{"id":27679,"date":"2025-11-21T14:18:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T19:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/usmnt-faces-panic-without-pulisic-and-mckennie-is-it-time-to-worry-plus-mls-embraces-fall-schedule-shift-smart-move-or-recipe-for-chaos\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T14:18:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T19:18:53","slug":"usmnt-faces-panic-without-pulisic-and-mckennie-is-it-time-to-worry-plus-mls-embraces-fall-schedule-shift-smart-move-or-recipe-for-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/usmnt-faces-panic-without-pulisic-and-mckennie-is-it-time-to-worry-plus-mls-embraces-fall-schedule-shift-smart-move-or-recipe-for-chaos\/","title":{"rendered":"USMNT Faces Panic Without Pulisic and McKennie \u2014 Is It Time to Worry? Plus, MLS Embraces Fall Schedule Shift: Smart Move or Recipe for Chaos?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<h2 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"subscribe-to-the-cooligans\"><strong>Join the Cooligans<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros discuss Weston McKennie&#8217;s exclusion from the USMNT roster in November. Should manager Mauricio Pochettino have selected a midfielder this far ahead of the World Cup? The men&#8217;s team will also identify their top eleven from this lineup and spotlight a player they believe merits a place in the World Cup squad.<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Next, Christian and Alexis react to the surprising announcement that MLS will transition to a fall-spring schedule beginning in 2027. Is this a positive change for the league? How will MLS realign with the European soccer calendar?<\/p>\n<p>The duo then previews the NWSL semi-finals and shares their predictions, including insights on which teams have the best chance of winning.<\/p>\n<p>(6:30) \u2013 No McKennie or Pulisic: When will the USMNT start to worry?<\/p>\n<p>(17:00) \u2013 Projected Best Eleven for the USMNT in November<\/p>\n<p>(25:30) \u2013 Spotlight on USMNT Players: Who truly deserves a spot in the World Cup lineup?<\/p>\n<p>(30:00) \u2013 MLS greenlights fall-to-spring calendar shift<\/p>\n<p>(48:00) \u2013 Previewing the NWSL Playoffs Semi-Finals<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7777777777777777\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Alessandro Sabatin\/Getty Images\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" src=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:960 \/ 540\" bad-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/HJqtE8d9mVoH2zaoyxysPw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-11\/23e0b930-c0e1-11f0-9dbb-2055e8c430ea\"\/><br \/>\n<button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><br \/>\n<svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\">\n<path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/>\n<\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<p>Alessandro Sabatin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\ud83d\udda5\ufe0f <\/strong><strong><em>Catch the entire episode on YouTube<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Explore more from the Yahoo Sports podcast lineup at: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>https:\/\/apple.co\/3zEuTQj<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> or on <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>yahoosports.tv<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>Fan Take: This news is significant for soccer fans because a shift to a fall-spring schedule aligns MLS more closely with global soccer trends, potentially enhancing player recruitment and competition level. Additionally, the decisions surrounding player selections for the upcoming World Cup will have long-lasting implications for the team&#8217;s performance and prestige.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Join the Cooligans Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros discuss Weston McKennie&#8217;s exclusion from the USMNT roster in November. Should manager Mauricio Pochettino have selected a midfielder this far ahead of the World Cup? The men&#8217;s team will also identify their top eleven from this lineup and spotlight a player they believe merits a place in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1047,3318,112,510,40,7048,966,372,46,2466,1329,5711,191,1800,4355,45,607,1200,7049],"class_list":{"0":"post-27679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-chaos","9":"tag-embraces","10":"tag-faces","11":"tag-fall","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-mckennie","14":"tag-mls","15":"tag-move","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-panic","18":"tag-pulisic","19":"tag-recipe","20":"tag-schedule","21":"tag-shift","22":"tag-smart","23":"tag-soccer","24":"tag-time","25":"tag-usmnt","26":"tag-worry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27679","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=27679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}