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

Mauricio Pochettino on Brenden Aaronson’s return to #USMNT: “Most important is that he keeps bringing his positivity and enthusiasm. He can transmit that to the rest of the team. He was really good in Leeds where they won the championship.” pic.twitter.com/ou7E4WldNP

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

Mauricio Pochettino on Brenden Aaronson’s return to #USMNT: “Most important is that he keeps bringing his positivity and enthusiasm. He can transmit that to the rest of the team. He was really good in Leeds where they won the championship.”

 

The only game we scored more than one goal in at that event was against Martinique.
That was a real eye sore. But hey, we won.

And we could win this one too.

Frankly, I haven't been upset by any change to this squad.
We're ruffling feathers. He's rattling cages.

.........................and I'm down for it.

I like the idea of Alex Freeman, Quinn Sullivan, Damion Downs, Sebastian Berhalter, etc. getting a chance. I like the idea that Luna could get a chance to be "the man" and not just an understudy. I like the fact that guys such as Tillman and Johnny are going to have to step up. These are the types of things we need to see.

I saw the review of players like Sargent, Scally, Musah, Tessmann, etc. after the Panama game. Now we take all of those guys out and the board is like "wait, this is what we get?" Yes, this is what you get when you take that crew out. People criticized the stars like Pulisic, Weah, and McKennie in that game for not showing enough fight. Take those guys out and what do you get? THIS! You get Sean Zawadski, that's what you get.

 

Here is the quote with full context

Poch's quotes were strong enough today that I included them in their entirety in several places in the story...here's half of one quote... https://t.co/6ApYIWEJgN pic.twitter.com/uRsdfDyvkC

— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) May 22, 2025

 

I actually think we'll do well this summer. Its a better group talent wise than 2021. Or at least better than we would do with some of the omissions.
.

 

While I have no issue with the general point you're trying to make, you're willingness to defend every roster decision without fail means once again you have taken it too far....

There are a few tree branches you would hit on the way down from McKennie Musah and Tessmann before reaching the Sean Zawadski level: Paxten Aaronson, Aidan Morris, Emeka Eneli, Tim Tillman, Lennard Maloney, etc. even Beau Leroux.

As I said in the MLS thread, I don't think a single person has uttered Zawadski's name even once in that thread all season, and pretty much every American who has a decent game gets a mention.

 

he had his worst game of the season last night, and looked knackered. The games keeping coming fast and furious for us and young players always seem to wear down faster than older ones. The US might not get the best version of him when he gets to camp.

 

*adds to cart*

Our 2025 kits are now available: https://t.co/lsDThGDBcg pic.twitter.com/eB2zk6zS5W

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) May 22, 2025

 

And worth noting that Turner and Miles were "discovered" there (plus Walker) -- none of them were A team players before the event.

That said, that was an unlikely outcome for that team. There was some real luck (and strong GK) along the way. The team also unabashedly played for 1-0.

 

lol amusing timing to promote that kit with Pulisic.

 

Kellyn Acosta was the best field player at GC2021. It was the first time many saw that he could be an effective international level #6. Turner was absolutely brilliant. Lletget and Roldan were disappointing and seriously underwhelming.

Mexico without Chucky was very poor.

 

As a Crew fan, I can say we love Zawadzki. He has played literally every spot for us except CF in our 343. He is an excellent squad player for a tournament for that reason. At least worth a look. Has been almost exclusively CB this year.

And he is not super high end athletically or in the air.

 

I will say it again, Zawadzki has been almost exclusively a CB this year for Columbus and played in the back in his previous USMNT call.

Only real surprises for me are no Zendejas (who could miss due to CWC anyway) and P. Aaronson. Maybe Busio? But those are fringe guys, at best. Ditto Scally, Sargent, and Tessman.

No issue with resting Jedi & Pulisic. Wes, Weah, and Gio were never options due to CWC. Johnny could miss for the same reason. Musah asked out, and is out of position at RM anyway. Pepi is hurt.

I don't get all the B team talk. Turner, Dest, Richards/Ream/McKenzie, Adams, and Balogun are A team guys.

Missing Reyna is no big deal, he never plays anyway and may be cooked. Let's see him play WELL somewhere before getting calls.

