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

No Tyler Adams! We are playing Turkiye, right?

Did Turkiye not bring a A team?

 

I'm not saying they won't score. It's just not super obvious where they will come from. I think all those guys you mentioned combined have one goal with the USMNT.

 

im hoping McGlynn and Tillmanare switched. JM @ RW and Tillman @ CAM

 

I think you could play Jack McGlynn in a double pivot with Tyler (or Johnny) against some people but you would never want to play Jack as a solo 6 in a 4123 midfield because he'd struggle too much defensively.

The only guy on our team I'd want to play as a solo 6 against a good team is Tyler. I think Johnny is good but I want someone next to him. He's the next best option, of course.

Heck, I don't really think Luca is a 6 but I'd bet this most closely resembles a double pivot today and he's going to be in it. Of course, we're getting into semantics here.

 

Possible. Makes some sense defensively. Offensively I actually prefer this but Luna and Tillman would be sliding into the half space and McGlynn would stay behind them.

 

Pretty scary XI apart from some defenders.

 

I think this boils down to how well Jonny and LDLT pair together. The defense is good. If these two can help start the progression forward (get the ball to McGlynn and Tillman) I think they can open up some things.

 

To be fair I’m sure we’ll see lots of rotation these two friendlies and the group stage games before we see more of settled lineup for the knockout round of the Gold Cup.

 

Just saw the google lineup. Turkiye brought all their attackers. It is going to be a fun watch. Looks like per Google we are going:

Agyemang
Luna Tillman McGlynn
Cardoso De La Torre
Arfsten Richards Miles Freeman
Freese
​

Bring on the Turkish Messi, I fart in your general direction.

Back to fondling beads, Have faith in Poch, have faith in Poch, ...

 

Thanks to all that's happened, this is in large part an evaluation roster. What else should you do in a friendly given that?

Let's find out if these guys can play. Once we get to Saudi Arabia, we'll see the results of the competition.

We also shouldn't be surprised that none of the late adds are starting.

 

Yeah my sense is that last window Poch fielded what he considered to be the 11 best players he had available at the time, and that following the disappointment of the Nations League, at least for the friendlies and less meaningful GC games right now, you're not necessarily going to see lineups like that.

I think there will be a little more mixing and matching between A and B team players, and probably more opportunities for players to prove themselves or put some pressure on the presumptive starters, even taking into consideration how many of those are already missing from this roster.

 

McGlynn is not a starter, and ideally isn't quite a 26-man roster guy, but with an injury or two could be.

He's an athletic liability, but his cultured left foot and his progressive passing are assets that absolutely could make the side on merit.

Johnny is an even bigger mystery to me than Tillman, who seems to largely be getting over it but maybe for some nerves. With our side, Johnny rarely passes forward, rarely even turns, plays some very questionable balls backwards, and tends to get gobbled up in duels. On paper, he's a shoo-in for the 26-man roster, and a legit option to start even with all options available.

 

One of the things about Cardoso is we aren’t using him how he’s used by his club. Which I think is a big factor on why he doesn’t look as good.

On Tillman Pochettino seemed very happy with his performance.

Poch on Tillman: "He was great, one of the best players on the field ... the player we saw at PSV." #USMNT https://t.co/clWnu4MlRv

— Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) June 7, 2025

 

I have watched most of Johnny’s minutes with Betis. They play a 4231. They build out of that shape but Johnny is the primary pivot. The other CM drops in to be the second pivot when they get high pressed with numbers.