USMNT
Jonathan Gómez In San Sebastián
Jogo In San Sebastián – A Look Into The Numbers
Jonathan Gómez has had an expectedly rocky start to life at the Reale Arena, but no one expected him to cement himself into the starting XI for Real Sociedad B and adapt to a new environment so quickly. It is quite remarkable to see Jogo already averaging 89 minutes per game in 4 straight starts, playing as if he has known these players since he was a young boy. It was only natural that an 18 year old from USL would initially struggle with being thrown headfirst into a relegation battle, but it is strikingly unnatural for one to bounce back from those initial struggles after only 3 matches.
Arriving in the January transfer window, Jogo was included in the RSB matchday squad as an unused sub in both the 3rd and 4th matches for which he was available for selection. The following match, he made his debut, starting in a 3-2 loss away to SD Ponferradina on the 14th of February. Since then, Jogo has gone on to make four straight starts, playing the full 90 for all but the most recent match, in which he was substituted off in the 86th minute. Additionally, the flashes of quality that Gómez had shown in his first three matches were enough for Imanol Alguacil to see the value in beginning the process of integration into the first team, naming the young left back amongst the substitutes for Real Sociedad’s La Liga match against RCD Mallorca on the 2nd of March. Now, let’s take a look into the statistics behind Jogo’s performances, breaking down what they mean in terms of his development, concluding with a detailed overall analysis of the areas of his game which he needs to improve upon.
Matchday 27 – February 14, 2022 – SD Ponferradina 3-2 Real Sociedad B
Jogo had an impressive showing for his first outing with his new team, in a new league, and in a new country. He showed real quality on the ball, confidence, composure, and good decision making on both ends of the pitch. Putting his technical ability center stage, Gómez completed 87.5% of his passes, delivered dangerous balls into the box, and had a 100% dribble success rate. He was ever present on the left flank, making dangerous runs into the box, tracking back to defend, drawing two fouls, and even winning a penalty by cutting inside with a brilliant, lung bursting run into the box, forcing the keeper to commit to a sliding challenge. In the same vein, Jogo put on a solid defensive performance, winning 100% of his ground duels and tackles, as well as 50% of his aerial duels. Additionally, the young left back registered an impressive 8 recoveries, 2 interceptions, and 1 clearance in a performance that perhaps offers a glimpse into what Jogo at his best could look like. The only major criticism that I have of this performance is that he skied a massive chance right in front of goal on a low volley, he has lots of room to improve on his finishing, but as a player that often finds himself in the right positions, it is a great sign that he has the confidence to take those first time chances himself.
I rate this performance a solid 7.5/10, it would have been an 8.3/10 if he had put that shot on target, and a 9/10 if he had scored that.
Jonathan Gomez Real Sociedad B Debut vs Ponferradina
Matchday 28 – February 19, 2022 – Real Sociedad B 2-0 Málaga CF
This performance was a real struggle for Jogo, despite making some good runs and even getting a hockey assist, he really couldn’t get anything going for him technically. Likewise, excluding a performance saving goal line clearance, his defensive contributions left a lot to be desired. Now, before you go and write off his first performance as a fluke, allow me to provide you with some context as to the state of play in this match. Coming out of USL, it was expected that he would struggle his first time playing against a side that parks the bus and keeps possession. Málaga were playing for a 0-0 draw and tried to keep the ball in midfield, playing a 3-2-4-1 with wing backs, a flat 4 midfield, and a deep lying forward sitting just ahead of them. In the first half they had 49% possession, 0 attempts on goal, 0 corners, 0 crosses, and 3 yellow cards. You get the picture, they parked the bus, conceded in the 35th minute, and then made offensive minded changes in the second half after they conceded another goal in the 52nd minute. In need of two goals, they brought on a left winger and their first choice striker in place of a 19 year old striker and a wide midfielder in the 57th minute, switching to a 3-4-3. They had 80% possession, 7 attempts on goal, 6 corners, 3 big chances, 4 crosses, 1 yellow card, and out-passed RSB 332-83. The changes that they made in the 79th minute were all like for like. They couldn’t finish to save their lives, they scuffed two of the three chances that they had, and Jogo cleared the other one off the line. That being said, Gómez was kept quiet on the ball by a parked bus in the first half, held to only 14 from 20 passing, 0 from 4 dribbling, 0 from 3 crossing, and 0 from 4 attempts at long balls. In similar fashion, Jogo made poor decisions in the final third, opting not to make an early pass to set up a give-and-go with his striker on the counter, instead continuing his run. Once in the 18-yard box, rather than making the cut back to an unmarked teammate just outside the arc with an open look on goal, Gómez slowed the counter with unnecessary dribbling. In the second half, the young left back got torn apart defensively by grown men playing dominant attacking football, he went 0 from 6 in his ground duels and got dribbled past on his lone tackle attempt. Much the same, he lost possession 16 times and was directly dispossessed once. There were however some redeemable parts of his performance, including the aforementioned pre-assist and spectacular goal line clearance with his trailing right foot while sliding in towards goal. Other standouts were a good shot block, a clever back-heeled flick to win a throw-in, and a clearance from inside the arc. He also made 6 ball recoveries, an interception, and won 50% of his aerial duels. Jogo has much to improve on from this performance, particularly his physical strength, vision, and decision making in the final third.
