ON WEDNESDAY, United States national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino named his first roster since taking the job last month. His hire marked a bold attempt by the federation to invest heavily in the team as it builds towards cohosting the World Cup in 2026. In October he will take his first steps in friendlies against Panama and Mexico. 

The big takeaway is that the roster contains very few changes. From the September camp, which was coached by Mikey Varas, only Gio Reyna, Chris Richards, Luca de la Torre, and Caleb Wiley were dropped from this roster. That was due to all four players being injured at the moment. The only player dropped from the September roster not due to injury was Diego Kochen - who was a speculative pick and will mostly be with the U-20 team. 

In terms of additions, Antonee Robinson rejoined the team. This was expected. The team also brought back Miles Robinson into central defense with Richards out and Cameron Carter-Vickers still dealing with a toe injury that kept him out of the September camp.

In terms of surprises, the biggest is that Zack Steffen and Gianluca Busio both rejoined the team for the first time since 2022. Busio recently competed in the Olympics with the U.S. team. Steffen, meanwhile, was invited to rejoin the goalkeeping pool at a time wen many of the players in Europe are not earning minutes.

Here is the roster (clubs, country, caps, and goals) along with a few thoughts.

USMNT Roster

GOALKEEPERS (4): Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City/WAL; 9/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 2/0), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids; 29/0), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/ENG; 45/0)

DEFENDERS (8): Marlon Fossey (Standard Liege; 1/0), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo/ITA; 5/0), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA; 14/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 62/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 46/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 29/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach/GER; 12/0), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 2/0) 

MIDFIELDERS (7): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 44/8), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 13/1), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 17/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 56/11), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 7/0), Yunus Musah (AC Milan/ITA; 41/0), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 14/0)

FORWARDS (6): Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA; 17/5), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven; 30/10), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 73/31), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 25/5), Timothy Weah (Juventus/ITA; 41/6), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 13/4)

Continuity prevails

Pochettino is starting his tenure with strong continuity. He took the September roster and only dropped players from that group if they were injured (Richards, Reyna, Cowell, and Wiley). With new players, he brought back in no-brainers like Weston McKennie and Antonee Robinson. Then he added Miles Robinson who also has been a mainstay with the team for the past four years whenever he has been healthy. All three of these call-ups were with players on the Copa America roster.

There was no one called up to this roster who has never been called up before. Gianluca Busio and Zack Steffen were the most original and surprising picks given that neither player has been with the USMNT since 2022. But Steffen rejoins the team at a period when the goalkeeping position is poor and the top two keepers since the World Cup are struggling mightily for minutes (Horvath and Turner). Pochettino going with a reliable option in Steffen makes sense given that he can be a steady hand in goalkeeping when everyone else is up for grabs.

Busio, meanwhile, has played in World Cup qualifiers and in a Gold Cup winning campaign. He isn’t a surprising pick, but he might be the most surprising pick on this roster.

For me, the most definitive pick on the roster was Ethan Horvath. There is very little reason for him to be selected to this team given that he is a back-up on the worst team in the Championship, and four goalkeepers in any one camp is unnecessary. The fact that Horvath made this team best supports the take that Pochettino didn’t want to start dropping players without meeting anyone in a camp.

Pochettino said on his media call that the only player he has met since taking the job was Antonee Robinson, and that was by chance at a restaurant in London. 

It seems as if there will likely be changes, but that will take place over time.

Notes from Pochettino’s media call

Following the roster, Pochettino addressed the media via a Zoom call.

While Pochettino said he hasn’t spoken much to players, that will change after this camp. He also added that visa issues made it difficult for him to travel recently, but that has been resolved.

He said he was impressed by the support staff at U.S. Soccer, and they helped to assemble this roster. He said that factored into the reason behind the continuity.

In terms of specific players, Pochettino didn’t speak much. He spoke a little about the goalkeeping position and said he believed Steffen earned the chance to be back with the team.

He also agreed with the premise of a question in that Brenden Aaronson might play too many positions and he will be looking to help him discover his best position and carve out a more detailed role on the team.

He refused to mention specific players by name, but he added there were some young players he is eying to bring in for the first time in the camps ahead.

But the first camp will be important and it seems as if all the players will be arriving with a clean slate and the fact he has had no organized meetings/discussions with the players will play a role in that clean slate. Pochettino said that after this first camp, there will be more regular contact with players in the broader player pool. 

It’s about the top players

Roster releases are often fun for the supporters of national teams to see if there are new faces included or if there are familiar names being left out.

That is certainly true for the USMNT under Pochettino and future rosters will be more intriguing as the new manager looks to put his fingerprints on the team.

But the U.S. team has not had a good year. It barely avoided an ugly elimination at the Nations League. The Copa America was a huge disappointment. The USMNT has been in bad positions before, (the biggest coming in 1998, 2006, and 2017) but in those situations the team needed an overhaul. The 2017 World Cup qualifying mess saw many players being the process of getting phased out. The same after France 1998 and similarly after Germany 2006.

Pochettino will make chances to the USMNT over time, but the core will likely remain together. It is among players like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, and Sergino Dest (when he returns) where the success of the team will likely be decided.

Pochettino’s most important job is to get his best players consistently playing well. He can’t have Weston McKennie playing the way he did at the Copa America. He needs Antonee Robinson to play like he does at Fulham where he’s consistently very good.

It is nearly impossible to envision the USMNT playing well without Pulisic, McKennie, Robinson, and Dest at the top of their game.

There are critically important jobs too. He must finally decide on the team’s best central defense pairing. That has never been clear. The same can be said of striker since Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent, and Haji Wright have all had their moments. He needs to build a consistent midfield.

He also needs to have clear alternatives to Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna who struggle for minutes due to injuries and other issues.

Then there is goalkeeping, which is up in the air given Matt Turner’s seemingly permanent backup role. Is Patrick Schulte ready?