SoccerWise - USMNT Roster Prediction & Debate w/Matt Doyle

Episode Date: March 12, 2026

We are days away from Mauricio Pochettino announcing his final roster ahead of the World Cup. Matt Doyle joins Gass to talk through some of the biggest questions around this camp and this team. Then they go through the roster to predict what they expect to see coming at the end of March.8:10 What Is The Goal Of This Camp?11:55 Poch's Future & USMNT Manager Projection After 202617:35 Formation Plans24:20 Goalkeepers & Defenders36:40 Midfield48:10 Attacking Mids/Wingers59:41 Forwards1:02:10 MLS Teenagers We Would See At The World Cup

Hey, everybody, welcome to Soccer Wise special episode coming up. David Goss and Matt Doyle with you as we go international, baby. We are ready to talk USM&T roster. We're on the verge of getting the final friendly camp for Mariso Pochitino and his crew coming up. So we believe the roster will be announced this weekend. So we are going to walk through everything we'd like to see. We expect to see debate some of the big topics around the team. And then we are not going to talk about us.

I guess we will be one of many who will not be talking about Osprea for a little time as he has been let go by Orlando City. We're not going to talk CCL either because we're recording this in the midst of the games happening. But Doyle, it's been some late nights and between world baseball classic, which obviously my true passion in life. And CCL, it's been a deep FS2 week for me. Yeah, same here. I was up very late watching LAFC ultimately disappoint in in their. encounter, but you know, disappointment is the free space. It always has been in CCL play. And let's just hope it's not for the U.S. men's national team. I am sort of rounding into shape, knocking off

some rust in terms of covering this team because I've been I don't know, just like kind of enjoying it as a fan for the most part for the past year. And but like the World Cup's almost here, man. So we got to get it back in the saddle. Got to get in the mix. So we

We talked about it a little bit at the end of Monday's show, which we will be doing every Monday, sort of like risers and fallers from each weekend. And then we're going to have you on with us going forward every Thursday to talk about USM&T and some Canadian national team as well. Don't worry, I'll bring the juice on that one, going all the way up until the World Cup. And then we have a lot of great World Cup plans that we will be rolling out. But we will be covering all of this. So soccer-wise and kickback, it is your source for World Cup coverage.

If you haven't already, go check out our first touch show. We did a quick 12 to 18 minute profile about every country that's already qualified for the World Cup. Really proud of the work we did there. I had a lot of fun with them. I think people will. And we've rolled that into a weekly show coming out. This week, we've got a special about Brazil versus France, the 1998 final with Rinaldo and Nike, and was he poisoned and was he not? Myself and Susanna talked about that.

We also talked a bit with Valer Chabilla, one of our own here, a kickback who is. is Iraqi American who is planning to go down and watch Iraq play in a FIFA Intercontinental Final to qualify for the World Cup. But we don't know if that will happen. So some of the details we talked about there, and we're covering all the biggest stories around the World Cup and a lot of these evergreen stories of just things we're passionate about and the quirky fun parts of the game. So go over there to check those out.

And then here at Soccer Wise, we will, of course, as I said, continue to cover all things leading up to the World Cup. And before that, we are going to have Maricio Poitjititino in the center. of the world. Time Square, baby, on May 26th. We're all true new Yorkers go. Listen, it's going to be, I assume they're going to Bubba Gump first. They'll probably catch Lion King. Maybe, I don't know what day of the week that is, but there might be a matinee if it's a Wednesday. And then you just walk right over and you get to stand in the center of the world and announce the team. There's a real finger on the pulse of America here. And I'm really, really excited for what can come.

As a true New Yorker, if you were going to have this in one neighborhood, in one landmark in New York, where would you set it up? West Burdine and the soccer-wise deep cuts are going to hate this conversation. This New York-centric conversation. It's a great question. You could convince me of doing it right in the center of Jackson Heights underneath the overpass subway there, where it is the confluence of the world, plus its last. as hell and everyone's hanging out and you can actually get decent Mexican food if that's something you're into. You could do a good Momo crawl there. Like, oh my God, it's just insane how good the food is in that neighborhood. So that would be one. I also, I lived in Brooklyn Heights and I do think

the view over into New York City is epic and doing stuff in like Brooklyn Bridge Park and all of that with that as your backdrop is pretty cool. So you could probably convince me there or maybe even like sunset park up on the park with the city behind you. You could see Lady Liberty. from there, everything you're playing for right there on the horizon. I like that. That's a good sell. That's a good sell right there. We should run events. We shouldn't do this. We should someone else would plan it, but we should run events. So that is what we are building up to. We have been told by Pochitino himself that he is not bringing any players into that initial camp, into that last camp that are not

part of the initial roster. Injuries can change that as you have time to change. I say that in saying, I remember Bob Bradley. He brought in more players than what went to South Africa. And then they made cuts inside of that camp. Pocitino has no intention to do that, which means for anyone, this is the final chance to play in front of Mariso Pocitino if he is not convinced that you are going to be on that roster. And all of those players are going to be heading to Irvine, California, where they are going to be part of their base camp in preparation to play Paraguay, Australia, and a playoff winner that we still don't know in Slovakia, Kosovo, Turkey, and I didn't write down the fourth team.

So there's a fourth option in there, maybe Romania. I'm just making that one up off the top of my head. So this is a huge camp. It's a big moment for the players. It is a big opportunity for the coaching staff as well. They'll play against Belgium and Portugal. Both games will be in Atlanta. They are opening the new training facility there and all of that as well.

So it's going to be a big week. I like the matchups. I think Portugal are one of the best teams in the world. I think Belgium sit in an interesting place of they're good. They're not ball dominant. They are not elite. and it will kind of give us this little bit of who is the U.S., who is their identity in kind of bigger games,

which I think is going to be key in the group they have, as well as probably the teams you're hoping to play in a round of 32, round of 16, and a quarterfinal. Yeah, that's the thing. I'm not as high on these matchups as you are because I still think that the most important thing for the U.S. is to prepare for the games that we're going to have in the group stage. Well, they can't play.

they already played those teams. Yeah, fair. It's a very fair point. They nailed that one. But those types of teams, and I'm not, like Portugal definitely isn't that type of team. And Belgium probably isn't, even though they are a much more sort of linear team than they were 10, 12 years ago, I guess, when the U.S. faced them in the 2014 World Cup. That said, you don't know beforehand.

Like, these are good teams. And every game against a good team is a chance to sort of sharpen the knife. and the U.S. needs to do that. Like, they had a really good autumn. You have three very good windows, I guess two very good windows and one that ended up being half good. And you got to spin that forward.

