The U.S. men’s national team’s October window will come to a close on Tuesday night in Colorado.
Mauricio Pochettino’s squad closes their two-match window against Australia at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. After a comeback 1-1 draw with Ecuador on Friday, the Americans will seek to end their penultimate window of 2025 with a victory.
Several players enjoyed positive performances against Ecuador including Folarin Balogun, Tanner Tessmann, and Weston McKennie. Christian Pulisic featured off of the bench and should be among those pushing to start in Commerce City.
Alex Zendejas will not take part in the match after departing club due to a knee injury, Pochettino confirmed postmatch on Friday. Zendejas entered camp on a strong run of form, but will be missed from the squad on Tuesday night.
Antonee Robinson is also unavailable for the USMNT, opening the door for Max Arfsten to start against at left back.
With the USMNT seeking a win against Australia, here is the starting lineup that we believe should start:
GOALKEEPER
Who should start: Matt Freese
While Matt Turner and others will be pushing to start, Matt Freese has done little to lose his starting spot. Freese was rarely tested in Friday’s match, making one save against the Ecuadorians.
DEFENDERS
Who should start: Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Max Arfsten.
Although Pochettino will want to send every player back to their clubs fit, he will also want to keep some continuity in his backline.
Tim Weah got the start as a right wing back on Friday, but Alex Freeman came off the bench and featured against Ecuador. I’d expect Freeman to get the starting nod on Tuesday, especially to get him more reps with the first-team bunch.
Chris Richards and Tim Ream look to be the USMNT’s No. 1-2 center backs right now and I don’t expect that to change against Australia. Richards had one struggling moment against Enner Valencia on Friday but other than that, delivered a solid shift.
Ream rarely put a foot wrong in the match and continues to bring veteran experience to the mix.
It will be interesting to see how Pochettino goes with his third centerback, but after Miles Robinson and Mark McKenzie both played against Ecuador, expect Cameron Carter-Vickers to get a chance.
Max Arfsten took Antonee Robinson’s place on Friday and it looks like the Columbus Crew defender will likely start again this week. Robinson not being at 100% fitness opens the door for Arfsten to earn more crucial minutes under Pochettino.
MIDFIELDERS
Who should start: James Sands, Malik Tillman, Diego Luna
Keeping Malik Tillman in the starting lineup is a must for the USMNT.
Tillman set up the USMNT’s only goal against Ecuador and overall looks to be finding his footing with the squad. His creativity and final-third abilities make him a top option to start in the front of the USMNT’s midfield.
Rotation may come in with James Sands and Diego Luna entering the XI.
Sands has enjoyed a positive start to the Bundesliga season with St. Pauli and overall should provide a defensive presence in front of the backline. With Sands holding that position, Diego Luna could team up with Tillman to create chances in the offensive-third.
Luna had some positive moments and Ecuador but will seek to turn those into goals or assists on Tuesday.
Aidan Morris, Cristian Roldan, Brenden Aaronson, and Tanner Tessmann are also options for Pochettino to consider and I’d expect most of them to feature off of the bench.
FORWARDS
Who should start: Weston McKennie, Folarin Balogun, Christian Pulisic
Alex Zendejas’ departure from USMNT camp limits the amount of offensive options for Pochettino to consider.
Folarin Balogun is a must-start after finding the back of the net against Ecuador. With two goals in his last two appearances, the Monaco forward could add to his streak with a strong outing against Australia.
Balogun’s hold-up play and relentless work rate puts him ahead of Haji Wright and Patrick Agyemang for the starting job right now.
Christian Pulisic came off the bench on Friday, but should start at left wing against Australia. Pulisic remains the leading man for the USMNT’s attack long-term and teaming him with Balogun could pose consistent problems for Australia’s backline.
Weston McKennie’s versatility has led Pochettino to use him up higher in his formation and that trend could continue Tuesday. McKennie looks to have improved his fitness and moving him higher upfield could allow the USMNT to pack more creative options in the heart of their midfield.
Haji Wright, Tim Weah, and Patrick Agyemang could also see time if needed.
What do you think of our projected lineup? Who are you most excited to see play? Are there any doubts you have?
Share your thoughts below.
