Pre-match: US v Ecuador, Oct 10 2025

You are not correcting anything. The facts are clear and nothing you can say or do will change them. LD was not chosen, will not be chosen, and will never be chosen for WC2014. Bruce Arena gave us the best insights after conversations with JK over 6 months prior to the roster announcements.

Stew in it all you want.

Poch will likely make similar decisions and ...

 

The raw data is sourced from FotMob

Player	Turkiye	SUI	T&T	KSA	Haiti	CR	Guat	Mexico	Total	Average
Tillman	8 o 16	1 o 2	5 o 8	8 o 12	10 o 15	12 o 21	10 of 16	8 o 20	62 o 110	8 o 14
Freeman	6 o 12	dnp	10 o 14	4 o 7	8 o 12	9 o 12	4 o 8	6 o 11	47 o 76	7 o 11
Agyemang	3 o 14	5 o 8	3 o 9	4 o 11	4 o 8	6 o 13	5 o 9	9 o 15	39 o 87	5 o 11
Berhalter	dnp	3 o 7	1 o 10	4 o 7	dnp	2 o 7	7 o 15	4 o 11	21 o 57	3 o 9
Arfsten	2 o 6	6 o 8	8 o 12	8 o 13	dnp	5 o 9	3 o 5	5 o 6	37 o 59	5 o 8
Sullivan	0 o 4	2 o 5	dnp	dnp	7 o 11	dnp	dnp	dnp	9 o 20	3 o 7
Richards	4 o 7	dnp	7 o 9	3 o 3	0 o 5	7 o 8	3 o 4	4 o 6	28 o 42	4 o 6
Luna	3 o 7	3 o 5	3 o 4	2 o 7	0 o 3	3 o 9	3 o 5	2 o 10	19 o 50	2 o 6
LDLT	3 o 5	dnp	2 o 5	0 o 5	3 o 4	5 o 9	0 o 4	3 o 3	16 o 35	2 o 5
Adams	2 o 4	dnp	dnp	2 o 2	1 o 2	4 o 10	2 o 6	2 o 4	13 o 30	2 o 5
BA	dnp	0 o 4	2 o 2	2 o 3	4 o 8	dnp	2 o 6	2 o 2	12 o 25	2 o 4
Ream	dnp	1 o 3	2 o 2	3 o 4	2 o 3	1 o 2	5 o 5	2 o 2	16 o 21	2 o 3
Cardoso	1 o 4	2 o 6	dnp	0 o 1	0 o 0	dnp	dnp	dnp	3 o 11	1 o 3
McGlynn	3 o 6	dnp	2 o 2	1 o 1	0 o 0	0 o 0	2 o 3	1 o 1	9 o 13	1 o 2
Haji	0 o 5	dnp	1 o 2	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp	1 o 7
Downs	dnp	0 o 0	dnp	2 o 2	dnp	0 o 1	1 o 2	0 o 0
White	1 o 1	dnp	dnp	dnp	0 o 2	1 o 2	dnp	dnp
Harriel	0 o 2	8 o 12	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp
McKenzie	3 o 4	3 o 4	0 o 0	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp
Zim	dnp	3 o 4	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp	2 o 2	dnp
Miles	0 o 2	dnp	0 o 1	0 o 1	dnp	dnp	dnp	dnp
Tolkin	dnp	2 o 5	dnp	dnp	5 o 11	0 o 0	0 o 0	0 o 1
Paxten	dnp	1 o 1	0 o 0	dnp	1 o 2	dnp	dnp	dnp

 

With the outlier removed, the average is 4/9.

Looking at those numbers, he had the least success in the opening game of the tournament (it was a wild game) and had his most success in the elimination game against Guatemala, where I believe he caused a turnover around midfield on the touch line and sprung an attack that led to a goal by splitting two guys and getting off a key pass.

 

McKennie was an astonishing 3/21 in duels in the most recent Nations League round, and he's considered a first XI kind of player.

