{"id":12668,"date":"2025-07-10T22:09:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T02:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/alexi-lalas-reveals-his-ultimate-us-xi-the-case-for-turners-starting-spot-despite-freezes-heroics\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T22:09:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T02:09:06","slug":"alexi-lalas-reveals-his-ultimate-us-xi-the-case-for-turners-starting-spot-despite-freezes-heroics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/alexi-lalas-reveals-his-ultimate-us-xi-the-case-for-turners-starting-spot-despite-freezes-heroics\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexi Lalas Reveals His Ultimate US XI: The Case for Turner\u2019s Starting Spot Despite Freeze\u2019s Heroics"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/alexi-lalas-reveals-his-ultimate-us-xi-the-case-for-turners-starting-spot-despite-freezes-heroics\/#Rewritten_Content\" >Rewritten Content<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/alexi-lalas-reveals-his-ultimate-us-xi-the-case-for-turners-starting-spot-despite-freezes-heroics\/#Fan_Take\" >Fan Take<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rewritten_Content\"><\/span>Rewritten Content<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Constructing the ultimate starting eleven for the US Men&#8217;s National Team is both an intriguing task and an opportunity for Coach Mauricio Pochettino in the upcoming international matches. Following a successful Gold Cup, many fans are excited about returning to the national team setup.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s begin with the goalkeeper position.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Freeze gained attention for his penalty save against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup quarterfinals, but aside from that moment, his performances were largely unremarkable\u2014though it\u2019s worth considering he didn\u2019t get many chances to shine. <\/p>\n<p>In the match against Mexico, he didn\u2019t exhibit the capability to make a difference and struggled with mistakes made during the earlier group stages. Establishing a reputation requires more than a few instances of luck; a player must prove their reliability.<\/p>\n<p>While I anticipate Freeze will still be selected, it&#8217;s likely that Matt Turner is also in the mix, ready to assert himself. If a game were to be played tomorrow, I would lean towards starting Turner in goal.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, competition remains fierce, particularly with Zack Steffen in the picture. If he recovers from injury, he could mount a strong challenge for the starting role, ultimately making Turner the primary rival.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s my complete Gold Cup XI for the US:<\/p>\n<p><em>Image placeholder for Gold Cup XI<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Alexi Lalas serves as a soccer analyst for Fox Sports and is the host of &quot;Alexi Lalas&#8217; State of the Union Podcast.&quot; He represented the USMNT at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and played professionally for nine years. In 2006, he became president of LA Galaxy, notably aiding in David Beckham&#8217;s arrival in Major League Soccer.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fan_Take\"><\/span>Fan Take<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This analysis is crucial for soccer enthusiasts as it highlights the evolving dynamics within the US Men&#8217;s National Team, indicating the potential for a stronger squad in future competitions. With emerging talents vying for spots, fans can expect a thrilling season ahead as the team prepares for major tournaments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rewritten Content Constructing the ultimate starting eleven for the US Men&#8217;s National Team is both an intriguing task and an opportunity for Coach Mauricio Pochettino in the upcoming international matches. Following a successful Gold Cup, many fans are excited about returning to the national team setup. Let\u2019s begin with the goalkeeper position. Matt Freeze gained [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[3676,3794,40,3160,2375,3677,46,442,45,766,2801,3887,1446],"class_list":{"0":"post-12668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-alexi","9":"tag-case","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-freezes","12":"tag-heroics","13":"tag-lalas","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-reveals","16":"tag-soccer","17":"tag-spot","18":"tag-starting","19":"tag-turners","20":"tag-ultimate"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}