And the ideal is that come June and July when the World Cup happens, be facing all kinds of teams, five, six games, hopefully. So, you know, you'll get your Belgians and your Portugal's of the world. And hopefully what the U.S. does in this game or these games, A, is good, and B really carries over to win. It counts for real.

Less than 100 days left, man. Tactics Free Zone is going to be your spot as well for all of your written coverage. So make sure to subscribe there to Doyle's work, as well as all of his MLS coverage, the weekend column, the power rankings, everything else as well. Doyle, I know you kind of, on top of this show, have worked through an article to help prepare for this. and I wonder if you mentally got into the place of what is the point of this camp? Like what is the number one thing for this coaching staff and what you want to see to figure out? And I think the two big questions are, are you trying to figure out who's on the roster?

Are you trying to figure out the starting 11 and how do you go about it? I don't think you figure out the starting 11 this far out. No, I do think that you do stuff like run Tanner Testament and Tyler Adams together and maybe drop Weston McKinney in front of them to play as a 10 just to get like their feet wet playing that trio together in central midfield but that's not you're not going to figure out okay this is our first choice 11 four months before the world cup or three months before the world cup like you like too many things can change too many things can go wrong I think what the number one goal has to be

for poach is still to continue to build the culture of accountability and competition and within that you start making cuts. John Tolkien. You know, John Tolkien is probably going to be in this camp. I don't think he's going to make the World Cup,

but he has a chance to actually make a statement in this camp. We had the conversation on Monday. I think Ricardo Pepi's on the outside looking in. I think it's only going to be three center forwards

and it's going to be Baligan, Ajiman, and right, unless something changes. And it's incumbent upon Ricardo Pepi to make that change happen, right? Like,

these are, like, this has to be the primary goal of this camp, especially because he, you know, he said it. Nobody who's like, the only people who are going to be invited to the June camp ahead of the World Cup are people who are on the roster. So this is it.

Like, he's made it clear to the players. This is it. One of the interesting parts about this specific setup with this camp is the first game is March 28th. The second game is March 31st. So you cannot play the same 11 in both games unless, as I put down in our notes, you're Mark Dos Santos. Then if he's joined the coaching staff, it turns out you can play the same 11 every single day, every single game. So there will be opportunity in that for players. It's forced.

Like even if coach wanted to play his best group and whatever, I think the way you talked about it with Testament and Adams, that's my hope of what we see, which is, okay, choose a couple relationships you're trying to build and ensure those. And so maybe it is your three starting centerbacks or two. We'll get to that debate. Maybe they're not behind Testament and Adams. It's not 11 best 11 there but make sure those three play together make sure those two play together make sure polisic plays with who you think is the center forward but it opens the door there for a guy like a ricardo pepi to get minutes because it's not guaranteed if you play two games across a week that he would even get on the field depending on how he performs because as you said he's behind those

guys he hasn't been playing uh and he hasn't really gotten pocettino's trust in the past when he's been in this team. I do think he's the cleanest finisher in the group. And there is this weapon that exists, which is if I need a goal and it stumbles across the box and it's laid on, I mean, it was the convo we had with bringing Landon to 2014. We didn't.

It was Wando, whether you missed or not, however you want to go about it, the chance will fall. And the question is who you want on the end of it. And there is, I think, some magical ability for Pepe as a finisher to get into a coach's head and say,

yeah, maybe I don't want to leave that out there. But all of that is an opportunity these players have to prove that, like, I can do the 99% other stuff of be a good teammate, work hard in training, understand what's being told to me, adapt with the coaching staff, all of that to just put yourself in a place to get that shot. And I think that's going to be the key for this team and for this coaching staff. One thing to note before we dig into our roster, style of play and everything else, is the report's coming out over the last week that Mariso Pocitino is on a potential short list for

Real Madrid's head coaching job coming out of the World Cup, it would be devastating for him to leave before the World Cup. And I think he probably understands that. Be pretty funny, though. It's pretty funny. I'm going to go fingers crossed on that one. But it does bring up the question of sort of what the role looks like. Have you had any thoughts of would the U.S. want to remain with the same coach and would he want

to come back? I think we have enough data now to know that running coaches for multiple cycles is almost always going to end in disaster. Bruce Arena probably had the best second cycle in 2006 when we dominated in qualifying, but then we laid an egg at the World Cup. You know, Bob Bradley got a year after 2010 and by the 2011 Gold Cup, it had gone stale. And we got hammered in the final by by Mexico. Hammered is maybe a little bit. that was a good game, but like we were not defending the way we had the year before. I mean, that Giotr-Santo's skull still gives me nightmares.

That's insane. You know, Yergen Klinzman's second, I mean, I have arguments with his first cycle, but his second cycle was a disaster. And, you know, Greg Burrhalter, I thought was great in the 2022 cycle. And ultimately, it was a mistake to bring him back for the 2026 cycle. And I think that, look, we have to at some point learn from history. right we have to stop repeating these mistakes and that's true if patrino gets us to the final and he wants to return okay then like let's bring him back but anything short of that and it's like

no we have to change the page and freshen it up or it goes stale inevitably like we know at this point it is inevitable that this happens so uh you know i hope he gets the rail major job i hope that you can go from the u.s national team to rail the world because i'll tell you you, if he does get, like, it means we made it to the quarterfinals or beyond if he gets that job. Because if he goes out in the round of 32, let alone the group stage, he's not getting the right out of the trip job. So let's hope that it ends up with him in that, in that position and the U.S. with their pick for for the next boss. And right now, you know, forced me to choose name. I think it's B.J. Callahan, but a little early for that one, a little early for that.

go deep into the sitcom, but that's basically a Discord channel right now. Right. It's talking to Jake Calman as USMT head coach. It would be, I think if Pochitino, first of all, I think it's funny the world we live in of like, basically he's out of sight, out of mind. So now he's Real Madrid manager. But when he was like winning French leagues, but not Champions League with PSC, he was trash and a terrible manager, unacceptable.

So I think that part's funny. As you said, it'd be huge if they did well, then he gets the job. I think it's like kind of a chicken and egg thing, which is the U.S. went big game hunting. So now the guys they are working with are playing in a bigger field. So it's not like, oh, wow, look, the U.S. has elevated itself that if you coach the U.S., you can coach real Madrid level. It's more that the U.S. went out and got a Real Madrid level coach because they spent a bunch of money and then he's still available for that, which maybe that's the victory alone in that,

which is it doesn't drop your value. And for the next guy, you know, I think back to when Burrhalter left or was coming to his end. and we talked about Club America and big League MX clubs. We talked about some Dutch clubs, but it wasn't like he was going to step in to even the Bundesliga and get a head coaching job. And so I think that's where it would be exciting to have someone leave the job and go to a big one,

but it does not mean BJ Callahan will be the next one to head to Barsa or Real Madrid after that. And the whole thing with you talked about the past and what has happened, the thing that just always drives me nuts is compounding the issues, which has been they kept on Bruce for too long. They couldn't decide.

