Stock up, stock down: USMNT March window

The U.S. Men's National Team let the wind out of their sails in their final international window before the FIFA World Cup, losing a pair of friendlies to Belgium and Portugal by a combined 7-2 scoreline.

After a swell of positive momentum after November's wins against Paraguay and Uruguay, March saw the team crash back down to earth a bit, with bitter reality checks handed to them by two of the favorites for the World Cup trophy this summer.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has said that he won't call in anyone to this summer's training camp that won't be on the final World Cup roster, meaning this was the last chance for several players to make their final audition to be included. Who raised their stock in March, and who hurt their chances of being on the plane to the biggest tournament in American soccer history?

Stock down: Christian Pulisic

This was a really rough break for Christian Pulisic. To be fair, it's been a really rough 18 months for him on the international stage. And also not great for him with AC Milan, where he last scored in December. Basically, after hitting the form of his life in the first half of the season, he's slumping hard at the worst possible time.

He's still clearly a good player. He's still clearly one of the most important players for this USMNT team. But if you were counting on him to carry the attack this summer, think again.

In both the 5-2 loss to Belgium and 2-0 loss to Portugal, he had real moments. His workrate is never in question, and especially against Portugal he looked dangerous in the open field. But he was horribly miscast as a No. 9 against Portugal, struggling to do the holdup play, missing a couple crosses, and looking really frustrated by the time he came off at halftime.

He's not a No. 9. There were three better No. 9s on the bench on Tuesday. Getting him in form is important, but building some cohesion and figuring out how to get the most players in positions to succeed is more important.

This leads into another loser...

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Stock down: Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino tried a lot of things this window, and most of them didn't work. In some ways, his hand was forced by injuries, sure. Tyler Adams and Sergiño Dest being gone changes the calculus for a lot of how this team plays. And I get wanting to try different combinations, test out different pairings, see how different players look against top opposition, all of that.

But shouldn't that have happened months – or years – ago? Pochettino not only made six changes between the two games, but he completely changed the roles of the five players who carried over. There was no continuity. There was no momentum. If anything, this March window burned a lot of the momentum built in November with wins over Paraguay and Uruguay.

Pochettino isn't wrong with his assessment of the player pool. Anyone who's followed this team knows that they don't have any truly elite players in a global sense, aside from Pulisic's occasional flirtations with elite form.

Isn't it Pochettino's job to make the team better than the sum of its parts? In that sense, March feels like a miss.

Stock up: Matt Freese

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and seeing Matt Turner ship five goals to Belgium made Matt Freese look like the clear first choice option.

Ok, maybe that's not quite fair. Turner wasn't at all helped by his defense against Belgium, but the New England Revolution 'keeper never looked confident. His distribution put the US midfield in really tough spots, and while it was a solid shot, he should have done better to get a hand to Zeno Debast's opener.

That context made Freese's performance against Portugal even more reassuring. Weird to say about a 2-0 loss? Maybe. But Freese made the saves he was supposed to, as well as a couple he shouldn't have.

Freese has been the clear No. 1 for a year now. He reinforced that against Portugal, and the decision to start Turner against Belgium feels like a quaint and wasteful detour.

Stock down: Tim Ream

Tim Ream still has impressive IQ and passing range. It's the reason why he's still in the national team picture, that and the sheer lack of viable center back options behind him.

Even without many options behind him, though, it's probably time to turn the page. Ream has clearly lost a step (or two) over the last 12 months. It's been evident in MLS, and was painfully clear against Belgium, where he simply wasn't able to handle the speed of off-ball movement from their attack.

Ream is still a worthwhile player to have in the squad, but at 38 years old, it's past time for this program to start counting on him as a nailed-on starter in big matches.

Stock up: Auston Trusty

Auston Trusty wasn't perfect by any means against Portugal, but he at least showed enough to make me want to see more.

Trusty was Walker Zimmerman-esque (complimentary) at times in his ability to burst forward into midfield and win the ball, often kick-starting a counter the other way.

He had a few poor moments, too, like biting rather hard on a run from Bruno Fernandes and leaving Trincão in space for an easy finish, but he held his own against a high-octane Portugal attack.

I'm not calling him the answer to all the US's problems. I'm just saying that I don't think there are currently five better center backs than Trusty in the pool. Do with that what you will.

Stock down: Johnny Cardoso

Yeah, I get it. Johnny Cardoso plays for Atlético Madrid. He's a regular starter for a Top-20 club in the world in one of the most demanding systems in global soccer, and plays at a high level every week. And it just doesn't translate to the national team.

He was fine in the first half against Belgium, completing 100% of his passes but not progressing the ball to any effect of note. He ended up picking up a knock, and left camp early.

I know he's a good player. I also know he hasn't clearly and objectively been better for the USMNT than Sebastian Berhalter, Aidan Morris, Tanner Tessman or Cristian Roldan over the last 18 months. If anything, this window just cemented that he's not a particularly important part of this squad.

Stock up: Malik Tillman

Malik Tillman was one of the few bright spots in this camp. The Bayer Leverkusen attacker was generally clean on the ball and created a pair of chances against Portugal. His ability to progress the ball on the half-turn was at the heart of a lot of the US's best passing moves, and he played a perfectly-weighted pass to Pulisic that led to one of their best looks of the night.

His defensive positioning left a little to be desired at times, and he didn't do a great job covering on Portugal's opening goal. But his work in the press was really encouraging, contributing to an opening 30 minutes in which the US kept Portugal on the back foot. He's probably a starter this summer.

Stock up: Alex Freeman

This team is simply better with Alex Freeman in the XI, full stop. Despite not playing consistently for Villarreal, the young defender was a major improvement in the starting lineup against Portugal. He's uniquely able to play the hybrid right-back/right-center back role in Pochettino's system, and having him on the field means that the midfielders can play in their more natural positions instead of dropping into the backline.

Against Portugal, he picked his moments to underlap really well, and — along with Trusty — got forward in periods of sustained possession to circulate the ball in the final third.

He had a sloppy moment on the ball that lead to Portugal's goal, getting caught high up the pitch and trying to do too much on the dribble. That can't happen at the World Cup, but for a 21-year-old who's still very early in his international career, it's hopefully a learning moment that won't need to be repeated.

Again, this team looks better with Freeman on the pitch.