Poch Attempts To Thread The Needle—Again
Some thoughts on Poch's roster for Haiti and why reforming college soccer feels like a must for American soccer.
If the Costco-sized September/October international window was an exercise in unboxing the new line of American soccer players for USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino, the November CONCACAF Nations League camp appears to be a dialed-back version of the same—with a nod towards gathering a team also good enough to be sure of advancement past Haiti in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals.
The names that jump off the page from Poch's 23-man roster include Santiago Castañeda, the Paderborn midfielder getting his first taste of top-flight German football; Cavan Sullivan, the teenage Philly phenom and new It Boy of American soccer; and Christian Pulisic, a guy who's perception among American soccer fans is one of endless fascination for your truly.
Cutting to the chase, there's plenty of talent in the group to get past Les Grenadiers and into next year's Nations League semifinals. I might say that even if Haiti wasn't still forced to play every home international somewhere other than Haiti (in this case, Miami), but that tragic reality only adds confidence that the Americans are set up to advance.
And when we get to the first leg in Miami on November 14, I expect we'll see a lineup thick with World Cup veterans. Pochettino does need to figure what the post-Ream era looks like at centerback (and no, the last window didn't give us much to work with), but almost every other spot in the team when the whistle blows at Nu Stadium should be occupied by a player with plenty of experience and a known track record in competitive matches.
That "almost" needs some unpacking, obviously. There are a few areas where a Poch Special is possible, whether it's down to his hand being forced or our lemon-loving leader deciding to throw in a wrinkle BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT HE DOES.
Here what I view as a pretty chalk-y team, with one notable new kid because Pochettino didn't bring in a vet for that flank:
Yeah, that's Cavan Sullivan on the right. Unless Gio gets pushed into that spot (not ideal) I can't see a team that doesn't have Cavan in it to start—if the goal is to put Haiti to the sword in the first leg so there's more freedom to mess around in the second leg in Cincinnati.
And yeah, I'm excited to see what an in-form Christian Pulisic and pure id Cavan Sullivan can cook up in front of Wes and Gio.
Malik Tillman is having a miserable time at Bayer Leverkusen, so while he was one of the stars of the World Cup for the USMNT, he's not exactly demanding a start on current form. That doesn't mean I don't think we'll see him, and if I'm being honest Tillman might be the guy that upends the lineup above. It wouldn't be insane if Pochettino decides to run it back World Cup style in one of the two matches.
If Balogun, whose form is not great, who is not 100%, and who Pochettino clearly wants to help reset the direction of his career after the calamities of the summer doesn't start, then Julian Hall it is. Outside of Sullivan, Hall is the new name who feels the most capable of nudging his way into the senior squad and claiming real game time between now and 2028.
I'm intrigued by Pochettino using a "+1" model for most position groups; i.e., selected a group of veteran internationals but leaving one spot in the squad for a new face/younger player in that area of the field. This is clearly a nod toward continuing the work from September and October while centering the need to win and advance.
Reed Baker-Whiting and Santiago Castañeda won't be age-eligible for the Olympics, meaning Pochettino wants to get an up-close look at them to potentially deepen the pool at left back (needed) and midfield pivot (less so, maybe).
I do wonder if Adri Mehmeti and Neil Pierre getting carried over from the last camp despite being Olympic-aged says more about the problems with depth at their positions or what Pochettino sees in them at this point in their development. I tend to think it's the former—neither is close to the finished product.
My last thought on this roster is a less cogent thought, something intangible. For whatever reason—maybe it's sandbox vibes from the last camp or a long World Cup hangover drawing down my excitement—this group feels incomplete to me.
Something's missing, but I couldn't tell you exactly what. The group has experience, leaders, fresh faces, exciting talents, attacking heft...and yet, my brain keeps delivering the mental image of a donut when I think about the construction.
I'm probably on an island with those feelings. Feel free to come at me if you think I'm wrong.
Just a thought or two on the college soccer split season plan that is now apparently dead in the water:
The soccer part of my brain (which counts for about 73.2% of the total at last check) is crushed by this news. While the plan was by no means a panacea that would turn college soccer a rocket engine for player development in the United States, it certainly had the potential to make the game better at making players better. Turning out top quality soccer players is more a numbers game than anything else, and the thousands of college soccer players in the NCAA represent the single biggest block of athletic, committed, ready-t0-learn players in this country.
The non-soccer part of my brain understands that the plan was a Pandora's box that might cause a tone of downstream problems for athletic departments. Reading through the school-by-school vote tally collected by Everybody Soccer, plenty of soccer powerhouse schools voted to rescind in addition to the schools that don't run men's soccer programs who helped tank the plan.
I think it's very easy to get up in arms over the vote as a soccer fan who cares mostly about soccer. But I don't think it helps for whatever future changes might be possible for men's college soccer for soccer fans to ignore the negatives.
I'm not going to pretend to have a full grasp on the politics at play, so I'll leave to the plan's biggest champion, University of Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski, who said this to Tom Hindle of Goal.
"I believe U.S. Soccer is going to step up and find another solution for the very interested schools...Maybe we get an FBS/FCS situation now. Maybe schools that don't want to do it can stay and keep doing what they're doing, and maybe we now create a situation for the schools that are interested in doing this. I think that could be a very likely outcome," he said.
US Soccer wants to be involved in the push forward for men's soccer because it's a ready-made boost to the developmental capacity of the country and has potential commercial value not yet tapped. COO Dan Helfrich re-posted the Fed's position the proposal and their role in crafting it over on X (get off X, Dan) if you want to read it.
If want further thoughts on the USMNT roster, watch and/or listen to Thursday night's edition of The Best Soccer Show with myself and Alex Shephard. We broke down each position group, talked about "snubs" and tried to figure how where Pochettino wants to drag this team.
I'm working on upping my Instagram game, so if you're interested in getting more soccer thoughts from me in addition to a few peeks at my real life and maybe a video a week en español (I need to keep practicing), follow me.
I promised Wynalda I would make a video of me showing off my dance skill if I could crack 1,000 subs. So...yeah.
