USMNT

USMNT vs Switzerland: Positional Play Scholar

Published

5 years ago

May 31, 2021

Shawn Brooks

USMNT played Switzerland and lost 1-2. The US was mostly dominant in the first half outshooting their opponent and having most of the ball. The second half was a different story. Three things stood out to me. I hope to write about each of them this week. I’ll start with the Press.

Press, Press, Press

This game was all about the press. When things went well and the US had near complete control it was due to the press. When the the US gave up the equalizer it was a failure of the press. When the game slipped out of control it was due to the press.

The gooD

In the first half the US mostly pressed well. They wanted this. Man Marking all over the field. Aaronson was in his element. Notice the angle he’s taking here. He’s using his body position to turn a 2v1 into a 1v1 and push the ball back toward the center where they have cover. This repeatedly caused the Swiss GK or CB to try long balls which the US mostly easily collected. This worked extremely well through most of the first half.

Notice the timing of the press. Jesse Marsch talk in his webinar obout pressing that best pressing trigger is when the ball is released, not when it’s received. Aaronson times this perfectly

Possession was also part of the success of the press. Except when in their own defensive third, (which I will talk about in the future) the US progressed the ball well. I said when we started that I wanted to see some La Pausa from the team. I wanted to see that they could press with intensity, attack in transition if they could but when it wasn’t there realize it was time to slow down and break the opponent down. This was a key piece the team has lacked. The USMNT is a young team. In the past, they have only been able to choose one way or the other. Either they played “composed and brave” and possessed the ball or they played high intensity. We have not seen them able to mix the two and good teams can do that. They press with intensity, transition quickly but when it’s not there or when the opponent does a good job making that an inefficient option, then they can change the rhythm. They did exactly that in the first half. The benefit of that was this.

When the transition attack wasn’t there, the US was able to possess the ball into the final third. The result was that when they turned it over they were in much better position to Gegenpress and win the ball in very dangerous positions like this one.

The Bad

Pressing is dangerous. US Fans love the idea of the press. High octane, attacking defense instead of passive low block defense. More transition play and more (in theory) play based on athleticism. The bad part of a heavy pressing scheme is that it’s risky and depends on 1v1 defense.

This is particularly hard for players and fans who grew up with the sport in the last 30 years. I’ve seen retired defenders marvel at the bravery of modern defenders. The things they’re asked to do today would have gotten defenders yelled out before. If one word can describe soccer tactics today its bravery. Bravery to pass out of a press in their own third. Bravery to commit numbers in the final third and mostly bravery to defend 1v1 with limited cover. This requires mobile defenders who attack the ball in the midfield.

A key defensive principle that is taught at even the E License is Press and cover. When I’ve ever decided to coach a young recreational team who has little to no experience with the game, I teach press and cover.

The basics is one player presses to the ball and one player backs him up. As that player is beat, the defender providing the cover challenges the ball carrier and the one who was beaten recovers and backs the first defender up.

This simple principle will take an untrained recreational team who gets beat by that one super athletic player and make them competitive. It’s a basic principle that’s true at the highest level. It’s the core principle behind the concept of keeping +1 in the back. +1 in the back means just what it sounds like. Most teams, even EPL teams try to keep one more defender in the back than attackers. So if the opponent is keeping one striker up, the team will keep 2 cbs. If the opponent is keeping 2 attackers, then the opponent will keep 3 in the back with the 6 or fb falling in. Offensively this keeps a free man to keep possession. Defensively this ensures that if they do lose the ball, the cb has at least 1 cover.

I say all of this because the Press often removes that cover. It plays 1v1 defensively, even in the back. It requires the 6 and cb’s to step up to make challenges in the midfield. If you watched Chelsea and Man City in the finals, you saw Rudiger literally breaking De Bruyne’s face because he was doing exactly that. He was stepping up as part of the press to challenge De Bruyne 1v1.

This works great if the defender wins their battles and if they get back in position. The equalizer came from that not happening. Yueill mostly had a very good game(which I will get to later) but in this case, he pressed forward (appropriately) and then didn’t get back into his 6 spot.

The 6 protects the back line. In a pressing scheme they have to switch back and forth between a man to man press concept and zonal concept. Yuiell, who plays mostly man to man concepts with the Quakes, and who usually has very good game IQ to play the zonal 6 concepts, failed to quickly get back into position.

The US pressed well as they did the whole first half. They forced the Swiss into a difficult arial ball to the cm. Yueill correctly stepped up and challenged. Dest (who was incorrectly blamed for not getting back) also stepped up to press. The ball was bobbled by the Swiss attacker and Yueill hesitated between trying to win that ball or get back. The Swiss settled it and they were able to get it to the Swiss attacker right into the zone normally patrolled by the 6. This created a 2v1 on Brooks that the Swiss exploited all the way down the field for the equalizer.