I rate his performance against Málaga a 7.3/10.
https://twitter.com/USMNTZ/status/1495159740695216131?s=20&t=9PutwkP5fL2EzA_cSUs_2w
Matchday 29 – February 26, 2022 – Real Oviedo 0-1 Real Sociedad B
This was easily Jogo’s worst performance so far with Real Sociedad B, he made a massive defensive error in the 90th minute that would have cost his team two points, if not for an excellent penalty save by Andoni Zubiaurre. Gómez committed a handball inside the penalty box while defending against a 40-ish yard indirect freekick from 10-man Real Oviedo. This is basic defending, you don’t contest a header leading with your hands way above your head. He ends up handling the ball a few times here. Jogo has awful technique when contesting aerial duels, even when he wins them. Adding onto that, another shortcoming of his is that he lacks physical strength, this is quite apparent from the fact that he was dispossessed three times and only won 37.5% of his ground duels. In addition, he lost possession a concerning amount of times for a defender, while only recovering the ball twice. Just the same, his tackling was poor, he once again couldn’t buy an accurate long ball, and he registered a well below average passing accuracy of 60.9%. The kid has real quality on both ends of the pitch, but he gets bullied off the ball very easily. On the contrary, despite the glaring issues, Jogo did put in some good line breaking runs, drew two fouls, and completed a nice little dribble. He even put in a good cross and made a key pass, as well as registering an average amount of clearances and interceptions. His defending was very poor here, at one point he even let his mark get past him, and who would have been in on goal 1v1 with the keeper, if it wasn’t for his poor ball control.
Anyway you slice it, this performance is a 6.3/10.
— @kickswish (@kickswish1) February 27, 2022
Matchday 30 – March 7, 2022 – Real Sociedad B 2-1 Sporting Gijón
Jogo really bounced back from his slump with this performance, there were a lot of visible improvements from the last two matches. He started the match off brightly, making a dynamic run in the 13th minute from his own half into the 18-yard box, ending with a low-struck effort towards the far post which was met with a block by a defender. Gómez made numerous line breaking runs into the box, constantly finding himself in good positions to receive and progress the ball. He progressed the ball well against Sporting, registering an impressive 2 key passes, a solid 73.3% passing accuracy, and delivered 1 accurate cross from 3 attempts. Jogo seems to have learned to stick to his strengths, avoiding attempting any long balls, in favor of carrying the ball up the pitch himself and making quick give-and-go passes. He looked really good on the ball, kept his dribbles tidy, and made 6 ball recoveries. Just as well, Gomez tidied up his defense as he won 66.7% of his ground duels and made 1 clearance. Equally, the young left back made good use of his pace to make an interception, and then draw a foul 30 yards out from the opposition goal. In doing this, he won a freekick in a good position and snuffed out a potential counter attack. On the other hand, the only criticisms that I can make about this performance are that Jogo lost possession 15 times and was dispossessed once.
I rate this performance a 7.4/10.
Jonathan Gómez vs Sporting Gijón (Mon Mar 7) pic.twitter.com/7dNbAa4YsZ
— Justin Moran (@kickswish) March 8, 2022
Room For Improvement
Jogo would particularly benefit from increasing his physical strength inorder to become less susceptible to being muscled off the ball in contact situations. In addition, while Gómez has good ball-striking technique, he often delivers crosses to where he expects his teammates to be, rather than where they actually are. Similarly, his decision making in the final third needs improvement as he tends to lean too heavily on his dribbling, opting to take extra touches to cut into the box and deliver the ball with crosses or cut-backs, rather than making the early pass or playing the give-and-go when the opportunity presents itself. Building on that, when a cut-back does present itself, sometimes Jogo ignores it in favor of dribbling further into the box and squaring the ball to a teammate that isn’t in a good position to score. Lastly, he is a good defender, but my biggest concerns are that he just isn’t strong enough yet and his aerial technique is awful. Nothing that good coaching, a change diet, and physically maturing can’t fix.
First Team Debut? A World Cup Qualifiers Call Up?
