Minutes from the Committee Meeting
June 6, 2026 — Committee Meeting # 43
Our Kickback Minutes newsletter will be pivoting, starting this week, into close coverage of the USMNT and MLS at the World Cup, much like our Soccerwise account. Please enjoy our First Touch live show, newsletter, and social accounts for our general coverage of the 2026 World Cup!
Agenda Items 📋:
- The USMNT kicked off their World Cup camp with an impressive 3-2 victory over Senegal, punctuated by dynamic attacking play and the return of Pochettino’s back three.
- A highlight of the match was Christian Pulisic’s return-to-form, including a goal and an assist in his forty-five minutes of play. Pundits such as our own Matt Doyle noted that Pulisic’s focus on attacking runs off-the-ball, rather than dropping deep to receive the ball, made the difference.
- Other highlights included Ricardo Pepi’s class back-to-goal play, Tillman’s and McKennie’s creative excellence, and Alex Freeman’s dynamism as the “Flex Back” in the back three.
- While the dynamic attack made the USMNT imminently watchable, so did the fraught defending. Sadio Mane caused a Chris Richards-less backline numerous issues.
- Close USMNT watchers will now be even more keen to see Richards return to the pitch, with his first integration into training coming this past Wednesday following his ankle injury from a few weeks ago.
- Other close watchers from the USMNT camp have kept an eye on Maurio Pochettino’s activies, with the manager having been confirmed to have recently interviewed for the open AC Milan position.
- Next up will be the U.S.’s biggest test before the World Cup, a sold-out match against Germany at Soldier Field in Chicago, 2:30 ET on Saturday.
- Finally, with rosters finalized, a total of 44 MLS players are confirmed to be a part of the 2026 World Cup, totaling seventh most amongst leagues for the tournament.
Story of the Week:
The Senegal match served as a much needed restoration of confidence for the USMNT, but a competitive display against four-time champions Germany could change the team’s outlook for the tournament. Please enjoy Soccerwise’s Matt Doyle’s and Tom Bogert’s work for deeper written analysis, but we’ll leave you here with a simpler take: three things we’re watching for U.S. vs. Germany:
- Pepi or Balogun: There will be a lot of intrigue with the starting eleven on Saturday, but one “champagne problem” Pochettino will have is two intriguing options up top.First of all, let’s take a second to think about this. Too many good strikers! For the USMNT!! Kinda wish we could go back and plant one on the 2010 team instead and perhaps have another quarterfinal experience under our belt.Anyways, Pepi showed a dimension to his game that was unexpected with elite back-to-goal play against Senegal, creating numerous chances instead of just finishing them off.Balogun, meanwhile, has been in excellent form at Monaco, and finished off a nice goal himself versus Senegal. On nearly any U.S. team in history he’d start, but it may be that Pepi has shown Pochettino something new that gets him the nod.
- Transition Defending: For all the wonderful moments in attack, there was a lot of hearts-in-throats whenever Senegal was in transition.Nagelsmann’s Germany thrives on the counter, and if the USMNT doesn’t improve, things could get ugly, quick.Pochettino clearly values Tim Ream’s elite line-breaking passing from the back, but he requires help at his age in transition. Mark McKenzie or Auston Trusty, along with the central midfielders, must make the right reads nearly every time. Here’s hoping we see a clear improvement match-to-match.
- Pitch Control: If you don’t know the phrase, it’s a newer term that means just what it sounds like…where is the ball most of the time throughout the match. The U.S.’s set up under Pochettino seems to focus on this…players like Gio Reyna are great at receiving the ball and keeping it in high value, attacking areas. The backline, meanwhile, isn’t really built to undergo continuous pressure, as seen in the March matches against Belgium and Portugal.Good teams seem to have more of it, and Germany is a very good team. Can the U.S. manage to dictate some of the match, or will they end up battening down the hatches in the face of Germany’s relentlessness?
Kickback's World Cup Plans!
Kickback Soccer Media announced its 2026 World Cup plans and its featured partnership with the World’s largest soccer retailer, Soccer.com!
Action Items, Kickback:
Soccerwise & First Touch: The last episodes of the Soccerwise & First Touch regular slate will air this week with the First Touch Golden Boot draft and the Soccerwise review of US vs. Germany. After that, we transition to our First Touch ’26 daily show, starting June 10th! You can watch live on YouTube at @soccerwiseHQ or @firsttouchksm, and download after the show by subscribing to our Kickback ’26 and Soccerwise audio feeds on your preferred audio platform!