The 2025-26 Americans Abroad season is in its final stretch and for several key U.S. men’s national team players, ending the campaign on a high note is vital.
From Antonee Robinson’s up-and-down role with Premier League side Fulham to Sergino Dest’s race to get back to full fitness, there is zero shortage of storylines to watch over the next few weeks.
Many of the top European leagues have three-to-four weeks left in their schedules, meaning there will be a small turnaround for players before joining up with their respective national teams.
Here is a closer look at the Americans Abroad players that SBI will be keeping a close eye on over the next few weeks:
Antonee Robinson
The 2025-26 season has been one of Antonee Robinson’s toughest in recent time.
Fresh off a 10-assist campaign for Fulham, expectations were high for Robinson to match that total during the current season. However, things have gone the compete opposite direction for the veteran left back, who has just one assist and 22 appearances under his belt for the Cottagers.
Dating back to March 1, Robinson has made only four starts in Marco Silva’s squad, taking a back seat to Ryan Sessegnon.
With Fulham chasing a potential European spot and only four matches left, Robinson will have to finish strong if he wants to enter USMNT camp full of confidence.
Christian Pulisic
Christian Pulisic’s dipping form with AC Milan is a major red flag heading into the FIFA World Cup.
Pulisic has failed to score in his last 16 matches for the Rossoneri, despite delivering a strong first half of the season last fall. The 27-year-old has only one goal contribution in 2026, enduring one of the worst goal-less droughts of his career (tied for the longest match streak without a goal).
Luckily for Pulisic, he has four final matches left with AC Milan to try and turn his form and confidence around.
Massimiliano Allegri’s squad have not yet sealed a UEFA Champions League berth either and could potentially miss out entirely pending how the final stretch goes. AC Milan will need Pulisic firing to solidify a top-four spot, knowing that a continued drought could spell big trouble for him and the club.
Sergino Dest
Sergino Dest has not featured for Dutch champions PSV since March 7 but is trending upward heading into May.
Dest is fighting to get back to full fitness before Mauricio Pochettino names his World Cup roster on May 26. The 25-year-old has been recovering from a knee injury and remains a viable option for the USMNT, should he not suffer a setback.
PSV has already clinched the league title and is its final stretch of three league matches in the Eredivisie. Manager Peter Bosz may not risk Dest’s fitness in the coming weeks, but getting him back and on the training pitch is surely necessary.
Alex Freeman
Fresh from his first start for La Liga club Villarreal, Alex Freeman will now be focused on retaining his spot over the next four weeks.
Freeman played the full 90 minutes on Sunday in Villarreal’s 2-1 home league triumph over Celta Vigo, a result that all but sealed the club’s return to the UEFA Champions League next season. After featuring sparingly off the bench since his arrival from Orlando City, the 21-year-old Freeman now has a golden chance to make the starting spot his.
Freeman is also competing with the aforementioned Dest, Joe Scally, and others for opportunities in Pochettino’s backline, so a strong end of the club season could be what separates him from others in the squad.
Gio Reyna
Gio Reyna’s first season with Borussia Moenchengladbach was expected to help the American attacker get back on track, but it’s been anything but that.
Reyna has made only 17 appearances for Gladbach, who remain in a relegation scrap at the bottom-half of the German Bundesliga. The 23-year-old has failed to register a single goal contribution for his new club, while last making a start back on December 19.
Pochettino has previously stated that he isn’t worried by Reyna’s club role when it comes to the USMNT, but it seems very worrying for a player with just over 500 minutes this season to come into the biggest competition in the world.
Ricardo Pepi
The Ricardo Pepi train is picking up steam and fast.
Pepi is making up for lost time by being back amongst the goals for PSV. The 23-year-old has scored three goals in his last two appearances for the Dutch champions, while also tallying six goals in his 10 appearances this year.
