Malik Tillman had been fully amongst the goals for PSV over the past two Eredivisie seasons and the talented midfielder finally got to etch his name into the U.S. men’s national team’s scoring ranks on Sunday night.
Tillman scored the USMNT’s opening two goals in an eventual 5-0 home victory over Trinidad & Tobago in CONCACAF Gold Cup play. The 23-year-old was one of the better performers in the win, putting himself in good situations to find the back of the net.
With star playmaker Christian Pulisic not involved in the summer plans, Tillman was one of several attackers needing to step up for the USMNT. After delivering a strong 90-minute shift that included two goals, five duels won, and a match-high four chances created, Tillman showed to Mauricio Pochettino what he can bring when confidence is on his side.
“Malik is a talented player,” Pochettino said postmatch about Tillman. “That is obvious, that everyone can see. What changed [this summer], I think is, of course, I understand better him now. After a few weeks together, I really started to understand him, and he started to understand us.
“Like in PSV all in love with him, now we start becoming in love, myself and the coaching staff, with him,” the Argentine head coach added. “He’s a talented player, one of the most talented players, I think, that we have in USA.”
Now with two goals and one assist in three June appearances, Tillman will be eager to add to those totals as the Gold Cup group stage powers forward.
The USMNT will next face Saudi Arabia on Thursday for the first time since a goal-less 2022 friendly draw.
Trinidad and Tobago were abysmal. As a result, not a lot of legit assessments can be gleaned from yesterday’s game.
That said, based on the last three games, it is safe to say:
Arfsten – technically, his touch is subpar, he is tactically deficient, sees defending as optional, and when he is forced to defend, he does not have the skill to do so. As a result, hopefully Pochettino moves on from him, as he is not ready to help the USMNT win in this upcoming World Cup.
Berhalter – is a WIP, he delivers a nice ball, but he needs to sharpen up his tactical awareness, but same, he is not ready to help the UMSNT win in this upcoming World Cup.
Agyemang – physical attributes are enticing, and they reflect the NCAA environment that he comes from, but technically and tactically, he is deficient and needs to improve significantly in order to potentially supplant Pepi, Balogun, or Sargent ( purposely relayed in that order ), I hope he continues to develop, and if so, he could provide competition after the 2026 World Cup.
2tone,
” which is to be expected for a player who went pro at 22. ”
That’s no excuse.
You can either play or not play.
Didier Drogba basically turned pro at 21.
Huh? It’s not an excuse but reality. He still had things to work on, like all players do.
2tone,
“He still had things to work on, like all players do.”
He’s run out of time, like all of them.
It’s June of 2025 less than a year out from the World Cup. How much do you expect him to improve his finishing skills between now and then?
We have seen him mostly against lower grade opponents in lower pressure situations. As the opponents get tougher and the stakes get higher, the chaos he creates by being the big pain in the ass he is now will lessen.
At the higher levels he might get one chance . Or half a chance. Or a quarter chance.
And the way things are today, in terms of strikers I’d be much more confident if that chance fell to , in order, Pepi (assuming he comes back) , Flo, Haji or Josh. They finish better and are more efficient. Did you see how seamlessly Haji took his chance?
I’d rather it fell to CP or to Gio or Timo but we’re talking strikers.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the kid and if it is a 26 man roster , I’m putting him on it
re tillman, he benefitted from our different tactics — a more direct approach — our ability to get around the flank and square it back, and having tap-ins to finish. kind of like weston lighting up cuba. will we play that way against tougher teams, or will we revert back to berhalter ball? because within the old scheme he is far less effective trying to shoot from the box edge.
tnt rotated about half their guys from WCQ (including garcia off getting married) and just looked out of shape or tired. so the question is was this a one off or a change we stick with.
Now I just want to see consistency from him. No drop off. Not expecting him to score two goals every game out, but bringing that attacking mentality consistently.
Really like Agyemang. Still needs tonwork.on some things which is to be expected for a player who went pro at 22. But his ability to turn defenders and bring his physicality and ability to get in good spots is a lot to work with. I think he could be a monster. Drogba was a late bloomer too.
sorry but even as someone who likes some aspects of his game, agyemang looked like a brick footed jozy reboot in a game that was otherwise a laugher. most of the build was down the wings and crossing to someone (often tillman) weak side; reminiscent of sargent’s anonymous role in the cuba game where weston had 4 goals on the far post.
i am a wright fan and found it telling how much more effective the holdup play was immediately on the sub. and then he turned someone and scored quickly.
i think agyemang is useful doing something very specific. play him between the backs or see if he can spin off one of them.
that being said, more effective than sargent.
