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USMNT analysis

Analysis: Assessing January camp after USMNT downs Costa Rica 3-0

ASN's Brian Sciarettabreaks down the USMNT's win over Costa Rica and puts it into perspective when looking at this year's January camp as a whole.
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
January 23, 2025
1:30 PM

aTHE UNITED STATES NATIONAL team wrapped up a very good January camp on Wednesday night with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica in Orlando. The camp served its purpose in that, by Maurcio Pochettino’s own admission, it expanded the player pool, and it continued to give the new manager a chance learn more about the American player and the American aspect of the game. But among the standards of January camp, it was sharper than most recent editions.

Historically speaking, January camp has been very valuable to the U.S. national team. Some of the best players in the history of the USMNT started in January camp. Even the current player, has seen players like Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie, Tanner Tessmann, Johnny Cardoso, Gianluca Busio, Tim Ream, and Matt Turner come through the camp.

It’s true that with the U.S. national team having had a very young core group the past five years, fewer spots have been open on the USMNT. But that will only last for so long and gradually the team will have a normal age group with more roster spots up for grabs on a regular basis. With MLS teams now signing players to homegrown deals at younger age levels and selling players regularly, more USMNT players will come through MLS.

All of that makes January camp still highly relevant. Managers get a look at newer players and players who can help add depth and players learn what it is like to be an international player above the youth levels. That is something Tim Ream stressed this week when recalling his first January camp in 2011 under Bob Bradley.

In this camp, there was a lot more curiosity than in recent years because Pochettino is still in the process of charting his course for the USMNT. His first two camps have seen him not wanting to take a wrecking ball to the status quo and instead sort through mostly the squad he inherited. Almost all the changes he made to the rosters for the October and November camps were due to injury.

 

Eventually, he will be putting his own stamp on the team and no one exactly knows what that will look like. Of course, the key core to the USMNT will remain the same with Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, and Antonee Robinson all front and center when healthy. But there is a lot up for grabs in a 26-player roster with a tactical approach that isn’t yet set.

That brings us to this January camp. Even with a successful camp, most of these players won’t be with the full team in March. But it’s also easy to see a scenario where at least a few will be there, and maybe some others will be on the outside but in the mix for camps beyond this March. Injuries and dips in form will happen that mandate changes.

 

Here are some thoughts about win over Costa Rica.

 

A better test

 

The 3-0 win over Costa Rica was better than the 3-1 win over Venezuela simply because Costa Rica was a better team which offered a better test. Costa Rica was aggressive with the press and forced the U.S. team to be better with its passing to get into the attacking third or attacking half.

Because of that, the U.S. team’s performance on Wednesday night against its CONCACAF rivals was better and the top performers can be viewed more positively.

 

Three quality goals

 

The three goals scored against the Ticos were all impressive.

Brian White got the nod in center forward and he opened the scoring in the 21st minute when he made a nice run into space, got on the end of a Diego Luna pass, and fired home a low shot.

 

Caden Clark scored in the 78th minute off a really nice shot when Emeka Eneli, 25, fit him a ball from the left side of the box. Clark was standing straight out from the goal from the edge of the box and scored on a pass that was slightly behind him. Even with that ball placement, he got a lot of velocity on it to beat the keeper.

 

Patrick Agyemang the capped the scoring in the 90th minute on a counter attack as he was played into the box by DeJuan Jones. The Charlotte FC forward hit a rocket into the goal for a 3-0 lead.   

Each goal showed quite a bit of skill.

 

McGlynn & Agyemang impressed over both games

 

Over the course of both games, the most impressive players were Jack McGlynn and Patrick Agyemang. Both started and scored against Venezuela, and both came off the bench in effective shifts against Costa Rica.

Agyemang, 24, scored in both games and played just the final 15 minutes against Costa Rica. While he didn’t get on the ball terribly much, he was effective most times he did. He’s still green and he needs to go back to Charlotte to build off his 2024 season when he scored 10 goals. But if he can continue to improve, he could improve his status either with Pochettino or in terms of attracting transfer interest.

 

McGlynn, 23, backed up his MOTM performance against Venezuela with a good 45 minutes against Costa Rica. In that time, he got on the ball 55 times (compared with 104 times against Venezuela in a full 90). He really did a good job helping make the U.S. team’s possessions more dangerous.

It must be said about McGlynn that these games played to his strengths. The questions about McGlynn have always been about his role when his team has less of the ball. Can he help defensively? Can he win balls and spring counter attacks? Those questions were neither asked nor answered in the games of this January camp.

Instead, didn’t learn anything about McGlynn that we didn’t already know – namely that he’s really good in a game where his team is ball-dominant.

 

White, Eneli & Luna positive vs. Costa Rica

 

Against Costa Rica, the most influential players were Brian White, Emeka Eneli, and Diego Luna.

Diego Luna was the biggest winner from this singular game. There are three points to make from his performances.

First, he needed to have a good game after Matko Miljevic played well against Venezuela in the same No. 10 position. If Luna is looking to establish himself somewhere in the player pool, Miljevic raised the bar somewhat.

 

Second, he created several good chances including an assist on the first goal. Miljevic wasn’t nearly as good in this game as he was against Venezuela. But Luna did what he needed to do and played like the version of himself that people like.

Third, Luna played hurt after suffered a broken nose. If Pochettino rates intensity and passion, playing most of the first half hurt gave Pochettino what he wanted to see from these players. It helped Luna stand out. It was very telling what Pochettino said about Luna after the game.

