The US men’s national team closed camp with its sharpest performance yet under head coach Mauricio Pochettino, a 2-0 win over Japan that felt both convincing and clarifying, especially on the heels of a disappointing defeat to South Korea last weekend.
This wasn’t just the team’s best result to date under Poch; it may be a pivot point, as he seems to have stumbled onto the right blend of shape and (some) personnel in the process. It felt like the kind of step forward that reshapes the conversation, one that was badly needed with the countdown to 2026 accelerating.
Poch said it was going to be an experimental camp, both in terms of personnel and approach, and he was good to his word.
How good? Well, he had the team start against South Korea in a 4-3-2-1 shape, which led to a ton of confusion about pressing triggers and responsibilities – not totally surprising. What was brutal and worrying, and the source of much of the postgame sturm und drang after the 2-0 loss, was how helpless, confused and, to borrow a word Poch himself used, “passive” the US looked until a formation shift (more on that in a sec).
There is no better example than South Korea’s first goal on Saturday night:
Christian Pulisic doesn’t really track; Tyler Adams doesn’t rotate; Sergiño Dest doesn’t press up until it’s much too late, at which point Tristan Blackmon is panicking, trying to mark two guys and actually marking neither of them.
None of this would’ve mattered – it would’ve been a moment of disorganization recalled only by the coaching staff and the sickest of sickos – if Tim Ream had simply stepped and played the whole thing offside. Instead, he was caught ball-watching, and Son Heung-Min did Son Heung-Min things.
In short, the 4-3-2-1 experiment didn’t work. The US weren’t disastrous throughout their hour in that shape, but they were disastrous in two huge moments against the ball and were hesitant pushing numbers forward on it, which meant the attack was pretty punchless.
That’s the thing with experimentation, though, right? You’re not always going to get good results. You just have to be able to learn from the bad ones.
Which, it seems, Poch did. At the hour mark against South Korea, he brought on some new players and switched into a 3-4-2-1. Once that switch was made, the US outshot the Taegeuk Warriors, 14-1.
So naturally the US came out again in the 3-4-2-1 against Japan, and I mentioned what happened in that one: a 2-0 win that was easily the best of Poch’s USMNT career. One of the goals even came directly from possession via attacking structure:
From halftime of the South Korea game onwards, the US outshot their opponents 36-12, and the xG shows basically the same thing: 4.02-1.33 in favor of the US. Around 120 of those 135 minutes came in the 3-4-2-1.
Some of this can be handwaved away by pointing out Japan’s XI was not their best. It should be noted, though, the US actually got better – more dangerous and dominant – when Japan brought on their big guns (Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma, Daichi Kamada) on the hour mark.
There is always a danger in reading too much into friendlies, one way or another. But I’d be shocked if this isn’t a 3-4-2-1 team come October.
You just read my thoughts on the formational change and some of the implications for the run-up to the World Cup. There was the 4-3-2-1 part of these games and the 3-4-2-1 part of these games, and that’s that.
It’s just as easy and maybe just as instructive to say there were two parts of this camp: the part where Balogun was on the field and the part where he wasn’t, and that’s that.
Did he miss a half-dozen chances from inside the six over the 120 minutes he played? Yes. Yes, he did. But what do we say in this column?
We say “trust strikers who find chances to eventually start finishing them.”
I’m glad he got this goal, and I loved the Beast Mode stiff-arm to create separation. Between what he did in this camp and how he’s started the year with Monaco, Balogun suddenly seems to have a death grip on the starting No. 9 spot.
Nobody did more for their World Cup chances (and my blood pressure) over these two games.
I actually thought Arfsten began to hold his own defensively as a left back in the knockout rounds of the Gold Cup, and he was fine there for the first hour against South Korea.
Once the US switched to the 3-4-2-1, which allowed Arfsten to switch to his more natural wingback position, he hit a different level. To me, he was the Man of the Match against Japan, and was the first guy Poch mentioned, unprompted, when asked about quality performances.
“It’s a player that we really believe from day one, because I see in the way that he is, his character, his personality,” Pochettino said in the postgame. “The characteristics [of] how he is like as a player. I think it’s a combo that we really love, we really like. He’s [a] very intelligent, very smart guy.”
Freese not only made a few spectacular saves across both games, but he looked more decisive coming off his line in sweeper-keeper situations. It’s never going to be a strength, but if Freese can get it to “not a weakness,” then there’s not much to pick at in his game.
There have been a lot of excuses made for Sargent over the years (including by me), but the simple fact is he hasn’t been good enough in the chances he’s gotten. The difference between him and Balogun was stark and his goal record – now just five in 29 US games, with none since 2019 – is impossible to ignore.
My guess is we don’t see him until next cycle, though I suppose a winter move to a bigger club in a better league (and a subsequent hot streak) could reopen the door. No coach will dismiss a striker tearing up, say, the Bundesliga or Serie A.
But it’s clear what’s worked for him in the Championship, where he’s legitimately one of the two or three best No. 9s, has not translated to the USMNT. And that’s been the case under multiple coaches in multiple schemes.
