Unlike a lot of positions, the USMNT midfield has been relatively stable. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino prefers a 2-man defensive midfield. That means he likes having 2 players who are good at disrupting the opposing team to sit right in front of his defensive players. It makes the US tougher to break down, and if one of them can convert diagonal passes, it makes the offense lethal.
At this point, you can probably pencil in Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie into 2 of the midfield positions, but there are questions ahead of them on the field and behind them on the depth chart.
Which midfielders are definitely making the World Cup?
When you are talking about the midfield, it's much easier to break it down into 2 categories. You have guys who play defensive midfielder, or a player who sits back and helps the defense deal with offensive attackers, and central midfielders, who play more of an offensive game. For this discussion, players like Christian Pulisic are forwards or wingers, guys who play up higher in the formation and focus way more on attacking.
So let's start with the defensive midfield. Tyler Adams, Johnny Cardoso, Sebastian Berhalter, Cristian Roldan, Tanner Tessman, and Aidan Morris are battling for spots here.
The only sure-fire lock is Tyler Adams; everyone else is battling for position, and it wouldn't be surprising to see this come down to after the May 31st game against Senegal in North Carolina.
As for the offensive side of the midfield, one name stands above the rest here. Weston McKennie is going to be the starter unless an injury happens, so he will be locked in. Brenden Aaronson, Diego Luna, Malik Tillman, and Gio Reyna are players who could also fit.
Realistically, if Pochettino does bring in the maximum 26 players allowed by FIFA to the World Cup, a good chunk of that will be spent here. I expect 8-9 to come from the midfield if we count Pulisic as a forward and Timothy Weah as a defender.
USMNT midfield roster predictions for the World Cup
Locks: Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams
On the bubble: Johnny Cardoso, Tanner Tessman, Brendan Aaronson, Diego Luna, Gio Reyna, Aidan Morris, Malik Tillman
On the outside, looking in: Cristian Roldan, Sebastian Berhalter, Yunus Musah, Alex Zendejas
Behind this group is a young group featuring: KK Spivey, Kamil Castillo, Cavan Sullivan, Nathan Tchoumba, Papo Gordon, Jude Terry, Adri Mehmeti, and Taha Habroune. But for now, all eyes will be on May 26th, when the USMNT officially announces the World Cup roster.
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