4 USMNT players in Mauricio Pochettino's doghouse will watch the World Cup on TV | OneFootball

The October international break is over, with the U.S. men’s national team overcoming early deficits in a 1-1 draw with Ecuador and a 2-1 win over Australia. With eight months to go before we co-host the World Cup, some players (Diego Luna!) are clearly in the good graces of Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino. We’re not talking about them right now.

Rather, we’re assessing which players are having trouble earning themselves playing time for Team USA under the distinguished manager and what they might be able to do about it between now and next summer.

4 USMNT players on thin ice under Mauricio Pochettino

Matt Turner

The first USMNT goalkeeper since the early 1990s to need to spend money on hair-care products has fallen down the pecking order since stopping 11 shots in last year’s 1-1 friendly draw against Brazil.

He has an FA Cup winners’ medal from last season with Crystal Palace, but Poch seems to prefer Matt Freese in Team USA’s net. This is despite Turner getting regular playing time once again at his old stomping grounds at the New England Revolution.

While that’s undeniably better than being rooted to the bench at Lyon, if he doesn’t see the pitch during this winter’s friendlies, he’ll have to be lights-out in MLS in the spring to play his way back into contention. Or he’ll have to hope that Freese and New York City FC get considerably worse. Such is the life of a backup goalkeeper.

Cameron Carter-Vickers

He played for Pochettino at Tottenham Hotspur, which is why neutral observers felt like he’d be a mainstay when the coach got the top job with Team USA. They love him at Celtic, too, and yet Pochettino has given him sparing playing time for the Stars and Stripes.

The stellar play of Chris Richards is undoubtedly a factor, yet even with Sergiño Dest’s problems with injuries, discipline and defensive duties, CCV hasn’t been able to see time on the right side of defense. He has experience playing as a right-back, too, but instead, Pochettino has been playing Tim Weah as the right wingback in his 3-4-3 formation.

Now it turns out he has hurt his Achilles and will be racing just to be match-fit for the World Cup. We'll be monitoring the situation.

Auston Trusty

Carter-Vickers’ Celtic teammate is also hurting for playing time. Maybe Pochettino is secretly a Rangers fan?

Trusty’s ability to play as a left-back makes him more likely to find a way back to a meaningful role, especially given Antonee Robinson’s concerning fitness issues. It’s still weird that he hasn’t seen more action on the left side of Team USA’s defense. Club teams are always looking to shore up their left flank, so maybe some English Premier League side (Brighton?) picks him up in the winter transfer window?

Yunus Musah

AC Milan has loaned the midfielder out to Atalanta, which at this point is actually a move up. The question is where he fits in Team USA’s setup. The emergence of Tanner Tessmann in the middle of the park has made Pochettino play Weston McKennie as a wide forward and Tim Weah as a right wingback.

The coach seems intrigued by Cristian Roldan in Team USA’s engine room, too. Where does that leave the 2022 Young Male Player of the Year? Does he go back to playing as a forward? Maybe he plays there if Christian Pulisic can’t go for the November friendlies? Or maybe he shifts to right wingback and Weah moves to a forward position? My head is starting to hurt.

Fortunately, Pochettino is smarter about the X’s and O’s stuff than we are. We’ll see what happens when Team USA faces Paraguay and Uruguay next month.