– Interesting that neither CCV or Agyemang got any minutes this window
– M Robinson started both games, and did pretty well. The thinking may be that Ream will be 39 next summer, and the CB pool needs depth.
– It seems the door is still open at striker..think if Pepi can get healthy and impress this winter he still has a shot.
– Roldan impressed in both games. He hustles for 90 full minutes. Co-MOTM with Wright.
– One can see why Sands was brought in. He has played both MF and CB, and Poch’s tactics had him platooning back to CB at stages of the game from his CDM position. But he struck me as not up to the speed of play at the level of an international game.
– Freeman continues to show he is ready to play at this level.
–
Can we start a petition to replace Kyle Martino?
With anyone?
that’s twice now freese has failed to make our side of the center circle with a goal kick. together with the couple goals he’s given away with his feet, where are the people who used to hound turner about his foot skills?
I think more than twice
it’s funny about the driving competition for spots, except for some spots like Tillman, fine by me btw, and Freese, and others too
it all depends, and again all good here, not calling Poch out, no need to defend him
Tillman picked up a slight muscle injury (said it felt like a cramp) in training they didn’t want to risk it with the temp change from Austin to Denver and the altitude.
this is really not that great an oz team. their mids and backs are sloppy if you swarm them. and they can be beaten for speed on the counter as we’ve now done twice. but you have to even be trying to get behind them and most of the first half we seemed scared.
and defensively, if they get our end, it’s a marking test. they are slow but semi skilled. just stay goal side and tackle. ideally strip the ball back in midfield by swarming people and forcing bad passes. they will definitely make them.
i’ve kind of decided the 343 plays into oz’s hands. they keep getting wingers open.
I think this is the narrowest match I’ve ever watched not at NYCFC
Wright needs to buy Roldan a couple of rounds after the game for 2 superb assists. Both players are making the most of their opportunities this window.
Finally the US gets a goal off the opponents falling asleep
As soon as they assigned yet another minor league CONCAFAF referee, it was only a matter of time before the game spirals out of control. I think Pulisic removed himself from the game after 2 hard fouls rather than risk further injury. Both harsh fouls on Sands were worthy of yellow cards, but apparently not today. It is a friendly, and no one wants to risk serious injury, but find someone competent.
Was thinking the same thing! How has only one yellow card been given?! Australia sensed this ref is allowing a lot and taking advantage.
i pulled a hammy once trying to stay on my feet after getting tripped at speed like that. you put a lot of force on your leg muscles bam into the ground if you don’t just go down.
Bad defending. The team needs to move the ball quicker.
Back to the good old sideways and back passing.
Forgot how slow Sands is.
my recently developed rule of thumb (from watching the U20s) is how many times do they positively play the ball behind the other team, dribble at them then go to the endline, or earn a corner kick. i count roughly “3” including roldan playing wright behind the defense on the goal.
to me the recipe to beat these aussies is simple. the backs are not that fast. play it behind them. and then “trap” their mids.
as you’re suggesting, we’re being way too passive. the goal allowed is an effort play. i got a goal like that in indoor once where i banged it off the board about 3 times around field players and the keeper and everyone stood there. it’s passivity. having been the defender on the other side, someone has to stand up and clear the 50/50. everyone is standing in a line acting like it’s some other defender’s problem.
give em too cheap, get them too expensive. gotta change.
same freaking sleepwalking defense to start second half. guy dribbles 3 of our players then player wide open weak side.
meanwhile we act like if we try to take on their defense we would get ejected.
you know who is allowed to get cavalier on the ball? freese in front of his own net.
I hope US soccer makes the next WC qualifying games in Atlanta. Would be much better for players health IMO and potentially having good pro US attendance.
Two major issues, one is turf and the other is stadium size. Unless you can fill the lower bowl it looks empty at Mercedes and can you get 40,000 on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday. ATLU often plays afternoon matches to avoid evening traffic. I can’t remember the last qualifier we chose to play on turf, probably Seattle.
Both USMNT games in March will be in Atlanta. Grass will be laid down in advance of the World Cup. Portugal, with Ronaldo, has the potential to fill the stadium on Friday / Saturday. Belgium, with DeBruyne, has potenrial to fill lower bowl ( 42k ) on Tuesday.
