I hope folks down on malik at a minimum admit he played a hell of a game. He was everywhere. The new MMA
What is it they usually say… passive? Hahahaha … uhm lackadaisical? LOfingL… he disappeared? Only thing that’s disappeared is all the ball not knowing critics. Forget the MMA midfield, they can’t hold a candle to the ATM midfield. Adams is Adams, McKinnie is twice the player he used to be and there is no comparison between Musah and Tillman. Money in the bank. Automatic.
Malik at that deep mid spot is the magic bullet. Don’t move him to wing any more, unless you slip Wes down into that slot. Our play was less dominant when Malik moved to the wing.
I like him being deeper because he then doesn't have the pressure of being the 10. Weston, Dest, and Pulisic then handle more of the creative play and he can focus on disrupting and facilitating for the others which I thought he did really well. Also allows Weston to float which I think everyone agrees is his best role.
Well Malik playing wide did not have Malik playing deep providing a platform for him, he had Berhalter playing deep instead. Tab and Bogerts comments are also appropriate in this thread Tab Ramos: up until the last 15 minutes McKennie and Tillman gave a masterclass on how to play those positions. It is the best I have ever seen US midfielders play those positions... See 17:00 of the video Tom Bogert said that after the match Weston talked about how he, Adams, and Tillman got together to talk about how they would move and play certain situations. Bogert also said Malik credited Poch with saying he needs to be deeper defensively but Poch also gives malik the freedom to get forward and impact the game the way Malik wants to in attack. See 18:34 of the video
I think Tillman is going to face the "passive" accusations even when he plays well because of some combo of: 1. His temperament -- he's not a fiery guy, which is 100% okay. 2. His skill -- some players make it look easy. 3. His size -- smaller guys need to visibly hustle to cover the same ground that bigger ones can by seeming to glide. He's never going to be Frankie Hejduk, but we shouldn't want him to be.
Malik's a great player but there are still elements of his game, at times, which could be considered passive. I wouldn't use that word -- I think it's more a lack of aggression at points, not passivity. There's a difference. It's been a long time since he had a game for the US where he didn't work hard -- since before last year's Gold Cup, but people do seem to forget that he absolutely had those games. To the point that Pochettino was publicly challenging him with the Dele Alli comment. He responded well -- I haven't seen him not work on defense since. That said, there are still games in the past year where he disappears on offense. That was not true on Friday and it's not always true, but it has happened. I don't expect it to happen this World Cup, but it has happened. Even if he doesn't disappear on offense, he's rarely as assertive as his skill set could be, and I imagine as assertive as you'd want if he was your $40M transfer to replace Florian Wirtz. He's not Christian Pulisic; he's not going to press the issue every second. He's the consummate team player and he's going to pass up shots for a pass and play within the system. When the team does well, everyone loves that guy. When the team does poorly ... people ask why they didn't do more. For the record, I love that his bias is to the team play. We needed a guy like this -- we have a lot of Alpha Dogs who constantly press on offense, constantly push. We actually needed someone to play with them, cover for them, and feed them. He clearly cares; he clearly tries. Work rate has not been an issue in a year. Passive isn't the right word either. But there are times where he could be more aggressive and assertive with the ball and he isn't. It's not a big deal. There are times when Christian is too assertive with the ball and that's a mistake. He's a really good player and we're lucky to have him. We have very few pass first guys, and to have one that defends like he does is a freaking gift.
I think dropping him next to Adams simplifies what Poch wants from him which fits with your description of him.
Yep. I know it's not Malik's preference, and it takes him away from goal and counterpressing ... which is why I wanted to find a way to keep him forward, but I do think mentality-wise, the role fits him a bit better. Either way, he really fills a need the team needs here, and since we have Wes and Christian and Sergiño, we have less need forward.
Tillman has more goals and assists in him than he showed against Paraguay, but if that’s a baseline level from Tillman this tournament I’m over the moon. He hasn’t been consistent, necessarily. Youth and all. But now’s a fantastic time to put it all together, for the US and his career.
I think Poch wants him deeper because Malik is the most ball-secure and press-resistant CM we have on this roster. Those attributes will be extremely important when we play against the more aggressive front foot top teams in this tournament.
Highest Overall Grade from Matchday 1 of the 2026 World Cup:Malik Tillman - 92.8Highest Overall Grade from Matchday 2 of the 2026 World Cup (so far):Malik Tillman - 92.0#USMNT @USMNT pic.twitter.com/wtIiRcW9AK— Gradient Sports (@Gradient_Sports) June 21, 2026
Mallik and Freeman are the players who have impressed me the most this tournament. He's got that Jermaine Jones 'nobody wants to play against him' physicality aspect to his game going on.
There are a lot of people, we know who you are, who will not acknowledge this, or anything else the past year but will grab a megaphone the second he produces a 5.5 consensus rating this month or next and say that, and not these opening 180 minutes or the numerous other sterling moments since he broke out last summer are what defines him. Have better takes people. I’d I can be big enough to credit Roldan for a largely solid to great fall in the shirt, you guys can acknowledge what’s been obvious in the shirt since June ‘25 but crickets lol. It’s not hard to admit you were wrong, indeed it’s freeing. I was way too hard on Bob, and was wrong in thinking our players inconsistency was mostly on Egg. You can admit the same on Tillman. And I say this while fully acknowledging he was meh at best in the shirt ‘22, ‘23 and ‘24.
I think part of why he wasn't that great in the past was being placed higher up the field and being asked to be a play maker. Seems he thrives in the deeper spot where he can be a disruptor and not shoulder as much of the offensive responsibilities. I also think a huge part of this is Dest playing higher and taking on a more creative role which is only allowed because Freeman has turned into a certified bad-ass RB.