I would have preferred Zimmerman or Blackmon to Zawadzki, but Sean is more versatile and Cardoso may miss out. So I get it.

A chance for Luna, Wright, and Tillman to shine in attack. And howfully for more dynamic midfield play in front of Adams. I am glad Brendan Aaronsin is back. Tough to slack with that guy out there.

Having said all that, Turkey & Switzerland are both better than us. IDK how strong a squad they will bring, but I expect 2 losses if they are close to A squads.

 

Generally agree with this, but do think that Tolkin and Pax deserved to be in the team. Tolkin looked like a solid Bundesliga player even on a terrible team. Pax was a top Eredivisie midfielder and frankly looks like he’s already a more skilled player than his brother.

No other omissions really stand out to me, so I’m excited to see how we do!!

 

I do wonder I’d Zendejas or Tillman may be added to the roster depending on what happens in their game. Tillman for Zawadzki or Zendejas for one of the 4 nines on the roster (not counting Haji Wright).

Balogun also has had an ankle injury of unclear severity.

 

The tricky thing for young guys when they’ve not really played much before. That’s why you sometimes see a surge and then step back as they get used to having to do it week after week (and as opponents scout them and get a sense of their tendencies). So I wouldn’t surprised if he does have a downturn at some point. But it’s been a good start.

At least with the USMNT he won’t be expected to play heavy minutes with Dest on the roster. Ironically if he is in the USMNT picture he may not want to take the risk of a move to Europe in a World Cup year. As it may take time to settle in and adjust (see Ricardo Pepi last cycle) and cost him a roster spot. Plus a good showing in the World Cup probably only increases his value.

 

I think he’s just worn out. We’ve been playing mid week games and weekend games pretty regularly lately. He did only play the first half of the Rowdies game, but besides that I think he’s gone 90 in all the other games. That begins to wear young players done usually. Unfortunately for him the mid week games are not stopping.

 

ok, ignoring everything and recognizing we wont do any of it...

vs tur
__________steffen__________
____mckenzie__richards_____
jones________________arfsten
_______adams__luca________
___________luna____________
__downs___white____wright__

i wish the match order were reversed as i expect the swiss to play a more well rounded "style" and tur to be more defend/counter, but it is what it is so use most of the roster here.

i sit dest here because his fitness is likely to still be an issue that needs to be managed through the gc, and if everyones decided that isnt worth winning (trust the process, amirite?) why the hell would this be any different? jones at least gives a little experience/balance opposite arfsten who is the only real choice other than, well, jones.

we know exactly who all five of these cbs are, its just stupid on every level to not give mckenzie and richards all the minutes they can play.

give shulte the second half (or dont, who really cares?), he has gotten a few looks and is safe enough- but looking at these two matches i wouldnt even consider a single minute for turner...or freese.

and i want to be clear- if any of us, regardless of the fact that what any of us thinks matters at all, are going to talk about "earning" (either keeping or winning) a spot we should actually do that. so im not saying no to freese, im saying lets give this pair to steffen to see if he can stand up. cause like our cbs hes not some mystery. its f'ing stupid enough we even carry turner (who i wont even be a little bit surprised if he starts both), but can we at least find out if we are carrying one gk based on wishes and unicorns or two?

if steffen cant competently backstop these two matches id show him the door (by telling him to follow turner) and name schulte the starter for the gc, with freese challenging as the 2, with any warm body under no consideration behind them- weve got to stop wasting minutes on problems we cant solve until next season starts.

adams isnt in the same return from injury phase dest or balo are (or he usually is himself when we try to get him back in the team a week after hes cleared to play at all for his club). hes been back a good long time. and while thats not to say we ride him into the ground, he at the point he doesnt need a short leash as much as he needs reps. id start luca next to him for a steady hand and to shore up basic distribution (with not putting a lot of minutes on johnny a big consideration). depending on how things go we could get a look at seb for sure, unless we need to get guys off, though i wouldnt go out of my to find minutes for either mcglynn period.

which brings me to cardoso and tillman- not in that order. if everyone agrees malik just doesnt translate, or isnt that good period, or only succeeds in a weak league (the last two of those being patently stupid takes) then lets at least pretend to have some f'ing integrity- johnny should be in the exact same boat.