After missing part of the winter schedule due to a broken arm, Pepi has retuned with a vengeance, moving one goal back from his career-best haul for a single-season.
He will surely have chances to tie and break that mark over the next three matches, knowing that he has a great chance to earn a USMNT call-up and come into World Cup duty on a great run of form.
re taking risks, i think you have to leave the core alone. eg i don’t care how pulisic is playing, you have to dance with that. the coach’s job is help him figure that out. i feel similarly about the top 3 strikers, the attackers behind them, the DMs, and even some of the wingbacks (freeman/jedi), CB (richards), and keepers (freese).
however, for a 26 man list, i think we are one striker short. and i think based on the last window wingback, keeper, and centerback should have roster competition. this is not crazy talk unless you are into driving the car right off the cliff you know is in front of you.
this basically amounts to 5 or 6 fresh faces competing for 26 jobs with existing players. banks, hall or another striker, and 3-4 more GK, CB, or wingbacks to compete for jobs with the likes of turner, scally, ream, and others.
as i have said, thunderdome it and go to the world cup with the ones who earn it. the roster competition would generally be playing for the last bench spots, but i think there needs to be a vibe of who plays well will make the team and see the field, where they get motivated.
Thunderdome is not happening guys are not released until May 25th. The roster announcement is scheduled for May 26th. Yes players from Germany, Netherlands, and Championship not in playoffs will be earlier but you wouldn’t have more than 50% of your top 35 available anyway. Yes I know technically it’s not due until Friday the 30th but the US is doing the press event Monday. That’s the recovery day for the guys anyway so they can do all the press stuff on Monday and do soccer work the rest of the week. The roster is due before the first friendly anywhere so you’d just be basing roster spots on practice.
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Do you need 4 CF spots when you only play 1 at a time?
re “buddle,” those familiar with the history would remember that as mcbride stepped aside the striker spot crumbled. casey was a banger with german pedigree but also bad knees. gomez was ok. buddle was meh. EJ was meh. if you remember what happened, eventually we moved landon and dempsey from wing to up top to get some quality.
the weakening at the striker slot foreshadowed the general hollowing out of development that became obvious in the 2014 cycle. if klinsi hadn’t brought AJ and the german dual nationals in the cupboard would have looked pretty bare. like pulisic was the only new impact stud for years. people don’t seem to connect up 2012 olympic qualifying with what followed. it was just a weakened team for years, that klinsi briefly propped up. he then ran out of ideas second cycle and got stuck on an unsuccessful group and tactics no longer working.
we are not “generally” in that position but i do feel we’re a little arrogant about results and the back end of the roster. if agyemang is out you might want a 4th striker or injury contingency. and ideally you’d want it to be a fresh face who hasn’t tripped over their own feet this past year like sargent, white, etc. so it has to be a risk. downs, hall, dike, etc.
pulisic doesn’t seem to like being the false 9 himself or playing around one..
the urge to call the regulars mystifies me. we’ve been doing that most of the cycle. this cycle is either plateaued from the last meh one or even worse. it should be evident from our tournament results. if we had qualifying it would be obvious. i do think you have to call most of the same, but at the edges, when it’s like the regular is hurt or doing jack, you have to do “something.” calling in sargent to have no impact is cowardice.
stability is for winners. based on that last window some keepers and backs should be losing jobs, and we need more offense.
Julian Hall has just over 2,000 minutes as a professional and we want to gift him a 2026 World Cup roster spot?
