The first weekend following the end of the October international window was rather subdued for members of the U.S. men’s national team. The injury list is getting long, with the likes of AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic, Bayer Leverkusen’s Malik Tillman and Fulham’s Antonee Robinson among those left off gameday rosters for their respective clubs.
On top of that, the vast majority of U.S. players who emerged from the international break unscathed found themselves reduced to substitute roles, leaving just a few players to be on the field from the opening whistle. The UEFA Champions League fixtures saw more minutes logged by American players, although not all of the stints were positive.
Throughout the season, ESPN will be monitoring the progress of the player pool, delivering insights into those whose form or fitness has made them particularly intriguing. We call it the USMNT’s countdown to the World Cup.
ESPN will count down to June 11 every week so that way, when the U.S. team is announced for this highly anticipated World Cup on home soil, no names on that 26-man roster will come as a surprise. Only 232 days to go.
2025-26 minutes: 860
2025-26 FotMob rating: 7.5
Dest’s talent is undeniable, but sometimes the U.S. international can’t get out of his own way. Following last weekend’s 2-1 win against Go Ahead Eagles, one that featured Dest’s usual assortment of marauding runs forward, he was all set to play in the Champions League against Napoli, only to show up late to the stadium. Manager Peter Bosz wasn’t amused, and removed Dest from the starting lineup.
In the grand scheme of things, it looks like Dest won’t incur any additional penalties. Bosz did sub him on late in the match. That said, Dest’s timing wasn’t the greatest. He was left off the U.S. roster for the October window due to an injury, which allowed U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino to look at other options to play on the right side of the U.S. defense. Tim Weah spent some time at both right wing and left wingback, while Alex Freeman logged some minutes as well.
One now gets the sense that given Dest’s defensive shortcomings, he’s not quite the lock to be in the U.S. lineup that he once was, especially if Weah continues to be looked at as an option at wingback. Dest can fix this of course, and it’s not clear why he was late, but a player who hasn’t always been the most disciplined needs to clean up his behavior if he’s to secure a spot in Pochettino’s starting XI.
2025-26 minutes: 589
2025-26 FotMob rating: 6.7
Balogun’s week was the proverbial mixed bag. Last weekend, he was one of those players who began his match against Angers on the bench, but he made the most of his opportunity, scoring in the 72nd minute to help Monaco earn a 1-1 draw. Balogun was rewarded with a start in the Champions League against Tottenham Hotspur, and while he shook free for several clear chances, Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario was in stellar form and denied him every time in a match that ended goalless.
For Balogun, an argument can be made that the positives outweigh the negatives, but there’s no denying he’s in a fiercely competitive situation at club level, with Ansu Fati, George Ilenikhena and Mika Biereth all joining Balogun in the battle for playing time. The competition is heating up at international level as well as PSV’s Ricardo Pepi came off the bench to record a goal and assist against 10-man Napoli. One gets the sense that Balogun will need to deliver more consistently to keep his place with Monaco.
2025 minutes: 3,605
2025 FotMob rating: 7.4
With the MLS Cup playoffs starting this week, the lights will shine brighter on MLS than might otherwise be the case during the regular season. The intensity of the matches figures to be ratcheted up as well.
No U.S. player is carrying more momentum than Roldan, who was barely an afterthought at the beginning of September but has now forced his way into Pochettino’s reckoning. But it isn’t just with the U.S. that Roldan has upped his game. His performances in the Club World Cup and the Leagues Cup showed he could compete among the best in the world, including one Lionel Messi.
Seattle won’t have home-field advantage in its initial playoff matchup with Minnesota United, but with Roldan operating at arguably the highest level of his career, the Sounders can never be counted out. Pochettino will do doubt be watching.
No part of the field has been more injury hit for the USMNT than the twin No. 10 positions, hence the selection of Weston McKennie and Diego Luna in this week’s in-form XI. Pulisic’s hamstring ailment has been well documented, and could see him miss the next window, but there’s more. Alejandro Zendejas was forced to leave the U.S. camp due to a knee injury, and matters have gotten worse as he entered last weekend’s Clásico Joven with Cruz Azul as a substitute in the 28th minute, only to leave at halftime due to an unspecified injury. He sat out Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Puebla. Tillman’s thigh injury should see him out for another two weeks at Leverkusen.
That leaves McKennie and Luna to step into this hypothetical lineup.
McKennie finds himself in an interesting situation, especially as it relates to Pochettino’s preferred tactical setup. He’s more of a No. 8 by trade, which suited him well in Gregg Berhalter’s 4-3-3, but last window McKennie was more of a No. 10. Is he more creative than, say, Tillman and Zendejas? Probably not. On the flipside, the 3-4-3 (for lack of a better term) that Pochettino is using requires two central midfielders that are more stay-at-home types. That doesn’t necessarily suit McKennie either given his desire to get forward.
McKennie looked sharp during the October window, and linked up well with Balogun against Ecuador. He also was deployed further forward in Juventus’ Champions League defeat to Real Madrid. Occupying one of the No. 10 slots behind a striker like Balogun seems the best approach going forward, but his spot is by no means guaranteed.
That Max Arfsten has maintained his hold on the left back/left wingback spot counts as both good news and bad news. The good news is that Arfsten has performed well enough to be a firm favorite of Pochettino’s, although Weah did see some time on the left side as well against Australia. The bad news is that it highlights the increasing concern over Antonee Robinson’s fitness.
This was supposed to be the window that Robinson got back on the field for the USMNT, but instead, his ongoing recovery from knee surgery last May meant he didn’t log any minutes at all. There is still time for Robinson to get reintegrated into the squad, but his return no longer feels like the sure thing it once seemed to be.