Pre-match: US v Turkey, June 7 2025 (Friendly)

I just don’t think he has the athletic profile required.

There is an argument that having a guy who can hit a free kick is useful late in games if you need a goal but I rate the other guys higher.

 

Any time given to Pulisic or Weston from hrre until the World Cup is spilled water. We have to give all meaningful minutes to Guti and Luna and Pax and maybe the 50 million man.

 

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/s...r-christian-pulisic-wont-play-gold-cup-summer

According to the link to Fox Sports, above:

 

Not gonna make the quarters with the second team. Or gonna make the quarters with the first team playing like it has. Limited options, but Poch seems to hope that either prioritizing support for best case 25/26 club situations is better for the Nats than working together or that so long as the A team is absent, no one knows for sure the emperor is naked.

Or maybe CP begged off over Poch’s objection.

 

Not really surprised by the Pulisic news.
Hell, we spoke on this thread about the likelihood of some of our overworked Euro-based players wanting to take the summer off. I won't be surprised if Dest isn't picked either due to Poch's comments earlier this week in the press.

Even with missing some games due to minor injuries, how many minutes has Pulisic played for club and country during the 2024/2025 season? 4000? It must be close.

I remember reading somewhere that at 26 years old Christian Pulisic has already played more career minutes than many of the stalwarts of previous USMNT generations. Compare total career minutes played for club and country for Christian Pulisic and Claudio Reyna. Pretty similar.

Does not having Pulisic, McKennie, Weah, etc. make winning the event less likely?
Yes. Of course it does. We need our depth to step up. We need guys like Tillman and Johnny to step into roles. Gives a chance for a young player to get a roster spot.

Maybe without Pulisic, this is the breakout event for Tillman..................................

Or maybe some like Luna or Gutierrez really steps up in a big way.

[As an aside, the USSF has treated the Gold Cup like a side show for most of Pulisic's career. Not just Pulisic, but this entire new generation. One wonders how these new stars view the tournament. Are they as passionate to play in it as a previous generation. The Nations League has been billed as their star event, with the Gold Cup as the "B" team event. If I was to ask people how many Gold Cups they think Pulisic has played in during his USMNT career, would they get it right? How many goals has Pulisic scored at the Gold Cup? I bet most would overestimate that tally. I can tell you he only has ever scored against Caribbean nations at the Gold Cup.]

 

Puli the Pirate

I believe if you compare Clint’s 2014 cycle to Pulisic’s 2026 you will find pretty similar minute totals.

 

Our selection for matches in the United States

 

Complete guess. I am the last person who has any real sources.

 

McKennie is not really on him given the Club World Cup.

Pulisic and Jedi are the two players I’m ok taking the summer off given the amount of minutes they’ve played the last couple seasons and how indispensable they are. But everyone else I think doesn’t really get the same consideration and I’d have brought both to the camp for the friendlies.

 

Roster here

Summer soccer on deck ☀️

Your June #USMNT training camp roster is here: https://t.co/xgTOAkEv3X pic.twitter.com/TaE02OEhNq

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) May 22, 2025

 

What is this roster choice……..

 

GOALKEEPERS (4): Matt Freese (New York City FC; 0/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 3/0), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids; 30/0), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/ENG; 51/0)

DEFENDERS (8): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 3/0), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 33/2), Alex Freeman (Orlando City; 0/0), DeJuan Jones (San Jose Earthquakes; 10/0), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA; 19/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 68/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 24/1), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 32/3),

MIDFIELDERS (10): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 47/8); Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 44/2), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 0/0), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 18/0), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC; 24/1), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 4/0), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo; 4/1), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union; 0/0); Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 17/0), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew; 1/0)

FORWARDS (5): Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC; 4/3), Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA; 17/5); Damion Downs (FC Köln/GER; 0/0), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 4/1), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 15/4)

 

Hard to know who was a snub and who got the summer off but surprises are no Scally, Sargent, and Tessmann.

Not at all surprised Jedi is missing, and guys I would have liked to see who aren’t there are Tolkin, Blackmon, Paxton Aaronson, and Gutierrez. And Wiley given Jedi isn’t there.

27 players so only player dropped will be one of the goalies.

 

Our depth has gotten so much better, so that it’s possible to imagine some competitive 11’s from this bunch. Still, it’s disappointing not to see young prospects like Tolkin, Tessman and Paxton Aaronson if we are just trying to judge our second level talent.

 

On Pulisic

U.S. Sporting Director Matt Crocker on Christian Pulisic’s absence from #USMNT duty. pic.twitter.com/AY6H62N9dr

— Larry Henry Jr (@lhenry019) May 22, 2025

 

Wow. Interesting. Maybe with the absences, he just decided to go pretty "B" team after all.

I like it. We're unlikely to win the event, but I like it.
So we think of it as an "expanding the net" event as opposed to a "preparing for the World Cup" event.
That's fine.

 

People did want fresh eyes on the player pool post Berhalter.

 

Musah was a personal decision, Sargent was a coach’s decision

1925581358400700695 is not a valid tweet id

 

I'm totally down with that decision on Sargent.
Regardless of how much we like him, he hasn't gotten the job done under Poch.
So look at some other guys this event. It doesn't mean Sargent is excommunicated.

[It is worth noting that nothing in the announcement says this is definitely the group that will make up the Gold Cup roster.]

 

Tessman just had a kid last month I believe so maybe he’s out for family time.