Josh Sargent has been banging in goals consistently for EFL Championship side Norwich City this winter and now aims to carry that form over to his latest international opportunity.
Sargent is part of Mauricio Pochettino’s roster for Thursday’s CONCACAF Nations League semifinal showdown with Panama. The Missouri native leads the Canaries with 12 goals this season, with eight of those tallies coming in 2025 alone.
Although Sargent hasn’t scored for the USMNT since November 2019, he’s staying confident on delivering in his first call up of the new year.
“It’s obviously going to be in the back of my head a little bit,” Sargent said about his USMNT scoring drought. “But at the same time it’s just been a weird run I think for a while now with injuries and whatnot and I’ve been very happy with the goals I’ve been able to score at the club level, but definitely want to produce the same stuff while on that national team.
“So I think this camp is another good opportunity for me and hopefully I can start doing that,” he added.
Sargent missed parts of three months earlier this season due to a groin injury but has since battled back to find his old goalscoring form. The 25-year-old has helped Norwich City stay mathematically alive in the top-six race, despite the club failing to win in any of its last four matches.
Coming into camp as one of the in-form players, Sargent fully believes he can play a key role thanks to his club production.
“I think as long as I focus on those, everything seems to get in place for me to score, and I’ve been taking those opportunities, been feeling really good,” Sargent said. “But yeah, I think in these moments you don’t want to overthink it too much. It’s kind of a flow state where everything is just happening for you and yeah, at the moment it’s going really well.”
The EFL Championship schedule is truly one of the more grueling schedules in all of European Football. A 46-match schedule, which features plenty of two-match-per week slates, certainly tests the fitness of Sargent and many of his club teammates.
Many others in the USMNT squad are also in the gut-check point of their club schedules, with two matches remaining, and multiple competitions still in action. Sargent praised the USMNT’s ability to translate quickly from club to international action, especially on short rest.
“It’s a very fast turnaround,” Sargent said. “Of course, guys are flying in different days, but I think the other teams have to deal with that as well. The staff here are amazing at getting us prepared. They’re doing everything they can to help us with sleep and recovery, nutrition, and yeah, I think all of us know each other for the most part. All of us have already gelled together really well and just got to get right at it.”
If Sarge is invisible and comes up empty again can we be done please?
McGlynn, Guti, and Arfsten were photographed at US training today. Rumor is McGlynn will be added as soon as Concacaf approves the medical withdrawal of Johnny
Now that’s interesting on several levels, especially since all three of those guys dramatically boosted their stock in Camp Cupcake, especially McGlynn and Gutierrez. (I certainly didn’t realize Poch thought so highly of Arfsten…it’s like: intriguing.) Definitely signals that Poch is taking an interest in those three and is likely both familiarizing them with the group and giving them a hand up for European moves this summer. (Pochettino has been pretty open he’s actively working to boost the profiles of his players.)
It also suggests that there’s a whole different constellation of players on the fringes of the team than we saw this time last year under Berhalter.
Yup……
“Cardoso didn’t feature for Real Betis during the weekend as he looked to recover from a muscular injury and he has ended up not travelling. This may not be the only change incoming either as the Washington Post has reported that additional players who are not currently on the roster have been spotted at camp including Brian Gutierrez, Max Arfsten, JT Marcinkowski and McGlynn. Marinkowski is only in camp as a fourth keeper, but those other sightings could suggest that more shifts are on the way.”
…..are more shifts on the way???? Who might be replaced?
out — jedi, trusty, johnny. in — arfsten, mcglynn, gutierrez.
Pepi for me is still the dude, but having Sargent, Wright, and Balogin firing on all cylinders this next year will be a good thing.
We are all hoping Sargent does well this camp. Especially the injury rate of our strikers right now.
Really hope he does well. I’d love to see him in a Top-5 league next season – maybe even the Prem. I think he’s ready; he’s consistently demonstrated an ability to dominate in the Championship and score all manner of goals and he’s starting to get that swagger a good striker has.
Of course, Haji Wright is showing that too. If Haji just gets better with his back to goal – which is about awareness and first-touch-with-a-guy-on-your-back a lot more than strength, the guy’s a hoss – he definitely has the physique and finishing ability for a Top-5 league too. Wright’s another one like Sargent who can score any which way and he is the superior poacher, IMHO. Dude lights up when he sees a ball he can pounce on.
But for this camp, it’s all about Sargent. He can forge way out in front with a good showing since his three main competitors are absent, and if you start counting there just aren’t a ton of camps between now and the World Cup. So the guy who grabs the early lead may well end up holding it.
“there just aren’t a ton of camps between now and the World Cup. So the guy who grabs the early lead may well end up holding it.”
The perception seems to be that Josh can’t score for the USMNT. He needs to:
1. stay healthy
2. play well
3. hopefully score
In that order. “Early leads” don’t really matter. I expect all of the #9 candidates to make a strong positive impression. What will matter is will they still be doing well when Pochettino has to choose.
A great Nations League will do Josh no good if he is bought by, for example, Everton or Leeds and winds up languishing on the bench when selection time rolls around.