Pre-match: US v Ecuador, Oct 10 2025

With 26 players you can entertain a few specialist players. they must be at least close to making the roster even without the specialty though. I asked about Berhalter because he played with Pulisic in the recent window and Pulisic was taking free kicks. So if the coach won't let his free kick specialist take free kicks then that guy has to make it on other things. Kind of the same with bringing big Pat. He would possibly be the guy you bring in with Berhalter if you're chasing a goal but if no one can do free kicks then that late game big body specialty is also worthless. It's actually kind of interesting 23 vs 26 because one makes versatile players at the the end of the roster important while 26 allows specialists if a coach is so inclined. I mean in our last WC roster we had a few players who didn't play or played very little. I'd be OK with maybe one or two specialists for desperation goals. If it's back to 23 then there's no way and someone like Musah, who seems to be on the outside at the moment) may see his stock rise since he can play multiple spots.

 

Tessmann might be the best YA story of the season thus far. He doesn't have elite pace but he has made tremendous strides this season WRT his defensive positioning which has made him more than proficient on that side of the ball. Offensively, he has all the tools you would want from a CM... e.g. quick feet, great vision, quality touch etc. His ability to shoot from distance is remarkable to say the least but I have been most impressed with the speed at which he cycles the ball from side to side. He does this by making decisive turns and by getting the ball out of his feet quickly and w/ serious zip. I would like to note a contrast with Adams in this aspect of the game because I think it really matters. I think Adams also does well making the appropriate turns and getting the ball out of his feet... but time and time again he hits his passes w/ such a slow pace that it gives the opponent the extra time it needs to shift and narrow the subsequent passing lanes. Again, I don't think Tessmann has the pace to play a single 6 so he needs to be paired in a double pivot to excel but the talent more than makes up for it. We still need to see him do it consistently at the USMNT level but I am eager to see him get a legit runout to prove his worth.

 

As much as I like Tessman and know him well back to FC Dallas, he is not a free kick taker at the level of McGlynn or Berhalter.

 

Most teams don’t bring someone in for free kicks. They start them and play them as close to 90 minutes as possible.

 

Berhalter has to be good enough to make a World Cup Roster as a field player first and then he has to materially be a better set piece taker than the designated starters.

 

He will be invited back into camp at some point soon and he will have additional opportunities to further the argument he has made thus far.

Dudes on the internet promoting the Badge FC + FIFA ratings argument will have no say in the matter and will likely be disappointed in one way or another because they don’t understand what soccer actually looks like on the field.

 

What kind of squad is Ecuador bringing?

 

On a 26 man roster it’s actually quite feasible to use a roster slot for this. Particularly because if your in a game and down a goal late bringing a very good free kick taker off the bench is a pretty valuable option to have.

 

Since when do they have timeouts in soccer? It’s very much not a waste of a roster space considering there’s historically always been players who never played a minute on a 23 man roster and then you add 3 more roster spots on top of that.

 

No you don't, players can't be a total liability on defense, and in possession, but their free kicks make everything else worth it. For starters, even if Beckham was that trash at every other skill, England could roll out stars, and legit stud complimentary players everywhere to cover up for him. We are starting a 38 year old CB, and Arf at FB, Good or Bad McKennie, maybe, and who the hell else (Agyemang!?!?!), we simply cannot afford to take or play someone who is a total zero at everything that happens on the field except when a player on our side is fouled in the opponents half of the field. Everyone else has to pick up the slack for that scale of trash, it's one thing when you have a healthy Reyna spinning assists left and right, and adding goal contributions constantly, it's another thing entirely when the player adds literally nothing beyond the occasional free kick and some locker room "glue-ness".

 

You really don't see this kind of specialist sub used very often... furthermore, getting more dangerous kicks on set pieces late in the game is usually only half of the scoring equation. I.e. you have to have outfield players on the pitch that can actually be physical enough to get on the end of a kick. The USMNT has been poor to downright atrocious of late getting on the end of FKs/Corners. Moving to 3CBs should help in this regard... but some have been very harsh on CP for his corners but I often scratch my head as to why our players can't get a head on the ball in the box on some of his kicks. I hope that we use McKenzie, Wes and/or Richards to take long throws in this window. We really should do better on set pieces IMO... I know that National Teams don't have a ton of time to work together but set pieces seems like a low-hanging-fruit aspect of the game we could maximize.