IV, one big difference vs. Jozy that I’ve noticed even though I’ve only watched him a dozen times, Jozy with that strong safety body of his was never able to use his arms effectively.. ever.
Big Pat looks like he’s got a good awareness of the nuances of how to keep his defender behind him without fouling , keeping a bit of space for himself, whereas Jozy had a career of being a bull in a china shop. Jozy was guilty of pass interference more than Pacman Jones
2tone,
” which is to be expected for a player who went pro at 22. ”
That’s no excuse.
You can either play or not play.
Didier Drogba basically turned pro at 21.
Yalls replies always make me laugh. I like him, and he has a lot to offer.
they’d play him a ball and under pressure he’d mistrap it to TnT or have to fend them off to keep it. it was very jozy. i generally thought jozy was better wide and facing goal than in the 9 slot he’d most often be played. people see big body who can score and their first instinct is striker.
what i see agyemang can do well is turn someone if they overcommit, or just make a run between the backs.
i like him but he’s at a spot which when healthy is pepi balogun wright ferreira etc. i maybe favor him over sargent. people forget he emerged when many were out. but we can have enough injury problems we always use more people, and it might make a difference 23 vs. 26.
and it would help if he got tried wide, too. when i was starting select i liked to straddle that offsides line myself, and i wound up as a wing.
This game showed which players can perform when the pressure or speed-of-play is less than they faced against Switzerland and Turkeye. Presumably as the GC progresses that will change as players who looked good when allowed more time will either rise to the demands of a faster game, or not.
I remain worried about the US back line’s ability to handle quicker, more than 1-player counters. I do not know if the Saudi’s possess that quality, but if they do, we’ll see. I think they need to face better attackers to make judgements concerning personnel.
Ayegemang, looked like the real thng. He did well when facing a T&T defense who had a hard time controlling him. He kept plays going and won the ball up top to restart things. I think he has the tools to be the starting striker who can partner well with the US attack. You always wish strikers would finish all their chances, but that should improve as he adjusts to strong defenders playing phycsically in the box..
Re Ayegemang, he certainly has all the physical tools and seems to have the soccer ability. He has only 5 goals so far in MLS and often gets in good positions and looks good for the national team, but he doesn’t seem to be scoring as much as I would expect given what he has going for him. Hopefully that is just a temporary glitch.
Based on what we have seen in his USMNT games, Patrick is adept at getting himself open and creating opportunities but not as sharp a finisher as , for example, Pepi, Flo, Josh or Haji.
Of course, you can say the same sort of thing about Lukakau.
He is long and strong and shields the balls just well enough. Defenders hate playing against guys like him because they hurt.
Patrick is just one big pain in the ass.
I was advocating for Sargent over Agyemang for this roster, and I still think that Sargent should be here (but maybe for Downs or White).
But re: Agyemang, the numbers don’t lie. He’s got 4 goals in 7 appearances for the national team, that’s not too bad a rate. Especially for a guy who hasn’t been a pro for very long, so we can hope that he’s going to get better with more experience.
j99: yes, yes, yes. people need to remember The Rates. i am not a fan of forwards picked for intangibles and if you had that kind of idea you better make up the creation and goals at the other advanced positions. particularly at 9 we need guys who can stay with the speed of play and/or adjust to wayward crossing.
i don’t see that on sargent, who needs precision service.
agyemang needs to work on soft feet as a target. this is a couple games now where we can’t get the 9 involved much when he starts. i think he needs an opposing high line that he can thread on the run. like jozy he might be better running at people than playing back to goal target striker.
might also be worth trying wide for the same reason.
one thing people need to factor in is due to his roundabout path to success (d3 then d1 college, minors, MLS loan, MLS) is he’s 24 and his generation is the 2017-19 U20s. he’s similar in age to sargent, aaronson, weah, ferreira. he’s older than balogun, pepi, musah, tillman, yow, campbell. he is relative new to pro environments and flourishing but he’s mid-career age. i say that because he reminds me of zendejas or trapp where they are older than people seem to think with implications
Somewhere I saw an interview with his brother that said Pat grew 8 inches in high school probably why his hold up play isn’t his best suit he hasn’t been doing it very long.
meh. a lot of this stuff is technical. and i mean not just skill but being taught smarter positioning and dark arts tricks.
the rockets have akeem work with every center that comes through town. get one of the many back to goal 9s we have had and have them work with him during this camp, at a future window, or over the offseason.
unfortunately mcbride is probably off the table.
ditto keeper. couple of them are journos and howard vocally said mentoring is not his job, but how do you have as many good historical shotstopping keepers as we do, and then this new generation of flawed keepers. surely one of them is bright and can articulate it.
