USMNT’s lingering questions: Forward battle now a good problem, Tyler Adams’ backup, seeking 90 good minutes

The October international break was a job well done for the U.S. men’s national team, who offered several signals that they are trending in the right direction with the World Cup just eight months away. While this month’s games, a 1-1 draw against Ecuador and a 2-1 win over Australia, provided some answers on what head coach Maruicio Pochettino’s tactical vision is and which players might be up for the task, there are naturally still some lingering questions as the countdown to the World Cup continues.

Pochettino’s version of the USMNT seem to be at their most comfortable building out of the back with three center backs, while an eclectic group of apparent World Cup starters rises to the top. Mainstays like Christian Pulisic — who came off in the first half against Australia with an apparent hamstring injury — Chris Richards and Tim Weah make up a group of regular starters that includes rising talent Malik Tillman, while Matt Freese and Tim Ream seem like the frontrunners in their respective positions. That still leaves a handful of berths up for grabs, though, and Pochettino admitted on Tuesday that the competition for roster spots is still “open for every single USA player.”

Given the circumstances, it comes as little surprise that the USMNT still do not look like the finished product and some unevenness against Ecuador and Australia demonstrated some clear areas for improvement regardless of the personnel on the pitch. It all sets up for a fascinating run as next summer’s World Cup rapidly approaches, each of the U.S.’ upcoming friendlies potentially revealing more and more about how Pochettino’s team actually looks – and how far they can go.

As the countdown to November’s friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguay begins, here’s a look at the lingering questions that still face the USMNT.

1. Who starts in attack?

It feels like the question of which of the USMNT’s forwards would start transformed almost overnight from a hopeless plea into the ether to a near embarrassment of riches. For the first time in a long time, the U.S. may have two players gunning for a starting role, with both Folarin Balogun and Haji Wright each providing a compelling case for himself after combining for all three of the team’s goals this month.

Balogun has essentially been the starter-in-waiting, marred by an injury-plagued year but wasting no time with two goals and an assist in his last four games for the national team, bailing the team out against Ecuador on an encouraging but somewhat wasteful attacking outing from the group. Wright showcased his own creativity with a brace against Australia, meanwhile, his second goal in particular offering a glimpse at his individual talents as he created a chance for himself before scoring. If the two of them keep up this form, they are likely to make the World Cup roster but the division of playing time could be the most pressing question facing Pochettino in the final stages of his World Cup prep.

Wright’s success only makes Josh Sargent‘s recent ventures with the national team more melancholic — both are in remarkable form for their clubs and while Wright translated that into an impressive outing against Australia, Sargent’s USMNT career is perhaps now defined by the fact that he is nearly six years removed from his last international goal. Sargent’s ship may have sailed at this point but the one big unknown in terms of personnel is Ricardo Pepi, who scored in Pochettino’s opening match with the U.S. a year ago but has also spent much of the time since injured. If Pepi returns to his pre-injury form timely, though, Pochettino will have one of those proverbial good problems on his hands.

Can anyone replace Tyler Adams?

Tyler Adams missed the October friendlies for the birth of his second child, offering a genuine opportunity for someone to step up and at least make their case to be his indisputable understudy. It will come as little surprise that Adams is still the best player in the pool in his defensive midfield role but after the games against Ecuador and Australia, it is hard to argue that a standout candidate has emerged from the group.

Tanner Tessman and James Sands each got a shot at the job, Tessman filling in against Ecuador next to Aidan Morris and Sands doing so against Australia alongside Cristian Roldan. Tessman had a better outing in this isolated comparison, Pochettino saying on Friday that “the quality is there and the capacity to understand the game, the tactical way that we want to apply and set up [in] the game, the principles.” Sands, meanwhile, was one of the players notably caught ball-watching on Tuesday as the Socceroos scored first.

Like in the forward roles, there is the idea that the oft-injured Johnny Cardoso could have a say in this competition and there’s no real shame in admitting that Adams has staked full claim on his starting job. Building a World Cup roster is about preparing for less than ideal situations, though, and the fact that no go-to backup has emerged at the No. 6 position remains one of the USMNT’s longest lasting unanswered questions, one that very much pre-dates Pochettino.

When will the USMNT string together a complete performance?

Slowly but surely, the USMNT are stitching together an encouraging and cohesive identity, but at this stage of their preparation, it feels more like patchwork than the finished product. Even if the positives may have outweighed the negatives in October, there is still some very obvious room for improvement – the fact that they have yet to string together a complete, 90 minute performance.

Pochettino pointed to that as the obvious next step for his group, some sloppy moments costing them against Ecuador and Australia. The Socceroos in particular seemed to stump the USMNT in the opening half hour of the game, with Pochettino saying the group was just a little bit slow to make their moves at the start of Tuesday’s win.

“One of the [ones] that we need to improve is to, [for] 90 minutes, try to be aggressive and to [be] more solid,” Pochettino said. “I think we start the game thinking too much, no? When you are on the pitch and you think too much, you start not to play in a natural way and always, it’s late, you move the ball so slow. When you want to press, you arrive late and then when we concede, it’s like a big relief. It’s not anymore, the pressure. We need to start to play and I think the team start to play [with] more freedom and then we scored a fantastic goal and we equalize and then in the second half, we concede from a few actions in the beginning but in the end, the game was always under our control, but, I think, it’s to improve and to try to dominate in a better way the game and that is the thing that we need to improve.”

Cohesion feels like a natural sacrifice when experimentation is the priority but the USMNT have paid for virtually every mistake they have made in recent months, which is perhaps unlucky, but also a problem that seems solvable to a certain degree. How quickly they figure things out, though, just might be the greatest indicator of their World Cup success.