Wth?…Smh.
our 4th striker is probably out. what’s your replacement plan? call sargent? are you joking? pulisic got an audition last window. nope. is reyna up to it? weah?
so you have to do something and probably a little out of the box since sargent has proven unproductive but hogged many caps. white kind of sucks internationally. nope.
i land on ferreira, dike, downs, or hall. hall, for all the mockery, is on 6G 2A in 10 games — a goal every 1.6 games — and on the first page of the goal leaderboard for MLS.
it also has the “green/johannson” side effect of thwarting poland’s effort to take him away.
and IMO back is even worse. the first thing that should have happened after that march shellacking was get on the phone with banks.
i dunno, people talk like this is a top 10 team with all wins and spotless roster with no injury issues. we have 3 healthy quality strikers. we have been carrying 4. we have an iffy defense. we have a backup keeper who shipped 5 goals and looked fairly ineffective.
it’s this weird thing where this is a meritocracy supposedly, but whether we win games with the “elect” or they play well doesn’t factor into merit much. club is all that seems to matter.
what if the next default striker option hasn’t scored in the shirt in years? (and has 2G 1/3 of the way into MLS’ season)
IV,
The replacement plan should be for Pochettino to select a player that has earned a roster spot for this World Cup and that can help us win now.
Make no mistake about it, Julian Hall has shown well this MLS season, he is trending well, and with respect to his potential, he is inspiring excitement, but he is not a young Ronaldo Nazario, nor is the current USMNT the Brazilian National Team, circa 1994.
As a USMNT fan base, if a young American player shows promise, or has a decent run of play, why are we so quick to want immediately elevate them to the USMNT?
Why do we not expect them to continue performing well with their club team for at least two seasons, or preferably more?…all while having them prove themselves at the next level up with the USYNT?
You have been clamoring on this sight, ad nauseum for months, about bringing Cole Campbell into the USMNT, and in the end, what did we learn about Campbell at the 2025 FIFA u17 World Cup?
We learned that he is not anywhere near ready to compete at the highest levels.
The development path of a young aspiring professional soccer player is not a “hockey stick” rise up. Quite the contrary, it is littered with setbacks along the way. Those setbacks often times sharpen them, and in the process toughen them up and make them stronger. As a result, and along their path, they learn to earn things.
Let’s hope that Julian Hall continues to play well, score goals, and trends well, but at the same time, let’s be realistic, and let’s have him focus on his…
…club play and his time with the Red Bulls…
…and from an international career, how about he focuses on earning a roster spot for the USYNT at the 2027 u20 World Cup…
…and if we really want to get desperate, he can get called into a USMNT camp in 2026…AFTER the World Cup.
When someone brought up Sargent, basically everyone was against it. Buddle, Findlay, Gomez all had a much bigger body of work before being taken to WC and none of them did well in their chance.
– A better comp might be Yedlin but JK took a flier on him because of his speed. He didn’t need skill or tactical awareness, it was here play as a wide midfielder and just run at the backline. And if we get you ball in behind just lump it into the box don’t do anything fancy. Your CF has to have a little more tactical awareness.
JR,
“Buddle, Findlay, Gomez all had a much bigger body of work before being taken to WC and none of them did well in their chance.”
That’s a litle bit harsh. They were a failed experiment even though Findley put in some good shifts as a dirty work decoy. It shows you that even if you are the new hot shit smokeshow, like for example Julian Hall, our latest soccer saviour, being thrown in at the last minute with a bunch of strangers you haven’t played with much, if at all, does not always work. Especially in games that for each of them, were probably the biggest games of their lives. I’d love it if Zakrzewski, for example, scored a hat trick vs Turkiye but he’d be facing very long odds.
Going into South Africa the USMNT was badly damaged by the loss of CD9. Charlie’s speed and his new found finishing had been a crucial factor in their Confed Cup run to the Final. He stretched defenses and freed up Jozy, Clint and LD.
With no like for like replacement for Charlie, those three were an attempt to replace one man with three.
Ultimately, the results were mixed.
All three players appeared. All were in good form leading into South Africa. None of them scored a goal during the tournament.