Papi,
ATL did pretty well for USA v Panama at Copa and I think it will do well for those two friendlies maybe not the Tuesday night one. I don’t think it would be good for a WCQ next cycle as 2tone was suggesting. Unless Uncle Arthur wants to pay up for grass for it. It’s been sad how bad the stadium has looked for most ATLU matches this season, the fans rightfully wrote that group off early.
https://x.com/usmnt/status/1978246871962341630?s=46
Quite the interesting lineup. Tim Ream gets a rest, with McKenzie slotting in. Looks like Weah and Freeman at the wings. Sands gets his chance in the midfield. Give Poch credit – he is giving lots of people a look and trying to build depth.
Same formation…rotate players…continue to drive competition for spots.
Wright
Luna – Aaronson
Arfsten – Sands – Roldan – Freeman
McKenzie – Robinson – Carter Vickers
Turner
Balo passed the test. We know he’s good. Give Wright at least 45 minutes up to to see what he can do.
Same 11 as Ecuador?
Only changes I’d personally like to see is different instructions for one of the sixes to venture higher and get Weah more involved. Tell Weah and McKennie to be more aggressive with shooting. They both seem gun shy at both club and country.
60 min Subs: Luna for Tillman (I want to see Luna and “Weston One-Touch” interchanges around the box), Freeman for MRob again, give Sands his look for Morris/Tessman.
75 min Subs: Agyemang for Balo, Aaronson for McKinnie, Roldan for Tessman/Morris, Ream for pick-a-CB
you get we nearly lost to ecuador, only got a tie out of it, and the goal came with subs in?
evaluate a fresh GK, try some new backs, rotate in a fresh DM or 2 to trial. i’d kind of like to see freeman as RM with weah as a running buddy RF.
i am open to them continuing to try the 343 but the defense has to be better or don’t bother.
i don’t understand why pulisic, jedi, and zendejas were called up, and if they took dings in practice, why they weren’t immediately sent home and others called in. we have finite chances to look at players before the world cup.
i’d also like to see them try arfsten as a LF. he delivers a good cross, but has some defensive limits.
Line-ups online are ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE!!!! Like no one has a clue what Pochettino has in mind
Here are predictions from various sources:
MLS Multiplex MSN
USMNT Lineup (3-4-3, right to left)
Matt Turner (GK) – Cameron Carter-Vicker, Chris Richards, Mark McKenzie – Alex Freeman, Weston McKennie, Cristian Roldan, Max Arfsten – Christian Pulisic, Patrick Agyemang, Brenden Aaronson
Sports Illustrated
USMNT Predicted Lineup vs. Australia (3-4-3): Freese; Richards, Carter-Vickers, Ream; Freeman, Tillman, McKennie, Arfsten; Weah, Balogun, Pulisic.
Sports Mole
USA possible starting lineup (3-4-2-1):
Freese; Robinson, Richards, Ream; Weah, Roldan, Morris, Arftsen; McKennie, Tillman; Balogun
NBC sports (3-4-3)
Matt Turner
Chris Richards — Cameron Carter-Vickers — Tim Ream
Alex Freeman — Tanner Tessmann — Malik Tillman —- Max Arfsten
Timothy Weah — Folarin Balogun — Christian Pulisic
Alexi Lalas, Jimmy Conrad, Tony Meola and Charlie Davies all have similar preferences (with a few changes here and there) too
Hopefully, this game is going to be good……but not as good as CanMNT going up against a jam-packed Colombia team (that just waxed Mexico 4 – 0) at 8:00 PM lol. Bruh…..Jesse Marsch better buckle up and brace for impact!!!!!
Jedi is out. And Pulisic probably won’t be starting again. Coming from Poch.
Last year when Fulham sat down Jedi near the end of the season you knew it was very serious.
1) He was having a great season and there was a lot of transfer talk. Sitting him down killed a lot of that transfer talk so you know it was serious.
2.) “I basically got dead leg on the top of my knee, on my quadricep tendon, which slightly split my tendon open and that bleeding led to calcification and stuff and I developed a bit of tendinopathy in my knee,” he said.
