I disagree. As someone who has watched him through the years I think everyone is correct he's not an Adams style bulldog yipping at ankles and flying around. What he does do is use his size and strength to muscle other players around and he's like bouncing off a brick wall. I bet a lot of players stay clear of him for that exact reason and that is a sort of force field defense. Good enough? I'd say yes against the right opponent. I'd actually like to see Tessmann and Adams together as the center mids as they have an amazing difference of strengths and weaknesses that would seem to be very complimentary together. Tessman bodies players into Adams path who gives a quick pass to Tessmann who makes a quick killer switching pass with either foot (if a player makes a run. Oh, and I forgot to add he is by far the best mid at aerial balls. I think he also may actually head them to his own teammates instead of imitating seals at the circus. I think subconsciously I was thinking of this for a while. Thread title includes Fire first which makes me instantly think of Chicago. I just now figured out that there was a similar (every coach has one)b thread for Berhalter but he actually too the hint and became the coach of the Fire. Will Poch also be influenced by our thread for him and instead of going back to Europe coach Chicago down the line?
Talking Tactics: Why Mauricio Pochettino's concessions just might allow USMNT boss to deliver on his remit - World Cup success | Goal.com US
I highly recommend that goal.com article. The writer gives Poch credit for recognizing the 4-2-3-1 wasn’t suiting us so he showed flexibility in moving us to a 3-4-3.
There are still people clutching to a 4-2-3-1 being the best formation for the pool and the coach is just not good enough to get the best out of players so don’t say so matter factly.
With two attacking FBs, a DM that's excellent at dropping into defensive holes and a lack of depth at CB, 3 at the back is the obvious best option.
I think the best argument for 3 ATB is that we have defenders who can make line breaking passes but we don’t have any DMs* who can. So go ahead and play 3 ATB but adopt the same buildup formation as you see in a 4-2-3-1. *If you consider Tessman a DM, I think we have that guy. But Poch doesn’t.
Thankfully Poch seems to be a manager who understands that for a player playing DM the D is very important and Tessmann does very little D. Morris and McKennie both will play the 10 to 15 yard line forward breaking passes off the dribble better than Tessmann; They also cover a ton of ground and will defend like you insulted their mothers.
Yeah, I wasn’t arguing that Tessman is that guy, just acknowledging that many of our fans think he is. I havent seen him play enough to have any real opinion. I’ll just note that in a 4-2-3-1 with Tessman as one of the DMs and Tyler Adams as the other, maybe Tessman has enough defensive chops. But of course, that, in turn, raises questions like, wait, we’re benching both Weston AND Musah? (Or playing one of them as a 10, which raises different questions.) Ca. 2009, Bradley was failing as a coach because he couldn’t figure out a tactic that maximized the production of our 3 really good mids of that era…Michael, Landon, and Dempsey. Then he did and we had a great run for the next year, from the Egypt match in 2009 through the World Cup. He solved his tactical dilemma and was rewarded. Poch has been faced with the same thing with his central midfield, but like the computer in WarGames, decided not to play. He has punted on that and gone 3-4-3/3-4-2-1. Good luck Mauricio, let’s see if it works. So far so good.
Completely agree with @superdave. The article was very informative and explained some of the decisions made by Poch.
Here's a way US Soccer can save $6 million a year Seattle Reign head coach Laura Harvey says she has leaned on artificial intelligence (AI) service ChatGPT to help inspire her tactics in the NWSL this season. “One day in the offseason, I was writing things into ChatGPT like, ‘What is Seattle Reign’s identity?’ And it would spurt it out. And I was like ‘I don’t know if that’s true or not,'” Harvey told the Soccerish Podcast. “And then I put in, ‘What formation should you play to beat NWSL teams?’ And it spurted out every team in the league and what formation you should play. And for two teams, it went ‘You should play a back five.’ So I did. No joke, that’s why I did it.” https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6765823/2025/10/31/nwsl-laura-harvey-chatgpt-ai/ Now your 10 year old nephew can figure out the best formation to play when he's taking a break from Fortnite
That story is being taken totally out of context. She went to ChatGPT to see if it could give it her some new tactical ideas. It suggested 5 at the back. She tried it in a few games and it worked. It's not like she was dependent on ChatGPT for coaching.
