The US men’s national team camp that begins Monday in Atlanta is critically important on two levels for its World Cup chances.
First, it’s the closest Mauricio Pochettino will get to seeing his World Cup roster ahead of the event itself.
There’s no Tyler Adams or Sergiño Dest thanks to injuries, but Christian Pulisic will be in camp and so will Weston McKennie, both of whom missed a pair of November friendlies. The notable omissions from the 27-man roster are all either firmly on the roster bubble (Alejandro Zendejas, Yunus Musah, Josh Sargent), injured (Adams, Dest, Haji Wright), both (Diego Luna) or fall into a special category (Noahkai Banks).
“To see how we can create the same dynamic as the last camp, that is the most important thing,” Pochettino said, referencing the November camp in which the US had an excellent vibe and crushed Paraguay and Uruguay without some of its headlining stars. “Different players now, to see how we connect, are going to be 10 different players [in this camp compared to November]. That is really important in the way we see the teams.”