They gave Bob interim. So he deserves another opportunity because he didn't get a full cycle. So then he gets the second cycle. So then he gets fired. So then Yergen gets the job. But Yergen didn't really get a full cycle. So he deserves a full shot. So then he gets a second cycle.

And now we're like 11 years into the original sin of the mistake. And if that happens again, I will lose my freaking mind. pick a four-year cycle, give a coach an opportunity, create a four-year plan to peek at a World Cup, and then move on to the next one. And I'm fingers crossed hoping that inside U.S. soccer, that is the belief. But I would assume that Mauricio Pocitino, being who he is, if they do any bit well, I think if they go to a quarterfinal,

I think even if the way they lose in a round of 16 potentially, with his gravitas and his personality and all of that, I think there's a chance that he could stay if he wants to, which that would probably be unlikely in that he would want to. But it would be a big one. BJ Callahan on the list. Any other big names? Eric Grangeman.

I mean, I would take bullfrenonse in a second. Mikey Varys is another one. Remember, he's the one who got the September camp after Greg Berhalter was fired back in September 24. They should have to play a friendly between BJ and Varus's interim national team roster. You have to admit, would watch that. That would be the most stuck to you've been for a U.S. game in a long time.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Baller League style. We'll just stream it on YouTube. That would be the only thing. All right. Let's talk about this team overall. And coming out of, you mentioned the good close to 2025. One of the big things was sort of a shift to three in the back and finding a little bit of stability for the team. It was the best run. I mean, the Uruguay performance was historic. It was the best run. They've had under Pochitino. It's the best run they've had since Burrhalter pre-2020 World Cup. And I think you could argue it's the best the team has looked going back to Bob Bradley and Confed Cup. Like overall, they were big results against big teams strung together, which we don't normally see. Yeah. The first half against South Korea, they got their brains beat in. Then they did the

formation shift, right? And Poch swears it's not a formation shift, but he's fibbing. And the second half against South Korea, they were really good. Then it was, what, 2-0 versus Japan? Yep. And then... A rotated Japan team, which was a rotated- by the... Then the Australia win? The 2-0 versus Australia or 2-1? Or 2-1. 2-1. And then it was Ecuador? Was that a... Ecuador-1?

Ecuador-1, Paraguay 2-1, and then Uruguay. And then 5-1, Uruguay, yeah. Get... Stop! Uruguay. Those are all World Cup teams, and those are all teams that play like they don't give you an inch you know there was this was not none of these teams

were going through the motions especially Australia who I mean they were running out there with machetes and two by fours man that was that was a brutal game it was it was really heartening and not just because of the results but because the US you know they showed some ex dog right this was not this was not beautiful soccer at any point I don't want to say that there were some really beautiful sequences

especially against Uruguay, which was the U.S. playing a rotated squad. So it was a huge exhale sigh of relief. It is something to build upon. Like you said, it was maybe the best performances in 15 years. So whether it's formation change in Poach's words or not, I will say it looked like three at the back, five at the back, whichever phrase you want to use, which is a shift from what we have seen under him. Burrhalter tried it, right? It was the one of the, they played Mexico in a final in Vegas. I don't know what Concaf called it at the time,

where Mark McKenzie kind of threw up on himself a little bit in that game. DeAndre Yedlin, a tough one as well. And we've seen it come in and out at times. As you went through this process, did you envision the roster in that setup? Yeah. So the setup, they still defend when they're defending mid or low block. It's banks of four, right?

It looks like a 4-4-2 out of possession in those phases of play. But then what happens is when they press up, they tend to press from a man's system, and they drop to three at the back, and they release one of the fullbacks to become a wingback with pressure. That's also the shape in possession, right? It's almost always a 3-25 or a 3-2-3 in possession. And what happens is one of the full-back, sometimes it's the right-back. More often it's actually been the right-back, slides. in and becomes a third centerback.

So then your two centerbacks, usually Tim Ream at left centerback, and we will have discussion on that. And Chris Richards at right centerback, they slide over to become the left centerback in a three, and Richards has become the middle center back, not really a sweeper, but the middle center back in a three.

And then that releases the left wing back, fullback really, to become a wingback. That's been Max Arstyn, where he's been so good. This is not unusual in the modern, game, right? This is something that we have seen a ton in MLS. It's something that we have seen for years at the top of the game with coaches like Pep Guardiola or Hansi Flick doing, well, not Flick as much, but like doing this sort of thing where you just want to get that solidity along the back line and then two in front to shield and shuttle. And then you make sure that

your front five has adequate spacing both vertically and horizontally. so that you stretch what the opposition has to defend. The way it works in terms of the personnel is one of your fullbacks has to be a really good attacker with the ball on his foot. The other one has to be really comfortable defending as a centerback, but then also stretching to the touchline when those moments occur. It sounds more complicated than it is. We've seen Alex Freeman step in and do it just fine.

Joe Scali can do the defense. part. He's not as good at the progressive part. Like, okay, then you have him slide in and become the defensive, you know, the third centerback, and then you allow your left fullback to become a wingback. So it's, it sounds more complicated than it actually is. And I think the fact that the U.S. got it like that at halftime of the South Korea game shows how intuitively players in the modern game grasp these types of rotations. Yeah, it seems to fit a lot of the personnel.

very comfortably. You talked about those two right back options where they're both happy to sort of play inside. I mean, Freeman has played almost centerback at times in other setups. So it's natural for him. And Scali has played centerback in a back three. So it's fully comfortable for him. And it takes away some of what Freeman does going up to field.

So it all seems to make some sense. It also seemed to have given the U.S. some stability to play off of where there was less unknowns as they were going through their progressions and that seemed to help them find some chemistry and as you said, ex-dog that like we just hadn't seen over the almost the entire time Pochitino had been except the Gold Cup, which is different competition, different group and a little bit different, but it seemed to bring some of that energy into this team, which is why I think it has to be a staple of what we're talking about here. I don't think you can move away from it. I say that I do have optionality because you're building a lineup for a tournament and you're

you're building it based off matchups and what happens and injuries and all of that. And so I think there has to be, okay, if we don't play that way, who are the options? And one of the fascinating things about all of this is fullback, which is if healthy and if not healthy, which are two things that you don't know very much at those two positions and changes drastically between the two. From Dest and Jedi to anyone else, they are like the two extremes in two different ways, which will be a huge part of what we'll talk about as we do this. So we have this formation set up in that way.

