but why did it take Poch until after Gold Cup to evaluate Roldan? He was on last World Cup squad, so he should have known about him, if he liked him.
Central midfield competition is pretty deep for this cycle. I mean, we forget that Gianluca Busio started Pochettino's first TWO matches in charge of the USMNT. Busio was coming off of a season in Serie A, right? [Then he came off the bench in the next two.] There's a player we don't even talk about on the Yanks Abroad thread. For most of this season, by the way, he's been captain of Venezia. They'll be in the mix for promotion. I still view Roldan like I did during the Berhalter cycles. Maybe I'm naive. He's one of the "next men up" when we have injuries. I mean, we're without Adams, McKennie, Johnny, Tillman and other midfielders for this camp. We do have to call up somebody. I don't know if Roldan is going to make the World Cup team, but he's good depth to have. Maybe he'll be 26th man on the roster like he was in 2022. All I know is that he's too good of a player to have gotten the level of abuse he gets on this board at times. Pochettino seems to really appreciate his attitude and work ethic, which is what Berhalter said too.
Ideally Scally earns back Poch's trust and can fill that role on both sides. Possibly even primarily on the left--on the right if we're going 3-4-1-2 I don't see either Dest or Weah as a clear starter over the other, so we can switch them out around 70' or so. Neither is a defensive specialist, but at least easy for us to get some fresh legs on in that spot each game without a drop in overall quality.
Busio falling completely out of the picture is odd to me. I get we're deep enough at CM that he probably isn't in the squad if everyone is healthy, but I'd certainly have him above the likes of LDLT. One of the better dead ball strikers in the pool too.
How good is Scally’s left foot? Because my view of tactics is, if you play with only one wide player on each side, which Poch is doing, and you play someone on his off side, the chance that you’re too narrow is really high. If Scally isn’t dangerous in the attack when playing LWB, the other team’s right fullback gets the day off defensively. I probably have a slightly less positive view of Scally than the board consensus. So maybe I’m too down on him.
Right but in the context of using him as a defensive minded sub in the last 20 min or less that isn't as big of a deal. I'd still bring Arfsten as a more like for like replacement for ARob (and if ARob can't get healthy I'd bring Arfsten and another dedicated LWB, Tolkin/Wiley/Lund/whoever, plus Scally as a defensive utility player). Really hope Scally secures his spot on the team this camp because his versatility is huge for a tournament. Defensive sub at either wingback spot, outside CB in a back 3 in a pinch, or if we go back 4 either FB spot.
Not sure if you are unclear on the meaning of "egregious"? I would not classify either manager's selection of Roldan as egregious although Berhalter's continued use of Roldan as an attacking player was close! Roldan has been performing in a different role. "I made the move to a deep-lying midfielder about a year and a half ago, and it's worked out. The game has slowed down a whole lot for me," Roldan said. "It allows me to use what I'm good at, and that's hunting players down, that's winning second balls, that's being aggressive, communicating, being a leader, using my voice a whole lot more, organizing the group." https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...mnt-afterthought-mauricio-pochettino-favorite
He's not active enough for what we're doing now, IMO. He's greatly improved his work rate, but he's not very fast and not very big and those CM roles are playing a very active defensive role. I don't think he should be completely out of the pool, and I don't think LDLT is much higher, frankly.
I think he's probably at the level of some guys that we are calling in. However, not ABOVE that level so its................6 of one; half dozen of the other. As it relates to World Cup chances, Busio probably made a mistake by signing that contract extension with Venezia in the fall of 2024. We'd heard that some bigger clubs in Italy were sniffing around. But instead of letting his contract expire, he signed there thru June of 2026. Which, obviously tied him to the club to exactly the World Cup. The idea being that he thought he was in a great spot to showcase his talent and was assured of playing time. But then, unfortunately, they were relegated. So now he's tied to a Serie B team to the World Cup. There were a lot of good reasons to sign that extension. One of them ended up not being chances for the World Cup squad.
I'd add to this that if were Busio were tearing up Serie B, he might be in the convo, and while starting all 12 Serie B games for Venice is a good stat, he's only got 2 G and 1 A and Venezia is only in 5th. Nothing terrible there, esp for a 23 yo, but also nothing that really screams "difference maker" either. I think he's a very decent player with a good future ahead and that long-term staying at Venice will pay off, but I can also understand the Fed not feeling like flying him in is a great use of anyone's time atm, even if he does have the weekend off.
Sure. I think he's got a lot going for him (and have said so before) I just think to survive the step down in league level he needs to up his production given the competition in midfield.
While he might care less about the USMNT beyond next summer, Poch has done an incredible job of improving depth, and that should benefit us long after WC26.
Kudos to Poch for seeing the potential of Arfsten and Freeman. I'm still out on McGlynn and Berhalter and I'm not confident about Frees. Roldan didn't excel today but he did make the back 3's job easier.
Don't be a nag. I want to go back and look at a few games, but I feel like recently we've been much better at turning the ball in deep-lying/holding midfield position - in part because we're creating more vertical space between the backs. Might have to do with a more comfortable - smarter spacing of the back 3/4/5 but it feels like we've had more time/room for the middies who drop back to turn and carry - and then we are playing more quickly and diversely as we move the ball upfield... Wonder if this is down to tactics at all - or just a result of the different spacing from the 3-4-3... If I get bored I'll go back and look at a few games.
Fire Poch for not hating Reyna 🎙️ Mauricio Pochettino on Gio Reyna’s performance vs Paraguay:"We can see today that he was great, he scored and assisted. And the way that always the capacity to read the game and find the free space in between the lines, I think it was a nightmare for Paraguay. I think he did… pic.twitter.com/Q62eAMHX2c— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) November 16, 2025
Scally was the worst player on the field for us today. Burned multiple times by Almiron, and just a slew of mistakes otherwise. Maybe it was just nerves, but Poch seems to have coached the nerves out of everyone else (even guys getting their first ever USMNT cap, like Blackmon a few months ago). I think Scally has failed the test Poch set up for him and we won't see him again this cycle (unless injuries, of course).
I think the biggest difference between the first six months of Pochettino and the last six has actually been attitudinal that has essentially bled into tactics. Poch has always been a guy who wants to coach a highly aggressive offensive team that compensates defensively through effort and high work rate. He always has high possession, but his teams aren't cautious. They are more direct, more risk taking and insist on moving the ball quickly. In the first six months, every movement was slower and more cautious. The lack of intensity on defense led to a more cautious offense and the whole thing had very similar movements but played at a completely different pace. We were slower and mechanical, either going through the motions or not trusting in the team's ability to cover attacks. And the tactics were more mechanical -- people stayed in their lanes more, there was less interchanging. As we got more comfortable and as we got a much more active midfield defensively, we've seen a much more fluid dynamic with more overloads, more offensive flexibility and much more aggression in ball movement in terms of speed of movement and risk taking.
I have to give Poch his props. The formation tweak has been brilliant - it plays to our strengths and helps cover our weaknesses. Arfsten has been a revelation in the role he's being used in. Freeman's probably on the plane to ... well, he's already here, haha. I worry we're going to have a bad world cup, but it'll likely be because we don't have a good enough keeper, and there's nothing more poch can do to fix that.