Robbie Findley:
Chosen for his Davies-like speed to stretch defenses. He started three matches—including the opener against England—but struggled with his finishing and ball retention. Missed the Algeria game ( card suspension) and came back for 46 minutes in the Ghana game. Bob Bradley valued Findley for specific tactical reasons:
1. Vertical Speed: Sounds like verticality
2. Tactical Fit: His willingness to run behind the defense
3. Work Rate: Bob noted his “dogged determination” and
defensive work
Edson Buddle:
Breakout start to the 2010 MLS season (9 goals in 9 games). He scored twice in a pre-tournament friendly against Australia but was limited to two substitute appearances in the World Cup.
Herculez Gomez:
Capped after becoming the first American to lead a foreign league in scoring (Mexico’s Primera División). Made three second half appearances.
All three players were in good form and worked hard but overall, it felt like Bob did not really have enough time to integrate them into the team.
The point is while this panicky search for fresh faces on the World Cup roster could be useful; there is also the risk that sometimes last minute replacements from the Thunderdome, etc. lack Team Chemistry and that matters. As these three players proved.
1. The long qualification campaign and the Confed Cup?
These three were not part of that core group.
2. They displaced established veterans like Brian Ching (45 caps) and Eddie Johnson (41 caps), who had years of chemistry with the rest of the team.
3. Experimental Partnerships: Most of their time playing alongside the starting lineup occurred in the final three “send-off” friendlies (against the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Australia) just weeks before the opener against England. Friendly games proved to not be optimal for establishing cohesion and team chmeistry.
V: the point was Buddle, Findley, and Gomez weren’t throwing a teenager into the fire on a whim. Buddle and Gomez were seasoned pros, Findley hadn’t played as long but did have several camps before the pre-WC camp.
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If Poch was coming back bringing Hall or Albert makes sense as #26 on the roster. But since his return is unlikely he’s going to bring the guys he thinks can help right now.
JR,
Just to reinforce what you are saying, if Hall somehow winds up on this roster;
A. Hall might prove IV to be the predatory capping genius that IV believes himself to be.
B. He could wind up as Julian Green , inserted only at the last minute out of desperation because JK needed scoring and literally had no other option.
C. He could be Mix Diskerud; on the 2014 WC roster but not playing one second.
If he does get to play it would most likely be because we need a goal late. In other words, a specialist. But don’t we already have an experienced someone who makes a living doing that? Some guy named Ricardo?
Hall being a positive contributor is not out of the realm of possibility. Julian Green did score an important goal. But I think advocates of that move underestimate how hard it could be on a kid like Hall. As you pointed out Bob’s three headed monster experiment failed even though they were established pros and Bob had much more game and training time to make it work. A ton more time than Julian would get.
This is going to be a physically brutal tournamentand we will have lot of pre-banged up players. I see Pochettino not taking a 4th striker and instead replacing Patrick with someone who can contribute NOW.
It’s not like the USMNT doesn’t have a lot more need elsewhere.
also, if sullivan, campbell, or reyna were more productive i don’t think minutes or perceived inexperience would matter for them.
IV,
” were more productive i don’t think minutes or perceived inexperience would matter for them.”
No shit. By the way, it’s not “perceived” inexperience.
Julian, Cavan, and Cole are all, IN FACT, inexperienced.
1. As of May 2, 2026, Cavan Sullivan and Cole Campbell have combined for 792 minutes of first-team senior football.
2. Julian Hall has recorded 1,710 minutes of senior action.
Those minutes are for their entire fucking careers.
Look it up. There is no “perception” involved.
Gio should not be lumped in with those guys.
As of May 2, 2026, Gio Reyna has played a total of 518 minutes for Borussia Mönchengladbach across the 2025–26 club season.
Gio is different from them.
For all his flaws, for the USMNT, Gio and Malik are the only candidates for central creative catalyst and “X-factor”. Pochettino describes Gio as a “nightmare” for opponents because of his unique ability to read the game and exploit space between defensive lines.
Gio meshes exceptionally well with other stars like Christian Pulisic, who is not great as a central midfield creative catalyst.
