The USMNT will be back in action in mid-November with games against Paraguay on the 15th and Uruguay three days later. A pair of tough South American squads will be a good test for the team and, importantly,
will be the last international window until March. Mauricio Pochettino has a lot to be happy about before the upcoming friendlies. The team has started to gel, star players and glue guys are coming into the picture, and he’s found a tactical set up that has brought promising performances. However, ahead of the games there are injuries to key players and others whose form has dropped in the opening few months of the European season.
Injuries
Likely to miss the window are Christian Pulisic, Jedi Robinson, and Alex Zendejas. Pulisic’s club was unhappy with the way that the USMNT handled his injury during the last international break, and reportedly AC Milan has persuaded Poch to omit him from the roster. Meanwhile, Jedi is far from coming back for Fulham and Zendejas has missed three straight games for Club America.
Pulisic’s injury and the criticism from his club about how the USMNT handled it come along with similar claims from Crystal Palace about Chris Richards’ injury treatment. Eagles’ manager Oliver Glasner noted that he was disappointed the center back played all 180 minutes for the national team after being told he was dealing with a calf issue.
Doubtful inclusions for the team are Malik Tillman, who was also injured while on USMNT duty last month, and Mark McKenzie is still coming back after an injury with Toulouse.
Clubs and national teams clashing over playing time for players carrying minor injuries is nothing new, but arguably the USMNT will be better off with players seeing limited national team minutes to keep up their form and playing time with their club teams. It will be interesting to see if other injuries pop up this window and how clubs respond.
Likely Available
Luckily, it seems like Johnny Cardoso, Tim Weah, and Tyler Adams will be available to feature for the national team. Cardoso was available this weekend and may get another shot with the USMNT. Weah missed his last two games but should be back this weekend and Adams came off after scoring for Bournemouth but it seems like he will be fine.
Elsewhere, Sergino Dest has been starting for PSV this year and, while he was held out in October, should be an option for this window. If he’s called it, seeing how he plays in a three center back formation will be useful going forward.
Up and Down Form
Aside from injuries, the question of what have you done lately is coming up for some familiar USMNT faces. After a stellar 2024-2025 Josh Sargent has been struggling for his club side and has never been consistent for the national team. Joining him in the striker freezer is Haji Wright. His eight goals in 12 matches cannot be overlooked, but neither can his streak of three games without a goal for Coventry City.
For his part, Ricardo Pepi is heating up. The PSV striker scored off the bench again for his second goal in three games. Pepi has also been inconsistent with the national team, but with Sargent cooling off he could find an opportunity to push for a World Cup spot.
A pair of players who moved to new teams and haven’t found their footing yet this year are Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna. The former played for the first time in three weeks over the weekend, seeing nine minutes off the bench against AC Milan. Meanwhile, Reyna’s biggest headline this year was before the weekend in an ill-advised interview where he brought up something he doesn’t want anyone to talk about again. For a team full of talent but lacking leadership and glue players, Reyna didn’t help his cause as his talent and judgement have both been in question for years now.
With just four games in FIFA windows, December camp will be outside of an official window, it’s getting to be crunch time for Poch to narrow down the player pool. Things are falling into place for him as far as tactics go and players are rising to the top both in terms of skill and team spirit. The decisions he makes calling in players ahead of friendlies this month will carry a heavy weight with the World Cup now just seven months away.
