I wrote about the USMNT’s first two games under Mauricio Pochettino:
The estimated market value of the roster of Chelsea, Pochettino's previous employer, is €954.2 million, per the site Transfermarkt. Before that, his front three at PSG featured three unheralded workmanlike prospects named Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, and Lionel Messi. And before that, at Tottenham, his best player was Harry Kane, who Bayern Munich paid a fee of €100m to sign last summer.
Per these same Transfermarkt valuations, the U.S. squad Pochettino called in for these matches was worth €256.8m, which ranks 24th among all national teams right now -- between Ukraine and Ivory Coast. Not only that, the roster's best player, Pulisic, only played against Panama, and its second-best player, Weston McKennie, didn't play at all.
Oh, and Monaco's Folarin Balogun, PSV's Sergiño Dest, Real Betis' Johnny Cardoso, Bournemouth's Tyler Adams, Juventus' Timothy Weah, Borussia Dortmund's Giovanni Reyna, and Crystal Palace's Chris Richards all missed this window with injuries.
Given the roster of players for both matches, you'd expect the U.S. to beat Panama at home and lose to Mexico on the road -- which is exactly what happened. No coach -- not Pep Guardiola, not Jurgen Klopp -- is good enough to take the players Pochettino had on Tuesday and go toe-to-toe with Mexico on the road.
Happy Wednesday, Dodger fans!
Good take