As for Malik:
Reyna is a tempo-setter who thrives in tight spaces, focusing on progressive passing and unlocking “low block” defenses.
Tillman is more of a vertical threat; he excels at late runs into the box and finishing.
I’m kind of okay with Antonee Robinson’s situation right now. He’s an established veteran and knows the level he needs to play, but will also have fresh legs for the World Cup. The right side is the interesting one. Scally is getting minutes but he can get burned by quicker players. Dest will be coming back from injury and needs to get fully fit. Freeman is establishing himself and also is more defensive minded compared to Dest, so he is definitely in a good spot now.
What concerns me is Poch recently playing with a 4 man backline, instead of the 3 man backline-using wingbacks to fall into a 5 person defense. Ream is a veteran presence but beyond slow. Playing Richards, Scally, and someone else would give them more of a defensive presence in a back 3, and Robinson and whichever RB is used could fall back to create defensive width. Playing tight defense and hitting on the counter can help this team. It doesn’t have to be pretty-possession soccer as Balogun is currently burning guys on the counter in Lique 1, and isn’t a traditional hold up guy which Pepi can do more of. But the main thing is just get everyone as healthy as possible to the World Cup hopefully.
I know many wont like this, but I wouldn’t be against Bruse Arena as the 2030 WC coach. Look what he has done in MLS with less talent. Could imagine what he could do with the potential talent he will have at his disposal during the 2030 cycle. His current San Jose team are rolling and both Leroux and Tsakiris look like USMNT players for the 2030 cycle.
i think arena is underrated as a program builder. he’s won trophies with a lot of different pro teams, and had success in college over several years where the team has to be remade every 4 years. or he’s the guy that comes in and a scrub team finally makes the playoffs. i am big on results, he mostly gets them.
i do think he flubbed the final qualifying window in 2017, didn’t bring in enough offense, didn’t rotate the roster. but he lost a grand total of 2 games after taking over, and i think the snobby attitude on here, good or ill, would have been to start the stars in trinidad even tired on a heavy field. i personally think villafana and omar were mistakes, but that was a down development ebb. you kind of needed both a winner and someone who could ID some new players. it ended up his assistant sarachan was calling in the new kids the next year. and it’s kind of a question if he calls in Z or miazga instead of omar do we make it. or if he rotates his squad like every other hex team did.
i think we need fresh thinking, not arena, not 433 gibberish. more roster competition. more focus on results and going with tactics that earn them. a coach who can actually coach and adjust within a game, not just a system salesman. and this needs some bite.
IV,
“i think arena is underrated as a program builder. he’s won trophies with a lot of different pro teams, and had success in college over several years where the team has to be remade every 4 years. or he’s the guy that comes in and a scrub team finally makes the playoffs.”
What are you talking about??
He’s not underrated. He’s widely acknowledged as the best program builder in the American game. Arguably ever. He received U.S. Soccer’s Werner Fricker Builder Award in 2014, the highest honor for individuals who have significantly contributed to the growth of the game.
But you underplay how catastrophic a disaster his 2017 Couva failure was. It was a monument to his worst flaws, arrogance and condecension.
He has rarely been out of work. The last time he was outright fired was at New England and that was under cloudy HR circumstances. And once that got cleared up he was immediately hired by San Jose.
“ i am big on results, he mostly gets them.”
Really? That’s hard to believe. Arena managed 18 USMNT games after taking over from JK.
He had ONLY ONE JOB. Get them to the 2018 World Cup.
He fucked up. He failed to get the one and only result that mattered.
“i do think he flubbed the final qualifying window in 2017, didn’t bring in enough offense, didn’t rotate the roster. but he lost a grand total of 2 games after taking over, and i think the snobby attitude on here, good or ill, would have been to start the stars in trinidad even tired on a heavy field. i personally think villafana and omar were mistakes, but that was a down development ebb.”
More bullshit and excuses for idiocy. No one on SBI decided who played in that game. Your fanboys on SBI did not pick the lineup for that game.