So that's what we're going to work through as we talk about the roster. And we will put this out on social as well. One of the big questions starts as we, let's start in goal. But I think is a trigger to what we think this will look like, which is Matt Freeze and I assume Matt Turner or the top two for you. Is that correct? Yeah. The third option, and this is partially World Cup.

Cup roster and then this is partially March roster is, is Pochitino going to give young guys chances at ends of rosters that he thinks has bright futures or is Pochitino going to lean on veterans to bring into the group to try and win every game possible at the 2026 World Cup? I think it's going to be the second thing. Yeah. But I don't think he necessarily believes that older veterans are the guys who help with that. I think he believes in the guys that he's had in camp. and that's Patrick Schulte.

It's Roman Salentano and it's Jonathan Klinsman and Schulte's played and the other two guys haven't. Like that's, you know, Schulte has gotten caps under Pachitino. The other guy who's gotten caps under Pachitino, the other guys are Ethan Horvath and Zach Stephan, neither of whom have been in camps recently, right?

Yeah. And Horvath, Stefan was excellent last year, but like it, even as he was being excellent he was not part of the national team so i you know i'm reading into that horvath is not a starting caliber keeper like he he's not held down a job anywhere he's already making disasters happen for the red bulls i just don't i don't think you can look man it's third i'm not going to get hung up worrying about the third goalkeeper i'll just say that i'm disappointed gaga slonina

chose a career path where he's not even part of the conversation um yeah i think to me it's just sort of this is kind of a sign where I agree with you like I don't know that poachino has it straight down as these these are the metrics but I think it's going to come up a couple times as we go through these position battles of like there are guys at the back ends that probably are not going to play and the question is do you take something a little safer do you take something a little more known or unknown and zach stephen didn't even start for colorado in the last game I think he's hurt so injured yeah yeah that takes him off as well. So I have Patrick Schulte as the third in here. Chris Brady is the other one I would bring up,

which is, I think he's a better goalkeeper today. I think he's proven that throughout the last MLS season 12 months over Schulte. I don't know that he's done it over Salentano, but he hasn't been called in. So I would be shocked if he gets his shot now. Yep. Let's go to defenders then. So in this setup, we're talking about fullback. We're talking about centerbacks. We're talking about three centerbacks, a right back that maybe shifts in, all of that. So, So let's talk a little about profiles there. If you, when you broke this down and put it together,

who do you consider a centerback in that setup? And like how much that versatility did you add in? So the guys who are obviously centerbacks are Richards and Reem and Miles Robinson. And I think all three of those guys are on the plane. It worries me with Ream. Like he might just be a breaking case of emergency sub because he, it looks like Father Tops. has caught up to him over the past six, eight months.

And we saw it in the playoffs, and we've seen it kind of to start the season for Charlotte a little bit. So I think he struggled that. Other times with Charlotte, since he got there, he obviously played left back for a while, which made no sense. And he struggled at times under Bruce Arena with the national team.

I think he's a player who has to be in a specific setup. I think you have to have the right pieces around him. He is not roll out there with anyone, and he's the one that the partnership leans on at this level anymore. In the setup we're talking about, if there are bodies around him, I think not only does Marisa Poitizzo trust him as a person and a leader, I think it emboldens him to be an organizer, be clean in possession, and not have to defend in space. That is his Achilles heel at this point.

And if you can have two other centerbacks around him, it might be enough cover to play him. So in a situation where you're doing the four that shifts into a three, And you have, let's say, Alex Freeman at right back and Chris Richards right center back, Tim Ream at left center back. And then Jedi Robinson is your left fullback. And Jedi becomes the wing back, right? So you have that incredibly adept two-way player at your left wingback. Then maybe that's enough coverage for Tim Ream, especially if it's against a Paraguay,

a team that's going to sit in. A team where you have the possession. Yeah. Yeah. where his passing would be really, really useful. But even then, he's going to have to defend its face. It's not like powerless going to have zero counterattacking opportunity. They're going to get out and they're going to be able to run.

And that worries me. And it's also something that we're going to talk about in a minute here. I don't think that wingback in that situation is actually the best use of Anthony Robinson. I think his strength as an attacker is as a ball carrier against. an already scrambled defense. If you look at the way that the wingback has played, really Max Arsden has played, he's going up more often against the static set defense

and beating those guys 1v1. That is not Anthony Robinson Strong suit. The one thing I want to see from this camp, I don't know, said the one thing, but one of the things I really want to see from this camp is actually Jedi Robinson at the left fullback who then slides in to, become a left center back in a three.

And then that would allow you could play Tim Wea at right back as your fullback slash wingback. That's the job he does for Marseille anyway, right? And obviously, Alex Freeman, even though he's not playing a VRAL, we know he can attack. Ask Uruguay. You know, like with, so the, the twofold aspect of this is Anthony Robinson is really good defensively. I think he would hold up in that three in those situations.

we're transitioning phases of play, right? And you have to have that ability to run the play down occasionally, read the play always, and then muscle against center forwards. I think he has that. And then the other aspect of it is sometimes when the ball is on your foot

as a defender, if you can carry the ball past that first line of opposing pressure, you compromise the entire shape of the other team. And I don't think there's anybody in the roster who's better suited for that than Anthony Robinson. And I think it would actually fit his skill set more than just playing as this sort of pseudo fullback

in the scheme that we've seen Pachitino develop over the past six, eight months. It makes a lot of sense in that he, I have redeveloped the way I think of a fullback over the last 10 years as players have been pulled inside. But one of the first things I always say is like, are you physical enough to hang? When the game is not pre-planned,

can you hang? can you hang with a big center forward in a big moment where it's a transition moment you have to step inside you have to win that 50-50 battle and Jedi seems like a player who would be comfortable doing that and but is not great I don't think sitting back and breaking lines with his passing like he is not clean enough the reason one of the reasons it fits that he bombs forward is he he bashes balls in they're not super accurate it's a safe place to do that because you don't have to be super accurate and the volume he's able to create because of the energy he has in the amount he gets forward makes it fine if he shoots 25% but he takes five shots you know from that area great we can potentially score a real bam out of bio

aspect of his game right there but the other aspect of that is you were okay with him doing that because he had that incredible stamina and top end speed and we have not seen that from him since his return from knee surgery he has not looked like the same guy now that does not mean Like maybe by the end of the month, because he is starting to get 90 minutes now, maybe by the end of the month, he will look like the Jedi of 12 months ago. That is what I'm hoping for. But I really want to see him in that they call it kind of an elbow back role. I'm more interested in that than almost anything else coming out of camp. The other names on the list for defenders, John Tolkien probably be there.

