The good news is that international football is less than a month away. The bad news is that the USMNT has a lot of questions that will need to be answered. We know Mauricio Pochettino is back, but which players will be joining him for the first USMNT match since the humbling 4-1 loss to Belgium ended their World Cup dreams?
That remains to be seen, partly because so many of the key guys are dealing with injuries or moves to new teams. Managers usually choose to leave those recently injured or recently transferred players back with their clubs to get fully ingrained back into/in the team. Considering this will be the first of the new extended windows, this is important.
You see, FIFA used to have a separate September and October window. But this year, they decided to merge those windows into a three-week period running from September 21 to October 6. This will be similar to a full-on camp that you would see, like the one before the World Cup, so Pochettino would like to have his full complement of players.
USMNT players on the move
That sadly just won't happen. Christian Pulisic has yet to feature for AC Milan this season as he works his way back from his injured leg. Folarin Balogun has seen his failed transfer to Everton blow up in his face. Also, up-and-coming winger Zavier Gozo made a big move from MLS's Real Salt Lake to the Premier League and Crystal Palace. But they aren't the only names that will most likely miss out due to transfer or injury:
Haji Wright- muscle injury (Coventry City)
Tyler Adams- minor injury picked up in preseason
Weston McKennie- missed training to help battle fatigue
Max Arfsten- transfer to Middlesbrough
Sebastian Berhalter- transfer to Middlesbrough
Gio Reyna- transfer to Strasbourg
Bryan Reynolds- transfer to Stade Rennais
Diego Kochen- loan to Lyngby Boldklub (Denmark)
Kristoffer Lund- transfer to Birmingham City
Benjamin Cremaschi- transfer to Parma
Tim Weah- transfer to Olympique Marseille
Andrija Novakovich- transfer to Maccabi Haifa
If McKennie can't go, that makes eight players who were on the roster for the World Cup who may not be on the roster at the end of next month. That opens the door for quite a few fresh faces to break through.
USMNT roster projection
At goalkeeper, some turnover is really needed. The howler from Matt Freese started the avalanche that buried the US below the Belgian onslaught in July. And Matt Turner didn't look great in his appearance in the third group game when Freese was rested, allowing 3 goals to an already-eliminated Turkey. For that reason, I think Matt Turner stays for a vet presence, but Matt Freese gets dropped.
GK
Matt Turner
Chris Brady
Brian Schwake
DEF
Sergino Dest
Antonee Robinson
Alex Freeman
Chris Richards
Auston Trusty
Mark McKenzie
Joe Scally
Tim Ream
Noahkai Banks
MID
Tanner Tessman
Malik Tillman
Brenden Aaronson
Paxton Aaronson
Johnny Cardoso
Aidan Morris
Diego Luna
Alejandro Zendejas
Cavan Sullivan
Julian Hall
ATT
Ricardo Pepi
Josh Sargent
Folarin Balogun
I would expect to see more new names the deeper we get into the cycle, especially as this is Pochettino's first full cycle as a national team manager. The US will get four games in these three weeks, starting with Peru on September 26 and then Chile (Sep. 29), Mexico (Oct. 3), and finally Canada (Oct. 6). That is a pretty awesome window with the two biggest CONCACAF rivals and two CONMEBOL (South American) teams.
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