The USMNT changed the shape of its midfield, dropping Malik Tillman deeper and giving Weston McKennie more room to surge forward, and the move has already paid off as the team heads into the knockout rounds. With the group won, the adjustment is now one of the main reasons the lineup feels settled at exactly the right moment.
That is why the Tillman Us Soccer Player search is surging now: the group stage is over, the bracket has narrowed, and every decision from here carries more weight. The setup has helped the team look balanced in possession and dangerous in space, with Tyler Adams holding the center and Tillman doing work from a deeper starting point while McKennie is freed to break lines higher up the pitch.
The evidence runs through the numbers. Chris Richards completed 97.8 percent of his passes in two appearances, making 179 attempts and missing just four teammates. Per Opta, that was the second-best passing start to a tournament since 1966, behind Gheorghe Popescu’s 122 of 124 in 1994 for a 98.4 percent mark. Alex Freeman, meanwhile, has been just as important in a different way: he played at right back and right-center back, scored in the win over Australia in Seattle, and led the USMNT with 40 completed line-breaking passes through the first two games, ahead of Tim Ream on 37 and Antonee Robinson on 26.
Freeman’s rise has been one of the clearest signs that the group-stage plan worked, and Mauricio Pochettino went so far as to say after the win over Australia that Freeman can be the best in the world in his position. That kind of production gives the USMNT real balance, but the depth chart is not fully settled yet because Cristian Roldan is dealing with a slight injury. The starting shape is working; the question now is how long the team can keep that exact mix intact once the knockout rounds start asking for more from the bench.
