Three takeaways from Pochettino’s November squad

New USMNT coach shares philosophy for making team a contender in 2026 World Cup

Mauricio Pochettino has a lot of work to do to turn around the U.S. Men’s National Team before America hosts the 2026 World Cup. “Poch” walks us through his plans.

Mauricio Pochettino has released a 25-player roster for his first competitive matches as U.S. men’s national team head coach.

The USMNT will face Jamaica in a two-leg Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal. The first leg will be in Kingston on Thursday before the scene shifts to CityPark in St. Louis on Nov. 18.

Much like his first roster in October, Pochettino will not have his full compliment of players available due to several injuries within his player pool. The injury bug has hit the U.S. especially hard at forward, where a number of players will be sidelined for the Jamaica series.

But the USMNT will also have several in-form attackers to call upon. Regardless of injuries, Pochettino will fully expect to come away from this quarterfinal with a decisive victory.

Here are three thoughts on the USMNT’s November roster.

Injuries give Liga MX attackers opportunity

No less than three players that would have been on this roster will be absent due to injuries: Josh Sargent (groin), Haji Wright (ankle) and Folarin Balogun (shoulder) will all watch from home.

In their place, Pochettino has looked south of the border for three players currently plying their trade in Mexico. Monterrey striker Brandon Vazquez, Chivas forward Cade Cowell and América winger Alejandro Zendejas have all made the cut.

Vazquez enters this camp without a goal in his last seven matches, which have seen him mostly feature off the bench. Cowell and Zendejas are in better form, starting and getting goal contributions regularly for their respective teams of late.

Even with several absentees, the USMNT can call on three in-form attackers from Europe to lead the line for these matches: Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah and Ricardo Pepi.

Weah, however, is suspended for the first leg in Jamaica as he serves the second game of a two-match suspension for his red card against Panama in the Copa América. That could give one of the Liga MX trio a chance to start in a big spot.

Where’s Tyler?

This camp seemed to be the perfect opportunity for Tyler Adams to return to the USMNT for the first time since he had back surgery immediately after the Copa América.

But the 25-year-old midfielder was conspicuously absent when Pochettino revealed his squad.

Adams made his first appearance of the season for Bournemouth on Oct. 26, playing nine minutes off the bench against Aston Villa. He’s built up his minutes from there, going 24 minutes in last weekend’s win over Manchester City before starting and playing 67 minutes in Saturday’s defeat to Brentford.

Unless Adams suffered a new injury on Saturday, it appears Pochettino and the Bournemouth staff have collectively decided that the midfielder would be better served resting and recovering back in England. For a player with Adams’ recent injury history, it may be a wise choice.

Outside backs left out

Outside backs Marlon Fossey and Kristoffer Lund were both called up in October, but were left out of the squad this time around.

Pochettino did not necessarily replace that pair, with Antonee Robinson and Joe Scally the only natural outside backs on the November roster.

There are a couple players who could fill in out wide if needed, like Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie, with Weah, Weston McKennie, and Yunus Musah also able to play outside back in a pinch.

But Pochettino will likely expect Robinson and Scally to go 90 minutes in both matches. As for the competition behind that pair? It appears to be wide open.

USMNT November roster (club; caps/goals)

Goalkeepers (4): Diego Kochen (FC Barcelona Atletic/ESP; 0/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 2/0), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids; 29/0), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/ENG; 47/0)

Defenders (7): Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA; 15/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 64/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 23/1) Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 48/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 30/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 17/0), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 3/0)

Midfielders (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 46/8), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 15/1), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 17/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 56/11), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 9/0), Yunus Musah (AC Milan; ITA; 43/1), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 4/0), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 16/0)

Forwards (6): Cade Cowell (Guadalajara/MEX; 10/1),Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 31/11), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 74/31), Brandon Vazquez (Monterrey/MEX; 9/4), Tim Weah (Juventus/ITA; 41/6), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 9/1)

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Publish date : 2024-11-10 08:58:00

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