‘Guys are desperate to be a part of the group’ – Gio Reyna and Ricardo Pepi return as World Cup urgency rises: Five keys to the USMNT’s match against Paraguay
The strikers are all here! Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright – all in camp and, better yet, in form! There are plenty of goals in this trio, but there are still some questions about who is the one that gets the opportunity to score them on Saturday.
Last camp, Balogun and Wright showcased why they belong. The former scored in the draw with Ecuador, netting his second in as many starts after previously scoring against Japan. Wright then came into the team against Australia and scored a brace, making his own case for minutes. As for Pepi, this is his first camp this year after a long-term injury absence, and it comes amid a strong run with PSV that has seen him net several crucial goals off the bench.
“It’s been a difficult time, of course, the past couple of months,” Pepi said. “A lot of inconsistency in the way I’ve been feeling, in the way that I’ve been playing, and I would say, it wasn’t until the last couple of weeks when I noticed in training that I started to feel myself. Just the way I move, the way I hit the ball, the way I strike – I think it’s been recently where I’ve started to feel like I’m at a good place with my body and healthy again.”
Traditionally, teams nowadays play with one striker, which means Pochettino will need to pick one of three very good options. Perhaps he doesn’t, though. Could he maybe choose two of those three? Given the absences in midfield, could he test out a strike partnership? It certainly wouldn’t be the preferred system next summer, but it would be a good club to have in the bag for emergencies, and this is a good opportunity to give that a try.
“I don’t think it would be a big adjustment,” Balogun said of a potential switch. “I’ve done it at the club level. It would definitely be something different because [Pepi] is a different profile of striker, and I haven’t really played with him as a two [man partnership], but we’re good players and we’re going to be able to figure it out. If that’s what the coach thinks we need at some point, then I’m sure neither of us has a problem playing as a two.”
Maybe Pochettino has no interest. Maybe the key is to develop the system as established these last few months, but if Pochettino wants to, there are plenty of reasons to try something a little different, given the wealth of talent at the No. 9 spot.
