USMNT RondoGetty
Tom Hindle and Ryan Tolmich

The Rondo, USMNT edition: Is the Uruguay win Mauricio Pochettino's best yet? Who’s on the plane? And can Gio Reyna be trusted long term?

Between breakout performances and returning stars making noise, the U.S. leave November camp with momentum - and something close to genuine belief. GOAL’s writers unpack the key storylines that emerged.

Right, then - we’ve got some results. And they’re good ones, too. The USMNT have taken plenty of heat - and rightly so - for leaning too much on the good-vibes narrative. The message has long been that winning doesn’t matter all that much. That may or may not be true, but this is America, and American fans like it when their teams win.

And how about two of them? Including one emphatic battering of a top-tier team? The U.S. played two, won two, scored seven, and conceded two. They brought some old faces back into the fray and got some real promise out of new ones, too. And perhaps most importantly, there's real hope where there was once total apathy. Suddenly, we're all allowed to be excited, and that's a good thing.

But zoom out for a second, and what are the takeaways here? Sure, Gio Reyna impressed, but what does that actually mean? Is Alex Freeman good enough to, you know, be any good long term? And, on the slightly negative side, who showed that they might not be good enough for the big time? GOAL U.S. writers break it all down in another edition of... The Rondo. 

  • USMNT HIC 2-1Getty

    Biggest takeaway from the thrashing of Uruguay?

    Tom Hindle: That Sebastian Berhalter can BALL. There will be a lot of chat about the depth of the player pool - and rightfully so. But the center midfield options are plentiful here, and Berhalter turned in a fine audition for a spot.   

    Ryan Tolmich: The player pool is deeper than many would think. After the game, Pochettino was upset by the idea of “regular” players, and he’s right; this team is much more than a few names now. There are now so many players who will believe that they won’t just make the World Cup, but make a difference once there, and that’s a pretty damn good thing considering where this team was just a few months ago.

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  • Mauricio Pochettino, USMNTImagn

    Is this Mauricio Pochettino's best result?

    TH: By a country mile, with the minute caveat that Uruguay were really rather bad on the day. 

    RT: Certainly, and not just because of the scoreline. This was a team playing in perfect harmony with fight, energy and intention. Despite making wholesale changes, the standards didn’t drop at all. It’s a testament to the work the staff has put in to get everyone humming and on the same page.

  • Alex Freeman, Auston Trusty, USMNT HIC 2-1Getty

    Who stood out over the course of the camp?

    TH: Gio Reyna. Cooked from the start against Paraguay, balled in the second half against Uruguay. A proper player.

    RT: Alex Freeman is the easy answer, and he’s also the right answer. He’s become so much more confident over the last few months, and that confidence resulted in two goals. That won’t be the norm, but it shows how dangerous he is as an attacking weapon. He's gotten much better defensively, too, so the sky seems to be the limit.

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    Who missed their shot to impress?

    TH: Brenden Aaronson. He's clearly a talented footballer, and could really do with showing a bit more when he puts his national team kit on. This was another near miss. 

    RT: No one really? If you’re nitpicking, you could say that Ricardo Pepi will really wish he buried that shot against Paraguay to put some pressure on Balogun, but at the moment, he just isn’t fully fit. Generally, though, everyone performed well enough to keep themselves in the mix.

  • Gio Reyna, USMNTImagn

    Is success on set pieces something the U.S. can rely on going forward?

    TH: It should certainly be a focus! Managers have next to no time to prepare tactics before matches, so getting it done from corners and free kicks, NFL style, certainly wouldn't hurt.

    RT: It would be nice, wouldn’t it? Set pieces are even more important in the international game, given the lack of training time and the variance of knockout games. If this team can consistently create from dead balls, it would give the U.S. a big leg up.

  • Gio Reyna, USMNTGetty

    Rate the camp, A-F

    TH: B+. That Uruguay win was tasty, but the Paraguay one was perhaps a little too tricky. Pochettino has also inadvertently created a few problems for himself when it comes to his squad.  

    RT: A+++. This couldn’t have gone much better in terms of results and performances, so, for that, the USMNT has plenty to be proud of. It was the perfect way to end the year and leave a little momentum brewing for the return next year when this team gathers in March.