USMNT's final World Cup roster has Pochettino taking risks - ESPN

NEW YORK — For all of the drama that is usually attached to World Cup roster announcements, U.S. men's national team manager Mauricio Pochettino stuck to the tried and true. Out of the 26 players named, 13 took part in the last World Cup, including well-known names such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams. The rest of the squad, which was formally announced on Tuesday, was relatively predictable.

However, there were a couple of decisions that might come back to haunt Pochettino.

They start with the domino effect of omitting Olympique Lyon midfielder Tanner Tessmann. It's well-documented that Lyon shut down Tessmann for essentially the month of May due to what manager Paulo Fonseca called a «muscle strain.» The thought was that Tessmann would be able to recover in time. Pochettino thought otherwise, and left Tessmann off the roster.

Sources tell ESPN that this came as a «big surprise» to Tessmann. But this line of reasoning is typical Pochettino. His tenure with the U.S. team is rife with examples of him leaving players off rosters if there was the slightest hint that they might not be fully fit.

Obviously, there is a big difference between an international window in November and the World Cup, but it's in keeping with Pochettino not wanting to gamble with a player's fitness.

What is puzzling is what Pochettino did in response. Rather than replace Tessmann with another midfielder, such as Middlesbrough's Aidan Morris, Pochettino opted to add another outside back in Borussia Monchengladbach's Joe Scally.

Morris is an absolute bulldog in midfield and takes good care of the ball, as illustrated by his 92% pass completion rate with Middlesbrough this season. To be clear, Morris has his weaknesses. His desire