 “I was surprised his nose was broken,” Pochettino said. “I didn’t want to say anything because he was bleeding! I said, ‘How do you feel?’ He said, ‘Coach, please let me keep playing because at least after halftime, I'll go out.' The doctor said, 'Yeah, OK, you go on,' and the first action, assist and we scored. I said, big balls!"

Eeka Eneli went the distance against Coata Rica and really did well to dictate the pace of the game. What was most impressive wasn’t his assist or 69 completed passes (most in the game), it was that he also added quality defense. He was 3/3 in his tackles and 5/7 in ground duels. Eneli starts his 2025 year off with a good camp. Now he must build from this when he returns to Real Salt Lake. But being effective in two-way situations was a good showcase for him.

Brian White also delivered a good performance and didn’t let Patrick Agyemang move to far ahead of him in the depth chart. His numbers in MLS have been outstanding and this game saw that carryover. White has 16 goals in each of his last two seasons with Vancouver and is a menace close to goal.

                                 

Defense/goalkeeping was fine

 

Pochettino brought a lot of experience in goalkeeping and the central defensive positions. Walker Zimmerman, Tim Ream, and Miles Robinson have played central defense in big games for the U.S. team.

In this game, it worked and it was important because it allowed the young and inexperienced midfielders and wide players to attack aggressively knowing there was competency behind them shielding the goal.

 

None of the central defenders stood out (and that’s not a bad thing for a defender) but they all did their jobs. Zack Steffen, meanwhile, made a pair of good saves.

 

 

Cremaschi with the U-20s

 

One of the most intriguing call-ups to this camp was Benja Cremaschi who has played well at times with the superstars of Inter Miami. He also has shot up through the U.S. youth ranks when he made the 2024 Olympic team playing up a cycle. In the fall, he shifted back down to the U.S. U-20 team where he featured in wins over France, Chile, and South Korea.

He remains a top teenage prospect for the United States, but the best path for him right now is to remain with the U.S. U-20 team where he can be a leader at the U-20 World Cup later this year. He’s also then age-eligible for the 2028 Olympics.

There is great path ahead for Cremaschi with U.S. Soccer and he will be visible in the years ahead. The USMNT right now seems like a rushed path.

 

Status moving forward

 

The biggest question after January camp is always: now what?

It’s all guesswork and only Pochettino and his staff know the direction right now. By his own admission, there are now more players in the player pool than before camp.

“I think we now have too many players in our mind,” Pochettino said. “When we need to pick the squad in March for sure in our mind are going to be many players that work here.... I told them from the from the beginning that they need to take these two games very seriously, because if they perform, they will have the possibility to show us in the future.”

 Here is what I see.

I think Cremaschi goes back to the U-20 team and is a leader there.

Patrick Schulte and Zack Steffen are in the mix for the USMNT right now. The goalkeeping situation on the team is far from obvious. Matt Turner appears to be the No. 1, but his grip on the starting job is tenuous, at best, until he can play regularly. By virtue of playing in these two games, Steffen and Schulte are in that race. As to who is No. 2 or No. 3, that remains to be seen.

Central defense isn’t quite settled yet. Chris Richards and Mark McKenzie are in good positions right now. Auston Trusty is starting important games for Celtic, but it’s premature to say he’s a lock call-up. Cameron Carter-Vickers has a lot of experience but hasn’t been in with Pochettino yet. They worked together at Tottenham, but CCV didn’t play.

When looking at those in this camp, George Campbell is probably behind the others. But Tim Ream, Miles Robinson, and Walker Zimmerman are in the mix somewhere. Regardless of who is called up in March, these is probably the set player pool right now in central defense. It has been this same group for years and it is always changing. It will probably continue to do so depending on who is healthy and playing. This group has never been settled.

There is no doubt Jack McGlynn helped his case for future call-ups. But he’s competing with Tanner Tessmann, Gianluca Busio, Aidan Morris, and Johnny Cardoso. There are also others like James Sands and possibly Lennard Maloney. It’s a tough list, but McGlynn showed that he can help and might make it if others are injured or don’t play. It’s far from definite, but he’s clearly is in the mix now.

The No. 10 players of Diego Luna and Matko Miljevic will be interesting to watch – especially after neither made the Olympic team last year (to be fair, no one was clamoring for Miljevic at the time). Despite the goal and assist against Venezuela, Luna is probably ahead of Miljevic – who needs to settle into the mix quickly at Huracan.

 

As an attacking midfielder/winger, Luna is behind a lot of established players like Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah (who is never in a set position), Malik Tillman, Brenden Aaronson, and Gio Reyna. But what are the odds that all those players are healthy and/or playing? Luna is probably on the edge, but it’s easy to see Pochettino liking Luna and wanting to get more looks at him.

Caden Clark is in a similar boat and he played well, but he probably needs more time with Montreal after only reviving his career the past few months.

The center forward pool right now is deep but very injured (or just coming back from injury). Ricardo Pepi seems like the top option now but behind him is an injured Folarin Balogun, an injured Haji Wright, an only recently returned Josh Sargent, and a Brandon Vazquez who hasn’t been in good shape at the club level since 2023. If the pool remains that banged up, maybe White or Agyemang could sneak back into the mix for March. It will require some luck, but it is possible.

James Sands moved to St. Pauli before January camp and John Tolkin left January camp early as he moved to Holstein Kiel. Both players are also firmly in the mix, but Tolkin has the clearest opening as the backup left back position behind Antonee Robinson is up for grabs.

No matter what, all the players need to return to their clubs and do well. This camp has just increased their opportunities and broadened their horizons.

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