Well, if no one else is gonna do it, I will. If I am breaking protocalls of some sort, I apologize. Last tune up before the big dance. Everyone played last game except for Feeese, Wright, the just-married Aaronson, and hobbled Richards. I'd assume the first 3 all play in this one. Will Poch run out his probable XI in this one for the first time? Or hold his cards close to his vest and concentrate on keeping the presumed starters fresh and healthy? Is this another 11 sub game? Six? My guess at the preferred XI would be Freese, Freeman, Richards (if healthy, if not, McKenzie), Ream, Jedi; Adams, Tillman, McKennie, Dest, Balogun, and Pulisic. Though I think Turner has been playing better than Freese of late, IDK if Poch makes a switch this late. Dest or Weah at RW may still be an open question. But the big one is the CM trio. Not just who the third is with Adams & McKennie, but how they set up? if it is Berhalter it seens obvious. But Tillman or Reyna would mean the shape is cloudier. How will the Germans approach it? Starters? Reserves? Mix? I'd be stunned if starters go more than 45 this close to the dance. Maybe in goal. But I have been wrong before. Have at it.
I really hope that's what we see and is Poch's preferred lineup. I worry he'll monkey with it as overly confident coaches tend to do, overthinking the obvious.
I think we see the starting XI for 45 minutes and then sub like crazy. I'm just not sure what the starting XI is. --I think Pulisic, A. Robinson, Adams, Dest, and Freeman are in it for sure. --It feels a little weird to put Freeman with that group, but based on personnel available, his actual play, and Pochettino's usage of him, it seems right. What a meteoric rise for him over the last year. --I think it's probably an 80% chance Balogun is the starting forward, but Pepi gave Pochettino something to think about with his performance against Senegal. --Keeper is a closer call. I'd say it's maybe 60/40 in Freese's favor. Freese has been the better and more frequently used option during Pochettino's tenure, but I feel like Turner's ceiling is higher and has a better chance of stealing a game for us. --Presumably, Richards will be out again, so it will probably be two of Ream, McKenzie, and Trusty at CB. I'm not sure which two. I'd probably give the nod to Ream and McKenzie. --At CM, Adams has to start given the options available, but who knows who gets paired with him at this point. I'd probably go with Tillman and McKennie, but it seems like Pochettino does genuinely really likes Berhalter and is more willing than people here to entertain the idea of Reyna as a starter.
I want to see as close to our starting XI for the World Cup as possible. Turner over Freese as my starter. He has the experience and I trust him more. Tilman alongside Adams at defensive mid. No Berhalter/Roldan please. Trusty over Ream at left center back. Younger and fitter. McKennie next to Pulisic as attacking mid. Balogun over Pepi at striker. Have then play a half, then bring on the subs. -------------Turner----------- ---Freeman--McKenzie--Trusty-- --------Adams----Tilman--------- Dest--------------------------------Jedi --------McKennie---Pulisic--------- ------------Balogun---------------
This match should provide a preview of the tactics we will use in games against a superior opponent. We won't be pushing forward as aggressively as we did against Senegal. I'm expecting an MTA midfield.
according to how the team shape looked to me against senegal.... __________freese__________ _freeman_mckenzie_trusty___ __________adams_________ ____mckennie__tillman___jedi weah______________puli____ __________balo____________ i dont know what poch is doing. the wings can still collapse, wes (or tillman) could drop "level" with adams but i think wes makes sense in the area gio played to be cover for freeman? maybe? i think selections will be close(r) to our best 11ish (hence freese, trusty, and tillman). as always pepi should but poch is the manager some people may think its exciting not knowing what the hell we are going to do, even at the basic level of how we are going to setup/play but it just bums me out. eta: by wes covering for freeman i dont mean dropping into his spot when freeman pushes up, i meant more sliding out and playing as a nominal wb when needed- based on dest not coming back at all. and it should really be obvious mckenzie is just keepings richards' spot warm.