theyve both been in the team more than long enough to get their feet underneath themselves, they are both doing exceptionally well at their clubs (thus arguably both deserving some degree of "special treatment"), and both are victims of the dumpster fire this team has been for the last year.

bottom line- if youre going pop off about giving malik anything from a timeout and stern talking to to a lifetima ban if he doesnt dominate this window, invite the same for johnny. otherwise just shut the hell up stop pretending youre anything other than the absolute hack you are.

i have luna as the lone natural "attacking" mid between two wide forwards cause why the hell not? we cant just "next man up" this, we dont have close to the same profiles. i mean, how far do you guys want to dig for a player who even brings the width puli does? usl? i bet they care more and will play even harder than mls guys!

i dont mean any offense to sullivan, or arfsten, or any of these guys who shouldnt be anywhere close to a b team for us im just trying to make something our of this horseshit roster.
so yeah, go full berhalter down a goal after 84 of his system shockingly not unsettling the opponents into an 0-6 deficit. how much time can we give downs otherwise? am i completely out of line for suggesting a proven (albeit fringe level) option play rather than our 11th (at best) wing option (though im sure he cares almost as much and will try almost as hard as a semi-pro indoor might)?

like dest i just let balo train and hopefully get a good half to an hour in the second match. im not especially high on white (and not much more than that with agyemang), its just a dead-ass simple wear em down/fresh legs for me.

vs sui

__________steffen__________
____mckenzie__richards_____
dest_________________arfsten
______carsoso__adams_______
___tillman_aaronson_luna____
___________balo____________

this is the only scenario i could come up with to try to get a little more data, a little more clarity on things going forward.

ive talked about steffen, but arfsten is in a simlar position for me (though much younger and not remotely in danger of being far our of the picture)- hes a reasonable analogue stylistically for jedi (as is wiley, while tolkin is simply clear of him talent-wise). those two need to show us something. dest, mckenzie and richards are presumably first team starters and need to play like it.

the midfield setup here is entirely tactics-based/dictate and i want to be clear out how i would set it up- i put brendan high in the middle to wreak havoc. press hard, break things up, dont let the swiss settle into anything they want to do. anything beyond that is gravy- though he brings far more than he gets credit for around here. malik and luna bring (well, hopefully) the creativity and attacking impetus while also putting in serious shifts helping back- which i think both absolutely do, however much its recognized, or not. its like gi joe said (when interviewed by grant wahl)- putting in the work, just being there to press/defend is half the battle.

the fbs provide some degree of width, but this is unequivocally a defensive/pressing setup- luna and malik spread wide out of possession. cardoso and adams simply control the middle for us; we dont need tyler sitting on top of the back 4 or johnny advancing the ball and pinging passes. we just need them to clean anything up that comes their way and move the ball quickly, simply and effectively either wide or short to the "line" of 3. almost like (shudder) an actual team.

my feelings on balo arent a secrect, i think hes our clear 2 behind pepi (in fantasyland), but lets not pretend he doesnt need to show something himself. we all get that hes not fully fit (much less in any form to speak of)- but with the ability of that cm front 3 we need to see some sign of this "balo is more of an open game player, combining, taking advantage of breaks" etc. guy everyone has insisted on for years at this point.

cause he doesnt offer much of anything in the air, winning/holding possession, etc. he was never a good fit in greggs teams. i dont know how much, or how effectively he can/will contribute to the pressing but we are in a position to provide him the circumstances in which he supposedly thrives- i want to actually see it. just a freaking glimpse.

cause maybe gios supporters would quiet down a little if half our freaking goals didnt come off from reynas individual ability over the last year we were a respectable team..

jones and freeman can relieve dest (and arfsten if needed), miles can come in and be completely overrated by everyone here (while hes been the anti-reyna, contributing heavily to almost every goal conceded over our last 6 matches). between any minutes they may get in the first match and/or in training seb or sawadzki can come into that line of 2 as needed (luca if its a substantial stretch, even though winning isnt the biggest deal in the world). i think giving young/new guys too much of a run too soon hurts more than it helps is what im saying.

