We may have our first Poch blacklist player: Sargent. How do we feel about it? Is it justified?

He hasn't exactly lit it up for the #usmnt.

 

Being left off of a roster doesn't mean excommunicated for life. It doesn't mean "blacklisted."
It means we're evaluating other options.

We've argued about Sargent ad naseum.

No matter how much we like him as a player or as a person, he hasn't scored for the USMNT against anybody other than Cuba since 2018.

Sargent hasn't scored for Poch.
White has. Agyemang has.

This is Poch's first chance to work with Balogun and Downs.
He hasn't worked much with Haji due to his ankle injury that kept him out for so long.

So its fine. Doesn't mean he's blacklisted.

The other guys do have a chance to step up and WIN a place moving forward. If they do that, then Josh may be back on the outside-looking-in (which he was for a long stretch under Berhalter.)

 

Scally seems to fit in the same category. Unless he can some how become a dominant CB he’s not getting on the team as Poch doesn’t want him at FB.

 

Sargent isn’t getting called in because he does nothing when he plays for the US.

 

Blacklist?

Is being left off a roster being blacklisted?

Why is everyone so dramatic?

 

He's also been suffering from a shoulder injury for weeks. But never let the reality get in the way of USMNT N&A overreaction. If Sargent gets sold to a top 5 club and performs very well, he's on the plane next summer.

 

I don’t really think it’s a big deal, the timing however is odd. We have zero wingers with CP and Weah out and say what you will about Josh, he combines well and has proven effective when playing wide, in the Prem even.

Also weird to bring Brendo who is far less effective in the same league and has also been ass in a U.S. shirt since qualification years ago.

Not losing sleep over this either way.

 

But why would you equate that to black listing? Sargent has 5 goals in 28 games as a center forward, with 3 of them coming against a horrible Cuba team. Poch is perfectly justified in deciding that Sargent isn’t really worth considering for call ins moving forward (we are really just talking about the next year anyways). There are tons of guys who get some caps and don’t produce who no longer get called in after that.

 

I don’t think he’s been blacklisted. I think he was very clear in the presser guys left out here might be in contention soon in future windows.

Hopefully Sargent takes the summer to find a good club move at a higher level.

 

Sargent Scally and Tessmann blacklisted for life for daring to play in Europe, it's all part of Poch's pro-MLS agenda now that he's being paid in Garberbucks... he probably wants a job coaching the Rapids after the World Cup

US Soccer/Poch wanted everyone to know this was on Christian Pulisic. #USMNT

Now, 17/27 players from MLS when not too long ago it was 25/26 from Europe.

What happened? It can’t all be circumstantial.

What a time for a programming change. #FutbolAmericas tomorrow night https://t.co/BSVpq7PD8x

— herculez gomez (@herculezg) May 22, 2025

What would you prefer, excommunicated? Branded as heretics?

 

We need him rested for the next Cuba Clasico.

 

Clearly the real reason Berhalter was fired was his noncompliance with the MLS quota. But Pochettino has rectified the situation.

 

I don't have any issue with Pulisic approaching the federation about taking the summer off
That guy has played about 4000 minutes this season for club & country.

The summer is SUPPOSED to be the break for players like this.

[If there's one player I know is on the WC roster if he's healthy, it's Pulisic. He's one we don't need to evaluate.]

I do find it extremely amusing that everyone demanded Berhalter be fired so that the USSF/MLS homeboy act could be sent out to pasture. We brought in fresh eyes with a staff that has no MLS/USSF connection, and after evaluating guys in the pool, they're calling in the MLS players. It warms my heart to see the Euronsobs twist themselves into pretzels trying to explain it.

How do I explain it? That as a long-time Euro coach at a high level, he knows how much those guys need a break in the summer. A real break. So he's taking more of the in-season MLS guys.

And yes, he's not been happy with the preformance of some guys. Ya'll demanded accountability. You got it. And my guess is you'll see more of it. My guess when we see the starting XI for Turkey is that guys like Turner may not be in it.

Will the guys picked be better than Sargent, Scally, Musah, Tessmann, and those guys were at the last camp? Maybe not. We'll see. But I like the idea of ruffling feathers. I like the idea of the USMNT staff saying to ALL OF US that the last camp wasn't good enough. The performances weren't good enough. We're going to give some other guys a chance. And if those guys don't work out either, then somebody else will be looked at.

 

Garber had Gregg exiled to Chicago, poor guy...

 

And called up his son to the USMNT as a cover.

 

Berhalter was our European hero all along.

 

When you get these vassal situations it's actually pretty common for the heir to be taken as a hostage

 

I'll try to return to this idea in the coming days, but ...

I think it's very possible that if you had a crystal ball and knew now your 23/26 for the World Cup next summer, your optimal strategy* might be to rest all of them this summer.

This is pretty obvious for Pulisic and Antonee Robinson, but by extension, it might be true for many more, if not all. I feel Adams' inclusion makes this point for me. It's the cumulative mileage and lack of rest (between seasons, pre-season arriving so quickly), more than the (ever-present) risk of serious injury.

There aren't that many clear exceptions - maybe Turner (who needs matches, badly). And I admit I'd like to see Richards and McKenzie reunite, but of course, I expect Ream to suck the air out of my lineup, as he did last summer at Copa America.

++++++++++++

* not startergy - thanks spell-check.

 

Found the CK3 player.

 

Blacklisting carries a whole lot of connotations with it that I suspect you don't mean: punishment or unwarranted exclusion; exclusion across a broader organization; permanence.

Is Josh staying home because Pochettino has seen enough and wants to try out guys but really likes Sargent? I don't think so.

I think Pochettino didn't call him because he doesn't think he the answer and wants to see if there is one.

Does that mean in the future Pochettino won't, either due to injuries, improvement by Sargent, or failure by the alternatives, call him back in? I don't think so.

But it's a short run to the WC and others may take his spot.

Unless Sargent is the golfer, so to speak, and Poch is making an example of him and absolutely won't call him back in no matter what, it's not a blacklist. I don't get that feel.

He simply wasn't performing, and I suspect his strengths are not valued as much under Poch, who hasn't pressed as much as I expected and who hasn't asked the striker to come back in the build up very much.

 

I think that would all make a lot more sense if we had an established manager and functioning structure. The counter argument is we need the core players, not the tertiary dudes to establish that.

 

ESPN Argentina also reporting that Pulisic has been getting injections in his hip for a few months.

I have had many conversations in different platforms and I am surprised each time how so many people just cannot comprehend how any coach in the world is going to prioritize what you do in practice. I saw so many people write off Camp Cupcake and I said then whether someone like Agyemang has a high ceiling or not, his playing style is going to make coaches fall in love with him... the fact that he's scored in 3 of 4 games he's played (and also had some big chances in the 4th) will help him... ugly or not.

As for Sargent... that's what it comes down to. Circumstantial, unfair or not, he is one of 3 number 9s to suit up for the US since the WC and not score... the other 2 I believe got 1 game each in Duncan McGuire and Darryl Dike. Balo, Pepi, Agyemang, Vazquez, Jesus, and Brian WHite have all scored.