For me the only possible reason to not go with your starting XI, and normal subs after the hour is to avoid injuries. Otherwise, it should just be the XI, just like it should have been on Sunday. I don't understand what Poch is doing in this sense, and agree w/Deuce over on the MIB podcast that this window (and hell, March as well, and probably November, and possibly October) should have been about integrating the starters and the first subs off the bench for differing game state situations....makes you more familiar with one another and the most likely dudes to be playing in particular position groups.....We're out of time, and absolutely have to run out the First XI. I'm pretty confident at this point that it's Dest and Freeman on that right side, and indeed that's amazing. Just 10 month's ago I thought I was engaging in a hot take in suggesting that Freeman had a legit chance to make this roster, there was way too much upside volatility and trust from Poch for it to seem a stretch that Freeman could make the team, but I still thought it was somewhere along the lines of 20-40% chance just to make the roster. I never even considered he could start, and yet here we are, I would love to see Antonio Freeman interviewed about all this, thirty years ago that dude was winning a super bowl scoring TD's from Favre passes, making a couple of pro bowls, and now, his son is going to play in a WC. Just amazing, all of our soccer dreams about athletes falling in love with the sport playing out....I'm quite surprised we haven't seen media bits about the development because it's the ultimate in classic lazy soccer story telling, "the if our best athletes played soccer," sorta thing, and that's what Alex is, the son of an elite NFL WR. Dest at RW makes our entire right side something that Paraguay, Australia, Turkey and indeed most teams, are unlikely to see at this level. Freeman is just 21 years old, if he continues to develop, he'll have 4 world cups potentially in his career!.
Like others, I'd like to see our "starting lineup" against Germany, but I'm not sure Pochettino HAS a starting lineup yet. I don't think it's just a matter of quality; I think it's a matter of fit within our players AND the choice between offense and defense. Thoughts that various people have brought up over the last few days that seem right to me: Pepi and Pulisic played extremely well togethers. Reyna and Balogun have a great connection previously; all the guys on Sunday with Balo seemed to work well with him. Christian's a scorer and Pepi fed that; Balo's a scorer and guys like McKennie and Reyna feed that. Does that change the lineup? Someone made an interesting point that Christian and Jedi are pretty turnover prone but Reyna and Dest are not. Wes and Weah are turnover prone but Tillman and Arfsten are not. Is there something to balancing the attack with a certain level of possession and a certain level of risk taking? The second half frontline was just so much better defensively. Yes, Jedi is better than Max, but Tillman-Balo-Wes-Weah is better than Pulisic-Pepi-Reyna-Dest even with Pepi's surprisingly good defense. Against teams sitting back, that may not matter ... against better teams perhaps we go with more of the defenders? Toss in that I don't expect Berhalter or Roldan to start, so someone should slide back -- I think it's going to be Tillman now but hell if I know. Do we see this this game? Do we wait for Turkey? I don't know how that works out. Some of it may be overblown (the Pepi-Christian thing seems perhaps tenuous). But some is clearly just reality (the defense) and the possession stuff makes sense to me on some level but it's a bit odd that it's not left and right balanced. Still, could we see a situation where someone sits simply because starting too many guy who don't defend or too many guys who lose the ball isn't preferred? Add in that Wright and Aaronson probably get minutes -- do they start just for the reps? And of course, who is the keeper?
Actually, given out group, there may not be a set starting lineup. Vs Paraguay, they can attack, but need to have defenders who can defend 1v1 against quality attackers. Vs Australia, I feel the team can play much more on the front foot and need mid-field and defenders who can help to suffocate them and keep more of the ball in their half. Vs Turkey, the lineup will most likely be more defensive minded all around, with more counter-attacking players. Probably not the same 11 each time, the US just isn't to the point where they can roll out their 'best' 11 and tell the other team to deal with it.