if theres a place to slide in sullivan whatever, but i kinda want to ride luna pretty hard here. i think "everyone" has gotten way too carried away with his performance in two matches, but he has inarguably done well while the guys "above" him falter, so yeah- turn up the heat.

but we could shift in different directions from taking malik/brendo off, including making room for 2 of the fwds. ideally id like to get at least a little look at downs in the middle. we havent seen a ton of pat and white- and theyre very different degrees of being fully cooked- so im just saying id prioritie downs (hopefully, assuming balo can give us a good hour). id give more thought to haji (similar to luca) if squeeing out a result effected anything, but downs and agyemang, in that order as needed.

all that said, we wont do anything close. its going to be sheer jackassery, somehow giving us close to nothing from this window, which doesnt even seem possible.

 

The asterisk on that is that I think the calculation changes with 26 man rosters and 5 subs. In the before times you really couldn't risk a purely situational player, but nowadays you can probably afford at least one.

Tough to get in when he's had little experience with club or country there, but in theory I think the same.

I don't think he was tough enough at January camp. He has skills, but physically we was 21 going on 18.

 

So. Here’s the thing.

If the person making the decisions doesn’t take your analysis and makes a different decision, it’s important to know why.

Instead of saying “Yeah, this coach is extra super dumb, y’all, just look at this visualization!” It’s probably better to figure out why the executive (coach) made the decision.

 

Speaking of McGlynn... This may work for MLS but not sure it works at the international level.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/how-...d-for-youth-development-mls-sullivan-aaronson

Over time, each Union homegrown has become not just a success story, but a case study, analyzed by club staff for lessons that can be applied to future crops. Academy director Jon Scheer points to Jack McGlynn, the central midfielder sold to Houston Dynamo FC over the winter in one of MLS’s first cash-for-player trades, as an example.

“When we brought Jack in, he wasn't a player that fit our position profiles, really, in most ways, because of some of the things he lacked. But Ernst has talked about ‘rule breakers,’ and rule breakers having a special quality or weapon that, they're so good at what they do that you'll live with what they don't have,” said Scheer. “Jack is probably one of the first ones that came that we started to plan a little bit around him, and ultimately, yeah, he's in a place now where it values more possession, but he had a really successful career here.

“We like players that have learning ability,” Scheer added. “Players that might be able to play up. Jack McGlynn, Paxten Aaronson, Brenden Aaronson, they were physically very slight when they were growing up, and they had to figure things out with their brain and their feet. And we think that translates really well to the next level, because as athletic as MLS is, if you just dominate the youth level with your physical attributes, it becomes really hard at the next level, when everything has caught up.”
​

 

Do you think Poch was looking through those stats before making his selections?
How familiar do you think Poch is with Beau Leroux who has never been called up before at ANY level and most Quakes fans didn't even know his name until two months ago, like how many Beau minutes has he watched lol

 

People starting to get it.

 

You're so late to the party that they've gone way too far in the opposite direction and given US Soccer young player of the year to Alex Mendez while whiffing on guys like Alex Freeman and Damion Downs

Neither Alex Freeman or Damion Downs made the 🇺🇸 U-20 World Cup team and neither were much of a factor in that cycle whatsoever, but both are now with the senior team when a lot of the guys on the U-20 team have faded.

Interestingly enough they are both the type of profiles…

— Marcus Chairez | US/SC (@USSoccerColl) May 22, 2025

A long-running stereotype of USYNTs is selection of imposing, athletic players over undersized, relatively unathletic players

In recent years the reality has been closer to the opposite. Not even very much of a balance of both types. Lower USYNTs are often out-run & out-muscled https://t.co/tpJ6hGT5Ax

— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) May 22, 2025

It's not totally fair to claim no one could foresee that Freeman & Downs made it to the USMNT doorstep while others from that cycle have not

Even back in 2022 & 2023 it was being asked why those two weren't in more camps. At times we even played left-footed left backs at RB

— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) May 22, 2025

 

I think that Pochettino has his scouting guys doing that work and that he gets briefed on them and follows up with his own exploration of some sort.

To what degree he uses any sort of analytics is a question that reporters should introduce and probe so that we all can benefit from understanding more about their selection processes.