“It was pretty painful from probably November onwards for the rest of the duration of the season and I was managing my load, trying to make sure I could play games and things like that,” he added. “And then after seeing various specialists and surgeons, the decision was that I probably wasn’t going to get over the other side of it unless I had surgery to scrape out the calcification that was in my tendon and kind of clean the area out.”
I’m not a doctor but I’m pretty sure that sounds awful and very serious. it sounds like the ultimate overuse injury. I would be amazed if he gets back to his best this season. Hopefully, he will be rounding out into his best form just in time for the WC.
Interesting – I’m not an MD but I’m in a field that works with muscoskeletal issues a ton. From my clinical experience anything involving tendons is going to take a lot of time. In my modality we are big fans of rest for tendons when things go wonky. Tendons do not have a lot of innervation so it takes longer for the blood flow to do it’s job of bringing the stuff necessary for healing and taking away the waste (inflammatory stuff). With repetitive use syndromes especially, it’s a fine balance between movement and rest. Too much of either can set back healing. From what you wrote above that operation seems pretty invasive. That Fulham seemed to try to bring him back and then after one and half games he’s been sat again it sounds to be he came back too early and probably aggravated it.
Betinho,
Like I said, I’m no MD but the entire operation sounds pretty awful to me. I took the quote from FOX so it was all Jedi. He had become arguably one of the best left backs in the EPL but he’s also on the older side so you can see that Fulham have a lot to think about here.
Hopefully with proper treatment he can come back to “normal” by April-May of 2026.
Poch said something about using a different system and using different players, so I’m betting none of us predict tomorrow’s lineup correctly
Original English 1-2-7 harkening back to the origins of football in 1880s.
Max-Weah-Pul-Balo-Haj-BA-Free
—————Weston-Sands————
—————-Richards————-
JR, I watched a youtube video last night that was about 20 minutes long that showed the evolution of lineups and tactics over the years, how and why they changed and evolved etc. Usually I stop watching stuff like this after 1 minute because they’re clickbait garbage, but this one was actually entertaining with team coach and player examples
Bac, perhaps Poch has watched the same and been inspired.
I mean once in their half The Crew are typically in a 1-3-6 so not far off I guess. Of course my Crew have stunk the 2nd half of the season.
Ur killin me smalls
Australia beat Canada (who couldn’t score, even though the game was one-sided…..extremely one-sided).
–
————————-BALOGUN————————
–
————-PULISIC—————TILLMAN————
–
ARFSTEN—MCKENNIE–TESSMANN–WEAH
–
——-CCV———RICHARDS——FREEMAN——
–
————————-FREESE—————————–
–
Balogun / Haji Wright
Pulisic / Luna
Tessmann / Morris
Mckennie / Roldan
CCV / Ream
Freeman / Mckenzie
I would say put Mckennie back with Tessman start Pulisic and Jedi if Jedi is good. Other than that same formation. Maybe Mckenzie for Miles.
Before even speculating on a lineup the questions that need to be asked are:
1) Will Pochettino use the same formation?
2) Will he use a lineup that builds off of the momentum from the game vs Ecuador?
3) Or will he rotate his players?
So Jedi is ruled out. How worried should we be for his knee for next summer? Obviously the kid needs to worry about things for now and the future and I am being selfish.
In regard to the proposed SBI line-up, why would Poch experiment with a different line-up in this window? He had last window to experiment. He should try to be consistent here. I am assuming no other injuries or issues.
He might try another center-back in a back 3, but why not let Miles Robinson try again? Other than the individual goal by Valencia that Chris Richards tried to cover, I don’t recall any other glaring mistakes.
Switch Mckennie and Tillman
If Poch uses Larry’s lineup, I think it’s a sign Poch does not like Wes’s skill set in that deeper position.
I don’t think he does…at all. Weston’s got a ton of positive attributes…consistency in assignment is not one of them.
Poch wants his destroyer to cover ground and play like a third CB when the wingbacks move up into the attack, and he wants the shuttler to be press-resistant, break lines, and advance the ball. And he does not want drama from either of them, and he wants them syncing defensively and not freelancing and leaving holes in the defense.
McKennie’s going to make the 26, almost without question. He’s going to start a fair bit though his role will likely shift around. I do not think he will play much as either a destroyer or a shuttler in the double pivot.
JR, I don’t but you probably knew that already.