This is a hard no for me, as he hasn’t even completely settled into La Liga 2 just yet. And, while his first and fourth performances were solid, the other two were very poor. To make it clear. Jogo is not yet ready for La Liga, he has had growing pains and is still adapting to his new team in a new environment. I firmly believe that rushing Gómez into the first team at Real Sociedad without fully integrating him would only hurt his development, and the coaching staff there seemingly agree. Just the same, if not more so, rushing an 18 year old, especially one who hasn’t even broken into the first team at his club yet, into USMNT set up for World Cup Qualifiers will only serve to hinder him. Although Jonathan Gómez is a fantastic prospect, he is nowhere near developed enough to play in WCQ, this fanbase needs a reality check.
Club News
The constructing of a World Cup roster
Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)
With the September FIFA window now in the rearview mirror, and only three more windows left before final rosters are set in late May or early June 2026, Mauricio Pochettino has drawn a clear line.
He’s stated that September’s camp was the “last camp to have the possibility for new faces.”
If we take him at his word, the nearly 70 players who’ve been called across six camps and the Gold Cup will form the pool from which he selects the 2026 World Cup squad.
Of the 60 players named to the 2025 Gold Cup provisional roster, only five, Maxi Dietz, Richie Ledezma, Tim Tillman, Caleb Wiley, and Griffin Yow, have yet to appear on a #USMNT roster under Pochettino.
Comparing the 2025 Nations League provisional roster to the Gold Cup list reveals over a dozen different players, raising the question: are these minor differences simply the edges of the player pool Pochettino intends to draw from?
Goalkeepers
Nine goalkeepers have been called into Pochettino’s camps, but it’s clear that Matt Freese is his first-choice right now, with Matt Turner likely the No. 2 as we sit just 10 months from the World Cup.
- Chris Brady
- Drake Callender
- Roman Celentano
- Matt Freese
- Ethan Horvath
- Jonathan Klinsmann
- Diego Kochen
- Patrick Schulte
- Zack Steffen
- Matt Turner
Fullbacks
Outside of Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson, the USMNT’s fullback depth remains a concern. Pochettino appears high on MLS defenders Alex Freeman and Max Arfsten, while Caleb Wiley, though yet to feature in a USMNT camp but named to recent provisional rosters, could still be on his depth chart.
- Max Arfsten
- Sergino Dest
- Alex Freeman
- Marlon Fossey
- DeJuan Jones
- Kristoffer Lund
- Shaquell Moore
- Antonee Robinson
- Joe Scally
- John Tolkin
Centerbacks
Center back remains another position with uncertain depth. Chris Richards and the veteran Tim Ream look like locks for now, leaving three spots up for grabs. If Pochettino opts for a back three, that tactical shift could influence which players ultimately make the cut. Notably, Jackson Ragen and Maxi Dietz are the only center backs from the recent provisional rosters who haven’t been called into a USMNT camp.
- Noahkai Banks
- Tristan Blackmon
- George Campbell
- Cameron Carter-Vickers
- Mark McKenzie
- Tim Ream
- Chris Richards
- Miles Robinson
- Auston Trusty
- Walker Zimmerman
Central Midfielders
The central midfield position is the deepest for the #USMNT, with many players in the pool capable of also playing fullback, center back, or winger. Although Richie Ledezma has primarily played as a right back and right wing-back for his current club and for PSV last season, USMNT coaches view him primarily as a midfielder. This likely explains why he hasn’t yet been called into a USMNT camp.
- Tyler Adams
- Sebastian Berhalter
- Gianluca Busio
- Johnny Cardoso
- Ben Cremaschi
- Luca de la Torre
- Emeka Eneli
- Jack McGlynn
- Weston McKennie
- Aidan Morris
- Yunus Musah
- Tanner Tessmann
- Sean Zawadzki
Attacking Midfielders
There are several players at this position who could add real quality and play pivotal roles for the #USMNT at next summer’s World Cup. Gio Reyna remains a major question mark, but his talent is undeniable. With his recent club change, there’s hope he can return to the high level of form we’ve seen from him in the past.
- Brenden Aaronson
- Paxten Aaronson
- Brian Gutiérrez
- Djordje Mihailovic
- Matko Miljevic
- Gio Reyna
- Malik Tillman
Wingers
The winger position remains thin for the #USMNT, though several players there can also slot in as attacking midfielders, strikers, or even fullback. Notably, two young wingers, Cole Campbell and Griffin Yow, appeared on provisional rosters but have yet to be called into any Pochettino camp.