I disagree with IV with regards to Ayegeang’s hold-up play. True he did not corral all the balls sent into him, but he did better than any US player since McBride (or maybe Cindy Parlow). He is still young and will learn more about how to recieve the ball while holding off 2 (or3) defenders as he gets more chances to face that challenge. He did miss a chance to play the ball back to a teammate (Sullivan?) while he was dealing with 3 defenders and instead took a shot. The pass would have been a better choice, but he didn’t see it. I hope that vision improves, but it is a big ask with 3 defenders to deal with.
This is awesome. Having all the A-Listers out of this camp was indeed a blessing in disguise!!! This was a rare chance for Poch to actually throw players into the fire to properly evaluate their capabilities (and limitations) ….. and it seems to be working well.
Now all of a sudden, players like Tillman, Luna, Luca De La Torre etc. are stepping up with the belief that they are being “seen” and are actively contributing to this team. All we need now is Johnny Cardoso to buy in on this “Tillman-confidence” train too, lol…….as we need him to step up big time for the National team (and not just Real Betis).
Bizzy you cracking me up. I hate we smash a minor team and now people think the team is back, lol. Cardoso being sick must mean he is out of Poch plans.
bizzy,
“Now all of a sudden, players like Tillman, Luna, Luca De La Torre etc. are stepping up with the belief that they are being “seen” and are actively contributing to this team.”
I wouldn’t call it “all of a sudden”.
Every player is different as to when that light bulb goes off in their head but more playing and practice time always helps expedite that.
For example, if you look at Tilman’s record, it usually takes him a little bit while he gets accustomed to the new team. You saw that with Rangers and PSV. With the USMNT he has 20 caps but about half of them were in the tail end of Gregg’s reign and we can see he’s finally getting comfortable with Pochettino.
I think that is why sometimes managers call in fewer than the limit on the roster.
Maybe they want to focus more on the fewer players that are there.
The single biggest mistake I see a lot of people on SBI make is judging a player based on 30 seconds of action from You Tube highlight clips.
CP and Gio, creative guys like Malik, for example, more or less immediately showed their worth.
Jedi was widely despised and hated by many here when he first started but he looks not bad now.
In general it’s best to be conservative in terms of what to expect from a fresh face.
This is especially true of national teams where, because you never really stay together long enough, you may never really get the best out of the assembled group of players.
So far, what separates Pochettino from the other USMNT managers and SBI fans ( and might save his ass) is that he actually appears to have taken Cupcake seriously and he actually means it when he says that being an MLS player is not a barrier as far as he’s concerned.
To be fair to the USMNT managers emerti, MLS players are probably at a higher level of quality than they were when the emeriti were sitting around, waiting to be fired.
I look at Captain Jack and think in the past he might have been Graham Zusi, Brad Davis, Eddie Lewis or Steve Ralston. While I loved the American Beckham ( Eddie Lewis) , Captain Jack just might be better than all of them.
Can we talk about “Captain Jack” having absolutely no right foot. Thankfully he was able find Tillman back post because to not even take a shot on that sequence because he had no confidence in his right foot. I know he hasn’t played that position a lot.
JR
Sure.
I wasn’t upset about him not taking that shot with his right. It didn’t look like a high percentage shot anyway.
You’ve heard this before but having only one foot never stopped Beckenbauer, Maradona, Robben, Puskas, Roberto Carlos , ad.nauseum.
Not that CJ is anywhere near any of them.
Take away his high level shooting and passing and he’d be a good traffic cone.
Were Beckenbauer, Maradona, Robben, Puskas, and Roberto Carlos, just used as an analogy to justify Jack McGlynn being left-footed and barely able to stand on his right foot, let alone lack the confidence to shoot on a wide open goal with his right foot???
Franz…Diego…Arjen…Ferenc…and Roberto…I apologize for the madness that are the SBI posts which drag you down to an analogy comparing you with Jack McGlynn.
SMH.
PG
“Were Beckenbauer, Maradona, Robben, Puskas, and Roberto Carlos, just used as an analogy to justify Jack McGlynn being left-footed and barely able to stand on his right foot, let alone lack the confidence to shoot on a wide open goal with his right foot???”
I did not realize that you were the official guardian of the legacies and analogy usage (is that even a term?) of the players I listed. Does that come with a ball cap and uniform shirt? Epaulettes? And that goal was hardly wide open for Captain Jack.
That is your interpretation of the analogy. But then everyone is looking for a reason to be outraged these days.
The guys I listed were insanely one footed. Even though I’m pretty sure I saw Robben score a goal with his right foot once.
