Christian Pulisic, Alex Freeman and Malik Tillman rise as center back concerns linger - USMNT Stock Up, Stock Down after pre-World Cup friendlies

GOAL breaks down who boosted their case, who still has questions to answer, and what Mauricio Pochettino may have learned from the USMNT's final pre-World Cup friendlies.

CHICAGO -- No more dress rehearsals and no more tune-ups; the next time the U.S. Men's National Team takes the field, it will be for the World Cup. Finally, some will say.

After years of buildup, there's no more experimenting or tweaking to be done. The next starting XI will be the one for the World Cup opener.

In truth, the starting group has been in Mauricio Pochettino's mind for months. He told reporters at the start of camp that he's generally had his best XI in mind since before March camp. Things could change, of course, due to injuries or form, but by and large, Pochettino seemed to feel pretty good about the XI he has in mind.

That didn't make these two games against Senegal and Germany meaningless, though. They will have reinforced some of his decisions, particularly about some of his younger players. They will also have given him some situations to consider as the U.S. prepare to navigate the realest of tests.

With that in mind, GOAL breaks down who boosted their stock in these final pre-World Cup tuneups and whose stock dipped heading into the tournament.

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Stock up: Christian Pulisic
Can a guy who is the face of this team actually boost his stock? Well, as it turns out, he can.
Pulisic entered this pre-tournament window in a highly-publicized funk. He hadn't scored in months and hadn't scored in the USMNT since 2024. Any talk of a funk is now over; he's back, and he looks totally ready for the moment.
Against Senegal, he scored one and assisted another. He didn't get one against Germany, but he looked like a different player, one with both the confidence and the ability to dribble right at the very best teams in the world. Ultimately, that's who the U.S. needs him to be this summer: a dynamic on-field leader capable of putting teams on the back foot.
He looked more than capable over these last two matches. Pulisic looks ready for this World Cup, which, in turn, means the USMNT are ready, too.

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Stock down: Miles Robinson
It was a tough week for Robinson. The mistake against Senegal was blatant. The one against Germany was a little bit more shared, but Robinson was once again at the center of it. In a World Cup setting, mistakes can't happen, and Robinson didn't show the ability to avoid them over these two games.
Ultimately, it may not matter too much. If healthy, Chris Richards is starting at center back, which would likely put Robinson on the bench. Yet Richards' status for the opener remains uncertain, and in a tournament setting, you never know when a player will be called upon. Ideally, every player is confident and in form because you never know who you're going to need once this thing gets rolling.
Will the USMNT need Robinson? Maybe or maybe not, but these two games didn't do much to boost confidence for a player who plays a position of potential need.
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Stock up: Alex Freeman
He arrived at last summer's Gold Cup as a raw, but dynamic attacking weapon from the right back position. Now, he's a defensive stopper as a fullback/third center back that looks set to start at the World Cup.
Who could have seen that coming?
Freeman is far from a finished product, and these two friendlies did have moments that proved it. There are times when he can be a bit too loose on the ball, and his defensive instincts are still evolving. Even with that said, though, Freeman's skill set allows him to overcome the parts of his game that are a work in progress. His athleticism is elite, and he seemingly gets better every time he steps on the field, which is why he never really looked out of place against two very, very good teams.
The consensus was that he entered this camp as an option. He leaves these two friendlies as a near-lock to start. That's progress, and that progress is easy to see from a player who has sky-high potential at this World Cup and beyond.

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Stock down: Auston Trusty/Mark McKenzie
They're not here because of anything they did because, by and large, both were pretty good during these two friendlies. Neither put a foot wrong and, in truth, they both had moments that did save the USMNT at points.
It's just that, at the moment, neither looks likely to start in a full-strength USMNT, which felt like a real possibility a week and a half ago.
Again, that's not due to what they did; it's just the reality of where this backline seems to be. Richards is, of course, a lock. Freeman seems to have cemented his place. Tim Ream, meanwhile, really showed his value against Germany, serving as the ultimate pressure valve against the press. In that game, there were so many times the U.S. put Ream in danger with the ball and prayed he'd figure it out. He did every time.
For Trusty and McKenzie, it was more a matter of opportunity. Robinson was given the big one on Saturday, while the former Philadelphia Union stars were limited to their second-half runouts. Neither showed anything that would indicate they shouldn't start, but it seems a little less likely that they will after seeing how they were used in this most recent game.
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Stock up: Malik Tillman
The public shuddered at the idea of Tillman as a No. 6. It might just work, though, if he plays as he did against Germany.
To be fair, Tillman wasn't a true six on Saturday. He was simply playing in a deeper role, one that required him to do more defensive work than he typically does. He did it with great enthusiasm, pressing over and over again to make Germany uncomfortable enough to concede several chances to the USMNT. The experiment, by and large, worked against an elite team. Surely that means it may work against other teams, too?
Tillman seems eager to embrace the tactical tweak, one that moves him a bit further from the goal but does give him more freedom to impact the game off the ball. At the moment, it seems he's competing with Sebastian Berhalter for a starting gig, but that Germany performance may have been enough to solidify it for the Bayer Leverkusen star.