As we enter the September international window, there is an excitement around the United States Men’s National Team that hasn’t been seen in a while. You wouldn’t realize they have won just one of their last seven games since winning the Concacaf Nations League – a 2-0 win over Bolivia – but that’s the spirit a new coach can bring. This is the first look of the USMNT under Mauricio Pochettino and people are excited. What complicates things somewhat is that he will be without some of his regular players.
One of them is starting striker Folarin Balogun. The man from Monaco was in good form in three consecutive league matches, but after sustaining a shoulder injury he was replaced by Brandon Vazquez. Vazquez has performed well with Monterrey, but the person who has the most to gain from Balogun’s absence is Josh Sargent.
Sargent has had quite a ride since entering the 2022 World Cup as the starting striker for the USMNT, but one thing has been constant. When healthy, he will find the back of the net for Norwich City in the Championship. This season he has scored four goals and three assists in all competitions while being one of the main focal points of the attack under Daniel Farke. Sargent is a completely different type of striker than Balogun. He is an all-rounder rather than a poacher, but does everything he can to press the ball in the air and win it. He has excelled under Pochettino during his club career.
This season in the Championship, only Josh Maja has a higher xG than Sargent’s 5.17, as the American is expected to be in the thick of the Golden Boot race as he follows a season in which he scored 16 goals and provided two assists. It is Sargent’s creativity that has taken a step forward as he begins to enter his best years for the Canaries. With ten key passes and three assists in nine games played, Sargent is on the verge of breaking last season’s 23 key passes and two assists.
The way Sargent’s game used to be described was: “He will be a great striker if he can control his finishing.” At 24, he has done that and is now adding a new skill to his toolbox. The creativity is an important aspect given the red-hot form of Christian Pulisic, who could line up alongside Sargent on the left wing if he starts. It will be a familiar face for Sargent as he plays for Norwich alongside Borja Sainz.
All three of Sargent’s assists this season have been direct passes to Sainz and the interplay between the duo has been the driving force behind Norwich’s season as they play in a standard 4-2-3-1, one of the formations that Pochettino is expected to join the national team immediately. Sargent and Pulisic have spent a lot of time together on the USMNT, so it’s fair to expect them to match up in space in the same way Sargent and Sainz do for their clubs.
That creativity could be something that unlocks the USMNT, who have struggled to create chances without Gio Reyna on the pitch. Add to that the absences of Tim Weah and Segino Dest and the starting XI will be short of creative players who need innovative solutions. Sargent may not be Harry Kane, who guided Pochettino to excellence with Tottenham, but in the way Kane dropped deep to spark the attack when the ball didn’t reach him, it’s something Sargent can very well do to take the USMNT forward to keep. .
They will face important tests hosting Panama before traveling to Mexico and the USMNT will face tough defense in both matches. It’s an area where they have struggled in the past, so it will be important to see growth out of the gate that marks the true arrival of the Pochettino era.