Bruce did.
The players Arena inherited from JK may have been crap due to a “down development ebb” but they were , as you point out, good enough to compile the following record for Bruce after he took over:
• Wins: 10
• Draws: 6
• Losses: 2
“He lost a grand total of 2 games after taking over”
I thought you were big on results???
This is not Olympic figure skating . No points for style. This is not high school, college or select team. This is WC qualifying. Professional ball.
His last loss was the only game that mattered. The timing was catastrophic.
And we only needed ONE point not THREE.
One fucking point.
The final loss (2–1 to Trinidad & Tobago) resulted in the U.S. missing the World Cup for the first time since 1986. The USMNT is still suffering from the effects of that loss. Who knows how much better our player pool today would be if players like Pulisic, Weston, and who knows who had gone to Russia?
“i think we need fresh thinking, not arena, not 433 gibberish. more roster competition. more focus on results and going with tactics that earn them. a coach who can actually coach and adjust within a game, not just a system salesman. and this needs some bite.”
That’s just great IV. The trouble is your recollection of ” past thinking” is flawed and faulty.
It is hard to have “fresh thinking” if your thinking is based on bullshit.
IV: how many goals did Hall score just 5 months ago at U17 WC? Crocker is gone and Poch has one foot out the door why would they bring a 17 yr old for the experience? Bringing Hall feels more like Robbie Findlay than Julian Green.
JR,
Why do you want to bring in Hall?
Flo , Haji, and Pepi, in terms of more or less in form depth, as deep as we ever have at the #9.
Because he was so hot, I thought Patrick was going to be there but now that he is out, I don’t see the need for another striker.
However if Hall continus to impress I can see Pochettino taking him over Pepi or maybe along with him. Pochettino does not seem to entirely trust Pepi whose reputation is based on dominating in the Eredivisie. There is reason to be skeptical about Eredivisie goalscoring exploits.
Santi Gimenez, our El Tri Milan bust tore the Eredivisie apart ( 45 goals in 73 appearances for Feyenoord) and was total shit in Milan. I think Mexico sent him there to screw up CP.
If they do bring Hall in they should give him a jersey that reads “Zakrzewski” just to fuck with everyone.
i was thinking more carry 4 strikers, balogun pepi wright hall. they are allowed 26 roster players and in a recent window brought 27 with an extra keeper and 4 strikers.
in theory the 4th striker should be unlikely to play, but if they see the field, i’d rather have it be someone playing well and lacking a history of 0-fer NT appearances.
that and if they don’t cap him they probably lose him. ditto banks. we are short at striker and have been underwhelming at CB. take a couple risks. results have been poor, not sure where the risk aversion is coming from.
V: I don’t want to bring Hall, I just stink at hitting the “reply” button. It was a response to IV’s suggestion.
on reyna, i think he did himself in less window. getting a grand total of 31′ in 2 friendlies suggested the coach — regardless what he said before the gameball got kicked — was underwhelmed with the practices and lacked much faith he could alter the game. berhalter, for all his criticism, had reyna on at half in the holland game down 0-2.
he then looked unenergetic and anonymous in his limited minutes in the friendlies. if he was fighting for a slot he could only have lost it. ditto his pal scally. in that kind of game you have to play like your hair is afire and not like you’re going through the motions and taking no physical risks.
some of it is are we calling people for a 3421 or a 433. there is more room for reyna in the latter. if we play 3421 you need wings who are more like wingback hybrids (not reyna) and there are limited non-striker attacking slots. if you have limited room for pure attackers that favors players who are on their game. you can’t carry reyna and then the goof-off guy manifests at the tournament.
in which case, i don’t think the remaining club schedule matters for reyna. if he makes it, it’s blind faith in his inconsistently displayed and little used talent. that track record and particularly november ’25 already sold poch. if not, march was his tryout and he failed.
i would be giving julian hall serious consideration. 6G 2A in 10 games. and if we don’t get off our tookus he might be “polish.”
i am not a big club form fan but we have sometimes spent a late roster spot on a productive young striker, eg, AJ or green. striker is a production position.
i don’t think sargent and pulisic were that productive last time and on current form it’s potentially disastrous. i think pulisic has to make the team and likely start on track record. i think you then need to go with strikers who can put balls in nets in case his issues continue. the people pimping “sargent will chase people on defense,” someone’s gotta score the goals, and a bench striker may be called on to trigger a comeback.