They proved that being one footed is not a barrier to being a good or even a great player.
I forgot to include Roberto Rivelino, but just as well since I like to save him for my outside of the foot analogies.
I would have used players I know personally like Jose Mari Martinez but none of youse know those guys so it would not have the same impact.
Outraged…nah…but I am amused at the farcicality of the analogy. Note, I added SMH.
Oh, and he was WIDE OPEN. Give the video another look…McGlynn’s first touch was at the 18 yard box, two yards wide of the right post ( when looking at the goal ), in on goal, and the nearest TnT defender is two yards off and not able to touch him.
For those of us that know both Rivelino and Jose Mari Martinez, at the international level, that is the textbook definition of WIDE OPEN.
PG,
“Oh, and he was WIDE OPEN. Give the video another look…McGlynn’s first touch was at the 18 yard box, two yards wide of the right post ( when looking at the goal ), in on goal, and the nearest TnT defender is two yards off and not able to touch him.”
Captain Jack isn’t stupid. That’s a WIDE OPEN shot for Landon Donovan, Clint or Ricardo. But CJ seems to know he’s not those guys.
Your outrage is silly. First of all the goal wound up being scored from a very nifty assist from Capt. Jack.
I would argue that his going for the assist gave Malik an easy tap in. And that was a much higher percentage play than Captain Jack taking a speculative blast with his weaker foot. Being criticised for making the smarter play is ridiculous. I prefer smart players to cement heads.
“For those of us that know both Rivelino and Jose Mari Martinez, at the international level, that is the textbook definition of WIDE OPEN.”
Now you sound like IV. So what?
Those guys were not playing. Captain Jack was.
Keep arguing all you want. The analogy is farcical. The fact that Jack McGlynn didn’t shoot is farcical. The fact that you are praising McGlynn for that goal is farcical. As a result, and by way of extension, you, and your corresponding posts, are farcical.
PG,
“Keep arguing all you want. The analogy is farcical. The fact that Jack McGlynn didn’t shoot is farcical. The fact that you are praising McGlynn for that goal is farcical. As a result, and by way of extension, you, and your corresponding posts, are farcical”
Wow, four farcicals from the analogy police.
And here you say you’re not outraged.
And all this because Captain Jack is heavily left footed.
What did he ever do to you?
so you see my point where trying new guys can be a breath of fresh air and find you new guys for the lineup and roster? i just though he only got about half this correct.
LDLT was anonymous. ditto berhalter. not sure what you thought you saw. we were dominating but it was all a specific set of guys in the front 4. wright, luna, tillman, and people forget mcglynn, who was pinging the ball around the shop setting people up.
IV,
“so you see my point where trying new guys can be a breath of fresh air and find you new guys for the lineup and roster?”
That wasn’t your point.
Your point was you wanted a revolution. You wanted to dump everyone all at once.
You wanted it just like the Turkey and Swiss sandwich where you filled the team with a bunch of newbies who had not played together for any significant amount of time if they have played together at all.
And you wouldn’t have done it in the more systematic way Pochettino did.
And you wouldn’t have used the players Pochettino did.
So what’s happening is not a justification of the contradictory drivel you’ve been spouting.
The A team could still reasonably be called Gregg’s guys. And you want them all exiled.
What Pochettino has done is work on the B team, building up the foundation to give the overall team a more solid base, who know how to play the way he wants and thus introducing a hint of competition.
It all goes back to him taking Cupcake seriously and taking MLS players, in general seriously.
Is that because he’s a genius or because MLS made it condition of his employment? I don’t know but I do know that MLS Americans are playing at a higher level than they ever have.
Are the B team MLS guys as good as the mostly Euro A team guys?
Mostly, no. But they might be getting good enough to cover for them in a pinch, especially over the 7-8 games at most in a World Cup. So the guys that Pochettino is using as his fresh faces may not be, ON PAPER as good as the fresh face revolution you would have dumped on them but it doesn’t matter.
The only way this team is going to avoid humiliation in 2026 is if the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.
Because guess what the A team, even if Gio and your pet project, Cole Campbell turn up is nothing special. It won’t scare anyone.
In other words this team is going to have to be punching well over it’s weight.. Pochettino started with the B team and is working his way up.
“What changed [this summer], I think is, of course, I understand better him now. After a few weeks together, I really started to understand him, and he started to understand us.”
It’s nice to have players in for extended camp so the coaches and players can really get to understand one another. It’s a bummer there won’t be more opportunities before the world cup. However I hold out hope that the preWC camp will provide this for everyone who isn’t at this one….even if I’m mad about them not being here now.