Maybe Reyna starts for the somewhat nearby New Jersey contingent along with Scally. Add in Trusty, McKenzie, Brendo and Freese for the Philly Union contingent. What the heck, it is a friendly and we are minus beaucoup des starters.
Looks like Poch and Ream thinks no player is safe. Given who speaks for the group I guess Ream is safe? https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...2026-mauricio-pochettino-roster-pulisic-adams
Ream is the captain. Has been the captain for 15 of Poch's 19 games. He'll very likely be the captain tonight. We don't have this "captain by committee" thing that we had under Berhalter. So yes, as crazy as it might be to say.................Ream is arguably the most safe player on the roster. What role he plays is a different discussion. Maybe there aren't many of us left from when Sampson dropped captain John Harkes. The huge mess that created and how it split the locker room. [We learned later that part of the issue was Harkes sleeping with a teammate's wife.] Chemistry and locker room dynamic is a real thing. There's a reason that Tim Ream is being put out there to be the spokesperson for the team. He's the leader. I do think we're basically at a point when Tim Ream is undroppable from the squad. For better or worse. Till death do us part.
Going all the way back to September 2023 (the beginning of Berhalter 2.0 against Uzbekistan)........................Tim Ream has played in 27 of the USMNT's 36 games. And, by the way, he's been on the gameday roster for 35 of those last 36 games. The only gameday roster Tim Ream hasn't been on was the January 2024 camp game against Slovenia, which he wouldn't have been on (as he was still at Fulham). Its a strange, strange thing for somebody to think Tim Ream won't be starting at least one of the two games in this window. Its an even more delusional thing for somebody to believe Tim Ream won't be on the World Cup roster. He's as much of a lock as there is. Is that what I want? Not necessarily. But what team is somebody watching if they don't think Tim Ream is a lock for the roster???? He's the captain.
There’s still a 50 percent chance Ream gets injured in first two months of next MLS season. The body will eventually break down. He’s also losing speed and nimbleness at an accelerating rate. I also imagine he will push himself in 2026 preseason to be ready.
Looking back, if Ream had retired from national team duty after 2022, would we have been better off? Could have spent last four years developing our other defenders.
We don't have any World Cup qualifiers this cycle. Outside of the 2024 Copa America, we haven't really had any games this cycle that would cause a USMNT manager to feel much pressure to get results at any cost. If the US managers we've had this cycle thought starting other defenders over Ream would benefit us (and those defenders) more in the long run, we "could have spent last four years developing our other defenders" either way. There was really nothing preventing that from happening.
except we had five! managers this cycle - Hudson, BJ, Berhalter, Varas, then Poch. None of them were thinking long term.
Another way to look at it is to ask yourself which center backs in the pool are most likely to be shown up by World Cup level talent. Ream gets plus points for savvy and experience, and minus points for quickness and pace. I guess it all depends on which of those attributes you think is most likely to lead to a center back getting shown up.
Without Ream this cycle, the following players would have seen more playing time (for better or worse): McKenzie, Trusty, Robinson, Miazga, Blackmon, Scally (as CB), Maloney (as CB), Zimmerman, and CCV. But whoever played may have gotten better.
Players don't improve by paying for their countries, they improve by playing and training at their clubs. So unless Ream prevented them from getting club minutes, this is a hugely overblown (and likely incorrect) suggestion.
Yeah - like it or not it's not Ream's fault he's better with his walker than those chasing him are. We all recognize he's not great but he just has to be faster than the slowest guy to not be eaten by the lion.
Landon’s acting chops are pretty bad, although I like the delivery of “I’m the captain.” But he’s the love child of Meryl Streep and Laurence Olivier compared to Harden.