Some wanted to blame Cannon for the first goal. Here he is following his man. Notice the 2v1 on Brooks that held McKenzie as he had to cover for Brooks.

The 2v1 on Brooks became 4 v 3 against the back. Good teams find that extra man.

This is the danger of the press. You can blame Yueill but it happened once. The US got a dominant half and gave up this one chance in the first half. They either can make no mistakes OR have to convert more chances to offset the loss. Because in a high press system, these are likely to happen.

The second problem of a team fully dependent on the press reared its head in the second half. Fatigue. I’ve said to fans before that Berhalter and his staff use friendlies as training sessions. Mckennie said post game that a key goal of the friendly was altitude training. Given their next competitive match is in Denver, this is really smart. They pressed heavy all game as part of altitude training. By mid way through the second half, the team was gassed. They had just spent 60+ minutes running full speed in a pressing scheme in high altitude. This was after training sessions geared towards altitude training. The subs came on and couldn’t match the pace of the game.

This is a big problem with depending on the pressing scheme for the US in the World Cup. Assuming they qualify, which no one is taking for granted this cycle, can the US press through a tournament in Qatar? I’m personally doubtful. It’s not just the heat of Qatar. It’s the lack of US depth. The press for EPL teams was less effective this year than recent years. Many blame the lack of fans which is probably part of it. The other is fatigue. Watching both Chelsea and Man City this year, I don’t think it was a coincidence that the two teams in the finals are two of the deepest teams in the UCL. I watched as both heavily rotated their squads throughout the season. Both were able press and play with intensity with tight schedules because they have the depth to rotate star players. In the WC, Germany, France, and England will have that depth to rotate their squads. The US has a starting XI that I would say (with complete bias) is starting to be up there with elite teams. They do not have the depth.

Lastly, the US has limited time to prepare for matches. The “System” has an answer to most questions asked of teams. Positional Play possession, high press, mid block press and low block defending.

We saw against the first Canada match what happens when the team focuses mostly on possession play and they need verticality. Canada saw the difficulty the US has handling a heavy central press. The coaching staff may tell them to respond to this with vertical passing (which btw, we saw against the Swiss). But you could tell they hadn’t worked on it. The plan is vertical pistoning between the 8’s, 9 and wings.

We saw a really good run by Mckennie going deep using this agains the Swiss. We also saw him coming back for the ball.

Against Canada in the first game, this was still the plan. We saw Brooks constantly waving his wingers for movement. It’s great that the team seems to have gotten this concept but it’s a reminder that in each window, they can’t work on everything in the system.

This time I thought they struggled in the low block. It makes sense as with the plan to high press and possess, the low block is where they plan and hope to spend the least time in the game. However, It resulted in the second goal.

A low block looks like this. Compact, tight and one steps up and the others fall back.

This is neither a low block, nor is it pressing. You generally don’t press trap in the middle of the field. The reason you don’t is because of this very reason. The Swiss slipped a pass passed Musah and had a 2v1 on Cannon. This resulted in the cross and second goal.

We can blame this on either the lack of time to drill the low block (which tbh most should know) or fatigue.

Berhalter admitted and took accountability for the fatigue and risk of the constant press. He admitted that in future games they’d have to balance that press with defensive integrity. This will be key for the US going forward. How do they use the press and their athleticism to their advantage while not burning out their players?

The press made them dominant in the first half but was ultimately the cause of the loss. There are multiple phases of the game. The US cannot depend on only the press and transition attack the way Jesse Marsch has or teams like RB Leipzig has. They are going to have to adapt and lean on different phases of the game in different games. They are going to have to do that with line ups beyond a single starting XI. I hope we see them start to figure that out in the upcoming competitive games.

USMNT

The Next USMNT Star That Never Was: Revisiting America’s Biggest Teenage Prospects

Published

2 weeks ago

September 25, 2026

Marcus O'Malley

Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)

With the next wave of highly rated teenagers likely to be brought into the #USMNT during the 2030 World Cup cycle, I decided to look back at some of the young players who were once hyped as the next stars of the U.S. Men’s National Team but never established themselves as regular internationals.

Freddy Adu would seem to be at the top of this list. While he never became a regular for the #USMNT or the world-class face of U.S. Soccer many expected, he still earned 17 caps, scoring 2 goals and adding 3 assists. In many ways, he accomplished more at the international level than most of the players who are listed below combined.

Which former USMNT prospects did I miss, players who are no longer playing or are past their prime, who deserve to be on this list?

Cody Cropper – GK – 0 caps

U.S. youth international and longtime goalkeeper prospect who reached the Southampton and MLS systems but never earned a senior cap.

