Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty’s relationship goes back to their time within the Philadelphia Union academy and after several seasons of playing apart, the duo returned to the field together on Friday for their first successful pairing with the U.S. men’s national team.
Trusty made his senior debut for the USMNT in Friday’s 7-1 Concacaf Nations League victory over Grenada, while McKenzie earned his first start since October 2021. Both worked seamlessly in Anthony Hudson’s backline alongside Bryan Reynolds and Joe Scally as the Americans clinched a berth into the Concacaf Gold Cup with the result.
After not playing alongside one another since the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. McKenzie and Trusty rekindled their chemistry in an important win for the USMNT, providing Hudson with a glimpse of a possible long-term partnership.
“The thinking behind it wasn’t because they had played together in the past, but because we thought this would be an interesting pairing,” Hudson said about the duo postmatch. “We’ve been following Mark and he’s been doing well this season and with Auston we thought he deserved a chance. I’m really pleased for both of them and I am really confident with both of them.
“With Auston, when it comes to aerial duels, one-on-one battles, and defending space behind the backline, I have no problem with him,” Hudson said about Trusty. “We’re really pleased for both of them and we feel we have some fresh legs to come on and have them help in the next match as well.”
Both McKenzie and Trusty have come into USMNT camp off the back of impressive individual seasons in Europe for their clubs. McKenzie has continued to be a first-team regular with Belgian league leaders Genk, logging 29 appearances to date, and keeping his squad in the lead to capture the league title.
Trusty joined English Premier League side Arsenal last summer and after joining Birmingham City on loan in August, the 24-year-old has been one of the Blues top players in the English Football League Championship with 41 appearances and four goals. Both McKenzie and Trusty delivered top performances against Grenada, with Trusty assisting on the USMNT’s fourth goal, and McKenzie rarely putting a foot wrong against the Spice Boys.
Tim Ream and Miles Robinson will be fighting to start Monday’s group stage finale in Orlando against El Salvador, but McKenzie and Trusty certainly boosted their stocks to start once again if needed.
“As far as Mark McKenzie, I thought he came in and did what he needed to do,” USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie said. “The same goes for Auston Trusty, obviously it’s always a big deal coming in and getting your first cap. I mean we let up one goal, but at the end of the day, the goal was to come here and get three points and I think they both contributed very well. They kept the backline nice and tight, winning the first duels, and not making it easy for Grenada to play over the top of them. Overall hats off to them.”
Friendly reminder Trusty & McKenzie were Philly Unionās starting CB pairing, when Medford Messi was playing for Bethlehem Steel. Both CBs werenāt of even of drinking age. 2 Union academy players, CBs starting together for their country, put the opponent aside. That accomplishment has got to mean something to Trusty & McKenzie. Think about it. Trusty was apart of the 1st US U20 Concacaf championship squad the vaunted ā97-ā98 birth year. McKenzie born in ā99, was apart of the 2nd US U20 championship. The heralded ā99-ā00. Trusty has seen so many of his YNTmates getting caps, for the country, he finally got his first. Like Vasquez, Sabbi & Zendejas. (I think, Glad might have a Zimmerman like trajectory. People think heās a late bloomer but heās always been around). CB personnel is deeper than itās ever been.
Defending well enough against a weak opponent is not really a test. Though with no defensive mid and both fullbacks getting forward, they did have the discipline to do their job effectively with little help. I am not sure if that was tactical awareness or lack of confidence that prevented more adventurous play from them. Also neither did much with the ball but short pass to wide open midfielders or follbacks. No attempts to spring a forward with a long pass.
I would simply say the test was too easy.
Bedoya commented during a podcast that he felt the Philly back line upgraded after these guys left, because these guys couldn’t switch play or create from the back.
I don’t think McKenzie looked that great. He was passing to Trusty all night long. He didn’t want to make mistakes. He is not up to this level.
Trusty is ready for better competition at the international level.
trusty looked ok and should get in the mix. i thought mckenzie looked like crap. i don’t see either as top 4 backs who should play this summer — robinson richards EPB CCV — and there’s no point to gelling players who get one night together and after now are bench players hoping to see any time paired with any one.
personally i thought the defense was a little soft first half. i gave them a pass because it was enjoyable to see more of an all out attack. but the DMs weren’t sweeping well and grenada (grenada!) players were getting open and taking shots. i didn’t think it reflected well on anyone but scally and turner personally.
