With Greg O’Keeffe still unavailable due to load management considerations, we’re back for another edition of our weekly USMNT Player Tracker. As the 2026 World Cup is a mere 16 months away, every performance will play a part in these squad hopefuls’ chances of selection.
In this week’s edition: Christian Pulisic can’t seem to hide from his Chelsea past, Manchester City struggles against an unlikely nemesis, Tyler Adams eyes a cup run, and much more.
Issue of the weekend
In a vacuum, it’s only good that Pulisic caught a breather as Milan headed to Empoli, who are mired in Serie A’s relegation scrap.
The USMNT forward had been played heavily as usual, having started the previous four games that all took place in 11 days. Empoli looked to be earmarked for squad rotation, with several key regulars joining Pulisic on the bench before the midweek resumption of the Champions League.
With Milan held scoreless at half-time, however, Pulisic checked in to start the second half along with Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez. Despite Fikayo Tomori’s dismissal and Milan playing down a man for 10 minutes before Empoli had their own player red-carded, Pulisic wasted little time to make his impact.
Pulisic looped a cross onto Leao’s forehead in the 68th minute to open the scoring, then pried a loose ball into Gimenez’s path to seal a 2-0 victory eight minutes later.
The win helped Milan rise one spot in the league standings, finishing the weekend in seventh.
Operating primarily in the right half-space of the attacking third, Pulisic was as impactful as ever in a rapidly revamped Milan side. While he played a few passes to compatriot Yunus Musah, his other three most frequent passing associates joined the club this winter.
One, Gimenez, represented a potential upgrade at striker while breaking down barriers with a CONCACAF rival from Mexico. Another, Kyle Walker, is as grizzled as they get at right back, and will be a regular fixture of Pulisic’s match plots (illustrated below in his player dashboard) as they refine their relationship on that flank.
However, it’s the third fresh face who could complicate Pulisic’s status as a first-choice starter for the rest of the season.
Joao Felix joined Milan last week, leaving Chelsea on loan until the end of the season. The Portugal international is at his fourth club in three years but has made a strong first impression. He is the latest trying to transition from Milan to Chelsea, a road perhaps most successfully trodden by Pulisic in recent years.
Joao Felix scored on his midweek debut against Roma in the Coppa Italia, then played 84 minutes against Empoli as the team’s No 10.
Milan boss Sergio Conceicao has rotated Pulisic — most of the time, he has lined up in the same right-wing spot that brought out his best in 2023-24. Sometimes, however, Pulisic has operated as a central attacking midfielder, where he logged slightly more touches per game and slightly prioritized chance creation over his own shooting output.
Pulisic made a strong impact upon his introduction at half-time (Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)
Of course, Pulisic’s strengths off the ball still best project him to play on the wing rather than up the middle. If Joao Felix’s presence helps keep him lined up in his best role, that’s only a good thing to keep him at his sharpest ahead of the World Cup.
The real concern is whether Joao Felix remains impressive enough to justify keeping Pulisic out of the lineup more often moving forward. There are plenty of options to fit along Conceicao’s forward line: Leao, Joao Felix and Gimenez, plus Coppa Italia hero Tammy Abraham. Then there is Serbian striker Luka Jovic and Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze.
The winter’s biggest departure, Euro 2024 winner Alvaro Morata, decongests the depth chart at striker, rather than the roles Pulisic might play.
The easiest solution is that Pulisic sustains the form that has made him irrepressible since joining Milan two summers ago. Inconsistency and injuries are keeping many USMNT forwards from regular minutes but seeing Pulisic’s game time decrease would be a nervy proposition for Mauricio Pochettino.
GO DEEPER
Joao Felix has become football’s Rorschach test – everyone sees something different
Player of the weekend
Last week, I snuck Charlie Kelman onto the “what’s coming up” shortlist as a novelty pick. After all, Leyton Orient of the English third tier were projected to be up against it with Manchester City visiting, regardless of City’s struggles this season.
However, Orient shocked the Premier League champions by scoring first in their FA Cup fourth-round fixture from an own goal following Jamie Donley’s audacious long-range chip.
Although Kelman wasn’t involved in that goal, he pestered City throughout his shift at striker. He took five shots, tying him with Ilkay Gundogan and Omar Marmoush for tops in the contest, and forced Stefan Ortega into two saves.
Although Orient could not feed him chances directly in front of goal, Kelman did well to take his opportunities from wider positions in the City box.
Having split his academy years between FC Dallas and Southend United, the 23-year-old forward has been on Queens Park Rangers’ books since 2020 but spent most of that time on loan.
This is his second stint with Leyton Orient, having previously played for the side in 2022-23 while they were in League Two. Kelman is starting regularly in League One and has eight league goals to show for his effort. To start against Pep Guardiola’s modern juggernaut and keep them busy all afternoon is no small feat for the former U.S. youth international.
City stormed back after the early concession to win 2-1 at the Gaughan Group Stadium and advance to the FA Cup’s fifth round. Nevertheless, Kelman and his team-mates should take plenty of pride from giving City a scare.
It’s safe to assume that those in Kelman’s life will hear plenty about his performance on Saturday for years to come.
Kelman challenges with City’s Ruben Dias on Saturday (Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Quote of the weekend
The Tyler Adams comeback tour continued apace over the weekend, with his Bournemouth side paying David Moyes’ revitalized Everton a visit.
It was a tricky trip in the FA Cup’s fourth round, and the Cherries have historically struggled in cup ties away from the Vitality Stadium. Instead, Bournemouth kept its cool, logging a 2-0 win at Goodison Park to advance to the fifth round. They’ll learn their opponent later today (Monday).
Adams had another start at the heart of midfield, as has become refreshingly commonplace of late.
