Pre-match: US v South Korea, Sept 6 2025

I think you're missing my point, the only reason guys should be left out is because better soccer players have been called into the team, not for club considerations.

And I personally think it's more important to get this team together, playing well, against decent competition, than any other considerations whether players or clubs.

 

The problem is, his role was minuscule compared to Obed Vargas.

 

“We don't have too much time until the World Cup,” #USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino said ahead of Saturday’s friendly against South Korea. But “the main group is starting to understand what we want.” ⁦@FOXSoccer⁩ : https://t.co/PHYguFab1L

— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) September 6, 2025

“We don't have too much time until the World Cup,” #USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino said ahead of Saturday’s friendly against South Korea. But “the main group is starting to understand what we want.” ⁦@FOXSoccer⁩ : https://t.co/PHYguFab1L

— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) September 6, 2025

im confused- i thought there was no a team/b team? whats this "main group" talk?

and man, all that talk about the approach to friendlies being no different than "real" matches seems like such a long time ago...

 

Because there's so little time to get the core to play the way that he wants them to play. And build some positive cohesion, momentum. There just isn't enough time for his approach. We have only 3 "full" windows after this. That's what I'm saying.

 

Dest created the Pulisic goal that got us through the group stage.

 

This is the one thing that I'm genuinely excited about this window. (Well, and getting Dest back on the pitch. We've missed him for much too long.)

 

Pochettino said that they have wanted to see Roldan for awhile and specifically mentioned his aggression (which is an indicator of effort).

 

For stretches in our B team final against Mexico, we looked rather sharp (if lacking in top-end talent). I remember at one point observing that all 11 starters began the match in the early minutes understanding our rotations completely, and executing them. That gave me hope, and I credited Poch with getting them all to understand it collectively.

Which is part of why this unnecessary dicking around with the roster is pissing me off. I mean, I get that some of it is necessary because of some guys being half-fit or having just moved clubs, and deferring to clubs in those circumstances aren't really for the sake of the club but the player in a critical season for them. But he's still dicking around too much at this point. The time for dicking around ended in the Gold Cup, IMO, and a lot of savvy soccer guys agree with me (appeals to authority and popularity being logical fallacies, granted).

He CAN coach our top end players effectively, I believe, but he has to do so. (And they have to be of a mind for it. If Weston can't motivate himself to give a toss about a World Cup at home coached by Pochettino and playing alongside Pulisic and Tyler Adams and Sergino Dest and Jedi Robinson... then I don't know what to say.)

 

One of the good things about Pochettino is that he understands the show pony players and knows good and bad mentalities. He has seen bad mentalities in the USMNT, and has called them out in public without mentioning their names. Half of the things Pochettino (and Klinsmann if you remember) said in public have had something to do with improving the mentality of US players.

Weston, who has had a great club career, has appeared to be mentally checked out of national team games since Qatar, and his performance shows. Whatever the reasons are don’t matter.

Somehow, Pochettino got Malik Tillman to take a big leap in his career. Coaching him to give 90 minutes of gritty performance was a major success for Pochettino that will likely bear fruit in the World Cup. Tillman and Dest were very effective as teammates at PSV, and Dest is having a great year so far. Malik and Dest are looking like two of the US’ key contributors, along with Pulisic. Those three will likely have the biggest determining contributions of anyone else in the squad, even more so than Antonee, Adams, Weah, etc. Only one of them has had extended time with Pochettino. Hopefully we start to see the other two executing well beginning tomorrow.

 

When a young player progresses it is probably because they are young and working hard. I wouldn’t necessarily ascribe it to some far away manager.

 

From the call ups, a first XI for Korea could include Weah, Pulisic, Balogun, Adams, Ream, Richards, Dest, and Freese. That same 8 could be starters in a perfectly reasonable World Cup first XI. In other words, Poch has much of 'the main group' in for this camp. Of those missing, Of missing, the recently recovered Jedi would get the start at LB. Tillman who had a month with the team at GC would start at CAM. The '8' position is up in the air.

Candidates for the box-to-box role could include Musah, McKennie, Berhalter, Torre, Roldan, PAaronson, Morris.

After that, depth needs to be found.

 

No room at the inn for Johnny Cardoso? Or Tessmann? What limits are you setting, that you have named seven MFs ahead of them? That those two are only suitable (if at all) to backup Adams?

 

I see them as 6s. I suppose Poch could play with dual sixes. The 6's include Adams, Sands, Johnny, and Tessman.

 

Oh, we realize it, it just terrifies us…

With one or 2 exceptions.

 

POLL: How many here personally believe that our chances of playing well at WC 26 are improved by …

1 - Berhalter or Luna > McKennie, Reyna or Musah on the depth chart for any version of a #8 or #10
2 - Any MLS midfielder > Tessman, Johnny, or A. Morris on the depth chart for any version of a #6

I am not asking if Poch should be afforded discretion or about sending messages or rewarding club performance or the uncertain future blah blah blah. I just want to know what your individual opinion is on these precise questions right now.

 

Depends on form nine months out. I expect McKennie, Musah, and (to a slightly lesser degree) Reyna to be the starters we expect, but I wouldn’t say it’s guaranteed given their last year plus of form for the national team.

