UNITED STATES NATIONAL TEAM manager Mauricio Pochettino unveiled his roster for the final rounds of the Nations League on Tuesday and there were several surprises. Most of the players have been involved with Pochettino’s camps in October, November, and January but there were some players included who will be working with him for the first time. There are also some players who have been regularly involved but who are not here.

A few of the surprises were already covered in the preliminary roster. From that list of 60 players, we learned that Pochettino was not going to take chances with players who are just returning from injuries – such as Sergino Dest, Folarin Balogun, and Haji Wright. We also saw him drop some players like Kristoffer Lund or Richard Ledezma.

As always, there will be a lot of talk about the details of the roster and which fringe players made it, and which ones were cut. But the key to remember in any national team roster is that success is decided by how well the top players are performing heading into camp. With that in mind, the biggest point to make is that Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, and Tyler Adams are playing extremely well. Just behind them, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah have had far more good performances than bad with Juventus recently. Then you throw in regulars such as Chris Richards and Joe Scally, who are trending up. 



Yes, there are injuries and Pochettino had to dig into his depth chart. But the core of the team arrives in good shape, and that is the most important thing. As I have said in the past, most of the debate over USMNT roster involves players 15-23 on a roster. But that matters very little compared with the form and health of spots 1-6. That will allways remain true and the most important questions over this roster have very positive answers. 

Here is the roster along with some thoughts on it.

DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION

(Club/Country; Caps/Goals) 

GOALKEEPERS (3): Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 3/0), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids; 30/0), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/ENG; 49/0) 

DEFENDERS (8): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 18/0), Marlon Fossey (Standard Liege/BEL; 1/0), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA; 17/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 67/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 23/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 50/4), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 19/0), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 4/0) 

MIDFIELDERS (6): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 42/2), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 18/0), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 3/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 58/11), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 31/8), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 6/0) 

FORWARDS (6): Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC; 2/2), Yunus Musah (AC Milan/ITA; 45/1), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 76/32), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 27/5), Timothy Weah (Juventus/ITA; 42/7), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 3/1) 

Adams returns

The biggest upgrade on this team based on what we saw in the fall is the return of Tyler Adams. The Bournemouth midfielder hasn’t played with the national team since the Copa America when he was not at 100%. The reality is that it has been years since Adams has been on the national team when he was both 100% fit and in good form. That changes now as Adams has been turning in consistently good performances for a Bournemouth team that is in eighth place in the Premier League.

The upgrade Adams should give this team could be substantial. He has always been a good fit and he makes the rest of the midfield better. This will be the first time he plays under Pochettino for the U.S. team, but the team should feel very optimistic about now giving Pochettino an in-form Adams to work with.

Central midfielders in form

Even beyond Adams and the regular Weston McKennie, Pochettino has a group of very good central midfield who are all playing very well.

Johnny Cardoso has been excellent for a surging Real Betis team. Earlier this month, he scored against Real Madrid. Then over the past weekend, he turned in another good performance over Las Palmas, its fourth league win in a row. He is a regular starter and Real Betis now sits in sixth place.

It has always been a question mark when or if Cardoso will see his talent at the club level translate over to the national team. That hasn’t happened yet, but he hasn’t been playing this consistently well before. Expectations should be high.

Perhaps no other player in the pool as taken bigger steps over the past year than Tanner Tessmann. The former FC Dallas homegrown led Venezia to promotion in 2024 and then he captained the Olympic team. Now he has locked down a starting job with a Lyon team that is in sixth place and is one of the biggest clubs in Ligue 1. There were a few setbacks but Tessmann has been very good in recent weeks and is in a great position to grow heading into the World Cup. He’s impressed under Pochettino and the Argentine manager rates him. The stars are aligning nicely for Tessmann.

There were some question marks in central midfield in recent weeks. The injury to James Sands saw him removed from consideration. But Pochettino had to make a few decisions here. Gianluca Busio hasn’t played well and Venezia is heading towards relegation. Jack McGlynn has also struggled a little bit since arriving at Houston and, despite having a very good January camp, it wasn’t enough to make this team. Aidan Morris has done well at Middlesbrough but simply lost out on a numbers game.

Question marks around Reyna

A lot of eyes will be on Gio Reyna in this camp. The Borussia Dortmund midfielder has not played consistent minutes at the club level the past four seasons. During that time, he struggled with injuries and fitting in with coaches. But he has played very well in previous Nations Leagues.

This will be his first camp under Pochettino, and we don’t know a lot about how things will work with Reyna. Will Reyna be okay with coming off the bench? Will Reyna play the central attacking midfield position, or will he shift to the wing?