Berhalter and Luna didn’t fall as hard as Sargent, but both have to look at this camp as a missed opportunity to solidify their places in the pecking order. With Berhalter, his lack of ball-carrying and athleticism are limiting factors in central midfield. With Luna, I was disappointed in his lack of aggression/creativity in the final third, save for one brilliant pass to Damion Downs late on against Japan.
Pochettino sounds frustrated when he talks about Weah, who had a good chance early against South Korea but pretty quickly faded out of the game afterwards before coming off on the hour mark, and then not featuring against Japan (he reportedly had a little knock).
Weah’s played right and left winger, right back, center forward, right midfield, left wingback and now left back in his club career. He’s a good player who will be on the 2026 roster if he’s healthy, in large part because of that versatility.
But we’ve reached “Jack of all trades, master of none” hours for the 25-year-old and at no point in any of his recent appearances has he been as dynamic as Arfsten was against Japan.
The US needed a goal and Zendejas provided it. I honestly didn’t think he did much else on the night against Japan – go back and watch that game; there’s not a lot of highlights from him, and way too much safe play – but he was good in his 30 minutes against South Korea and decisive in the moment on Tuesday.
“We are so pleased because he, with his performance, makes us doubt about [our roster choices],” Pochettino said. “With this type of performance, he’s in the race for the roster for the World Cup.”
At this point, Freeman is probably a lock for the roster (especially given his ability to play some as a right center back in a back three) if he stays on this trajectory. Freeman probably helped himself overall with a solid if unspectacular camp, though not as much as the guys in the first section.
I’d consider Roldan’s performance to be solid but unspectacular. He certainly wasn’t commanding the midfield in the way he has been for the Sounders, and he had one very sloppy late giveaway that was inches from a Japanese golazo.
But Pochettino noticed – he mentioned Roldan by name when asked about the team’s best performers – how many of the US’s best attacks, both in transition and possession moments, had Roldan playing a subtly crucial role.
That flurry of Balogun chances in the 18th minute? Came from a Japan turnover when Roldan got early pressure on the opposing build (something the other central midfielders in this camp struggled with) to force a turnover.
Zendejas’s opener? Roldan put the US into semi-transition with a touch instead of playing safe, then circulated possession well in the attacking third en route to the goal.
There were even more of these in the final half-hour against South Korea and Japan (it was Roldan who constantly found Dest in isolation on the left) and that kind of connective passing, combined with field coverage and ball-winning ability, really matters.
I thought this was probably it for McGlynn when he didn’t start either game, but he certainly made a statement when he came off the bench for the final 25 minutes against Japan.
“Attacking super-sub and set-piece specialist” is the role for him at the international level, at least for this cycle. McGlynn looked comfortable and very, very dangerous with that.
Does the US have enough CB depth to play a back three?
Blackmon was good for the US after the first 45 minutes against South Korea, but I’m not exactly convinced he’s a starting-caliber guy, no matter what the formation is. And I would, frankly, have some real worries about the aerial competence of a backline composed of Blackmon, Ream and Chris Richards, none of whom is dominant.
Poch said he’s done experimenting after this camp, and I suspect that’s mostly true. But I do have to wonder if there’s room for guys like Walker Zimmerman or Miles Robinson, or even potential new guy Jackson Ragen, to work their way in.
We need at least one big fella out there.
Which of the missing Euros are part of the core group?
I think it’s pretty clear Malik Tillman is Poch’s guy, and I’m going to assume rationality in his assessment of Weston McKennie (written-in-ink starter for me). Both will be in the next camp.
Antonee Robinson will be there as well, and is obviously a starter if the US play a back four. His skills, though, are those of an overlapping fullback, not an attacking wingback. Which begs the question: Does he have a place in the 3-4-2-1?
I’d love to see him get a look at left center back – his ball-carrying off the backline could be a huge attacking catalyst – but that could exacerbate the aerial issues. There is no easy fit here.
Who else is part of the group, though? Yunus Musah is playing a new, as-yet undetermined role with a new team, and Poch doesn’t seem to trust him in his best spot (central midfield). Johnny Cardoso has consistently underwhelmed for the US. Tanner Tessman got a good, long look early in Poch’s tenure and hasn’t been back since a couple of very disappointing performances in the Nations League. Aidan Morris has barely gotten a look at all and now plays in a league that Poch doesn’t really seem to rate.
Brenden Aaronson, Haji Wright, Patrick Agyemang, Ricardo Pepi? Where are they in the depth chart? Do any of the overseas center back contingent appear on the radar?
And then there is the big one for me: Gio Reyna. I’m not going to get into any of the rumors and speculation about why he and Joe Scally haven’t gotten called since March (it’s all out there if you want to find it; you won’t have to search hard).
I will just simply say a healthy Reyna is a ceiling-raiser like no one else in the pool and this team could very clearly use a guy who raises the ceiling for all the attackers around him.
I can’t bring myself to believe the book is closed on him for this cycle. Not yet.
Ok, that’s it. The first year of the Mauricio Pochettino era is in the books, and folks, it’s been a weird one.
But they’ve left me feeling more optimistic leaving this camp than I was heading into it; it looks like the players have taken some responsibility, and the coach has found a logical direction. I’ll take that as a reason to celebrate.
And now the time for experimentation is over. The World Cup starts in 274 days, and the real work is about to begin.
