Soccer <\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t win the trophy, but they might\u2019ve rediscovered something more important.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The US men\u2019s national team<\/a>\u2019s 2-1 loss<\/a> to Mexico in Sunday\u2019s Concacaf Gold Cup<\/a> final won\u2019t be remembered for moments of brilliance in the final third \u2013 there weren\u2019t many. And while the USMNT\u2019s tournament performance had more of those overall, \u201cfinal third magic\u201d wasn\u2019t the feature attraction at any point, save for the few times Diego Luna<\/a> got loose.<\/p>\n What was, and what will linger as we continue to digest this past month\u2019s festivities, is the way Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s young, mostly MLS-based group fought. They fought for each other, they fought for the shirt, they fought for their chance to make an impression, and they occasionally fought (or at least shoved around a little bit) with opponents. They were organized, brave, bought in and up for the scrap in a way we haven\u2019t seen from the full-strength A-team in, what, 16 months? Maybe more? The Gold Cup didn\u2019t showcase the most talented version of the USMNT, but it may have shown the most committed.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the first takeaway here. The biggest \u201cStock Up\u201d is the vibes, which are much better than they were a month back.<\/p>\n They\u2019re still not where they need to be, of course, and wouldn\u2019t have been even if the US had won. The pool is deepening, but there are still questions. The spirit is strengthening, but there is still some obvious weakness. But while the margins still matter \u2013 final-third sharpness, composure under pressure and some basic tempo control in midfield, please \u2013 this run to the final felt like a very overdue step toward rebuilding the kind of team that\u2019s more than the sum of its parts. The kind of team that can maybe make some noise at next summer’s World Cup, when the spotlight hits for real.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m feeling optimistic, if not exactly confident. Good enough for now.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s dive in:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n About a month ago I went on This is MLS and we talked about what would constitute success for this summer, framed around the question of \u201cWhat do we need to see to give us some hope in the final year before the World Cup?\u201d<\/p>\n My answer was that I\u2019d sell out everything else for a tournament\u2019s worth of excellence from Richards. There\u2019s no question he\u2019s the most talented all-around center back in the pool, but there\u2019s also been no case to be made that he\u2019s consistently shown as much for the US. The first thing Panama did last summer in the Copa Am\u00e9rica was truck him in a 50\/50 challenge. The first thing Panama did this past spring in the Concacaf Nations League<\/a> semifinals was truck him in a 50\/50 challenge. Instead of our best CB setting a physical tone, regional opponents were setting the physical tone on him.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not the Richards who showed up this summer. The Richards who showed up this summer played like a boss for basically every second he was on the pitch, and I\u2019d feel that way even if he hadn\u2019t scored two goals along the way.<\/p>\n He also talked the talk. I don\u2019t think this is sour grapes \u2013 I think this is awesome:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Chris Richards on the handball no-call: “Homie palmed the ball like Shaq in the box.”<\/p>\n And on being blocked off by Montes on the second goal: “In any other league, it would’ve been called offsides. But again, that’s CONCACAF for you. They hate us.”https:\/\/t.co\/eMhytrRzMA<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) July 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n My biggest concern about this team \u2013 that we don\u2019t have a backline leader \u2013 has been allayed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Mark McKenzie played 16 minutes in the group stage opener and that was it. Miles Robinson<\/a> played five minutes across the first two games of the tournament and that was it. Walker Zimmerman<\/a> came on for the final five minutes against Guatemala to play center field in a back five, just like he did against Iran in the World Cup three-and-a-half years ago. That\u2019s a specialist\u2019s role he performs well, but those were his only minutes.<\/p>\n When you factor in how poor Cameron Carter-Vickers was vs. Canada<\/a> this spring in the Nations League, it really does look like there are only two CBs Poch trusts: Richards and 37-year-old Tim Ream<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jackson Ragen<\/a> \u2013 the best uncapped American center back \u2013 played extremely well in the Club World Cup<\/a> for Seattle<\/a> against Botafogo, Atl\u00e9tico Madrid and PSG. Does he get an invite to the next camp and an audition? Feels like it\u2019s time. He\u2019s got the size and his distribution is elite, more in line with Richards (if not Ream) than the other options, and Poch clearly values that.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Poch has made clear that guys who don\u2019t get games won’t automatically get minutes for the national team. Luca de la Torre<\/a> spent two years in the wilderness, came to MLS, excelled and became a starter for the US this summer. Alex Freeman<\/a> won the starting job with Orlando City<\/a>, then won the starting job (at least until Sergi\u00f1o Dest is healthy) with the US.