Hall is for the 2030 cycle. Nothing indicates he wants to play for Poland. He has to show consistency through out multiple seasons.
2tone,
“Nothing indicates he wants to play for Poland. ”
That is not true.
Julian Hall is currently at the center of an intense recruitment battle between the United States (USMNT) and Poland. He has primarily represented the U.S. at the youth level,(2025 U-17 World Cup ) but , he remains eligible for Poland through his mother.
Recent high-level efforts by the Polish Football Federation (PZPN) suggest his chances of choosing Poland are realistic.
PZPN President Cezary Kulesza recently met with Hall’s mother in New York, presenting her with a Poland jersey featuring her maiden name, Zakrzewski, which Julian now wears on his RBNY shirt.
Poland views Hall as a long-term “heir apparent” to legendary strikers like Robert Lewandowski, especially after Poland went Italian and missed out on the 2026 World Cup. The “Eagles” are missing their first World Cup since 2014. It is a team in transition whose primary goal now is a strong performance in the Nations League and securing a favorable draw for the Euro 2028. Hall will have a chance to compete right away and playing in the Euros beats the hell out playing in the Gold Cup.
Hall has expressed deep respect for his Polish roots, stating that representing “any country” would be an honor and that he is still weighing his decision.
Michael Bradley said;
“For any football player who has the possibility to play for two countries, I personally can’t imagine what goes into a decision like that. I was only able to play for one national team, and so that is not something that I have experience with,” Bradley added.
“But for me, when it comes to any big decisions in life, you think about things, and you reflect, and then ultimately you make a decision based on your heart, and based on where you want to go and what you want out of your life and what you want out of that decision. And when you make the decision, then you go for it and you don’t look back.“
Sound familiar?
He holds dual citizenship and a Polish passport, which makes transferring to Europe a lot easier.
He is not “cap-tied”.
And don’t be surprised if Pochettino does call him in and he refuses a la Banks. Remember, Mother’s Day is May 10 and it is Hall’s mom who is Polish.
The more I think about it the more I think he’s already gone.
he has more MLS productivity this season than some of the other theorized domestic veteran options, eg, sargent has 2G.
and historically we have often as a last pick grabbed the “hot striker” statistically. lassiter, wondo, AJ.
V: Poland made a huge similar push (complete with jersey presentation to Slonina). Hall was wearing the Jakrzewski name on his jersey with Red Bull and Hall on his U17 jersey I don’t think those are signs either way.
JR,
My reply was for 2tone who wrote “Nothing indicates he wants to play for Poland”.
If Hall did in fact say that “representing “any country” would be an honor and that he is still weighing his decision.” then that is “something” and not “nothing.”.
” I don’t think those are signs either way.”
Then you admit there are “signs”.
That is different from” nothing indicates he wants to play for Poland”.
As for the Slonina recruitement comparison, Gaga came out about a month later and declared his allegiance to the US and rejected the Poles.
The “signs” on Julian just came out so Hall has not had enough time yet to search his heart, his soul and his ectoplasmic form and find his true answer.
And the timing is tricky.
Pochettino has until May 30 to make a final choice. My guess is Julian gets on the 35-55 provisional list which is due May 11.
Julian Zakrzewski is still the new smokeshow. Gaga appears to be a disappointment at this point so no one gives a shit how he feels. Same for dual-citizen and IV discovery Cole Campbell.
