McKennie and Berhalter: USMNT's Journey to World Cup Maturity
The first thing Weston McKennie wanted at the Chicago Fire training facility wasn’t a ball at his feet. It was a familiar face.
Gregg Berhalter’s.
McKennie and Sebastian Berhalter stepped in front of the cameras on Friday, but their eyes kept drifting toward the possibility of a reunion. For Sebastian, it was a chance to see his dad in his own work environment. For McKennie, it was far more than that.
“He’s a great person, and I’m not just saying this because [Sebastian is here],” McKennie said with a laugh, the mention of Gregg Berhalter quickly turning the media session into something more personal than tactical.
McKennie had barely arrived before he was already talking about the man who helped shape his international career. This wasn’t the standard ex-player, ex-coach pleasantry.
“I went to him with problems on and off the field. I've cried in front of him,” McKennie 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 Kids Are Grown Now
Gregg Berhalter no longer picks the USMNT lineups, but he still talks about this group as if they’re his. In many ways, they are.
When he took over after the 2018 qualifying collapse, he inherited a broken program and a wave of teenagers. The job wasn’t just to win games; it was to raise a generation.
“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’s the emotional backdrop as the U.S. grind through their final preparations, with a World Cup looming and Germany waiting this weekend.
Richards, Timelines and a Manager’s Frustration
On the grass, Chris Richards moved smoothly through warmups with his teammates on Friday. No limp. No obvious issue. The defender looked like any other player in the group.
He won’t play.
Mauricio Pochettino confirmed it, and the irritation in his explanation said as much as the words.
“When we decided the roster, we thought that Chris could play the final of the Conference [League] because we had designed the roster previously,” he 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.”
That’s the calculation now. Every minute matters, every risk feels bigger than it might in November of a normal club season. Richards’ situation is a reminder: even the best-laid World Cup plans bend under medical updates and shifting timelines.
Pochettino admitted the squad carries the usual end-of-season knocks. He laughed when pressed for a full injury report, brushing it off as part of the landscape. The real tension lies elsewhere — in the choices he has to make before the tournament even kicks off.
No Right Answers Before a World Cup
The question for any coach in this window is simple and impossible at the same time: play the stars or wrap them in cotton wool?
Pochettino knows the trap.
“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.”
Rest them and you risk rust. Play them and you risk disaster. Either way, the verdict comes after the fact, shouted from screens rather than stadium seats.
So Pochettino leans into what he can control: the quality of the opposition and the intensity of the tests.
Germany Again, and a Chance to Measure Up
Back in March, Pochettino pushed hard for top-tier European opponents. Those chances don’t come often for the U.S., and he knows the value of being stretched before the stakes soar.
After beating Senegal, Germany now stand in the way — a familiar and still daunting yardstick.
“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. saw Germany not long ago. 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 part of that night.
McKennie doesn’t dwell on the names on the back of the German shirts. He remembers the feeling.
“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.”
New coach. New stakes. Same ambition.
McKennie’s Form, and Where to Use It
McKennie arrives in camp carrying something every international manager craves from his midfielders: end product and swagger.
Nine goals and six assists across Serie A and the Champions League tell the story of a player who found his stride with Juventus. The club fell short of the Champions League spots by just two points, but McKennie’s individual level stayed high.
For him, that matters now.
“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.
The question is how Pochettino channels that. Deeper in midfield, where he can dictate tempo and cover ground? Or higher up, where his late runs and knack for chaos can tilt tight games?
McKennie shrugs at the tactical debate. He sees himself as the plug-in piece.
“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.”
Some teammates enter this World Cup cycle flying. Others limp in from difficult club seasons. McKennie doesn’t pretend form is irrelevant, but he understands what the tournament does to narratives. Once the anthem stops, the only thing that matters is what happens in those 90 minutes.
On Friday in Chicago, with Gregg Berhalter watching his former “babies” move through drills as grown men, the U.S. looked like a team caught between two eras: the memory of who they were and the pressure of who they’re supposed to be now.
Germany will offer another hard truth. The World Cup will offer the final one.