Berhalter at least looks to have been improving in his duel winning since the GC.

 

I think you and I have both noted, as well, how the duels stat really isn't what people think it is. What a good success rate or what can be beneficial to the team varies greatly by type of duel, and there are plenty of lost duels that do exactly what people want -- slow down or stop an attack to the point of allowing other defensive players to recover without winning the ball.

Either way, and I know you aren't doing this, duels are not a great representation of defense as a whole -- most of defense is positioning -- and evenso the stats aren't spectacular for understanding something like on ball defense.

In McKennie's case, it's representative of subpar work on his part. Berhalter's not a very good defender, and he's not going to be great in duels (especially aerial ones), but this stat isn't the sort of all encompassing thing certain posters make it out to be.

Defensive stats in soccer just kind of suck. Most sports, really.

 

Weston and many others did not play well at the Nations League, duels were one tangible piece of data that confirms that fact.

 

I don't know what any of that duals metric can mean from the Nations League.
Against Panama our central midfield dominated so much that the opposition could barely get out of their own half. So what are we even talking about? We fans were demanding that we take one of Tessmann, McKennie, Adams off and put somebody more attack-minded on the field.

 

Thinking some more of what I would want to get out of this window, if I'm Poch:

• GK: I wouldn't invest any time in anyone not named Freese or Turner right now. No one else has shown anything at club that excites me to think that they could outplay Freese's steady play except if Turner returns to MLS form.
• Defense: Who can be CB3?
• Defense: Can we fix the press in a manner other than using a whole CM to run the entire field always?
• Defense: Can our forward and wide players provide enough on ball pressure or show enough discipline to play a more passive low block? You've got to either cram in or pressure the passer -- last window's decisions are never going to cut it.
• Defense: Do we need to double pivot with Tyler out? Who is it?
• Ball Progression: Is Tessman active enough / good enough to play a primary role? Is there a CB3 to balance us?
• Is the Old McKennie back? Where's his best spot for us? Where's his best spot with Dest back? Can we use him in ball progression or should we flip him and Tillman more often? Will that happen anyway?
• Simply get Pulisic, Tillman and Balogun reps together. Backup strikers will get time later in game, but this should be two starts for those three.
• Get both McKennie and Weah time at RWB to see how they play.

 

If you want to go into imagination and fantasies involving Klinsmann that’s your business.

 

This is the issue with Berhalter. He is looking good with Vancouver, but not very good at all during the recent NT callup.

 

Meh. We say that about players all the time................until they have the breakout game.
Malik Tillman is a recent example. "He only plays well for PSV, and doesn't look good for the USMNT!!!"

Then he does, and that talk seems to stop.

Central midfield is crowded. We don't have Adams, Johnny, Musah, etc. at this camp either.

 

In his most recent callup, against Korea, Berhalter's numbers included:

42/50 passing
1 key pass
3/6 ground duels
1/0 fouls/fouled
4 recoveries

SofaScore(7.0)3rd
Fotmob(6.5)8th

 

We need ripped shirt against Mexico without the red card McKennie.

 

Just a quick check in ... people know Berhalter isn't in this camp, right? Right?

Also should probably check in and note that Jurgen Klinsmann hasn't been coach for coming up on a decade.

 

Oh come the F on.

 

I usually do this before matches when lineups are official but it appears Ecuador has already announced their starting XI. If this is indeed accurate, I'll copy and paste it tomorrow or edit if needed, but this seems to be what they're rolling with.

Goalkeeper: Galindez - 38 year old Argentina native who became a naturalized citizen after spending 9 seasons in Ecuador's top flight. He's back in Argentina though where he starts for Huracan and is teammates with Matko Milijevic. He was the backup in the early part of the cycle but got the starting job when Ecuador made a coaching change after The Copa America.

