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Hello! Mauricio Pochettino has the USMNT purring and the world’s worst football team are getting promoted.
On the way:
🔥 Weah back with a bang for U.S.
🗣️ What’s it like to play for Amorim?
🇺🇸 U.S. owners to dominate EPL
👻 Spooky season in Swindon
Stars align: Pulisic, Weah and Pepi shine for USMNT
The USMNT’s 4-2 win over Jamaica in the second leg of their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final was one for the big hitters.
Christian Pulisic scored the first two goals, his opener a superb half-volley. Striker Ricardo Pepi (above) is averaging around a goal an hour over the past month and arrowed in a third. Timothy Weah, making his first appearance since his red card against Panama in June, smashed home — and I mean really smashed home — a fourth.
Steve McClaren’s Jamaica were competitive, scoring twice through former Everton and Leicester City winger Demarai Gray, but were blown away by quality finishing — the USMNT scored four goals from an xG of just 2.07. That’s some sharp shooting.
Tactical tweaks
Thursday’s 1-0 win in the first leg will not be remembered in many end-of-year speeches, but Pochettino changed things up in St. Louis. Fulham full-back Antonee Robinson inverted into midfield, forming a trio with Tanner Tessmann, who had replaced Tyler Adams, and Weston McKennie.
Robinson’s positioning freed up space on the left for Pulisic and Weah — while Tessmann, making his second start under Pochettino, was excellent, completing 73 of 74 passes and setting up Pulisic’s second goal with a clever dummy.
Weah in his happy place
Last month, Weah spoke to James Horncastle for The Athletic’s My Game In My Words series. There, the duo discussed the left-sided half-space as his “happy place”.
“Whenever I’m coming onto my right… I love it,” he says. “The majority of my goals are scored with my right. On that side of the field, I just have a certain feeling. I think it’s just easier for me to connect with the No 9 or the players that are around me.”
That came to pass. Against Jamaica — the country of his mother’s birth — he cut inside from the left and hit the post after just three minutes. Better came just before the hour as he cushioned the ball on the left side of the area and smashed a shot into the roof of the net (above).
Pulisic’s Trump dance
Against Jamaica, Pulisic became the fastest player in USMNT history to reach 50 goal contributions. The moment called for a few steps — and he imitated president-elect Donald Trump in front of the crowd.
The viral celebration has been performed by UFC fighter Jon Jones and several NFL players over recent days.
“It’s not a political dance,” Pulisic said. “I saw a bunch of people do it and I thought it was funny.”
International news round-up
- Speaking of dance moves, Yes Sir, I Can Boogie is Scotland’s song and yesterday’s newsletter star Ben Doak helped them to a 2-1 win over Poland, assisting Liverpool team-mate Andy Robertson for a last-minute winner. Don’t say we can’t spot talent…
- … but, well, we didn’t expect it in San Marino, where the world’s lowest-ranked team have just WON PROMOTION after beating Liechtenstein 3-1. They’ll now play in the third-tier of the Nations League. This was just their third ever win, first ever away win, and the first time they’ve scored three goals in one game.
- The inspirational news doesn’t stop. Sudan qualifying for AFCON 2025 is a surprise in itself — they’re ranked 110th in the world — but they’ve also been wracked by civil war. Due to the conflict, their two largest clubs have been playing in Mauritania, almost 5,000 km away. Keep an eye on the TAFC podcast feed for more on Sudan this weekend.
- We brought you a picture in yesterday’s TAFC of a bloodied Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre after he was hit by a projectile from the crowd when his side lost 2-0 in Honduras on Friday. The home supporters have now been banned from their next match by CONCACAF.
- Lee Carsley’s temporary spell as England manager is over, but he says the team “have all the tools” to win the 2026 World Cup under new coach Thomas Tuchel. I own a rake, but it doesn’t mean I’ll win East London’s Garden of the Year 2024.
Amorim anecdotes: What’s it like to play for the new Man Utd boss?
Out with the old-school, in with the new. Ruben Amorim is one of the bright young things sweeping European football — and according to Sporting Lisbon midfielder Tiago Tomas, this impacts how he treats his players. What do Manchester United’s squad have in store?
“It’s something I noticed: not only with him, but in general, young coaches have more of a relationship with the players and the way they behave,” Tomas tells The Athletic’s Nick Miller. “I also worked with Sebastian Hoeness at Stuttgart — in modern football, people adapt and young coaches do this more often. Because of this, they can understand the players more.”
“He’s very calm and he’s someone who sees everyone not only as professionals, but also as human beings,” says Fransergio, who played under him at Braga. That’s not to say players won’t work.
“Amorim used to joke that we would suffer during the week so that we could smile at the weekend,” Fransergio adds, with a strange knowledge of what it’s like to write The Athletic’s newsletter.
American influx: Why half of Premier League teams are set to have owners from U.S
(Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images, Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
Twenty years ago, there were no clubs under American control in the Premier League. Now, there are nine — earning them a deep dive in The Athletic’s ‘The Premier League Owners’ series.
Though the Glazer family’s acquisition of Manchester United is the first and best-known example — and in many ways the most controversial — there are other stories.
Liverpool were saved from one group of Americans (George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks) by another (Fenway Sports Group). Aston Villa have ascended under V Sports. Chelsea have endured the turmoil of the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital regime — though they may now be coming out the other side. More and more want to invest. But why?
“Having had experiences in it, I am sometimes surprised people are like, ‘Yes, let’s do this!’,” says one former investor in a Premier League club. “But the scarcity factor is an incentive.
“You get to sit around a table with major figures like the Man City owners, the Newcastle owners, the Kroenkes. To be in that room is important to people.”
There is also a relatively low entry point for potential investors if you have a spare £100m or so knocking around.
Sportico, for example, value the cheapest NBA team to be the New Orleans Pelicans at $2.72billion (£3.43bn). Yet Bill Foley, who is also the owner of NHL team Vegas Golden Knights, bought Bournemouth for only £120million in 2022. A mere snip.
🎙️ Ayo Akinwolere, Matt Slater, and Adam Crafton have been chatting about billionaire owners in the EPL on the Athletic FC Podcast.
Around The Athletic FC
Catch a match
(Selected games)
UEFA Nations League (all 2.45pm ET/7.45pm UK kick-offs): Group A3: Bosnia-Herzegovina vs The Netherlands — Fox Sports, Fubo/Viaplay; Hungary vs Germany — Fubo, ViX/Viaplay; Group B4: Wales vs Iceland — ViX/BBC iPlayer.
CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers: Colombia vs Ecuador, 6pm/11pm — Fanatiz PPV; Argentina vs Peru, 7pm/12am — Fubo, ViX/Premier Sports; Brazil vs Uruguay, 7.45pm/12.45am — Fubo, ViX/Premier Sports.
CONCACAF Nations League quarter-finals: Canada vs Suriname, 7.30pm/12.30am — CBS, Paramount+, Amazon Prime; Mexico vs Honduras, 9.30pm/2.30am — Fubo, ViX.
And finally… own ghoul in Swindon?
(George Wood/Getty Images)
Why are Swindon sitting 22nd in League Two? “I think our training ground is very close to an ancient burial site,” says manager Ian Holloway (above). “I’m going to get my wife to come up and say sorry to all these people and hopefully we’ll have a bit more luck.” Spooktacular.
(Photo: Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