 

all due respect but those questions are anything but precise (ie do you like things like the lion king and quesadillas?).

i think seb is a couple of injuries/absences from making a first team roster, while luna is a very safe bet (as both a 10 and lm). an injury is the only reason mckennie shouldnt be, while reyna is fully in limbo and i dont think theres a very strong argument for musah as even the proverbial 26th man at this point.

i can answer the second though- i think morris and cardoso (in that order for me) give us a better chance than any mls-based 6 (by leaps and freaking bounds). i dont think tesserman is really suited to play a lone 6...and id rather johnny not, either.

i think a lone 6 is a very bad idea for us, period. very situationally maybe, in the same way a 10 isnt completely off the table- but it shouldnt be our first or second option, either.

i think a 6 (adams/morris), a defensive 8 (mckennie/cardoso) behind a balanced 8 (tillman/reyna) would be our ideal setup in a vacuum. obviously a whole lot will have to go right for reyna to get back into the mix, and i would squeeze luna into that profile presently in the sense that he will work his ass off.

morris could play the d8 role, thats where tesserman fits for me, wes can move up to balanced 8. thats about where seb comes into consideration (depthwise, d8 only) and musah could work his way back in. i think seb improving to a pretty substantial degree in both passing and tackling and musah getting back to even 80% of his peak have them neck and neck. taking pseudo right mid duties off their plate would go a long way too, for both of them.

and sorry, i addressed your questions as directly as i could before being me.

 

Good question. I could imagine Luna ahead of Reyna because it’s possible Reyna will not return to form.

For a solo 6, none of those guys give me comfort, but unless Williamson suddenly regains his pre injury form I think I’d take Sands ahead of anyone in MLS (although I wish we’d seen more of Eneli) and take the others you mention in a dual 6/8 before the MLS options.

Mostly, Adams is irreplaceable with a single person and I hope Poch is ready with a system change if he’s out.

 

Meh, that play was designed supposedly and it was McKennie-Dest-Pulisic. All of them executed beautifully right? That pass from McKennie was perfect.

 

I suppose I left it ambiguous, but I don't think any coach has ever chosen players based on their TM valuation. However, that valuation is generally the highest for our top players playing in Europe. So that's what I'm talking about (from admittedly a slightly roundabout way).

I'm not confusing high work rate with effort. I specifically noted "not moving on throw-ins" and "not making yourself available to receive a pass". If those things count as "high workrate" in your book, well, they sure don't in mine--they are basic parts of playing the game. It got really bad late in the Berhalter tenure, and continued with the A team early in the Poch tenure. The Gold Cup team was active, even if some of the individual players aren't as good as others who could be selected.

 

I get it. Your initial post was far from clear on that, though, so that's why we have the back and forth. No worries.

 

Whatever coaching we are going to get is going to be in the pre-WC camp, really, at this point. We're losing 5 days of practice or whatever here, but that will be a good three weeks including the friendlies.

 

Unfortunately, the real opportunity was the Gold Cup. I was pretty mad at the whole CWC thing wrecking the chances, but people seemed okay with it.

There's a bit of a disconnect to me with the anger at Poch here versus the lack of such at Pulisic or Musah or skipping, or frankly, FIFA for taking three more of our players away.

Plus, it's really just McKennie and Tillman that could really be here that aren't that actually has a ton of value here. I mean, maybe Brenden, but Jedi is hurt and I just really think the angst over Aidan Morris is a bit humorous as a year ago people would have been shitting on him.

Guys like McKenzie and Cardoso actually were at the GC, even if Johnny got hurt and couldn't play much.

 

These questions are silly in general, but this one is a bit odd. Luna's a playmaking winger and not really in the same subset.

Luna's a vastly better playmaking winger or #10 than Musah. If you play Musah at either role, you are asking not to ever score.

McKennie's the best 8 in the group and probably the best player overall. I'd play an active and engaged McKennie anytime, anywhere, but he hasn't been that for the US for a while. The reality is that a disengaged McKennie is probably a net negative; he's a team leader and a team leader working against the desired culture is a disaster. But I am fairly confident we will see the old McKennie back again. It's a World Cup, right?

I don't see how anyone can comment on Reyna. Clearly our best #10 when he's healthy and playing, but we literally haven't seen anything out of him for ages. Does he even play anymore? I don't know how good Reyna is anymore from a complete player standpoint.

Musah is a better defender than Berhalter and better at ball control. But Berhalter is a better offensive player. Push comes to shove in the World Cup, I'd play Musah and let others try and create but I am not the least bit excited by the idea of him as an 8.

Tillman's not in your list, but he's actually a guy I could really see stepping into either role but may end up more as a starting 8.

2 - Any MLS midfielder > Tessman, Johnny, or A. Morris on the depth chart for any version of a #6[/quote]

I am interested to see Roldan because I think he honestly could be a better solo 6 than any of these guys. Johnny doesn't have the footspeed to be a solo 6 in a Poch system, IMO -- he'd just need a ton of help. Tessman doesn't have the defense. Morris has the speed but he's never really been a 6 -- the guy is a wrecking ball 8 but has never really stayed home effectively enough to actually be a solo 6. He's always had other guys willing to stay back.

I would put Morris in the mix above, btw.

If we move to a double pivot, Johnny becomes our likely best option of this group. He just needs to actually play well for the US before I would hand him the job.

I like Tanner's passing, but he's a stay home double pivot. So if that's the plan, great, he's one of the better options. If you want a guy who ranges forward, I would absolutely put de la Torre in the mix -- he's a better offensively player than Morris and Morris is a better defensive player. Tanner is just not going to be a guy who played like Luca or Berhalter in the GC.

Guys like Berhalter and Owen Wolff are much more free 8s or 8/10s than guys I'd ever play back, but both also have more offensive skills than Morris.

 

So if they aren't starters for their clubs, would you go with Berhalter, Luna et al?