I think he's on the outside looking in. Noaki Banks. We all want to see this kid commit to the U.S. I wrote about it in my column on tactics,freezone.com, a real talent who could be around for five gold cups, or five gold cups, Dave. You got to win a gold cup. Amen. It's the dream of the program.

Yes. So I really hope he's there. That's the first name I'm going to be scanning for. At right back with Dest Hurd, it's Freeman and Scali, and I couldn't figure out anybody else. and then we get into the midfield and it gets a little more interesting. So in my mind, Tim Ream starting, not Tim Ream, sorry, Tim Weaa is starting at whatever you call

the right back position, right back, right wing back. It doesn't matter. He plays for Marseille in a wing back position. He has played as a fullback. Whatever the setup of the back line is, if Dest is out, I think he's starting at that spot right now. He's getting minutes where Alex Freeman is not. And he is capable of giving you an impact

in the attack, which Joe Scali is not right now. So to me, no matter what the setup is, Wea is getting the start there, which also opens up space, I think, for some players who deserve to get starts higher up the field. And the thing I've said with Tim Wea since the start, and it didn't help that he punched

a guy on Panama and sort of ruined that, is he's up for the moment, and he does deliver in big moments. He scores against Wales in the World Cup. In World Cup qualifying going into 2022, many of the big moments in games where it felt like there was no spark were created by, him. A lot of it is down to his skill and talent and ability to break defenders down 1v1. A lot of it's down to his counterpressing. But most of it is just he wins half margins

and he's turned on all the time in big games. So he's on the field no matter what. It's why I feel comfortable putting him a little bit further back on the field outside of potentially bunching someone off the ball. I don't think he's going to lose the game for you in those moments. So I think way it gets the start there. And I think it probably is easier for this team. Because what you talked about with Jedi is if Dest is healthy and Jedi are healthy, I don't know that the two fit perfectly together unless Jedi comes inside. I don't have a ton of belief that you get Jedi at full health at some point this year. It's been a really long time. And it's for a guy who pushes his body really hard. And when you talk to people around the pro game and they talk about you come out of

weekend matches and you look at metrics and some of these guys are off the charts and they are often players who at 26 and 27, it is really hard to get them on the field consistently to do those things again. It's an issue we see with Tyler Adams. It's like they are pushing their body to extremes that other people physically aren't capable of, but they are also hitting their limits in some of that and feels like that's what's happened with Jedi. Since February, he's played two full 90s and has had four DNPs. And one of them, the comment from the full-in-coaching staff was like an ankle knock or something. Like they're very much in an unknown in space. It's why I think he gets called in, because I think the U.S. wants to see him themselves

and do their testing and see what's up. I don't think he plays in these games, and I would be surprised if he even stays the whole time. I think he comes in, he's around the group, he talks with the coaches, he does the medical stuff, and this is what we saw from him last October. He came in, was around it, and then left to go back to, like, can you be training in your environment and be at your best, which is a little bit worrying. But Max Arfson, I love is an option. Otherwise, if you want him to play high and then the right backs you said are the ones who are in there and Alex Freeman we always knew it was going to be a tough one you go to a La Liga team at your age you're probably not going to be a day one starter and without that I think

Pocetino likes what he's seen enough that he entrusts him but it's hard for him to be a lockdown starter if he's not playing week in and week out okay let's talk about midfield now so the way I have it written down is I sort of have two holding midfielders and then two attacking and then a center forward with five in the back. So I defined holding midfielders as demids, but we could call it whatever we want and the other two as attacking mids. And then we would have a center forward. Does that set up the way you set it up or do you want to do? It does. Yeah. No, it does. Okay. So let's start with those demids. And I think Tyler Adams is the first on this list. And no brainer if he's available and healthy, he's in this group. Now we get into who's around him

and who's the depth around him? Who do you have at the top of your list? So I would look for balance and partnership first. And to me, that's Testman, right? Testman, because he can make the game big. He's comfortable on the ball in traffic in a way that Tyler Adams really isn't. He can make use of those wingbacks, right?

He balances his strength, balances Tyler Adams' strengths. They make each other better. So that's the obvious one. And then I think about it in terms of who's backing up each of those guys. And honestly, I think Christian Raldon is the clear number two behind Tyler Adams. He does the front foot defensive work better than anybody in the pool other than Tyler Adams. He can also tilt the field with those long balls. And he's earned Poach's trust in a way that I don't think Aidan Morris or Johnny Cardoso have.

I think Johnny Cardozo and Aidan Morris are in this camp. One of them will win a job. one of them will watch the World Cup. Behind Testman, it's not as deep as I had hoped. It depends on what you think Weston McKinney's position is going to be. I actually think he's going to be a number 10. So I have him up a little further. Me too.

So behind Testament, I honestly think it's Seth Burrhalter. And then that's it. Yeah. I think because of the way this is set up, I do think you could play Johnny or Aiden Morris with Tyler Adams. They're both comfortable in possession. They're both going to cover a great. round. So like that's where I just had this mass of five or six guys. And I think they're all kind of

similar because I also have Weston higher. I watched a bit of Tottenham shit the bed yesterday. Didn't really help understand where Johnny fits in. I've watched him for a few weeks off and on with Athlete. What do you make of what the hell's going on of this guy's playing for Diego Simeone? He is playing for the most intense coach who requires the most commitment, perfection, all of these things for one of the best teams in the world. And he has never put a foot right for the U.S. pretty much in his short national team career of like what this guy is. It's not that short. Not that short, man. He's played 20 games.

Short in terms of games, not short in terms of years. It's been over. I mean, he's disappeared from the team for like months at a time. I don't know what to make of it because all the like in theory you could say, well, he doesn't fit Pochitino. And so therefore it doesn't work. But while Pochitino is different than Simeone, the core part of. of like what they're looking for is the same, which is, are you willing to physically run through a wall for me

and your team? And if so, then we can talk after that. Like, what do you make of what he can be and how Pocitino tries to use him in this camp, at least to figure it out? I've never, I'm still shocked that he moved to a club as big as athletic for a fee as big as he did because he's just kind of like an ordinary player, right?

He's just kind of like a James Sanzi type of guy to me. And that's a good player. but it's not someone who moves the needle significantly. And I don't think he has for Adletti. I think he's just given them, you know, pretty good minutes. When he's come into the U.S., and it's just true for James Sands, they've been asked to do more and they haven't been able to.

