KICK OFF

MAURICIO POCHETTINO’S RIGHT-HAND MAN TELLS ALL

You know Pochettino as the leader of the USMNT. He’s the guy who feuded with Christian Pulisic, reset the culture, and then decided to reinvent football by playing a tried and tested system to beat a backup Japan side. This is what many million gets you. Of course, there’s more to it than that. Pochettino is a rather good manager and this is a rather hard job. But who’s in here with him? Poch has kept a close circle for a long time, a staff of confidants who have been there for 10-plus years, working behind the scenes. GOAL’s Ryan Tolmich talked to Jesus Perez, Poch’s right-hand man, about what makes the USMNT tick.

Tolmich: “With the World Cup looming, the process is ongoing for Pochettino, Perez and the rest of the USMNT staff. Strides have been made, the player pool has been narrowed and preparations are being put in place. In Perez's words, there's no magic wand for this. Even a coach with Pochettino's pedigree can't build a national team in a day. Now a year in, though, Perez and Pochettino say the USMNT is closer than ever.”

EXPLAIN YOURSELF, MAURICIO

Pochettino released his 26-man roster for two upcoming friendlies Thursday. Only 11 guys have retained their spots from September. Weston McKennie is back. Barring a couple of injuries, this is close to what a full-strength USMNT looks like. Shockingly, it's similar to the group that would have been in the mix at the 2022 World Cup (which might actually be a good thing). Who’s in, who’s out? Tolmich breaks down the latest squad.

Tolmich: “He had selected a 26-man squad for the upcoming friendlies against Ecuador and Australia. There were a number of talented players named to the squad. There were a few that weren't. Those decisions, Pochettino reminded reporters, were his, and the asked-for explanations, in truth, didn't matter. What matters now is getting the 26-player group together and going from there. In general, Pochettino's message was clear. He wants every player in the pool to look in the mirror and ask themselves two questions: what is expected of me and what am I going to do to meet those expectations?”

LIVERPOOL IN CRISIS, PSG GONNA WIN IT WITH THE KIDS

Right, this is how football goes. Not two weeks ago, Liverpool were Champions League favorites. Now they’re washed. Don’t you just love this thing? Drama aside, there is a thin veil of truth. The Reds won their first game slightly fortunately, and lost their second deservedly. Meanwhile, everyone around them picked up points. PSG pipped Barca without their best XI. Arsenal looked good. Real Madrid flew thousands of miles and really should have battered a Kazakh team more convincingly. It’s a discombobulated mess, this larger Champions League, which is why GOAL decided to rank the top teams in the competition after matchday two. Mark Doyle outlined the contenders and the pretenders.

Doyle: “We may be only two rounds into the 2025-26 campaign but things are already starting to take shape, with Paris Saint-Germain underlining their status as the team to beat once again by outclassing Barcelona in their own backyard. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter and Arsenal all maintained their 100 percent records with predictably facile victories but the big surprise is that Qarabag have also got two wins from two games. Elsewhere, Chelsea got off the mark with a hard-fought win over Jose Mourinho's Benfica at Stamford Bridge, but Liverpool suffered a tame 1-0 loss to Galatasaray at a raucous RAMS Park to cast considerable doubt on the strength of Arne Slot's summer signings.”

WHAT DOES WORLD-CLASS CHRISTIAN PULISIC LOOK LIKE?

What more do you want? Pulisic is leading Serie A in goal contributions despite not playing all that many minutes. Only Lautaro Martinez - oft-maligned but actually very good - has more goal contributions since the start of the 2023-24 season. What does it mean? Do we have to drag out the ole world-class debate? Of course we do. GOAL writers debated the status of America’s favorite footballer.

Hindle: “Here was the U.S. men's national team star who skipped out on the Gold Cup, bailed when U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino needed him. Turns out that there’s other football to be played. And Pulisic might be quite good for his club. He was excellent against Napoli Sunday, scoring and assisting to lead the Rossoneri to a 2-1 win against last year’s Serie A champs. After five games, Milan are top of the table - who could have predicted that? With his recent scoring streak, the question begs - is Pulisic officially part of that world-class club? Or is this simply a spark of form at the right time?”