- Cade Cowell
- Diego Luna
- Christian Pulisic
- Quinn Sullivan
- Indiana Vassilev
- Tim Weah
- Haji Wright
- Alejandro Zendejas
Strikers
Another area of concern for the USMNT is striker depth. While the top options have all produced well for their clubs when healthy, injuries have kept the pool thin. If everyone is fit, the primary competition for the starting role likely comes down to three players: Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, and Josh Sargent. Haji Wright and Tim Weah can also step in as center-forward options if needed.
- Patrick Agyemang
- Folarin Balogun
- Damion Downs
- Jesus Ferreira
- Ricardo Pepi
- Josh Sargent
- Brandon Vazquez
- Brian White
Conclusion
It’s tough to read Pochettino’s mindset right now. Many expect fewer MLS players to be called for the October window, partly because the league continues through FIFA dates and the regular season ends mid-October.
Most World Cup rosters largely select themselves, with only a few surprising omissions, think of the 1994 squad, which left out several players many felt deserved a spot.
But with Pochettino still showing a shaky grasp of the USMNT player pool, this cycle could produce more notable snubs than ever, though there’s still time for him to get it right.
USMNT
Launching Caring Excellence in Northern Kentucky
USMNT
Concacaf Gold Cup is becoming tarnished
Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)
Not long ago, winning your confederation’s tournament earned a spot in the FIFA Confederations Cup, a prestigious competition held in the World Cup host nation the summer before the world’s biggest tournament.
The tournament featured the champions of all six confederations (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA), along with the reigning FIFA World Cup winner and the host nation, rounding out the field to eight teams. The tournament was last played in 2017.
The Concacaf Gold Cup is a semi-cycle tournament played in the first and third years of the cycle. The CAF Africa Cup of Nations is the only other confederation that plays two tournaments a cycle, and in many circles, the frequency of the Concacaf Gold Cup and the addition of the Concacaf Nations League has made the Gold Cup a throwaway tournament for the USMNT, as it’s been six years since the so called A list player pool has played in the event.
It raises the question for FIFA and Concacaf: should the Gold Cup be played once a cycle, and should FIFA consider bringing back the Confederations Cup?
The USMNT won the inaugural Gold Cup in 1991 and has claimed seven of the 17 editions since. Only two other CONCACAF nations Mexico (9) and Canada (1)—have lifted the trophy, and both are contenders in this edition.
The USMNT has a strong track record at the Gold Cup, finishing first in their group every year except 2011. They’ve reached 12 finals, with a record of 69 wins, 12 draws, and 9 losses, scoring 189 goals and conceding just 60
Gold Cup Player Stats
Across 17 editions of the Gold Cup, the USMNT has netted 189 goals, conceded just 60, and recorded 50 clean sheets. Here’s a look at the players who made it happen, those who found the back of the net, and those who kept it out.
Goals
18-Landon Donovan
13-Clint Dempsey
9-Eric Wynalda
8-Brian McBride
7-Jesus Ferreira
Assists
16-Landon Donovan
7-Michael Bradley
6-DaMarcus Beasley
6-Alejandro Bedoya
6-Eric Wynalda
5-Clint Dempsey
Wins
17-Kasey Keller
11-Tim Howard
8-Tony Meola
7-Matt Turner
Shutouts
14-Kasey Keller
8-Tim Howard
6-Tony Meola
6-Matt Turner
Captain
10-Michael Bradley
10-Kasey Keller
9-Carlos Bocanegra
8-Tony Meola
7-Claudio Reyna
Gold Cup Manager Stats
Over the past 34 years, the USMNT has reached 12 of the 17 Gold Cup finals under the leadership of seven different managers. Here’s a look at how each of them performed.
Matches Coached
25-Bruce Arena
18-Bob Bradley
12-Gregg Berhalter
12-Jurgen Klinsmann
10-Bora Milutinovic
8-Steve Sampson
5-B.J. Callaghan
Matches Won
19-Bruce Arena – GF-52-, GA-14
14-Bob Bradley – GF-34, GA-17
11-Gregg Berhalter – GF-26, GA-3
9-Jurgen Klinsmann – GF-32, GA-9
8-Bora Milutinovic – GF-15, GA-8
6-Steve Sampson – GF-14, GA-5
2-B.J. Callaghan – GF-16, GA-4
Gold Cup Trophies
3-Bruce Arena
1-Gregg Berhalter
1-Bob Bradley
1-Jurgen Klinsmann
1-Bora Milutinovic
Conclusion
In the future, U.S. Soccer and the USMNT should clearly communicate roster expectations for the Gold Cup, especially if a full A-list squad is not planned. Transparency on this front is essential, as it directly affects fan interest and attendance.
The constructing of a World Cup roster
Launching Caring Excellence in Northern Kentucky
Concacaf Gold Cup is becoming tarnished
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