Junior Flores – AM – 0 caps

Creative midfielder who joined Borussia Dortmund’s system as a teenager and was viewed as a major U.S. prospect, but never reached the senior USMNT.

Eddie Gaven – MF/W – 8 caps

Teenage MLS phenom who became a league standout, but despite eight USMNT appearances, his international career never developed further.

Luis Gil – AM – 2 caps

One of the most hyped American midfield prospects of his generation; debuted for RSL at 16 but never translated that promise into a sustained USMNT career.

Emerson Hyndman – MF – 2 caps

Highly rated central midfielder who broke through at Fulham and earned two USMNT appearances, but never established himself internationally.

Perry Kitchen – DM/CB – 5 caps

U.S. youth captain and defensive midfielder who became a regular MLS starter, but his senior international career stalled after five caps.

Will Packwood – CB/DM – 0 caps

Birmingham City prospect who became the youngest American to play in the English Championship, but injuries severely disrupted his development.

Marc Pelosi – LB/CB – 0 caps

Highly regarded defender who moved to Liverpool as a teenager, but injuries and limited senior opportunities derailed his path to the USMNT.

Gedion Zelalem – MF – 0 caps

Arsenal wonderkid and one of the most highly regarded U.S. prospects of his generation. Injuries and inconsistent senior opportunities slowed his development, and he never made a senior USMNT appearance.

The number of young USMNT players in this September/October window is something we haven’t seen in quite some time. Some will catch the eye of newly extended USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino, while others may not, but all of them have an opportunity during this cycle to make their case for World Cup qualifying and, ultimately, a spot on the 2026 World Cup roster.

It all starts now, and it should be fun to follow their development over the next four years.

USMNT

Building the Next Generation: Who Should Be on Pochettino’s USMNT Radar?

Published

1 month ago

August 25, 2026

Thomas Deschaine

Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)

Header_NextGen

With the USMNT manager in place and the new cycle underway it’s time for recently extended Mauricio Pochettino to get some new young players on his radar and what better time to do this than the September/October double FIFA window.

There are several U-23 players like Josh Wynder, Jalen Neal, Rokas Pukstas, Diego Kochen, Jonathan Gomez, Caleb Wiley, Cole Campbell, Chris Brady, Gaga, Slonina, Niko Tsakiris, Damion Downs, and Benjamin Cremaschi who have no caps order less than a handful with the USMNT.

Will USMNT snubs or overlooked players opportunities be during the 2030 cycle look like? Players like Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann, Aidan Morris and Camron Carter-Vickers to name a few, we have to wonder how or if they will be part of this cycle of players. I would suggest some will likely get the opportunity in the early part of the cycle but will need to be performing n with their club to remain getting called back into camps.

Integrating a few of these youth USMNT players during each window for the first half of the cycle will allow Pochettino to evaluate them up close and see if there might be a role for them during this next cycle.

It’s extremely important that the USMNT have a few on their current U-20 teenagers’ breakthrough and become a reliable part of the USMNT in the second half of the cycle.

The below players will have an opportunity to play in next years U-20 World Cup being hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan as well as hopefully if their clubs release them being part of the 2028 Olympics USA Football squad to hopefully medal for the first time since 1904 when the US had two teams win Silver and Bronze. I think it’s also important to look at these players alongside some of the core USMNT in the upcoming window to see how they can integrate with one another.

Mathis Albert-17-Winger

Noahkai Banks-19-Centerback

Cole Campbell-20-Midfielder/Winger

Zavier Gozo-19-Winger

Julian Hall-18-Winger

Malik Jakupovic-17-Striker

Adri Mehmeti-17-Central Midfielder

Peyton Miller-18-Left Midfielder/Winger

Neil Pierre-18-Centerback

Cavan Sullivan-16-Attacking Midfielder

Whether we see all of these players, or just a handful, through the first half of the cycle, hopefully leading into another Copa América appearance, it’s clear that the time has come for Pochettino to begin integrating the next generation of USMNT players into the senior pool. How quickly that transition happens will be one of the most interesting storylines to follow.

USMNT

Mauricio Cuevas Taking “Huge Step Forward” in Liga MX

Published

2 months ago

August 9, 2026

Alex Calabrese

CHICAGO — Four years on from captaining the United States to their last CONCACAF Under-20 title, Mauricio Cuevas is quietly stepping back into the spotlight. Still only 23 years old, the talented right back just moved abroad, leaving his boyhood Los Angeles Galaxy for Liga MX side Santos Laguna in a summer move that slipped under the radar.