LWB: Estupinan - Spent 3 seasons in La Liga with Villarreal and Osasuna, 3 seasons in the Premier League with Brighton, and joined Pulisic at AC Milan this summer where he's started every match except for the last one due to a red card suspension

CB: Ordonez - 21 year old who left Ecuador in 2022 to join Club Brugge in Belgium where he's a starter. He only has 10 caps, but started their last 8 World Cup Qualifiers

CB: Torres - 28 year old who played 126 Liga MX matches for Santos Laguna before joining Corinthians last January. He was recently benched there and doesn't appear to have played since August 27th and hasn't started since August 3rd. This would be his first National Team start since The March Window and he's only played 23 minutes in their last 5 matches

CB: Pacho - 23 year old who's among the best CB's in the world, and starts for PSG. Outside of 3 friendlies he didn't play in, he's played every single minute for Ecuador since Qatar (he did go to Qatar but didn't see the field)

RWB: Preciado - 27 year old who left Genk for Sparta Prague in 2023. He's had injury issues in the early part of the season and much of last season, but is normally a starter for both Club and Country. He played every minute at The Copa America

CM: Franco - Starter for Altletico Mineiro in Brazil, he did spend a few months on loan with Charlotte FC back in the early part of 2022. He's started 11 of Ecuador's last 13 qualifiers and all 4 matches at The Copa America

CM: Alcivar - Another guy who spent The 2022 season with Charlotte FC. He's back home in Ecuador with Independiente del Valle. This would be only his 5th cap and 2nd ever start for Ecuador. His only minutes in World Cup Qualifying came after Ecuador had already clinched a spot

LW: Valencia - 101st cap for the 35 year old who scored 3 of Ecuador's 4 World Cup goals in Qatar. His career has taken him to Pachuca, West Ham, Everton, Tigres, Fenerbahce, and Internacional. He just rejoined Pachuca in Mexico less than a month ago.

RW: Vite - Played over 100 games for The Whitecaps from 2021 to 2025 but went down to Mexico to join Pumas in July. He was only ever called up once for Ecuador prior to last year, but has been a national team regular since they made their coaching change last summer, though it's usually in a more defensive midfielder role. Their normal starter Plata doesn't appear to be completely healthy

Striker: Angulo - 22 year old who starts for Anderlecht in Belgium. He had less than 2 hours of National Team experience before this summer, but he was called up to Ecuador's last 2 camps and started all 4 matches. He's never scored a goal for the national team

 

That is typical of 2nd/3rd tier league players all across the planet.

Berhalter is a great striker of a dead ball and a good striker from the run of play. He is also a very hard worker, disciplined, and tactically very sound. Is it enough, I don't think so.

Berhalter could be this cycle's Kellyn Acosta but there are just better midfield candidates than last cycle. Last cycle we had MMA and then a sharp drop-off to Acosta, LDLT, and Roldan.

This cycle we still have prime MMA but now have added Tillman and Cardoso along with Sands, Tessmann, and Morris before we get to the sharp drop-off to Roldan, Berhalter, and McGlynn.

 

Cardoso hasn't been able to duplicate his La Liga performances with the US. The adjustment takes time, no matter the league level.

 

If that lineup is accurate, that's 9 of the 11 players with the most minutes in qualifying for Ecuador this cycle. (Source) Caceido and Hincapie are the other two.

 

Is this steep drop off between Sands and Morris to Roldan, Berhalter, and McGlynn a badge FC thing, or are you trying to tell people who actual watch and watched MLS games that those two were even incrementally better when they all played in the same league…… and Cardoso has definitely been at another level… when he’s not turning the ball over in our defensive third in dangerous spots, he’s banking the ball off forwards in front of our goal.

 

Source?

 

We can’t say for sure until we go back in time and wait for it to not happen. Only then will we know.

But first we have to go kill baby Hitler.

 

Not surprised about Jedi. .Hopefully nothing standing in the way of returning to full fitness.

 

It's the only way to keep Poch from naming Hitler to the 2026 WC squad over Donovan.