Berhalter’s Boys Grow Up: USMNT Prepares for World Cup Challenge

The scene at the Chicago Fire training facility on Friday felt less like a sterile media day and more like a reunion.

Weston McKennie and Sebastian Berhalter sat down in front of the microphones, but their eyes were already wandering. Both were hoping the same figure might walk through the doors. One wanted to see the coach who helped shape his career. The other wanted to see his dad.

Gregg Berhalter still hovers over this U.S. men’s national team, even when he’s not the one drawing up the tactics.

“He’s a great person, and I’m not just saying this because [Sebastian is here],” McKennie said with a laugh, talking about the former USMNT manager who guided him through some of the most formative years of his career.

McKennie had barely dropped his bags before facing the media, but his mind was already on that meeting.

“I went to him with problems on and off the field. I've cried in front of him,” he said. “We've had tough times and also amazing times together, and so it'll be really nice to be able to see him around here, hopefully, today, and just to catch up and just go over some memories. I'm sure he'll probably give me some advice leading into the game and into the World Cup, because that's just the type of guy he is.”

Berhalter’s Generation Comes of Age

When Gregg Berhalter took the USMNT job in the wreckage of the 2018 qualifying failure, he inherited more promise than polish. Teenagers. Prospects. Players who were just figuring out what being a professional actually meant.

Now those “kids” are walking into another World Cup cycle as established names in Europe, with families of their own and Champions League scars to show.

“I think one thing we have to remember is when I got them, they were young, they were babies, and they were just learning what it takes to be a professional athlete,” Berhalter said. “Now I see them, and they're men! They have kids, and they're adults, and they know exactly what it means to maintain themselves as professionals. It's an amazing thing to see.

“I just greeted them now, and was like, ‘I can't believe it, they're grown up!’. I think they'll be ready for this moment. The one thing I know about this group is that they step up to these moments.”

That bond hasn’t frayed with a change in the technical area. The faces in the dressing room are largely the same. The expectations are higher. The margin for error is smaller.

And the World Cup clock is ticking.

Richards in Limbo, Pochettino Frustrated

Out on the grass, Chris Richards went through the warm-up with the rest of the squad, moving freely, smiling, blending in. On paper, he looked ready. On the team sheet, he won’t be there this weekend.

Mauricio Pochettino confirmed Richards will not play. For the defender, it’s a familiar kind of frustration. For the coach, it’s a problem that has dragged on longer than he expected.

“When we decided the roster, we thought that Chris could play the final of the Conference [League] because we had designed the roster previously,” Pochettino said. “There was a line of information where we were thinking that he could play that final against Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League. He was on the bench, if you remember. After, that he could maybe be [there] against Senegal. After, today, in the end, the timelines were lengthening and [it] angers me a bit. I’m not happy because we know Chris Richards is an important player, of course, we all know it, but also when I was saying is based on the information that we had, and sometimes there wasn't clarity.

“In the end, we can hope that Chris can be there. But, in the end, we’re going to find ourselves coming without competing [for a month] and after we have to make the decision if he’s in form to compete or not. There’s not a lot of time in the World Cup.”

Richards’ situation captures the tightrope every national team manager walks in the weeks before a major tournament. Players are nicked up, carrying knocks, or just one sprint away from a headline nobody wants to read.

Pochettino didn’t hide from that reality. He laughed off attempts to extract a full injury report, but he made it clear: this is the time of year when everyone feels something.

No Safe Choices Before a World Cup

Saturday’s match, and every training session before the World Cup, is a puzzle with no perfect solution. Rest too many stars and the team risks losing sharpness. Push them too hard and one wrong step can change a tournament.

Pochettino knows whichever path he takes, someone will say he chose the wrong one.

“The haters today with social media, they will never agree if you play normally with the players or if you play with the first team for the World Cup,” he said. “If nothing happens, no one is going to say anything, good decision, but if something does happen, they say I have no clue!”

“It's impossible to know what we need to do. That's why, from the beginning, it is to prepare in the best way that all the players have the possibility to play or to compete.”

That’s the job now: tune the engine without blowing it. Keep the group competitive without losing anyone to the treatment room. Every minute on the pitch is a risk; every minute off it is a gamble.

Germany Again, and a Higher Bar

This weekend brings another European test: Germany. Pochettino has been clear about what he wants from these fixtures. Not easy wins. Not soft landings. Real measuring sticks.

“We wanted to play the best in preparation for this World Cup,” he said. “I think all the tests of Portugal or Belgium were amazing because they allowed us to improve and to learn what we don't need to do and how we need to approach it again. I think it's a great opportunity, after Senegal, this is going to be a beautiful team that we have to face tomorrow, and it's about approaching in the best way we can.”

The U.S. know Germany well enough. In October 2023, they led through a Christian Pulisic strike before losing 3–1 in Connecticut. Fourteen of the 26 players in this current squad were involved that night.

McKennie doesn’t dwell on the details of Germany’s lineup from that match. He remembers something else.

“I don't really remember Germany's roster for that game, and I don't know how similar it is to this roster,” he said. “But I think that game showed, obviously, the quality that they have, but also the quality that we have as well. We played a good game, and we had the potential to win that game as well.

“We go into this game with a lot of players that haven't played against them yet and players that have, so I think the new energy, the new style, the new circumstances in general leading into a World Cup, I think it's going to be a great test for us and I think we go out there with the same mentality that we always go out with.”

The lesson from that night wasn’t that Germany are untouchable. It was that this U.S. group can stand toe-to-toe with a heavyweight and still feel they left something on the table.

McKennie’s Form, and a Flexible Role

McKennie arrives in camp with numbers to back up his swagger: nine goals and six assists across Serie A and the Champions League this season. Juventus fell short of the top four by just two points, costing him another shot at Europe’s elite competition, but his personal stock rose.

Now the question is where that form fits into this national team. Deeper in midfield, dictating tempo and breaking lines? Higher up, crashing the box and arriving late like a second striker?

McKennie doesn’t sound too worried about the specifics.

“I think any player can say that coming out of club form and being in good club form does a lot, because it's the confidence that you bring, it's the desire, the want, the everything,” he said. “I think the system that our coach has here, the type of player I am is a player that adapts. I'm the type of player who can play many roles, so I'm more of a guy that, wherever he needs me to do, I'll do whatever I'm called upon for.

“I try to step up and just be the best I can for the team. I think that's one thing that this team does have: no one's selfish. Everyone's here for the right reasons. Everyone's here to get a victory for the U.S., so I think it's amazing to be able to come here with confidence, and coming off a great individual season. Obviously, my club team didn't finish where we wanted to finish, but the confidence is still there.”

Form can be fickle at a World Cup. Some arrive flying and freeze. Others stagger in and catch fire at the right moment. McKennie sees the tournament as its own world, its own rhythm, its own pressure chamber.

He’ll bring his Juventus confidence. The rest will be decided on the day.

Somewhere in all of this, Gregg Berhalter looks on at the players he once called “babies” and now calls “men,” watching to see if this group he helped raise is finally ready to turn potential into something lasting.