Sudden center-back shortage offers USMNT a chance to try World Cup-style adjustments
Alex Freeman and Tim Ream could play together along the backline with Chris Richards and Miles Robinson out. Photograph: John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images If the US men’s national team needed a test run for how a sudden injury crisis could affect preparations for games against top opponents at the World Cup, they have one now. Injuries to defenders Chris Richards and Miles Robinson have the US facing a sudden center-back shortage ahead of friendlies against Belgium on Saturday and Portugal on Tuesday – the final two games before head coach Mauricio Pochettino names his roster for this summer’s World Cup on home soil.
Richards, who is a presumed starter and unquestioned leader along the backline, was ruled out for the first friendly against Belgium with what Pochettino termed a “problem” with his knee, while Miles Robinson will miss both games after suffering a groin injury in training with the US earlier this week. Related: Three things to watch this USMNT window: goalkeepers, progressive full-backs and midfield puzzles “When we talk about being right in the players that you pick … if this is happening in a World Cup, you need to see all the options that you have,” Pochettino said Friday after announcing the absences. “These circumstances can happen.
” Pochettino said Richards was given permission to travel to the US by his club side, Crystal Palace, after playing in the Europa League on Thursday against AEK Larnaca, but that Richards reported issues with his knee to US staff after arriving in Atlanta. Pochettino said Richards trained on and off during the week but continued to report the issues and will be held out for precautionary reasons for the first friendly against Belgium. Robinson’s case, comparatively, is much more straightforward.
He arrived in camp, suffered a groin injury, and is “for sure” out for both friendlies, Pochettino said. “It’s lucky that we brought five center-backs,” Pochettino said. Indeed, he will have just three healthy natural center-backs to call upon Saturday: Tim Ream, Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie.
If the US run out three center-backs in these friendlies as they did in strong performances against Japan, Paraguay and Uruguay to close 2025, that trio appear to be Pochettino’s only straightforward options. However, playing all three at once creates a possible issue: all three are naturally left-footed, which could result in some discomfort in buildup for a team that is still drilling a change in tactical system implemented towards the end of 2025. Pochettino said that the absences could also create an opportunity to try players at different spots, naming usual right-back Joe Scally and everyday midfielder Tanner Tessmann as players who could plug the gap at the back.
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