Playing Sands and Roldán seems like a point for those unsure he knows what he’s doing. Sands has no business playing this close to the World Cup.
Poch said no more tinkering after September, that he was finally going to get serious (for real this time)... So now with only two international windows left before hosting the World Cup, all the experimentation is finally OVER, and the USMNT is starting Cristian Roldan, James Sands, Miles Robinson, and Alex Freeman... plus Haji Wright as the starting striker (the 9th different striker) for the first time ever under Poch #USMNT Changes: Ream -> McKenzie; Tessmann -> Roldan, Morris -> Sands; Arfsten -> Freeman (Weah to LWB); Tillman -> Pulisic; Balogun -> Wright. Stay in XI: Freese, Richards, M.Robinson, McKennie, Weah. https://t.co/uQooCNFaYl— Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) October 14, 2025
Neither of them do! Both Sands and Roldan are solid depth pieces and nothing more. Neither should be in our 26, and we shouldn’t be wasting one of our few matches this close to the World Cup with them getting minutes.
I'm not wild about this lineup, but apparently fitness concerns at altitude had a lot to do with the heavily rotated starting XI. Now I'll voice my first thought when I saw Denver on our friendly schedule: "WTF, USSF??! Can you see that we're trying to get something accomplished here?" (No offense to fans in Denver, particularly those who pay to go see them tonight.)
Why schedule a friendly in Denver with only two windows remaining after this, are the USMNT going to be playing there during the World Cup and need to worry about acclimating to high altitudes?
I don't think it has anything at all to do with WC preparedness, and everything with USSF wanting to spread the games around and give a friendly to a metro area that they haven't been to in a while. Next year, in the fall, it wouldn't have been a bad idea.
Here's the thing about experimentation, no matter what the result is from this game, let's say the USMNT beats Australia in their most impressive performance in the century plus history of the program, with once again only two international windows remaining, what exactly does that tell us about playing with a Roldan Sands double pivot at say the upcoming World Cup?
Roldan OR Sands I get…give one of the guys vying for the last CM spot a chance to play with the A team to see what they’ve got. Both of them is dumb. I’m reminded of algebra…equations with 1 variable can be solved, those with two (usually) cannot. Neither X nor Y is an integer, both get expressed in terms of the other. And if they can’t move the ball through the midfield, well, is that because they stink, or because we have no left footed players so Australia doesn’t have to defend the outside 20 yards on the left?
Now this is the kind of journalism we need... Melissa Ortiz: "This week in camp Pochettino wrote on a board in the team's meeting room, 'Culture eats strategy for breakfast.' He even later posted it on his Instagram. It was actually inspired by Chick-fil-a chairman Dan Cathy who he sat down with in April." Why did Poch and Dan Cathy even meet, is it because US Soccer is now in Atlanta Georgia?
Shades of Pablo Mastreoni - ""Stats will lose to the human spirit every day". I'd buy ringside seats for that one - "stats" vs. "the human spirit"!
I only saw this now, but before the match, it's a friendly and he's giving guys shots. You bring in Sands, you play him. Roldan and Morris are clearly competing for a role. After the match ... he clearly knew Cristian Roldan was the key to breaking down a bunker. The lineup part I was most annoyed at was actually Haji Wright for Balogun (and Weah on the left) ... shows what I know!
Seems quite clear to even me, a huge fan but someone not paying super close attention to the behind the scenes stuff, that a big part of his motivation is ensuring a culture of competition for not just spots, but minutes. And, considering the general performances lately, seems to be working ok. If you're concerned about Sands or Roldan and talking about them "playing in the World Cup", you're not engaging in good faith at this point... unless you literally think Poch is undecided on what the first choice lineup looks like? I know, what a dumbass! Oops he scored twice. Why on earth would Poch be looking for some depth and holding mid at striker? How utterly baffling! Do you think maybe it's because of the injury history/performance/unavailability/limitations/whatever (take your pick) of names like Sargent, Pepi, Adams, Musah, LDLT, Berhalter, etc?
'Tis a shame that Nathaniel Brown played for Germany in a WCQer this week. No longer eligible for a one time switch to the USMNT. It feels like a miss, but not by Pochettino. When he took over we heard that Poch was in contact with dual-nationals to guage their interest in playing for us, but we never really found out which ones. We made assumptions about Brown and Chase (who really has struggled with injuries the last year). Downs was clearly one.................... The time to convince Brown was several years ago. Its also hard to know how much a player actually wanted to represent us. We may have been a distant second choice as long as Germany retained interest. And its hard to blame him if he's actually getting capped by Germany now in a WCQer.
If you’re going to bring Sands into camp (and I think he earned a call based on club play) why wouldn’t you give him an opportunity? As for Roldan Pochettino clearly likes him as a player.
Poch needs to know who he can rely on if his starters need more recovery time. If Berhalter had been able to rest Adams and McKennie in the group stage we could have put up more resistance against The Netherlands. And a professional. He'll be in the World Cup squad for exactly the same reasons Berhalter included him.
Just a guess here (although I would say pretty obvious), it tells us whether or not they can play against a World Cup qualified team or not. Fairly confident that is what his job is at the end of the day.
Poch's own words were experimentation is over no? The point isn't about "playing in the World Cup" - the point is about playing guys who have no business being on the World Cup roster (Sands) in the run up to the world cup when you are trying to develop cohesion amongst the top players, some momentum, etc. Maybe Poch views Sands as a potential roster spot if Adams, Morris, Musah, Weah, Tessman, Johnny, WM, Roldan?, etc. go down and also as cover for center backs? The best thing you can say about Sands is that he's versatile. But he's just not good enough for this level yet and with so few opportunities left, it feels like a missed opportunity to play guys together who may actually be playing in the World Cup.
The squad is 27 players, not 11. The chances of Ream, Adams and Cardoso not being available for some or of the World Cup seems high given age/injury history. We can't have the same 11 starters for the next 6 games then expect Miles Robinson, Roldan, Sands to suddenly step up if the penned in starters are not available. Most expect Johnny Football to start at DM but he's not had back to back 90 minute performances for the NT. It looks like the starting XI is pretty much penned in, with the exception of second DM but there's still no depth at FB, CB or DM. I don't understand why Frees keeps starting. He also needs depth a GK. If he's still not sure about Frees he should be trying Turner, Schulte, Brady etc. **** gaga for going to Chelsea
Isn’t the point of having Sands in camp to see if he’s up for a role on the team? And given he’s probably competing with Tessmann, Morris, etc for a roster spot don’t you want to see how they compare on the field?
Competing with Cardoso, Tessman, Roldan, and Morris for probably 3 roster spots (Assuming Adams is a lock).