“To be able to get sold to a big club like Santos is a huge step forward for me,” Cuevas said in an exclusive interview this Saturday. “From the first day, I knew the challenge coming into it because the club hasn’t been meeting expectations in the past few years. Coming in and trying to be a difference-maker is something that I wanted. It’s a new challenge for me, and overall I’m just super excited.”

New Challenge in Mexico

As a teenager, Cuevas showcased himself as one of the country’s most exciting young fullbacks. Known for his technical prowess and set piece ability, the L.A. area native spent time at Belgium’s Club Brugge before returning to the Galaxy in 2023. There, he won an MLS Cup in 2024, appearing 78 times in total before his departure this summer.

“It’s always tough leaving home,” Cuevas said. “Obviously, it’s my boyhood club. My family still lives there, and I was great with all the guys at the club as well. I knew everybody, from the staff and the front office to the coaches. It’s never easy when you’re leaving home.”

“Honestly, the people in Torreón and Santos have all welcomed me with open arms since the first day. They’re all amazing people. It’s an amazing club and an amazing city.”

The move to Liga MX made sense from a number of angles; Santos manager Renato Paiva wanted a new right back, Cuevas’s Galaxy contract was winding down, and his Mexican passport made a move south of the border quite easy. Since joining, Santos have faced an extremely difficult run of games against CF Monterrey, Atlas, Club América, and New York City FC — all of which Cuevas started.

“It’s been great, to be honest,” Cuevas said of his adjustment to life in Torreón. “There hasn’t been much of an adjustment tactics-wise or playing-wise because Renato, our head coach, has similar concepts to what we had at the Galaxy. The players are really good as well. There’s so much quality on the team.”

“The only thing I’ve probably had to get adjusted to is the weather. It’s a little too hot out there, the sun is beaming a lot. But I love it, man. It’s a super-calm city. It’s beautiful, with great food and great people.”

Back in the U.S.

The game against NYCFC came in Leagues Cup, a competition with a razor-thin margin for error. To advance past the first round, teams ideally need to earn at least seven points from their three matches; after losing to New York City, qualification for the knockout rounds is now nearly impossible for Santos. They’ll face Gregg Berhalter, Robert Lewandowski, and the Chicago Fire on Sunday (8 p.m. Eastern Time on Apple TV) in a game where anything but a win in 90 minutes would certainly eliminate them.

“I think we go into every game with the belief that every game is a must-win for us, so that doesn’t really change much. We know now that there’s more on top of that, we have even more reason to win. We’re just focused on ourselves tomorrow. We had a long travel day yesterday, so it’s all about recovery now and setting a game plan that puts us in the best position to win.”

Having started against the Fire at Soldier Field in 2024 and facing former youth national team teammates Chris Brady and Sergio Oregel, Cuevas will hope to give something extra in this game and help keep Santos alive in the tournament.

“Any tournament that this club steps into, we always have that goal in mind of wanting to bring that trophy back to Mexico, back to Torreón with us. We’re a competitive club. We’re one of the best clubs, history-wise, in Mexico, so we know what this badge carries.”

USYNT Hero

Coincidentally enough, the U.S. U-20s advanced to a fifth consecutive CONCACAF final on Friday, setting up a date with hosts Mexico at Estadio Azteca on Sunday. The semifinal win also qualified the U.S. for next year’s Pan American Games in Lima, ensuring qualification for back-to-back editions.

In addition to being a central figure in the last U.S. U-20 CONCACAF victory in 2022, Cuevas was part of the last Pan Am Games team in 2023; the U.S. finished fourth in an unusual competition that included several intriguing names like Sergio Oregel, Brooklyn Raines, Danny Leyva, and a then-relatively unknown Alex Freeman. For Cuevas, that tournament was a special memory, and one he remembers fondly.

“I remember the whole trip, to be honest. I made a lot of great friends and met a lot of great people on and off the field, from the staff to the players – people I’m still in contact with. There are some that are in Liga MX as well, Nico (Carrera), Antonio (Carrera), Danny (Leyva).”

“Every player from that age group and that camp has been doing great. It’s lovely to see, to be honest, seeing everybody shine.”

On the immediate horizon for the U.S. is Sunday’s U-20 final (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on FS2). The Americans will be hoping that this year’s final is more reminiscent of Cuevas’ age group (a 6-0 final win over the Dominican Republic) than the 2024 edition (a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Mexico). As is often the case, the U.S. and Mexico will be without many of their top youth players for the tournament due to its concurrence with club games, but that has opened the door for others.

“We have two players from (Santos) that are representing Mexico, so congrats to them,” Cuevas said. “Huge shout out to (LA Galaxy’s) Ruben Ramos as well and Dylan Vanney, who are with the U.S.; they’ve been killing it. I’m just happy for all those guys. Proud of those guys.”