Hopefully Zakrzewski lasts and won’t be another in the endless line of instant hot shit guaranteed USMNT saviour prospects who faded over time. What is Andrew Carleton doing these days?
My best, completely speculative and uninformed guess is he will go Polish. For me, I would rather play in the tournaments Poland is lined up to play. Also Pochettino is almost certainly gone so who knows who the next manager will be? Mike Petke? Jason Kreis? Caleb Porter? Chris Armas? Your guy Wilfried? Michael Bradley? Gregg Berhalter, tanned, rested and ready?
The overwhelming variable with this roster at this point is injury/health/fitness. If I’m the manager I’m filling up that 35-55 provisional list with everyone including Julian Green and Duane Holmes and holding off until the last minute.
IV,
“he has more MLS productivity this season than some of the other theorized domestic veteran options, eg, sargent has 2G.”
So what? Pochettino has had White ( your beloved Whitecap) and Josh in for training and games. With Julian Zakrzewski he’d have to go off of your recommendation. Can you guarantee me that Julian is not a dick and won’t be hated and shunned by the guys? He probably isn’t but team chemistry is really important for this team and it’s a topic that you and I are not qualified to comment on.
“and historically we have often as a last pick grabbed the “hot striker” statistically. lassiter, wondo, AJ.”
There’s a reason for that.
If you followed the USMNT as closely as you supposedly, allegedly do, you’d realize that “historically” the position of “hot striker” has rarely, if ever, been overrun by qualified applicants. “last pick grabbed” was basically about having to show that you were trying to do something, anything about scoring or the lack thereof. Someone had to get picked.
Flo, Haji and Pepi being pretty godamned hot is a historical anomaly for the USMNT.
If Pochettino wants to take Zakrzewski I have no problem with that but unfortunately for Julian, I don’t think we’ve ever had such hot striker depth available at this point in the cycle.
You have blinders on.
I get that you can never have too many scorers but we have BIGGER problems elsewhere in the roster. And we don’t really need him right now.
In 2010 Bob would have thought he had died and gone to heaven if he had the current versions of Flo, Haji and Pepi available.
V: for what it’s worth Polish fans don’t seem very optimistic. They pointed out Poland Fed could only get the mom for the photo op. At least Slonina held up the jersey for them. Also there’s a Polish journalist based in US Tomasz Moczerniuk who has interviewed Hall and his mom in the past and doesn’t think Julian will switch. Of course if you’re posting about your team on X it’s probably because you’re overly pessimistic or overly optimistic. The pitch the fans think the best pitch is the opportunity to play with Lewandowski at Euro ‘28.
JR,
FWIW, it should be clear to anyone that Pochettino pays very close attention to MLS. People seem to forget he did bring Roldan, of all people, back into the picture for God’s sake. I’m pretty sure no one on SBI saw that coming.
I’m confident that he knows all about Zakrzewski. Examine Pochettino’s record, and you’ll see he’s not afraid of promoting youth.
Is Hall at the Messi or even the Lamine Yamal level of talent? No? How about “World Class” right now? No? Cole Campbell another hot shit saviour was touted as potentially being “World Class”. How is that working out?
If Julian was World Class level right now, today, May 1 2026, then yeah call him in and take a chance.
If not then how well will Hall fit into the collective? Does he have some kind of magnetic personality and wrok ethic that draws people to him and says “yeah, that’s the man!”.
I think the USMNT have run out of time to find out. The USMNT have more pressing needs so I don’t think he gets called in.
Hall might be World Class soon. But we have a physically brutal World Cup to play in right now and, for the most part, we will be outmanned and undergunned. The USMNT will have to fight their way, literally, to the final if and when we get out of the group. If the whole is not greater than the sum of the parts then the USMNT will get grouped.
Unless Julian can contribute right now, this is no time to fuck around with some vanity project.