Yeah. And I think that matters. And Aidan Morris has been asked to do more, and he hasn't been perfect, but he's delivered. Yeah. You know, he has actually looked pretty good and Middlesbrough is a much smaller club than Athletico Madrid, but they're in the middle of a promotion fight.

And he is one of the guys on that team, one of the guys in that midfield. And he has not shied from a moment yet. So if I were to go ahead. The personality of the two players on the field is kind of polar opposite in possession. And that's what we're. where it's like, I mean, the quotes from non-say about Aiden Morris and the borough coach are just like, he always comes and wants it.

Like, he will come and get it from someone who looks uncomfortable. He will take it under pressure. And that's something I think the U.S. have been lacking a lot because Tyler's not really that guy in possession. And Weston can be or can't be, but if he's floating up top, he's not going to come back and find it. And there isn't really a guy like that. And Aidan Morris may not be good enough to do it in a World Cup round of 16 or quarterfinal. That's just a fact.

But I'd love to have a guy trying to do it then to live in the absence of it. The one thing I wonder what Johnny is most of the time when we saw him, the setup was a little bit different. And maybe the responsibility in his role with those three at the back where maybe you don't drop in in the build out as much. And when you do so, maybe it's not as open and exposed. And you think to the turkey game of like centerback split wide. We play you. This is a 100%. Either you win this moment.

and we're going up field on a chance, you lose this moment, we concede a goal. And they concede it a goal. And maybe those moments go away a little bit and what he does well, which is, I'm always an option and I'm a pretty clean option to get you back into play, right? You're going to play a one-two off me.

I'm going to come and support a fullback or a wingback who gets high into a corner and keep play going. But I'm not really going to break lines and I'm not the one who you're going to build through. Maybe that fits a little bit better with some of this setup, which we haven't seen him in

because he hasn't been in the national team consistently under Marisa Pochitino. Yeah, well, last chance to Loon to prove it is going to be as soon as he sets foot in this camp if he's actually called in. It wouldn't, like, I expect him to be on the roster when it's dropped on, whether Sunday or Monday, it'll be announced. But I wouldn't be utterly shocked if he wasn't. Like, he might have played himself out of consideration already.

Yeah. Can you imagine a world where an athletic coach starter does not go to a World Cup for the US M&T? I mean, 10 years ago we would have killed. If Pochatatatino was trying to. endear himself to Real Madrid. Ignoring the athletic guys might be a good step, right? But obviously we'll be calling up the Rialsa Lake players.

Yes. That's the key to get there. So I think we said most of the names here. Those are all the ones we expect obvious. I agree on Burrhalter. One, he did mention, we should mention, we should mention Eunice Musa before we move on from these guys. He was part of the others list that we were going to go through.

Okay, you go ahead. Sorry. No, no, no, you got it. You're killing it. So, yeah, yeah. So, Seb Burrhalter, Pachitino loves him. He has not put a foot wrong.

I think in the coach's eyes, he has filled in as a six when he's not really a six and taking a beating while doing it. And I think that matters. His set piece delivery is second best in the pool, only behind Jack McGlynn, who I love Jack McGlynn, but like I can't see a guy who's that limited physically,

actually, you know, being part of a central midfield at the World Cup. It's all there. But like, you watch unismusa play yeah and when he does actually play and i know like the like tactically he's he's off the pace and his passing is nowhere near where it needs to be but then he gets on the ball and suddenly he completely tilts the field and you're like damn we kind of need that yeah he the only i mean the main story with him is he doesn't play for adalanta and he hasn't

played for pochetino because he doesn't play for at alanta so he hadn't even been called in he started to get on the field at the beginning of March. He got four straight appearances, two goals in that run. It felt like he had to shoot the moon, basically. Like you needed to kill it, come into this camp, crush it, come out, play 90 minutes all the time at a high level. And he got pulled at halftime of his first start last week. And then he came off the bench when they got mauled by Byron in the Champions League. And it already feels like that.

That was a moment. Yeah. He couldn't afford it for us. Yeah. I love Eunice Musu because I like ball possession players. Like I, if I had a team, I'd have 11 of them. We'd never pass midfield. And I would love every second of it.

I'm shocked. You said it because you don't like those guys as much as I do. So that's where it's like, and he's shown a little bit of flexibility. And the flexibility is because he's technically clean. So he can play anywhere on the field because he's not going to make a mistake. And remember, remember, Pocitino played him at wingback. Yep.

Right? Even when you say he could play anywhere on the field, Pachachino feels the same way, except he maybe thinks he can't play him in central midfield because he is not tactically savvy enough. And it's what's kept him out of the lineup for Atlanta as well. Yeah. And I think as he's reached the highest levels, Milan, whatnot,

some of the deficient, if he makes a mistake, he doesn't make up for it because he won't break the game for you the other way. And I think that's where you've seen, as you've seen some holes in his game at times, because he is not goal dangerous. anyway and can't be. And if he is, it's by accident and he pulls himself back. That's where it's kept on field. The other thing, which I think will come up with Jack McGlynn, I think it comes up in the Ricardo Peppy conversation. All of this is you come off a good camp and most of these guys are

playing. So there is not ground to make up. There is not mistakes being made in front of you on the roster where a year ago it was, oh, Jack McGlynn tries shit. No one really tries shit. There's no vibe right now in the team. No one's playing at high levels at, you know, consistently. So you're going to get a chance. And now it feels like that door has closed on a lot of this because Aiden Morris is going to start every week, right? Johnny's going to start every week. Tanner Tesman's going to start every week. And we know the MLS guys will start every week as well. And so I just don't see a world to work yourself in. The other names I had down, John Luke Cabusio, Siri B, it's the best year he's had. He's not going to make the team. James Sands at St. Paulie. One of the nice things with Sam's is he

especially if you play three centerbacks he can play in that as well so at the back end of a roster he gives you versatility he's playing consistently in the boondis league and then shone zawatsky's the other one because oh yeah poach has called him in like any time he can and he has literally never played for him i think he actually got didn't he get minutes against paraguai yeah sorry i didn't literally that was a bad one but he no he kept missing camps then he finally got one um and he's another guy like saying i should have mentioned him in my column, but he's another guy like Sands who could play D-Mid, he could play in the middle of a back three, he could play at right back. So it's one of those where maybe as a 26th man, Sean Zawatsky can work his way in. Now that I think about it, like he could end up

being there ahead of a guy like Sands or ahead of a guy like Moussa. And I wouldn't be at all surprised by that. Yeah. There seems to be something that Poach loves about him because he keeps trying, even when he hasn't gotten the chances. Let's go into those attacking two in front of this. Let's talk about some of the names. I put in question mark next to this right at the top. The convo is Giorana. Yep.

