Several key U.S. men’s national team players are back in the fold for October’s international window.
Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, and Haji Wright headlined Pochettino’s 26-player roster for upcoming friendlies against Ecuador and Australia. Cameron Carter-Vickers, James Sands, and Tanner Tessmann are also among the players back in the fold after missing out on the September window.
There are several in-form players called into camp including Christian Pulisic, Haji Wright, and Alex Zendejas. Pulisic has helped AC Milan to a current first-place spot in Serie A while Wright leads the EFL Championship. Zendejas has registered a goal contribution in each of his last four club appearances for Club America.
The race for the No. 1 goalkeeper position continues with Matt Freese headlining a group that also includes Matt Turner and Patrick Schulte.
Wright is the hot hand at the No. 9 position coming into camp while Folarin Balogun and Patrick Agyemang will also compete for minutes.
Among the absentees from international duty are Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Josh Sargent, Ricardo Pepi, Gio Reyna, and Sergino Dest. Pepi, Dest, and Reyna have been ruled out of action due to respective injuries.
Adams was not included in this month’s camp due to his wife expecting to give birth in the coming days, Pochettino relayed during his press conference.
The USMNT will take on Ecuador on October 10 in Austin, Texas before closing their window four days later against Australia in Commerce City, Colorado.
This will be the program’s penultimate window of 2025.
Here is a full breakdown of the USMNT October roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Matt Freese (New York City FC; 9/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 3/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 52/0).
DEFENDERS: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 12/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 19/0), Alex Freeman (Orlando City; 9/0), Mark McKenzie (FC Toulouse/FRA; 22/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 77/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 33/3), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 50/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 34/3).
MIDFIELDERS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 53/9), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 14/3), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 60/11), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 9/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 39/0), James Sands (FC St. Pauli/GER; 11/0), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 8/0), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen/GER; 25/3).
FORWARDS: Patrick Agyemang (Derby County/ENG; 12/5), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco/FRA; 19/6), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 80/32), Tim Weah (Marseille/FRA; 45/7), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 17/5), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 13/2).
Pochettino let’s just do a 3-4-3
——–PULISIC——–BALOGAN——-WEAH———–
–
ROBINSON—MCKENNIE—TILLMAN—-ZENDEJAS
–
——REAM———–RICHARDS———FREEMAN—–
–
—————————-M. FREESE—————————–
–
and call it a day
Move players in, out and around as needed like:
Tim Ream – Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic) or Mark McKenzie (FC Toulouse)
Antonee Robinson (Fulham) – Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew)
Weston Mckennie – James Sands (FC St. Pauli) or Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon)
Malik Tillman – Cristian Roldan (Seattle)
Weah – Diego Luna (RSL, Pulisic will move to the right)
Balogun – Haji Wright (Coventry City) or Patrick Agyemang (Derby County)
Switch Zendejas and Weah.
I fail to see any good reason in excluding Musah and Scally.
No matter what potential formation is in the works.
Musah has been all over the place. One awesome game and then a crap game. I’m guessing Poch wants to see more consistency. But I agree, I think he needs to be there. As for Scally, he and Reyna had an attitude issue during the last WC. My thoughts are that some of the regular guys might be blackballing Scally. Plus, he isn’t an automatic starter.
Both may not make the 2026 team.
nathaniel brown, dual-german, defender, regular on my suggestions, called up by germany. “Nagelsmann called him ‘a big talent in defense.'” where is the balogun aggression?
we’re kind of a weird team that doesn’t win a lot, is sufficiently uncomfortable with the roster it’s bringing roldan and zendejas back, but doesn’t seem to think it needs duals or age group stars. and the odd part is often enough it’s the same people generally pessimistic on the regulars saying don’t try the age groupers instead. which starts to feel like nihilistic paralysis — nothing matters or can change anything — instead of analysis.
i always thought part of the 2006 failure was he didn’t repeat “donovan and beasley” risk taking, he cut mike bradley, every chance he had he erred towards reyna and lewis type older players, and got burned for it. ream is 37, roldan is 30. and compared to reyna it’s not exactly some dominant fixture for 15 years.
Nathaniel Brown has stated time and again that he wants to play for Germany. Contact with him was made multiple times. Move on.
this is a bit shy on RB, just freeman, particularly if he tries the 3 back thing and you’re supposed to run endline to endline. and before you say richards can play wide, you move him out there and there goes your one reliable CB.
there’s no musah, whose wing and DM past might make a serviceable wingback, about the only swiss army option i came up whpo might be listed as something else was mckennie.
we should actually have some decent options — forgotten man fossey, moore, cannon, scally.
odd.