But one concern will be if Reyna doesn’t play well and is rusty? Will Pochettino not call him up this summer? Fans and the media alike have always figured Reyna was a lock to make this team whenever he isn’t injured. But the fresh eyes of Pochettino might see something different with a player who has not seen consistent minutes in a very long time.

Sargent, Wright, & Agyemang all included

There will be a lot of talk over the center forward selections on this roster. We know that injuries have greatly affected the player pool in this position with Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun, and Haji Wright either injured or now only just coming back.

Pochettino has elected to overcompensate due to the loss of these players. Josh Sargent was an obvious pick, but he is still an oft-injured Championship player who hasn’t scored for the national team since 2019. If it was Pepi who was healthy and not Sargent, Pochettino might have opted to take one backup.

Taking three forwards could be seen as a sign that Pochettino isn’t completely satisfied and wants to have options to select during camp. Patrick Agyemang had a good camp in January but hasn’t been that great to start the season with Charlotte. Brian White, meanwhile, has been consistently good for Vancouver over the span of years. But as a very close-range finisher, is that what Pochettino wants?

Once everyone is healthy, Pepi will likely be the top option but this is a huge opportunity for others to move up in the depth chart.

Central defense comes into focus

The central defense player pool has been very static for years as it has been the same group of players constantly jockeying for position. Call-ups have typically gone to whoever among this list of seven or eight players who has been most in form.

But this camp sees players in unusually strong positions. Mark McKenzie is a regular starter for a Toulouse team that has conceded the second fewest goals in Ligue 1 this season. Chris Richards is now healthy and is starting for a Crystal Palace team that has conceded the third fewest goals in the Premier League. Those players are at the top of their careers, to date.

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty are perhaps not as obvious as other picks, but they are a combination that has multiple strong performances together in the Champions League.

Tim Ream, meanwhile, is an older leader of the group with a ton of experience who is still good and can also provide cover on the left side.

At this time, Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman are the odd men out but that could always change based on what happens. Taking five central defenders could also be a sign of uncertainty with the existing options and the desire to have more options in camp.

Both Aaronson bothers & Zendejas left off

In terms of surprising omissions, the ones that jump out are both Paxten and Brenden Aaronson along with Alejandro Zendejas. All three players are having very good seasons.

Brenden Aaronson is a core starter of a Leeds United team that is in first place of the Championship. My guess is that Pochettino doesn’t rate second divisions as highly as previous coaches, but the Championship is the top second division in the world and there is something to be said about being in first place.

But another note on the elder Aaronson brother is that he seems to be what Pochettino is looking for with regards to intensity and energy. Even when he doesn’t start, he finds ways to bring a spark to dull games.

Zendejas, meanwhile, hasn’t just been in good form lately, he’s been among the top players in all of Liga MX. He has taken his game to another level since last November for Club America. What might not have worked for Zendejas is that he also has not seen his club form translate to the USMNT (which is a very fair point) but he still did everything he could to be in strong consideration for another shot.

The younger Aaronson brother was a surprise to be left off given how impressive he has been at times in the Eredivisie this season. But given his youth and his lack of USMNT caps, now might not have been the time (especially with his brother also being left off). But he might be a great option this summer.

Other notes on the roster

Diego Luna hasn’t been great with Real Salt Lake to start the season, but he did well enough in January camp to get another look with Malik Tillman out. Luna likely took the plae of Brenden Aaronson while also beating out players like Paxten Aaronson and Matko Miljevic. The image of Luna playing with a broken nose in January camp and still assisting was big for him and Pochettino likely wants to have that toughness on the team.

Another takeaway is that Yunus Musah is listed as a forward. Pochettino has talked about using Musah on the wing, and this is yet another step forward with that. Musah is a dribbler, but makes mistakes that can be costly in the middle of the field. But most of his coaches in the past have all settled on using him as a winger, despite his preference to be in the middle. It will be interesting to see how much he embraces that here. He might also be a bench winger too.

The goalkeepers shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Pochettino seems satisfied with Matt Turner, Zack Steffen, and Patrick Schulte but the order could change if Turner eventually looks rusty given his lack of playing time in England. What happens if he plays poorly? How much will he then try to make another club move.

Finally, there is a U.S. U-20 roster coming out soon for a camp this month in Spain. Expect a lot of the top young players to be involved with possible names like Benja Cremaschi, Cole Campbell, Noahkai Banks, Diego Kochen, Matai Akinmboni, and Brooklyn Raines. The U-20 team looks strong and those players could see their careers take off sooner than later with Pochettino watching.