Agyemang Injury Adds to USMNT Worries, but Don't Expect the US to Get "Grouped" at the World Cup
There are certainly warning signs and red flags for the U.S. Men's National Team as the World Cup looms, but not all is lost after two friendly losses, and the potential loss of Agyemang.
Editor’s Note: All of us at Soccer Sheet are sending our best to Patrick Agyemang as he recovers from an lower leg injury he picked up in Derby County’s win over Stoke City today.
After the match, Derby County manager manager John Eustace said there wasn’t an update on Agyemang’s condition after the U.S. striker left the pitch in a stretcher.
"He's gone off for a scan, so we'll wait and see the results of that ... We don’t want to lose any players, and we certainly don’t want to see any players coming off in a stretcher. Hopefully it's not as bad as what it might be, but until we get the scan results, we'll have to wait and see."
Agyemang has 6 goals in 14 appearances for the USMNT since receiving his first call up in January of last year.
Opinion: What I Didn’t Find in Atlanta
On a recent trip to Atlanta to cover the United States Men’s National Team for Soccer Sheet, I witnessed a sub-par performance for the Stars and Stripes.
What I didn’t see, however, was evidence of a looming disaster at the World Cup.
Let’s get the important stuff out of the way: the USMNT are not dominant in international competitions like the USWNT are; the Men still have trouble with top-tier European opponents; and a goal differential of -5 over two friendlies this close to the World Cup is cause for concern.
Additionally, head coach Mauricio Pochettino isn’t the best at explaining why he makes certain decisions — beyond the usual coyness you’d expect from a manager — and some of his comments during post-match press availabilities in Atlanta were not what fans wanted to hear.
However, after reading numerous articles this week, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the commentary related to the USMNT exaggerates the threat of the Stars and Stripes getting grouped at the World Cup.
Let’s dive in to some of the questions that have come up in the wake of the defeats in Atlanta.
“Can [the] USMNT Trust Pulisic?” Yes.
Christian Pulisic is a divisive figure in U.S. Soccer, and never more so than last year, when he skipped the Gold Cup after playing a 50-match season with A.C. Milan. Former USMNT star Landon Donovan was vocally critical of the decision, and at one point it seemed like Donovan was getting more press than the squad on the pitch.
In the wake of the losses to Belgium (2-5) and Portugal (0-2) — with Weston McKinnie and Patrick Agyemang scoring the only goals for the U.S. — the Captain America criticism has ramped up again with one podcast asking, “Can [the] USMNT Trust Pulisic?”
In this reporter’s opinion, the answer is yes.
The case against Pulisic is that he hasn’t scored for the national team in over a year (Nov. 19, 2024 vs. Jamaica), he hasn’t scored in Serie A in the last 15 matches, and he skipped the Gold Cup to focus on his health when he should have cared about the badge.
On the other hand, the Pulisic I saw play in Atlanta is someone who — at his best — is still the most talented player in national team history. Seeing him play on Tuesday night, I kept thinking back to that line Carrie-Ann Moss tells Keanu Reeves in The Matrix: “You move like they do.”
I’m by no means a Captain America Stan, but it’s undeniable that Pulisic moves, thinks, passes, and plays like one of the greats.
Unlike Donovan, I can’t fault someone for thinking about their physical and/or mental health after a 50-match season. He played 3,650 total minutes across all of AC Milan’s competitions in 24-25, and that doesn’t include 508 additional minutes for the USMNT. Donovan never played anywhere near as many minutes during his seasons in Europe, and I don’t think I’m making waves by saying the MLS of Donovan’s era doesn’t hold a candle to Serie A.
While finishing has been a problem for Pulisic — and his perturbation is visible every time he makes a great play that doesn’t result in a goal — he’s still the guy you want leading your team, even if Pochettino had him playing out of his natural position against Portugal. The Stars and Stripes just have to hope the finishing is a result of bad luck or a statistical drought.
“Will the USA get out their World Cup group?” Likely.
In World Cup Group D, the 14th-ranked United States face 25th-ranked Turkey, 26th-ranked Australia, and 39th-ranked Paraguay, with Turkey earning their place last week as the UEFA second round Path C winner over Kosovo.
The last time Turkey made the cut, in 2002, they finished third.
Group D is one of the toughest groups in the tournament; it has the second highest average FIFA ranking at 26.25. It’s the only group where the top and bottom squads are separated by 30 places or fewer, and it’s also the only group in which every squad is ranked 40th or better.
Every team has a shot. The USMNT won their most recent friendlies against Paraguay (2-1 on Nov. 15) and Australia (2-1 on Oct. 14), while dropping a June match to Turkey 1-2 despite a first minute strike from Jack McGlynn.
Even before the matches start, the format of this World Cup means the odds are heavily in the USMNT’s favor to advance. In addition to all of the first and second place teams in each group, eight of the 12 third place teams will advance. After total points the tiebreakers are goal difference; goals scored; team conduct score; and latest FIFA ranking, a tiebreaker that will strongly favor the U.S. if it comes to that.
Don’t fret: it probably won’t come to third place tiebreakers, either. If this were an old school World Cup with only two teams making it out of the group, the USMNT would still be favored. They play Paraguay and Australia first, and may advance to the knockout stage before even taking the pitch against Turkey. They’re the best team out of the four despite the friendly loss to Turkey (without Pulisic in the lineup, by the way).
So despite some pundits asking if the USA will fail to get out their World Cup group, the math makes it unlikely. for the US to get grouped, it would require a failure of unimaginable proportions.
Why is the USMNT not playing the best XI they have? Valid Question.
USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino has received criticism from on many fronts since taking the job in September of 2024, including his answers in interviews, roster choices, and more. The criticism comes with the job, and it’s almost always going to be more intense than what is deserved.
However, one recent point of criticism stands out to me: despite the rapidly-approaching World Cup, Poch still seemed to be experimenting with the roster last week instead of giving his best players the chance to play together, or playing them in the position he expects them to play during the World Cup.
Pulisic playing as a false 9 and coming off at halftime during the match against Portugal immediately comes to mind, as does Matt Turner’s rough shift in goal against Belgium when it’s clear the #1 shirt is going to NYCFC standout Matt Freese. The United States played a back four against Belgium after finding success last year playing a back three, then came back to a back three for Portugal.
Pochettino was still optimistic after the losses.
“I am more positive now than before, because seeing the team compete, we are not far away,” he told reporters after the Portugal match.
Another interesting soundbite: “The results are negative, but they’re not official games.”
Pochettino also said that Portugal and Belgium had many players in the top 100 in the world, while he believed the US had none.
It’s true that the U.S. doesn’t have a Vitinha in the midfield or a Courtois in goal, but a good team is greater than the sum of its parts. Pulisic at his best is a top 100 player, Freese continues to impress in goal, and many others demonstrated their quality last week despite the results.
It remains a valid question, though, why Pochettino didn’t send out a World Cup squad to face two talented European opponents. He’s been on the job for 18 months, he should know what he has to work with, and one would think the focus this late in the preparations would be on putting the pieces together, not measuring or evaluating them.
Instead, he told reporters that there are 35-40 players still in contention for roster slots.
One underreported quote from Pochettino’s post-match press conference did catch our attention: he told reporters that he didn’t speak to his squad after the match, eschewing his last opportunity to speak to all of his players together before the World Cup roster is announced.
Soccer Sheet confirmed after the press conference that we heard Pochettinio correctly. When we reported the quote, one of the first replies we got on social media reflected where some in the U.S. fan base seem to be on Pochettino at this point:
“Hire a Spurs manager. Get Spurs results.”