I remember some years ago when a certain former USWNT called into question the commitment of players from Germany. As a vet who served in Germany I have a sense of what it must be like for these young men. Needless to say her comments pissed me off. Malik, like Dooley, and JJ before him was great in this tournament and I wish him continued success representing his country (our country) in the future.
Malik "NOT TIM" Tillman with two World Cup goals at age 24 and one of the only Americans to play well in every game, maybe Roldan shoulda played in Yurp...
Malik "a lot closer to being Captain America than Pulisic" Tillman at a World Cup Tillman, listen to that crowd pop pic.twitter.com/AldbesxYzu— Ben Ray (@bigplaybenray) July 7, 2026
So your response to "I was told he didn't deserve his place. For the last two years. On this board." is "Ackshually it was 4 years not 2 years"... brilliant stuff truly "I was wrong for longer than that"
Malik Tillman exits the 2026 World Cup with a team high 90.4 Overall Grade, which ranks 2nd among all central midfielders at the tournament.#USMNT pic.twitter.com/YwbQ1jlpih— Gradient Sports (@Gradient_Sports) July 8, 2026
Nope. His U.S. teammates dragged him down to their ceiling. Only guy able to dribble and pass vs Belgium 4 crucial fouls drawn 1 v 2/3 because they couldn’t get the ball off him, only guy besides the late sub Berhalter showing that All American heart, hustle and never say die. Meanwhile, the other dudes… soft.
More than a little annoying that I can trot out here (I know you disagree to some extent anyway) and give Egg his flowers in regards to being to blame for player and performance inconsistency. I used to ---- all over Egg for his inability to get the best out of the talent and maximize what was here, like you, I totally think he got players wrong, and then pretended he got them right, just had to wait till they were ready (nope, he was consistently starting the wrong guys way too long), but I fully owned in '24-'26, that I was just wrong about the consistency of performance thing being an Egg problems and we just needed a great coach who could bring that out, or even a BJ. Turns out I was wrong, the team was utterly gutless and inconsistent repeatedly regardless of the coach in '24 and '25 and then last week w/two different coaches who have totally different approaches. It's clearly something I was wrong about. Additionally, lets say on Roldan, I think you and I are 1000% right on that as well, but I gave Roldan his flowers for finally actually having a window that either wasn't utter ----, or just blah at best last fall. He had a great game, and a couple of solid/good games, and his personality basically was the equivalent of the siren songs drawing Odysseus to the rocks, once he called him into that window, giving him a "Ive got a golden ticket," willy Wonka moment regardless of the fact that it was neither earned nor deserved in the fullness of time (and lead to a hilarious record, unlikely to ever be equalled of drawing multiple WC Roster Spots with zero minutes played). All of that may be true, but when he was good and had a great fall of '25 (great and above average I should probably say), I said it. Yet here we are and its crickets as usual. Maybe I put some of the fellas on ignore, but man, the inability of people to own their ---- when its just a message board, and shouldn't hurt ya personally is ridiculous. I have been wrong about a bazillion players, I thought Soto was something special Summer of '19. I'm shocked that KDLF literally turned to Iron Pyrite (I thought he sucked at the U20 WC in '19, but I also thought he'd be good in time, nope).....everyone's wrong here all the time, but part of dialogue is owning your ----, having the humility to say it, when you get it wrong, and just the people who rolled over Tillman with a posting Zamboni for years on end, lol, it's just hilarious the lack of owning it.
Huh? If how the other 10 players played against Belgium was the ceiling of their ability than there should be no outrage about how they played. But there is outrage. Because.... we know, and they know, they can play better. They crapped the bed. Everyone knows it. But that happens in sports. The farther we get away from the game the more I think if Trump had never got involved and Flo was still on his red card we would have played 1000% better. The whole situation makes me angry and the team couldn't take the pressure. Which is completely understandable. They were one of the fun teams of the tournament then they became the largest pariah because their president who is probably hated by 90% of the world attempted to influence an already corrupt FIFA to his country's benefit. I think it's understandable that it got to them.
So everyone but Tillman showed up for… reasons. Are we disagreeing? How? Maybe I said ceiling when I meant how they played on the day to a lower level. I completely agree on the circumstances, Trump, etc. Once again however, Tillman came to ********ing play, with grit, heart, aggression, American hustle and everything else he’s been accused of lacking and the others did not show up at all. Other than maybe one dude off the bench. Add mentality to the long list of things Tillman is the best at on this team.
Though how we finished is incredibly disappointing I'm excited about the team going forward. Tillman, Balogun, and Freeman really stepped up.
Pre Gold Cup I was a big Tillman doubter. Afterwards I was still not sure but agreed he might be useful. As the WC approached, I thought he could maybe start sometimes depending on the opponent. He was excellent (except against Belgium when no one was excellent). I glad he’s one of us! Congrats!
If France has Tillman, they would only lose 1:2 to Spain. If England has Tillman, they would tie 2:2 with Argentina and may win in penalty. If Argentina has Tillman, they would tie Spain 1:1 and may win in penalty. If Spain has Tillman, they would win 2:0 in final, and all Spaniards would still have finger nails exist.
🇺🇸 The highest rated midfielder at the World Cup: USMNT’s Malik Tillman pic.twitter.com/ipPGw6lMIi— FotMob (@FotMob) July 22, 2026
Looks like Martinez the new Leverkusen manager is going to play a 4-3-3 scheme. All indications is that the new staff considers Tillman a very key asset moving forward. There are also rumors that they are looking to acquire Sergino Dest to play RB!
One motivating factor for Malik for the upcoming season is that Bayern just paid $60M for Saibari who was Tillman's teammate at PSV. Folks may remember that Bayern has a $40M option on Malik which they did not exercise. Another great piece of business for Earnie Stewart
Would love to see Tillman end up playing as an 8 in a 433 week in, week out. He is already one of our best 8s ever, and really honing his craft as an 8 would make him truly elite.
Well the silly season is starting to heat up: Liverpool are making moves for Malik Tillman at the request of Andoni Iraola: €50 million at stake Liverpool 's interest in Malik Tillman has a specific name behind it: Andoni Iraola . The manager believes the American fits perfectly into the type of team he wants to build at Anfield. Andoni Iraola wants to add a player to Liverpool capable of turning games around from midfield. Malik Tillman isn't a classic attacking midfielder who relies solely on the final pass, but rather a player with stamina, a presence in central areas, and a knack for appearing near the penalty box. That mix of physicality, dribbling and attacking awareness makes him a very attractive option for the Premier League , where pace and intensity are fundamental.[/I] https://www.fichajes.net/noticias/iraola-quiere-centrocampista-50-meu-20260702.html