I think there is a misnomer on here concerning our "Starting XI". Ya'll seem to want our "Starting XI" against Germany as it somehow pertains to our next matches and I don't think that is correct. The lineup I would send out against Germany and the tactics is different than the one I would send out against Paraguay and Australia. And that is a good thing. In fact its a very good thing. Having the ability to adjust your formation/tactics/players based upon the opponent is something we have wanted for years. Now we have it or at least much moreso than historically. Embrace it and don't get too hung up on the "Starting XI." Now if you want to send put our best lineup out there for say an expected R16 match then great I would agree with that. But Saturday I would not expect to see the same lineup as next Friday.
Unfortunately, a paid article from backheeled on the formation. Good, but perhaps one I would have made free. https://www.backheeled.com/pochettino-usmnt-tactics-2026-world-cup-formation-analysis-shape/
Any chance you could provide us with a 'Readers Digest' summary (though you are probably not old enough to understand the reference)?
I am old enough, actually! We never had one, but they were all over my grandma's house. Long and short, the vast majority of the time we defend in a 442 and attack in a 325, with the RB sliding into the back three. We've only played a true 3/5 ATB a couple of times -- South Korea and Japan, to name two -- where we defended in a back five. He did highlight there were times Dest slid back against Senegal but it was more on an ad hoc basis based on attack than the standard. In March (and a couple of other times), we played the 325 in attack but played a more attacking RB (Weah in March) and slid one of the CBs back in between the two CBs. In March, it was Tessman most of the time against Belgium. It went very poorly across the board. In part because Tessman was not very good, in part because if that player is not very good it's tougher to distribute and in part because it's much harder to rotate from the 442 defense to the 325 attack. The only thing he doesn't really get into that I would have would be that there's been varied levels of RB/RCB attacking. Against Paraguay and Uruguay, our "RCB" was forward a lot; I think the same was true against Senegal. He also runs through pros and cons. The pros include being able to push CP up higher closer to attack and the same with Dest (and not having to have him defend). Really helps highlight the strengths of Jedi, Freeman, Dest and CP, basically. The big con highlighted is simply the pressure on Jedi -- it's a long way to run. While he's very good at it, it still creates space behind and he's still going to have to run a lot. Likewise if Freeman comes forward. Also noted that there's no real Jedi replacement in this model -- Max isn't the guy to do that level of defense. And doesn't get into it, but does imply that if Freeman is not in, it doesn't have the same impact. It's a fairly simple article, but it's the clearest I've seen.
Great post. And even teams that are in the "this us our XI, deal with it" bucket won't want to run those guys into the ground over 6-8 matches. There may be some pre-rotation at group, especially with 8 of 12 3rd place teams advancing. Wether it is the first game 2nd game, or third game, or a player or two in all 3, I'd expect some variation from us and nearly everyone else. Whether it is rest, injury/yellow prevention, tactics/opponent, pre-rotation in group rather than KOs, whatever. The real minnows might be the most likeliest to trot out the same XI three times in a row. If you are Curacao, there is most likely no game #4. Might as well shoot your shot with the best you got.
Love this lineup. It keeps the right side Freeman Dest team. It puts a surer, faster defender in Ream’s place. I’d be just as happy with Pepi instead of Balogun or Reyna for McKennie (+ McKennie for Tillman).
Oh, I don' t agree. IMO Weah has a cannon from range and puts in great crosses, whereas Dest is more a right sided Pulisic -- a general, close control attacking problem for the defense.
well, dont ask for a comparison between the two in any aspect of the game then, cause you arent gonna like my answer.
