James Sands and Tyler Adams defensive masterclasses, Pulisic responds off the bench: Talkin' USMNT

Despite the constant chaos of the US Men’s National team, there has never been a time when Americans have had such a profound impact on the global football narrative. Whether it’s James Sands’s crunching Hamburg Derby performance or Weston McKennie’s never-ending need to prove himself at Juventus, there’s plenty to talk about ahead of the international window.

James Sands keeps Hamburg Braun and Weiss

The Hamburg Derby returned to the Bundesliga for the first time since 2011, with St. Pauli playing an unfamiliar role as they avoided relegation back to the 2. Bundesliga for just the fourth time last season. Hamburg’s return to the Bundesliga after relegation in 2018 sees them falling behind their rivals from across the Reeperbahn. Still, the six-time German Champions are eager to reestablish themselves as Bundesliga royalty.

As expected, the derby was a charged affair, but the moment was not lost on American midfielder James Sands. Sands, who had his loan stint from NYCFC extended through the end of the Bundesliga season, was immense. His defensive stability offered a platform for Joel Fujita to create moments in the attacking third.

Fujita led the St. Pauli with passes into the final third, while Sands delivered six tackles — including two in the attacking third – and won eight duels.

Good players step up in these moments, and Sands is quickly proving that he not only belongs in this role but can excel as the midfield anchor.

St. Pauli’s 2025-26 campaign has started with a 3-3 draw vs Dortmund and a 0-2 win over HSV. If this form continues, Sands could stay in Hamburg permanently.

Christian Pulisic’s role is a work in progress under Massimiliano Allegri.

Christian Pulisic’s absence from the USMNT loomed large over the summer. Mauricio Pochettino attempted to move on, but the winger’s feud with Landon Donovan became a circus of US Soccer infighting, leading to Tim Weah calling Donovan and his fellow USMNT alumni “evil” for criticizing the decision.

All of that is in the past for now, but Pulisic isn’t out of the woods for either club or country.

Pulisic has played over 2400 minutes during his first two seasons in Milan, but saw himself making an impact off the bench in AC Milan’s 0-2 win over Lecce. The snub isn’t about Pulisic’s play, but instead, Masimiliano Allegri’s attempt at finding a tactical balance in the early days of his return to the Rossoneri.

In that context, Pulisic’s impact off the bench is notable. Pulisic was more involved defensively in his 13 minutes than in the previous 90 minutes of Milan’s 1-2 loss to Cremonese, and cemented Allegri’s first Serie A win since 2013.

Pulisic is still an impactful player, but Allegri has yet to find the right mix with his squad, not helped by Yunus Musah’s transfer to Atalanta ahead of the transfer deadline. If Allegri’s tinkering leads to fewer minutes, then Pulisic’s decision to take the summer off could look short-sighted without important international competition to buoy his form. Luckily, the defensive numbers – third in tackles in the attacking third among Serie A forwards last season – should buoy his cause.

Now, Pulisic will have to ride this momentum into a tense international window as the USMNT hosts the Korea Republic in Harrison this Saturday. The Euro contingent has to show that this summer’s time away was fruitful, and that the decision to punt on the Gold Cup wasn’t a detriment to their potential World Cup cohesion.

Spurs, blinded by Tyler Adams's aura.

Tyler Adams was too much for Richarlison’s Tottenham Hotspurs last weekend, helping Bournemouth to a shock 0-1 victory in London. It was Tottenham’s first loss of the season, caused by a shocking lack of attacking production. Bournemouth held Spurs to just 0.19 expected goals thanks to the triangle of Marcos Senesi, Bafodé Diakité, and Tyler Adams.

Adams has become irreplaceable in Andoni Iraola’s 4-1-4-1 since returning from injury last season as the sturdy base of the midfield. That run continues on Saturday as he made seven recoveries, two interceptions, and two tackles as the Cherries kept Tottenham to a single shot on target.

The loss would be the final Spurs loss of the Daniel Levy era, chased off by Tyler Adams’s aura.

The theory that Tyler Adams is the most important player to the USMNT will be tested this weekend in Harrison, and he certainly has the form to prove it.

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Can Josh Sargent carry his form into the USMNT?

Much noise has been made about Josh Sargent’s time in Norwich, and while pundits tried to manifest a move away from the English Championship, Sargent doubled down on his commitment to Norwich and his desire to play in the Premier League with the club that took a chance on him four years ago.

It’s easy to see why a move to the Premier League was in the ether this window.

Sargent is coming off back-to-back fifteen-goal seasons and has charged into 2025 with six goals in five matches across all competitions. He’s been electric, even as Norwich look like a long shot to escape their midtable purgatory.

The question becomes, what is better for the USMNT heading into the World Cup?

It’s tempting to think that Sargent needs a move this winter to boost his chances of impacting games at the World Cup. Sargent has been flying in domestic play, but the same can’t be said for when he suits up for the US.

Since breaking through at 17, Sargent has been absent from the scoresheet, shocking for a player who scored in his debut vs Bolivia.

Will this year be different?

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about,” Sargent told reporters this week. “I'm doing so well at the club level at the moment. I just keep reminding myself how well I'm doing there. I know I can score goals, and I know it's a matter of time that I'm going to score for the national team. So just going to put my head down and keep working hard and I know the goals will come.”

St. Louis native Tim Ream has watched Sargent’s growth firsthand from their shared identity as St. Louis Scott Gallagher alumni, confidently backing Sargent’s prowess.

“I don’t think anybody really worries about it to be completely honest with you, I’ve known the guy can score goals since he was 15, 16 years old.” Ream said, “it's not something that that we're worried about you, you look at what he's doing, you know, at Norwich and, and at club and the types of goals that he's scoring is they're they're all different. So, full confidence in in him and and you know, just, it's just like you said, it's a matter of putting his head down and and continuing to to work and doing the things that that he's that he's good at.”

Weston McKennie gets no respect.

Another year, another season where Weston McKennie has to prove himself to Juventus that he is their best option in the midfield. It’s been a constant during his time in Turin, but every season fixture congestion forces him into the starting XI and by October, he’s one of their most important player.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

However, 2025 has brought a new spin as McKennie was also left off of the USMNT roster in the name of club certainty. Unlike Yunas Musah, who is changing clubs, McKennie could probably use the international minutes. Pochetino has his reasons, they’re opaque, but there has to be an underlying reason why McKennie was left in Europe as Pulisic, Weah, and others were welcomed back into the fold.

McKennie does have a tough club situation to navigate, but it’s nothing that he isn’t used to, and missing another window without the first-choice midfield is potentially a massive mistake for Pochetino’s camp with so few windows left before next summer’s World Cup.

McKennie has only played two minutes in two matches to start the Serie A season; it’s a concern.

”We already know Weston, it's not necessary to call him.“ Pochettino said. “He arrived with no preseason and only started the season last week in Italy. We wanted to give him the possibility to be more settled in his club and to be in his best form.”

Maybe this is for the best, but when Serie A play resumes in September McKennie will have played just 115 minutes since the start of preseason.

It’s not ideal.

Whether this has been communicated to McKennie’s camp is another issue. Multiple players have admitted to a lack of communication from Pochettino’s camp after being left off the squad. Pulisic said that there wasn’t any personal communication between the two this summer.

Given the Club World Cup and the demand on McKennie this summer, it could be as simple as extended fatigue, but there’s a surprising lack of clarity.

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