There weren’t any defensive midfielders. He played with 4 defenders and 6 attackers. None of LDLT, McKennie, or Reyna are defensive players. When everyone on your roster is better than every player on the other team you can afford to do that but there was very little defending by anyone other than the back four.
like i said, i gave it a pass as we seemed committed to attack and were whooping their tail. which might be something similar to saying we didn’t really have much of a 6. but regardless the formation they were still a tad soft on d first half. team i played on as a kid would slide tackle their own mother regardless the formation. i thought it reflected on personnel eg reyna mckennie DLT and some of the backs, mckenzie and reynolds. i thought trusty was ok. i thought scally was the one who played well at a level that might translate to a more serious contest.
I did like Trusty. Like some others I wasn’t particularly impressed by McKenzie (again), especially his distribution out of the back. After watching how top teams at the WC really targeted Zimmerman – who is a mediocre distributor out of the back but certainly not a terrible one – I saw a pretty graphic demonstration of just how very big that is at the top International level.
Also saw how dominant Trusty is in the air. He got his head on two corners and easily could have scored with one. Definitely see why he’s scored so many goals for Birmingham this year. That matters too.
I also very much like Trusty’s left foot. Ream demonstrated pretty clearly the value of having a left-footed CB at the LCB slot, and how much more natural it made the ball’s flow across the back line. It’s night and day from when Ream isn’t in there, and it was actually kind of jarring to see how one of our chronic problems just evaporated the second Ream was plugged in.
Trusty looked like a find, to me, and the guy we need to start grooming ASAP behind Ream. McKenzie looked like a Gold Cup-type guy and he’s definitely behind Zimmerman, CCV, Richards, and probably Miles Robinson (if Robinson’s the same guy he was prior to his injury) at the very least.
Q: i buy that as opponent quality ramps up you need to be smarter and quicker with the ball. however sometimes i think it means simply clearing it or knocking it long and worry some of the “distribution” obsession is wanting to over-emphasize building from back which costs more than it adds.
i am not a big fan of the “footedness” concern. the primary concern is can you defend. second, i think a good player can use both feet. i had left foot assists in college. i played both my natural right and some left. i think it matters more with some players than others. dest struggles to function on his left. some players are very very one-footed. and i would agree that you can reach a point of being too klutzy on the ball to be useful internationally, where the speed of play is faster and the windows may close faster. it’s not even that they can’t hit the pass it’s you have to execute faster and a passing gap that used to stay open gets closed in seconds.
Mr. Voice,
“i am not a big fan of the āfootednessā concern. the primary concern is can you defend. second, i think a good player can use both feet. i had left foot assists in college. i played both my natural right and some left. i think it matters more with some players than others. dest struggles to function on his left. some players are very very one-footed. and i would agree that you can reach a point of being too klutzy on the ball to be useful internationally, where the speed of play is faster and the windows may close faster. itās not even that they canāt hit the pass itās you have to execute faster and a passing gap that used to stay open gets closed in seconds.”
“Footedness” matters about as much as any thing else.
When people compare one center back to another footedness is a big deal in some instances, if EVERYTHING ELSE IS EQUAL.
And they almost never are.
Anyone comparing another CB to Ream has got to be talking about a lot more than just a decent left foot.
The thing that Ream has going for him is:
He’s playing well for a very good defense, arguably the best defense, the best side Fulham have had in his time there. And that matters because often players in that situation are much more confident. Confident players are faster because they aren’t as tentative.
And Timmy was always a “smart, savvy players who read the game well and was always a very good passer with that left foot. Ream is operating with his instinct at a higher level now and that is always going to help you be one step ahead.
As Cruyff often said, the faster player is the one who gets to where he needs to be first
Timmy’s instincts are telling him what needs to happen.
That gives him the advantage over guys who don’t know what needs to happen.
holland should have taught you in order to advance deeper in the tournament this will need to be more defensively sound. most players except maybe dest do not have any sort of “footedness” issue with defending their weaker side. “footedness” tends to get brought up by people who want to decide back slots by offensive qualities. which, if you don’t screen for defensive ability first, gets you a defense that can’t defend well enough.
ream is 35 and streaky enough he’s been on and off the team for years. move on. i don’t even care if you think he might help them do something now, he’s useless for 2026. i see no point in baking into the cake some ingredient that goes bad before the next big party we bring the cake out for. pat your own back that your diceroll on him this time went through relatively well. he should have been like 4th or 5th string in a healthy backfield. remembering games like switzerland i giggle at the idea he is some perfect back. he had to be carefully protected for his lack of foot speed.