In my head, the wide guys who could conceiveably play FB/WB are all a bit different. Jedi, Freeman, and Scally are the best defenders. They are the ones I'd trust most as true FBs in a back 4. Scally is much more of a stay at home FB/not as good going forward as the other two. Freeman is 6'2" and the most athletic. Jedi 6'0" and a very good athlete. Scally 6'0" and prerty scappy. In a fluid RCB/LCB & FB role, Freeman & Scally are preferred. You might could do it with Jefi on the left. In a straight 3 atb, you probably want a true CB. Freeman/Scally the only FB types I'd even try it with. Jedi is the best suited of the 3 to play WB. Freeman is fully capable in that role, but still a tad raw in possession. Scally can do the defense. But the other options are better offensively as a WB. Jedi is left only. Freeman is right only. Scally is mostly right but has played both sides, so 2 deep on either side in this role. Dest, Arfsten, and Weah, for my money, are WB/wide mids/or even WFs. Yeah, you can put them at FB, but the defense is gonna be iffy. Weah has good size and hustle and is athletic, but has F insticts at times. That was his original spot. Ditto Arfsten. Trickier on the ball, two footed, less athletic. Dest is smaller, the best of the 3 creatively and passing. But he defends like a wide midfielder at FB. The only time I'd want any of these 3 at FB is late on needing a goal or if the other team has parked the bus. And absolutely no way at OCB. All 3 can play either side. Arfsten most adeptly, Weah least. All 3 would thrive at WB, though I might hesitate to play two at a time unless we need a goal. If I had to rate each guy at each spot (outside CB in a back 3, FB, WB, wide mid, wide forward) I'd go: OCB: Freeman, Scally, Jedi. FB: Jedi, Freeman, Scally, Dest, Arfsten, Weah. WB: Dest, Jedi, Arfsten, Weah, Freeman, Scally. (Jedi, Freeman, Scally best on D, Dest, Arfsten, & Weah on O). I'd pick one from each rather than 2 from 1 to start. 2 from the iffensive bucket when we need a goal, two from the decensive bucket if parking the bus. WM: Dest, Weah, Arfsten. WF: Weah, Dest, Arfsten. I get taking 6 of these types. You probably have 3 of them on the field at any given time (though it could be 2 or even 4). 3 starters + 3 backups = 6.
Agree, though I probably give guys a little more credit across the board in what they can do. There's differing levels of risk than some kind of strict line. I think it's pretty apparent what you'd do in 95% of situations except what do you do if Jedi is out of the game. There's lots of options: Play Arfsten and simply cover better for him via instruction Play Arfsten and switch to a true 3 ATB Play Arfsten and flip the formation so that the LB is the LCB (and someone like Scally there). This doesn't make a lot of sense with Pulisic as the LW but could make a lot more sense if we've replaced him with someone like Tillman. You could also do this and play Zendejas here as well. Play a right footed player in the Jedi role -- either McKennie, Weah or Scally. The answer is clearly going to be situational. I think Max is stronger than most offensively, but both by athleticism and positioning, he's a clear risk, especially with Ream behind him. I think this last game answered what we're going to do if Freeman is not available and want to play the Fluid 4. Scally played very well defensively and while he's not much offensively, I don't think going with a true 3rd CB makes a lot of sense -- it actually probably puts more pressure on Dest/Weah to be two way. There's also the chance that Poch really wants to play with two attacking fullbacks ... but I think Belgium might have killed that. Who in this group is going to drop in between the CBs and pass? I don't see it, and I don't see us getting rid of the 3 ATB in the build up. I think this also probably cements Ream in -- if Adams was a far better passer, we might see him drop in between Richards and Trusty, but I suspect he wants a plus passer back there.
For this reason I would consider using an actual 3/5 ATB in a 541 system. At training today Tyler didn’t fully participate and did individual stuff because of load management. Due to that maybe Weah or Dest spend time at RM and Freeman plays RWB so that Malik and Wes cover more CM minutes. I would also play Ream at CCB.
There’s no need to risk injury to our most indispensable players. Maybe Poch should consider giving Berhalter a start at DM, as well as Wright and Aaronson. Adams, Pepi, Balogun and Pulisic can watch and see how the game develops in the first half. The second half can be dedicated to trying different combinations.
PSV played Tillman as the 6 in a couple matches where they had injuries. With the options available, he might be the best choice if Adams can't go.