Weah and McKennie played RWB all last season for Juve, so if we play a back 3 we’re covered. Both AM and CM have multiple other options if Wes or Tim play WB.
not really. if we play 343 or 433 then you still have 2 wide players per side, and you can’t “double account” them. if weah is right back in 433, or wing in a 343, he can’t also play up top. you’re then starting, what, zendejas? with no backup?
we had this discussion years ago on left wing. “oh, aaronson can play there.” and then you send pulisic home or he gets hurt. and you then can’t double count aaronson as left wide and AM. and one spot has no depth.
speaking of which, there is no second LF. and you can tell yourself that’s covered by aaronson, but look above, and then there’s a point at which you’re borrowing from peter to give to paul all over the place and you come up short someplace.
and then we have 4 keepers to play 1, 5 CB to play 2-3, and 3 strikers to play 1.
IV,
“speaking of which, there is no second LF. and you can tell yourself that’s covered by aaronson, but look above, and then there’s a point at which you’re borrowing from peter to give to paul all over the place and you come up short someplace.”
This is not a World Cup game. If they wind up having to borrow from Peter to pay Paul then we will earn a lot about the players involved.
In 2002 they beat Mexico with a 3-5-2 , a formation forced on them by injury. Your boy Gregg B, who was there, says they had never played it before.
Having it happen in PRACTICE is a good thing.
Tessmann and Sands have the two biggest opportunities, IMHO. Sands is a guy I’ve been high on for awhile as a World Cup roster guy because he can play as both a deep-lying defensive 6, or as a CB in a three-man backline (or even a 4-man line in a pinch.) Other than Adams we’re short on destroyers. Aidan Morris probably gets a look there as well, but Sands, to me, is who I’d personally want as Adams’ backup…he seems tailor-made for the style Poch plays.
A whole lot of guys have tried – and failed – to secure the co-6 spot alongside Adams. That’s the shuttler, whose job it is to advance the ball and break lines…but that guy also has to be rock-solid defensively and sync very well with the destroyer. Roldan (of all people!) showed his Seattle form was no mirage and was shockingly solid there in that role. Tessmann’s very good advancing the ball, he’s brutally physical, and he’s got an absolute cannon from distance, but the knock on him in the past was he wasn’t disciplined defensively. I haven’t seen him with Lyon lately but if he’s won a starting gig there my suspicion is he may have tightened up in that department quite a bit; you don’t start with a top squad like Lyon if you’re sloppy. So there’s definitely still a HELP WANTED sign at the shuttler spot too.
McKennie is especially undisciplined as a co-6…and if you look, there’s no second right back on the roster beyond Alex Freeman…which makes me wonder if either McKennie or Weah are going to get a run-out there, especially since Scally wasn’t called…again. Poch really does seem to prefer wingbacks who can get up the field, and both guys could fill that role.
All Poch things considered and considering the injuries…nothing for me to fume about this time.
Would have liked to see Scally
I want a back three again. If so I think POCH goes:
————Freeze————
——-CR– McKz—Ream–
AFree–Tess—-Rold——-Jedi
———-Tillman–CP——— (I would swap Tillman for Weston. Zendejas poss start)
—————Balo————–
Back 4
Drop Mckz, Move CP to the Right and Weah starts on Left (eye thing). Or Zendejas starts on right and CP on left.
I wonder if Adams has a niggling injury. Or if Poch wants to see who of Sands or Morris can be a valuable backup to Adams.
He requested to be home waiting for birth of child
Glad to see Tessmann back! He’s in top form for Lyon right now.
Just hope this team can sort out the Ream situation as he is getting slower and slower and afraid come World Cup, it’ll be more of a hindrance. Richards is the undisputed main centerback.
ac,
What Ream situation?
The sky may not fall.
He’s always been slower.
Have you seen any sign that Pochettino won’t pull you if you suck?
I haven’t. Pochettino is pretty ruthless.
Which means Ream playing as much as he has is a good sign for Timmy….for now.
It also means that if anyone is going to have a shot at replacing Timmy they are going to have to step up and TAKE it from him. They need to show their stuff, either in training with the USMNT, in previous games with the USMNT or at their clubs.
My assumption is that so far, no one has.
For the record, I am pretty sure that there is no one anywhere who does not want a Ream replacement or at least a viable Ream backup but that person has not stepped up.
Am I worried? Not really. At this date, his replacement or backup will only emerge if something happens to Timmy, either a drastic loss of form ( which is not inevitable) or injury.
As he said he would Pochettino is trying to find the 23-26 best guys who fit his idea of a WC roster. And that means that if Timmy dies of old age after the first WC game, the USMNT will adapt. In 2002 the USMNT beat Mexico in their knockout game in great part by using a 3-5-2 formation. According to Gregg B, who was there, they had never played it before. It was forced on them by injuries.
That is the sort of thing that happens in World Cups, you rise to the occasion.
This team has enough problems to solve without having to worry about a player who is not yet a problem.
Pretty good roster. All of those players are in really good form.
Aye, aye captain!