 

Frankly, you're better off bringing in a player specializing in being a dangerous header-of-the-ball-into-the-goal. You're more likely to earn a late game CK or tactical foul inside your attacking half than a "well place foul in a dangerous position at the edge of the box" for a "shooting specialist" to slip into the upper V. Better off with a Koller than a Beckham, all else about their game being equal.

 

The idea that Berhalter (or McGlynn) is not good at anything else is a total falsehood propagated by people who are bad faith participants in discussion.

 

i think once the comp rises above the level we saw in the gc theres a slight chance that exacgt same fk to richards wont work three times over a month.

a fk specialist is solidly behind a pk specialist keeper for biggest waste of a roster spot imo. and even if it werent we dont have that luxury. if we are carrying ream, roldan, seb, mcglynn, deciding roles on based on lemons and dominant eyes, ruling out one of our two fb/wbs who can defend at all cause theyre goofy then places are gonna start getting a little tight for guys who, you know, can play soccer.

i keep waiting for people to notice that our best case scenario/masterplan is being an all out attacking side with 3 cbs and one dm defending. mostly noticing that thats insane.

 

Generally though it’s because on most teams the best free kick takers are the star players. Which definitely isn’t the case for us (unless Reyna makes a return).

More generally when you’re losing in a tournament and down a goal it can be very hard to break down a defense that’s sitting back and one of the best options is free kicks. But the problem is not a skillset a lot of our top guys have. And again we’re talking about a 26 man roster. Not everyone is even going to play.

 

Ecuador 🇪🇨 will be missing 3 key players for their game against the USMNT 🇺🇸 on Friday.

Piero Hincapié ❌
Moisés Caicedo ❌
Gonzalo Plata ❌

Will not be with 🇪🇨

— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) October 5, 2025

 

Why not both?

 

The US already has guys who can get on the end of set pieces. Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Tillman, McKennie, Pepi, Balogun, etc, etc.

What we haven’t had (until Berhalter) is a guy who can actually put it in a spot where they can expect to make a play on it.

The moment we did, suddenly Chris Richards is bagging goals and effectuating chances left and right.

 

Tillman had at least 3 FK goals last season irrc, can't remember off-hand how many headers, but the question is always how much do you lose otherwise. And most often that's very game/situation specific. Certainly the roster size allows a luxury player or two, but I'd bet over time, a guy who can score off a ball in the air nets you more points than a FK specialist as a late game sub.

In general, and it's been this way for way too long, we should be more dangerous off all of our set pieces, from CK to 20 yard FKs. It's one part of the USMNT game that has always perplexed me.

 

We were quite good at them through multiple prior eras to the degree that we relied on them quite a bit.

I almost hate to point this out, but we have only been poor/wasteful with them during the Pulisic era. In my opinion, Pulisic taking them has been a part of the reason why. That only underscores the need to have guys who are superior at the skill and can make up for what we lose with our personnel.

Pochettino needs to address this because it’s a problem. It’s a problem that can be solved and that needs to be solved.

 

My recollection of our conversion rate is that we've been underwhelming longer than that - but I haven't really done the math so could be my recollection. I think I complained about our conversion rate and objectively found it to be below average before CP came on the scene, but someone sharper than me will have better stats I"m sure.

 

were we leaving anyone off the rosters to make room for donovan (or boca and mcbride, for that matter)?

eta actually, thats a good example of what you guys are talking about- everyone talks about julian green "taking" donovans wc spot, but in reality it was brad davis.

fk specialist brad davis.

how much help was he?

 

There is absolutely nothing that Nerhalter does better than other, more generally skilled members of the midfield pool.

 

Donovan should have been on that team over a number of people but Davis did actually play during the World Cup whereas you had two field players who didn’t at all (Chandler and Diskerud).

 

Though who are the guys dangerous at the end of a free kick who we’ve been leaving off rosters?