<\/p>\n Luna. Sebastian Berhalter<\/a>. Patrick Agyemang<\/a>. Max Arfsten<\/a>. These guys all played their way into the mix \u2013 and most of them will stay there, in the mix \u2013 based on their club form.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The biggest one to mention here: Matt Freese<\/a>. The New York City FC<\/a> \u2018keeper has been one of the best in the league the past couple of years and played his way into previous camps because of it. Then when injuries took out Zack Steffen<\/a> (who\u2019d also played his way into the picture for Poch by just getting some club games) and Patrick Schulte<\/a>, Freese took his chance.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Two things are true here:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s hope he gets actual minutes (and, uh, actual paychecks) from Lyon, rediscovers his form and gets the No. 1 kit back. Because as of right now he is just moral support from the bench.<\/p>\n I still believe Yunus Musah is an incredibly toolsy all-around central midfielder. He has, however, become something of an afterthought for Poch because he hasn\u2019t really nailed down a role at the club level, and is now in limbo. If he doesn\u2019t play in August, my hunch is we won\u2019t see him in September.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Gio Reyna. Gio is one of the two most talented players I\u2019ve ever seen for the national team. He\u2019s just 22, has spent most of his career hurt, and still has as many goal contributions in finals as Landon Donovan, and more than Clint Dempsey. He\u2019s shown the ability to step up in big moments, eliminates defenders off the dribble like no one we\u2019ve ever had, and is fearless.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s very clear that if he doesn\u2019t find a club this summer that\u2019ll get him on the field every week to get real minutes, he will not be on the World Cup roster. Even if he\u2019s healthy.<\/p>\n Say whatever you want about Reyna\u2019s past conduct \u2013 I\u2019m pretty sure we\u2019ve all got opinions on that. But the fact remains that a healthy, committed version of him is the best ceiling-raiser in the pool, and the best possible outcome from the next year of club soccer is Gio proving he belongs in the US XI every single time it\u2019s written down on paper.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n In his first year as a top-flight pro, Freeman has acclimated \u2013 first to a pure attacking role with Orlando City, then to a purely defensive role with the US, then to a hybrid role \u2013 much more quickly than anyone anticipated. He wasn\u2019t mistake-free, but if you weren\u2019t impressed by the IQ he showed and the way he played, as a 20-year-old with 23 games of top-flight soccer under his belt, then your expectations are irrational.<\/p>\n I suspect he\u2019s No. 2 on the right back depth chart.<\/p>\n De la Torre clearly played his way back into the mix. Berhalter might have the inside track on Kellyn Acosta<\/a>\u2019s role from the last cycle, as a reserve CM\/DM who also serves as a set piece specialist (and s–thouser). Big Pat Agyemang is limited in some ways, and that makes him divisive among the fanbase, but he moves the chains like no other No. 9 in the pool, and virtually every good chance the US got in the final was downstream of his presence up top and the fear he strikes in opposing center backs. He will stay in the picture (my guess is he\u2019s now no lower than No. 3 on the striker depth chart), and hopefully improve his off-ball work over the next 11 months (gotta find those one-touch finishes, Pat).<\/p>\n Arfsten\u2019s not going to displace Jedi Robinson as the starting LB, but he brings a ton going forward and improved defensively as the tournament progressed. John Tolkin wasn\u2019t great, but at least he got minutes and is clearly in the picture. Damion Downs was useful off the bench.<\/p>\n Jack McGlynn<\/a> and the Aaronson brothers probably moved themselves in the other direction in Poch\u2019s eyes, as did Brian White<\/a>. That\u2019s ok \u2013 that\u2019s what happens in these tournaments sometimes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Did Luna do enough to nail down a starting job for next year? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say he didn\u2019t help himself this summer, as he very clearly did. The guy\u2019s got xDAWG in ways the US have needed for a long time, and marries it with real skill and defensive work rate. But he also failed to impose himself on the game much against El Tri (this was at least partially Poch\u2019s fault for the way the team was set up), when a strong performance would\u2019ve gone a long way toward sealing a spot for him.<\/p>\n The same, I think, goes for Malik Tillman. He unquestionably had his best month in a US shirt this summer, scoring some goals and showing a good amount of toughness and fight. But at no point in the final did he look like the sort of game-controlling No. 8 (or No. 10, which is the spot he was playing) that could knit a midfield together and elevate a team, and in fact spent a lot of time behind the play. Same was true in the second half of the semis against Guatemala.<\/p>\n I thought de la Torre showed some of the \u201cgame-controlling 8\u201d stuff, but what he didn\u2019t show was the ability to change a game in the final third. He\u2019s limited.<\/p>\n These guys, as of now, are all options, not answers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Diego Luna bagged a brace in the first 15 minutes of the match for the @USMNT<\/a> ???????????? pic.twitter.com\/kPF8u0UHJk<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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