“I think we can achieve a lot,” Adams told ESPN post-match about the upcoming stretch. “I mean, we’ve had the mentality — even coming off the game last week against Liverpool where we lost 2-0. We still leave the game and come into training the next day with a good vibe. We’re happy with the performances that we’re putting in, and I think it’s more about the consistency throughout the entire season.”
Adams played a key role in Bournemouth’s latest victory (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
The former New York Red Bulls homegrown played all 90 minutes, earning a yellow card in an otherwise typically professional shift. Now seemingly fully beyond his most recent injury, Saturday marked the sixth straight match where he’s logged at least 89 minutes, a sequence dating back to January 11.
“This is what you want to do week-in and week-in: play football,” Adams added. “You don’t want to watch from the sidelines. For the past 12 to 18 months, last season, I was watching from the sidelines. I’m happy to be out there helping the boys in any way I can. I know that I can have a big impact when I’m playing and I’m fit and I’m healthy, so it’s just about staying out there.”
At this stage, Adams knows full well how vital it is for Bournemouth, the USMNT and himself to remain diligent in monitoring his fitness. Club and country alike can hardly afford to see the defensive midfielder pick up another knock, as the compounding nature of leg muscle injuries can make repeated tears and strains even harder from which to recover.
How did other U.S. players get on?
Name: Ethan Horvath
Club: Cardiff City
Position: Goalkeeper
Appearances (all competitions): Six
Horvath got the nod in goal as Cardiff visited Stoke City in an all-Championship cup tie, making just his second appearance for the Welsh club since August.
Although he and his defense conceded three goals to the hosts, his side matched the Potters’ scoring output to send the game to a shootout. Horvath came through, saving one penalty after another Stoke player had hit the post, to help Cardiff advance by a 4-2 shootout margin.
Horvath celebrates with his team-mates after the shootout success (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Name: Yunus Musah
Club: AC Milan
Position: Central midfielder
Appearances: 28
Goals: Zero
Musah was not rotated out of Milan’s lineup, likely a byproduct of his impending suspension in the Champions League after seeing red in the league-phase finale. The midfielder played all 90 minutes against Empoli, completing 33 of 37 pass attempts while leading Milan with six ball recoveries.
Name: John Tolkin
Club: Holstein Kiel
Position: Left wing-back
Appearances: Three
Goals: Zero
After making his first Bundesliga start against Bayern Munich last weekend, Tolkin’s impact was more direct this time as he played all 90 minutes against Bochum. Tolkin, who started all four of the United States’s games at last year’s Olympics, showed the dead-ball skill that made him vital for his boyhood New York Red Bulls, looping a set piece over the Bochum line for fellow defender David Zec to score (illustrated below).
Name: Josh Sargent
Club: Norwich City
Position: Striker
Appearances: 18
Goals: Eight
Sargent is back to his best, seemingly scoring whenever he wants.
Derby County was his latest victim, seeing Sargent and Emiliano Marcondes deftly work a passing sequence through its back line to open the scoring in Saturday’s Championship fixture. Unfortunately for Norwich, the visitors found an equalizer deep into second-half stoppage time, taking two points off the Canaries.
A win would have been enough to rise to sixth place in the Championship; the draw represented another complication in their path to Premier League promotion.
Sargent celebrates his latest goal at Carrow Road (Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
Name: Johnny Cardoso
Club: Real Betis
Position: Defensive midfielder
Appearances: 26
Goals: One
Johnny played a full 90 minutes in a 3-2 loss away at Celta Vigo. As usual, his primary responsibility was to string short passes to keep the ball rolling. It wasn’t all bad this week, however, as the midfielder signed fresh terms to keep him with Real Betis through 2030.
Name: Giovanni Reyna
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Position: Attacking midfielder
Appearances: 15
Goals: Two
Reyna is logging up consistent appearances these days, but you’d be forgiven for not noticing.
The midfielder checked in late during Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 home defeat against Stuttgart, new head coach Niko Kovac’s first game in charge, and was given just five minutes to try flipping the result. The brief cameo yielded a grim stat line: five minutes, six touches, three completed passes from five attempts.
Reyna has played at least 45 minutes on just two occasions in 2025, both in the Champions League.
Kovac issues his instructions to substitute Reyna (Jürgen Fromme – firo sportphoto/Getty Images)
What’s coming up?
(All times ET)
The UEFA Champions League moves into its next phase on Tuesday, with several USMNT players featuring in the inaugural play-off round.
The opening day has a star-spangled matchup as Juventus (Weston McKennie, Tim Weah) welcome PSV (Malik Tillman, Richy Ledezma) to Turin at 3pm on Paramount+. The same kickoff slot has Borussia Dortmund visiting Sporting, with Reyna hoping to earn a bit longer of a shift.
Wednesday sees Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty face a stern test against Bayern Munich (3pm, Paramount+). While Real Betis is a couple of rungs lower in the UEFA Conference League, Johnny will hope to help the Spanish side advance in a first-leg trip to Gent.
The FA Cup wraps up its fourth round today (Monday), with Crystal Palace visiting fourth-tier Doncaster Rovers (2:45pm, ESPN+) in a matchup that maybe — just maybe — will allow Matt Turner to brush considerable dust off of his goalkeeping gloves. Sargent‘s quest for promotion continues on Tuesday as Norwich hosts mid-table Preston (3pm, ESPN+).
Late last week, Coventry manager Frank Lampard cautioned that Tuesday’s match would come too soon for Haji Wright to make his return from his ankle ligament injury. However, the Chelsea legend suggested his club’s leading scorer could be set to return by the end of February — so stay tuned for his long-awaited return.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