Is there any world that he gets called into this camp? How do you not? Yeah. Wow. How do you not? Because he's not playing again, but he's geo fit, which means that he's fit enough to sit on the bench. And we saw it in, you know, in the Paraguay, Uruguay camp.

He basically hadn't played much for Munguang Gladbach in the month leading up to that. And he comes in, he scores a goal against Paraguay and he comes off the bench and gets an assist versus Uruguay. And he doesn't, he can't sprint. He doesn't defend. His body language is world historically bad. And it doesn't matter because he is our, like, he is the most talented player the US has ever produced. Period.

Like, that's it. And we are not Argentina and we're not. France and we can't we can't leave a guy who is this talented off the roster just because he can only play 25 minutes a game or just because he's a D-hole like it just like it's not where the US program is and every time he's put on the field he proves it since new years he has played 26 minutes combined across all competitions him and alice freeman are still starters for me in two appearances his last start was December 19 of 2025 and he had a little run in December as a starter he was a substitute before that overall

four starts and 13 appearances uh almost 400 minutes played it is wild i just i think it's really hard to set a culture as a head coach and be like except that guy everyone has to do here is the checklist of things you have to do except for that one guy just no one pay attention to him yeah and he just dribbled three defenders and put it on Balagan's foot with nobody around him tapping. Which could be worth it. Yep. Probably wasn't worth it in 2022.

And maybe that's, you know, but the question then is if it's worth it now. And I'm saying this and saying, I have no answer. I'm glad I don't have this job because I genuinely could not tell you. I agree that you call him into this camp because it doesn't cost you anything and here's your chance to get around him again. see him and see him in the group. My guess is he's not at the World Cup. That if things remain the same, if he is a sub every three games for Gladbach towards

the end of the year, which they're in a relegation battle. And I don't know that Geroen is the guy you lean on in a relegation battle. Then I don't think Pochitino will be able to take him to the World Cup. But it is going to be the first name I'm looking for when this roster comes out. The other ones. Let me just ask this. Chicago Fire have an open D.P. slot and lack midfield chance creation. Just chaos, man.

And listen, the MLS transfer window is open for two more weeks. Reality TV is doing well right now. So it could be an option. Why not unit? Well, Eunice Musa doesn't score goals. So he's probably a wrong one. Orlando should go get Eunice Musa and have someone control the game for them. That's a good idea.

Okay. Weston McKinney, I think we both kind of agreed in putting him in this spot. He has played literally every. position for Juventus. He has played false nine. He has played wingback. He's played 10 field. He makes things happen. He's at his best around the goal.

I don't trust him to close down and cover ground consistently and be connected to the rest of the team to play him deeper. And this is where almost in the Giorana style of like, I can get stuff from him without maybe danger, endangering my team the other way.

When he's locked in, great. He's not always locked in. It's hard to know. But this is where I would put him to get the best out of him without really hurting myself for the negative parts. It feels like he's turned the corner in terms of being locked in as often as possible. We have, I don't understand. I feel like we have said this about every year with YuVe. He's out, then he's back in, then he's the second most important player. Then we start again. That I agree with, but I'm talking like tactically. There is no argument. Like there was always an argument you could make tactically against Weston because he would chase butterfly sometimes. And,

And you kind of just made it saying that you don't necessarily trust him to play deeper. And look, fair enough. I don't think that's his best spot either. But what we've seen from him with UVA this year is, A, he's been comfortable and reliable in that spot. But then he's also been tactically tuned in enough on both sides of the ball to play as a 10, to play as a guy who's sort of lifting the level of everybody around him. And that is a new version, a veteran version. of Weston McKinney. And it's the one who's, for me, he's starting on that two line with

Polisic underneath Floh Allegan. Yeah. Polisic, no brainer. I think as we get through this camp, we see the team play. I think there'll be conversations about spacing with Polic where he's most comfortable, where he's at his best. I think that will affect some of that wingback, fullback talk that we have of who supports him the best, who supplies him the best. And he's obviously not in great form right now with Milan, but he's a no-question starter for this team. So those are the two locked-ins. in there. Let's talk about the depth underneath it. Malik Tillman got injured since February, started February. He's started one game. He's appeared four times as a substitute for Leverkusen. They're playing Champions League right now. I don't know. He's not starting. Okay. And then

he would seem to be a clear number three in those spots. And then I think it's debate around that otherwise. I don't know that he's the clear number three, right? Because we already talked about Gio and Gio's in those spots and Diego Luna is not going to be at this camp because he's injured. I'm 90% sure he's not going to be at this camp. I'm told he will be back this weekend. Oh, okay. Well, there we go. You have better, more current information than I do.

In that case, Diego Luna will be at this camp and I think he's probably a nose ahead of Malik Tillman on the depth chart. But Tillman's going to be there anyway. And he should. and part of it is like you could play him a little deeper too. Like there are certain situations where you could drop Malik Tillman to play alongside a Tyler or a Christian Roll-on as a box-to-box guy. And I would be comfortable, not super comfortable, but I would understand that and be comfortable enough with it. So I think that's the group. And then it's like, I don't mean to gloss over the Luna thing, but he's earned it in Pocchitino's eyes with his,

the culture that he helped build, right? Like the broken nose moment was a big moment for that program, not just for Diego Luna, but then also he delivers goals and assists. You know, like that's what the position's all about. Brennan Aronson doesn't. Brendan Aronson has had a pretty good year for leads. He's been occasionally good or occasionally excellent, really,

and pretty consistently good, but always a ton of effort, and that matters. And then Alex Zendaihus. And he's another one who I kind of don't see it. But then you watch and like his team always plays better when he's out there. Yeah. He's huge for Club America. He's been big in the biggest moments for Club America.

I made the argument we did a social video the other day where he has elevated in front of 80,000 people consistently. And he is a connector. He is not the guy. Brendan Aronson similar, right? Like both of them, there is probably a pretty high floor of what you're going to get from them if you put them in the right situation. The ceiling's probably pretty low for both of them at the international level.

And the question is, who do you want to lean on and what do you want to get? I think Zendayaas, clean technically, has played in big moments, played in big pressure. He can finish and create depending on who's around him, which I think he adapts to the setup he's in when he's playing opposite Brian Rodriguez. He knows that he's going to crash and try and create chances. When he's playing behind some of the best strikers in League of MX, he knows his job. is to set up and create. And he comes inside and he's able to find the slip passes.