DAVID VILLA KNOWS WHAT UCL-WINNING TEAM LOOKS LIKE

David Villa, remember him? We haven’t reached the “dudes naming athletes” phase of his career. But Villa was a truly wonderful footballer who doesn’t quite get the credit he deserves. He’s not exactly on a personal crusade to end that, but he is still staying in the public consciousness. Part of that? Talk about the Champions League, like, a lot. He broke down the faves ahead of an intriguing few months. TL;DR: anyone can win this thing. 

Villa, to Hindle: “We are in the beginning of the season. To win the Champions League, you need to play very well all year, because the final is in six, seven months. Right now, I think Liverpool is playing very well. They suffered a lot with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, but they are playing very well in the Premier League. Manchester City is always in the fight with Pep Guardiola, and the players that they have in their roster. Arsenal is playing well, with Mikel Arteta, and can be a possibility. All the teams in the Champions League have possibilities.”

DAMION DOWNS AND THE ART OF STAYING HIDDEN

Downs took a risk this summer. He performed admirably in the 2. Bundesliga - Germany’s second division - last season. He could have stayed with Koln and proved himself there. Instead, Southampton came calling, and Downs moved. Issue is, England isn’t very kind to Americans - especially those who don’t hit the ground running. Downs has struggled, which means that England detests him and, by extension, everything about American soccer (we take no pride in this). Downs talked to Tolmich about his early season struggles.

Tolmich: “Downs did find himself in that spotlight, and not for the reasons he'd want to be. Just weeks into life as a Southampton player, the striker has already become a lightning rod for abuse and criticism as the 21-year-old has been unable to hit the ground running. The criticism, for the most part, has been unfair. Very few players adapt to English football instantly, and even fewer do so before turning 22. Downs arrived at Southampton this summer with a reported $9.5 million price tag, which naturally brought high expectations. In the opening weeks of his first Championship season, those expectations haven’t yet been met."

PLAY GOAL8 

So there’s this thing called GOAL8. What you do is pick a bunch of scorelines for games that are randomly generated by our very clever machine known as the Internet. Eight games, eight scores. Get them all correct and there’s a $100,000 on the line. Last week, I posted a frankly woeful 50 points (it’s a miracle they let me write this thing). Here goes this week:

• Tottenham 2-0 Leeds

• Liverpool 3-1 Chelsea

• Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace

• Dortmund 2-1 RB Leipzig

• Charlotte FC 3-0 D.C. United

• New York Red Bulls 1-2 FC Cincinnati

• Seattle Sounders 2-0 Portland Timbers

• Juventus 1-1 Milan

Join a league and COMPETE against ME (!) HERE (!!)

WHAT THEY SAID

VIDEO REVIEW

Brian Gutierrez bashed one in to beat Miami. This ain’t a bad way to send Lionel Messi home sad.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

A few other things you need to know to impress your pals at the bar, ruin your social feed or generally be a snob about this sport:

• In the American soccer stuff you should care about, Nashville claimed their first trophy by winning the U.S. Open Cup, which is a good thing because this tournament is cool.

• GOAL ranked Christian Pulisic’s best 10 games, because that’s just what you do. 

• There are rumors floating about that Harry Kane might return to the Premier League. Here’s why that’s a beyond awful idea.

• MOTM from last week's Rondo: Milan's Christian Pulisic now at his best

CHECKING THE MONITOR

Adidas has rolled out their campaign for the new World Cup ball, and it’s just glorious.

THE RONDO TOPIC OF THE WEEK

If the World Cup started tomorrow, what would be Pochettino’s starting XI? Seemed a reasonable question to ask, so we did.

MATCHES NOT TO MISS

• Oct. 4: Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund vs. RB Leipzig, 9:30 a.m. - ESPN+

• Oct. 4: Premier League, Liverpool vs. Chelsea, 12:30 p.m. - NBC

• Oct. 4: MLS, Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers, 10:30 p.m. - Apple TV+

• Oct. 5: Serie A, Juventus vs. Milan, 2:45 p.m. - Paramount +

That’s all for this edition of The Rondo. Irritate me directly with questions/comments/insights/incorrect opinions @tom_Hindle_

Cheers for reading!