as clever as we hope they are. Some are boneheaded. Pochettino's justification that this is just two games, not a whole tournament, doesn't really make sense to me and I bet it suddenly won't make sense to him either if Scally or Jedi rolls an ankle in the 10th minute in Jamaica. Hope he gets lucky.

 

If you care about betting odds, for the away leg US is actually a slight favorite to win outright. -105 USA win, +210 Draw, and +245 Jamaica win. That pretty much implies they give us just shy of a 50% chance (-110 is generally the cutoff for that).

Not sure I agree with that given our track record in CONCACAF away games, though I guess Antonio being suspended helps.

 

They don't have Antonio and we don't have Weah. Is that a wash?

 

I am pretty sure Pochettino understands that he can't play a player at two positions.

He may be thinking he's going to play a real/traditional 3 ATB -- I know he had that quote on formations but that could have been just for that window.

Or he could be sliding guys around as in your scenario, Weah could play winger in the second game and Musah FB, etc.

Ream has been playing LB in Charlotte, so what I would suspect if Jedi went down, you might see a Ream at LB but really playing LCB (like a mirror of Scally) and then someone like Weah or Musah at RWB like a Jedi role and Scally on the bench.

Remember also that we are pretty heavy at CM this time around -- So McKennie is also at play here.

I think this does tell us a decent amount about Pochettino -- he's defintely going to be more of a pure talent guy. He seems very willing to move guys around. Also not a very good sign for Lund that he'd rather shoehorn than bring him in.

 

If you mean starting 3 guys who we are considering CBs, I think there's a decent chance given the roster.

Much of our time was spent last window with 3 guys along the backline, and basically all of our time offensively. Would it surprise people to see Ream as a LB or LCB type if Jedi goes out or is hurt?

 

I could quibble. Personally, I'd like to see Maloney and Pefok get chances, Maloney because he's doing well in a good league and I tend to like having a guy who will knock heads in the middle of the park and Pefok because he's the only striker we have who gets minutes in a top league while being down a couple up top due to injuries. I'd say this is a good sign he's not gonna get called in moving forward if he can't make a list with 2 injured strikers against a physical opponent. But, I understand neither is ideal for how Poch wants to play. I'd also be happy to see a couple newcomers get a shot to impress but this is a competitive window so I understand that may need to wait for later. As it stands, the roster is fine if a bit boring. Adams getting back to full fitness is more important than coming this window. Players being healthy and playing regularly is going to go a lot further to having a team playing its best in 2026 than demanding every guy on half an leg plays as many minutes as possible. And we should be able to win these games without him or we've got some really big problems.

I'll be curious if we try to play the same way we did last window with a pair of deep midfielders trying to pass and possess. If we keep with that strategy, those two spots are going to be really important to how well this team plays. Fully healthy, I expect Adams to take one of those spots but I think there is likely going to be some real competition for the other. With the group for this window I expect it will be between Johnny, Busio, Tessman and Morris, but he may put Musah back there if he doesn't think he should stay on the wing and I'll be curious if he considers McKennie a player for one of those spots or not. For me, that's what will be most interesting to watch because it is such a departure in style and it puts a lot of pressure on some guys who haven't played significant roles for the team in the past.

 

Shouldn't we perhaps wait and see how his backup plan works before being too upset? I don't think it is absurd to think that Yunus Musah is a better option than Fossey or another, and swapping to a Ream at LB / Musah at RB if Jedi can't play feels a bit more of a problem, how does that compare to Lund (or whomever you'd put there).

I mean honestly, Yunus over Scally is an option depending on how we play.

 

Imagine a coach picking players based on talent...............................

We have fresh eyes on this pool of players.
And yes, that means some guys that Berhalter had in the pool may be jettisoned.

Lund is playing for the 7th best team in Serie B. Not Real Madrid. Why would it be some shock that Pochettino might evaluate him and think he's not up to his standard?

I 100% think there's going to be an attitude change from Berhalter.

The Shaq Moore, Roldan, Arriola, etc. type of players from MLS aren't going to be called up to fill position holes. I thought people would be happy about that. Yes, its true. We now have a coach that has a talent threshold in mind when bringing together his squad. No more hole-fillers. And that includes some players from secondary European leagues.

If he has Cade Cowell at this camp (who probably is filling in for Haji, Sargent, Balogun), and he doesn't demonstrate the required talent level...............then we may not see him again for a while.

 

To me, what this most likely is, is that he's going to find ways to get the group that is clearly more talented than the rest on the field ... and that perhaps he hasn't dug that deep yet on the next rung down.

The guys who are a clear rung up -- that eight or nine players that are our clear core plus 3-5 of the almost there -- are going to get on the field. And the rest are a clear step down and he'll deal with them later. Maybe he does really like some of those specific guys, but I think that's not where his focus is.

CF - Pepi (Tier II)
LW - CP (I)
RW - Weah, Musah, McKennie (I)
CAM - McKennie (I) / Tillman (II) [Reyna when healthy]
CMs - Johnny (II), Busio / Morris / ? (III) [Tyler, McKennie when healthy]

Before you get to the defense, that's really only one spot that feels like it's not basically "most talent player plays and the coach will figure out how to work it."

So figure out Keeper and CBs, because those are big question marks.

What's interesting to me is the reaction to this even by folks who clearly were inclined to this philosophy under Berhalter. I think it is a bit silly not to simply bring in two other players aside from just managing that many guys, but there seems to me to be folks who have long been in the talent over positions dynamic who are now more unhappy than I suspect.

For the record, Ream at LB scares me against Jamaica and I wonder if Poch would flip Christian to the other side to avoid not having enough help over there (or shading the CDM on that side). I actually wouldn't mind simply benching Scally as it feels like he's regressed offensively, so I'm much more comfortable there.

I think you need to pay attention to role fit more than positional. Poch struggled with some guys with that in the first window (Tillman in the type of CAM Poch was playing) but hit a home run elsewhere (the Musah / Scally dynamic) and limiting Busio and Morris' roles.

 

Maloney just picked up an injury it looks like. I do want him to get a call in, but also, I think it's very clear that Poch wants CMs that are willing and capable passers. Busio, Morris, and Tessman all fit into that.

Pefok? He seems to be doing fine in hold up play, but gotta see him scoring again for me to back him getting a call up