I think he's got a ton of composure under pressure. So you can play through him in tough moments. To me, no questions. And Dejas is in this group. And with this, the tough one is Brendan Aronson. Three goals, four assists this season in the Premier League. None of them over the last two months or whatever. But he continues to start for leads.

And like, yeah, he's going to run around like a crazy person, which a lot of coaches like. And which, like, brings a decent. and culture or might be the thing you need, which is once we take a step down from, let's say, Christian's not healthy, the drop off is so high that, screw it, let's go, let's just go against the ball, let's press high, let's only create out of possession, let's create onset pieces, and like, that's just who we are. And I don't think the U.S. is so weak offensively that that has to be the case, but it could be thinking for someone in all of this as well.

Sorry. So who then is competing for jobs? in this camp. It's for you, it's Raina, Aronson, Zendejas, Luna, those four guys for, for two spots? Yeah, I have, yeah,

under Pulisic and Weston, I have Tillman locked in and then I have Luna and the rest of them all battling to get in. For two more spots. I don't think Luna's locked. Okay.

I think just the injury. So if he comes in and plays close to his level, I think he's fine, but like he now has to do that in this camp if he gets called in because how do you move past Luna if the whole thing you've been talking about for the past 18 months as coach is culture right and he Luna has been a part of revitalizing that culture yeah you make a good point I think like he has the inside track and he's a favorite I just think if you walk out of next week and he comes into Cam he's not fully healthy and he can't do what he does how much longer can you wait is he going to go out in four games for

RSL and prove that he's back, maybe. And that's all he needs to do. If not, now it's, well, every performance has to be perfect for RSL because I have, I have five months of data on everyone else that Diego Luna doesn't have. They didn't make the playoffs in MLS and he hasn't been healthy to start the year. So this whole where, okay, Brendan Aronson's not putting up goals and assists. He's starting in the Premier League and playing and I know what I'm going to get. And it's not like these are guys that take time off. It's not like Diego Luna and Alex and Dehast are two guys who take plays off. Like, I know Luna is key to what happened. I agree. And I think that's where the trust and connection is. But at some point, I felt like at the Gold Cup, the other piece with Luna

was he tries shit and no one else does. You put this best team in there. Weston and Pulisic and Desk and Jedi, they all do as well. So you're no longer reliant on what Luna brings because it's not going to be built around him, which it was at the Gold Cup. And so, yeah, I think it's fair to say Pochitino is going to lean on it, but it worries me that we didn't see him. He missed three games at a time in a year where he's not going to get a ton of opportunities. The other names in here that are not going to get chances are Georgia Mihailovich and Jack McLinn, but it seems pretty outside. And then we have the center forward, which I think is probably the easiest combo right now,

which is huge to say. Baligan up top, Ajamong, Haji Wright, and Ricardo Pepe are probably the big four. Josh Sargent hasn't played, so he's not going to get himself in this. Brian White, you talked a bit about on Monday's show as we sort of hit this topic, the struggles he's had under Pochitino. And it just feels like it's a battle between Oshamong and Wright along the depth chart, and Pepe's trying to get in from the outside. I think that's exactly it.

And you hope that, I mean, you hope it ends up being a good problem, where they all make such a good case for themselves that he's got a tough cut to make. And I think the way the setup is, I think Haji can play in other spots for this team. Yeah. He's played on the wing, but he's just so smooth in possession. And you can play off of him back to goal. He can also attack defenders.

You watch him play. It feels a little like Josie. They're very different in some ways. But there are moments that it feels similar. And I mean, a big guy trying to step over us and trying to take people on. It's there for me. And then that gets us through. So we're going to put this together and put it out as a graphic on social as we

went through a ton of the names there. But I think it feels like for the most part, we agree on most of the spots. And it's that back end of the roster that people are fighting for. Yeah. The, like Mark McKenzie, you know, Miles Robinson, those guys are fighting for spots. I think Joe Scali, John Tolkien, um, Aidan Morris and Johnny Cardoso, like we mentioned, maybe Eunice Musa, uh, as well and Sean Zawatsky, of course. I just forgot him again.

Um, Ricardo Pepe coming in looking for a spot. those four attacking midfielders coming in fighting for spots. I think that's a story of this camp. And then hopefully by the second half of the second game, Parch has a good idea of what his top 14, 15 guys look like. Austin, trustee, probably one of the centerbacks, sort of knocking on the door, trying to get in, plays for one of the biggest teams in the world,

and does it at a high level, so has an opportunity. But those are the names that we're all looking at. We'll be back, of course, on Soccer Wise. We'll have our MLS recap show coming up, next Monday, myself, Doyle and Andrew Ube, when we can wrangle him, going through all the biggest moments. We will talk about the performances for a lot of these players coming out of the weekend and where they stand.

We will react to the roster when we finally get it, which should be going into that show. And then we'll have preview and review coverage for all these games coming up for you. But before we get out of here, I want to do one fun one, which is we love talking about the young kids, and there are some serious talent coming out in MLS, and it has started, I believe, the record for teenagers playing in an MLS weekend was set in week two of this season. And some of these guys have locked in their spots. So let me ask you this way. If you had to pick one of these players to make the USM&T 2026 World Cup roster of the young guys right now playing an MLS between Audrey Mametti, Julian Hall, Kevin Sullivan, and Xavier Gozo, which one would

you put on the roster for Pocetino? I mean, I'm a sicko. So I would say, Adria Mamedi because I just think he's that level of a talent at defensive midfield. It's just different from anything that we've ever had at that position. He's still only 16 though and there's zero chance. There is like you could see a path for Zavio Orgozo, right? Right? Especially like let's say Dest is out long term and Joe Scali has a stinker of a camp. Then it's Alex Freeman and I guess Tim Wea at right wingback, but like Freeman's not playing.

Like that is the position that Zavvi's. Villargozo is playing really, really well for Real Salt Lake right now. And we know that Pocch loves Real Madrid's sister club. He has been awesome so far this season. And he's a game changer. I think all four of these players are going to be on the national team one day. Probably not in 26. Playing for Michael Bradley in 2030.

Potentially. I don't know. Maybe we'll go a second, another generation skipped. We'll go baby, baby bowl's coaching for baby bowl players at the highest level. But this has been fun. Thank you, Doyle, for taking the time to do it with me.

As I said, we're going to keep tapping in over the next few weeks, getting ready because the World Cup's around the corner. We're less than 100 days away. The final camp, the U.S. men's national team is going to host a World Cup for the second time ever in their history. The first time changed the trajectory of the sport in this region. Who knows what the second one will be, but we'll be here and kickback the whole time covering it and hanging out with you.

So thank you to all of you for listening. We'll talk to you again very, very soon.