So today Poch is quoted as saying he misses the PL and ( after the obligatory, I’m happy right now) wants to get back to coaching in the PL. It’s not in itself fireable, but it makes his hiring seem more questionable. He is not sufficiently focused on this task. We have a home World Cup. We need a single minded manager. This guy is dreaming about Spurs and calling up Zawadski. It’s frustrating. I can’t blame him. He wants what he wants. But this was a serious enough risk when he was hired that it should have eliminated him from contention.
Nice. Aren't you clever. It is frustrating. I said as much. I wish the national team coach viewed that position as his or her dream job. I think that isn't a fantasy-level criterium for being hired. USSF ignored that problem with Poch. So, the decision to hire him frustrates me. Not sure that's so whiny an opinion to deserve your derision, Paul.
to be clear- youre saying its reasonable that a professional soccer manager wasnt aware of using 5 defenders until she checked chatgpt? if she finds out theres a video game that rates players she will be unstoppable. right?
If you want a coach who thinks the USMNT position is a "dream job".....................then you'll be rehiring Berhalter or equivalent. Mauricio Pochettino's contract lasts till the end of the World Cup. That's it. Is it natural as a human being to think a little bit about your next step? Of course it is.
He was asked a direct question partway through a heavily edited interview by a British journalist. "Do you still watch the EPL and do you miss it?" He said he watches a lot of it, it's the best League in the World and in course he misses it but "I am so happy in the USA, in America". He would to like to go back to the Premier League someday and stays in touch with some old colleagues. The horror! Kill him now! You're like the other poster who complains if Poch spends too long in the bathroom. He's an employee, he's doing a job, he has other interests, he has long-term ambitions outside the USMNT, he's not a slave.
I am not blaming Poch. I'd appreciate your recognition of that. I am not saying kill him now. That's your injection of extremism. I am saying it is frustrating to me that the manager of the Nats does not view that job as his dream job. And I am saying that Poch was never going to meet that standard. I don't see how you can honestly compare that to saying I think he spends too long in the bathroom. You are the source of the hyperbole here.
Not to publically announce it though. You can't slap down Pulisic for a thoughtlessly, tone deaf statement, and then turn around and babble that bull---- and not being considered a hyprocritical pos. At least by me anyway. Anyone with sense can completely understand why he wants to get back to the club game, but Coachspeak is what you do in those situations: "My focus is on bringing the best team possible to the WC, and earning the best results possible," everything else can be sorted out afterwards." There's a million different ways to duck issues like this, quite similarly to Pulisic's understandable, if foolish addendum back in June. In the fullness of time, sure, I'd like guys to be as real as possible, it makes it more interesting, but the performances and corresponding results obviously matter more, so I'm not gonna care too much as long as the team is performing more like it did in October, rather than October '24 to the South Korea friendly of September '25. I get that it's small potatoes, isn't such a big deal, but it's also just a stupid foot in mouth moment when most of his tenure has been marked by stupidity and total --- performances, so maybe avoid the foot in mouth issues so you don't have to waste time explaining stupid statements when you could be doing your job, or off galivanting with dumb--- scrimmages involving social media idiot influencers.
He can have whatever goals he wants to have. It's disappointing to hear your manager talk about having goals to lead other teams. Not sure that should be controversial. If Dave Roberts had said in September he really hoped to get back to managing the Padres after the world series, Dodger fans would have been disappointed in that, right?
The interview was heavily edited for a British audience. You could tell they had been talking for some time when he was asked about the EPL.
Fair enough. I guess "dream job" is not the right way to put it. How about they just win some games and then no one will care. I think Berhalter and Zadwadski will get a win over Uruguay.
A manager who is both elite and who views the USMNT as his dream job does not exist. The venn diagram shows two circles that do not intersect at all.