USMNT Vs Uruguay: What is the point in Paxton Pomykal?

Paxton Pomykal was handed a meagre five minutes in the USMNT’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay on Tuesday night. What is the point in that?

Friendlies do not matter. Actually, let me re-phrase. The results of friendlies do not matter. What happens in them does matter, but whether you win or lose the game has no bearing on the future of the team.

The point of friendlies is primarily two-fold: to provide players with a chance to gain match fitness and sharpness, especially if they are in pre-season; to experiment with systems, personnel and tactics, better installing the approach of the team and understanding which players have the abilities and skill sets to execute such an approach.

For international friendlies, because players are usually sharp when they arrive in camp, it is this latter point that is especially significant. These matches are the chance for head coaches to experiment with new players, use different systems and tactics, teach their philosophies and principles, if they indeed have any, and bleed young prospects into the senior landscape.

This September, U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter named an exciting and youthful squad. There was a great hope that this was going to be a youth-inspired double-header of international friendlies. But apparently he did not tell Paxton Pomykal.

Pomykal was introduced in the 85th minute in the USMNT’S 1-1 draw with Uruguay on Tuesday night. He attempted two passes, completing just one, and completed one dribble. He may as well not have played. So what was the point in including him if you are not going to provide him with a substantial period on the pitch, other than to see him in training?

In the week, Pomykal spoke about how he has improved in training as he better understands the Berhalter system:

"“I struggled maybe the first couple of days getting my feet wet. But I think that now I’m starting to understand the system more and it’s been good.”"

Berhalter echoed those encouraging comments:

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"“He’s been good. It’s been fun to watch him up close. From what we see, we like. He’s a very intelligent player and a technically good player. He’s a great guy to be around.”"

But it is difficult to believe the USMNT head coach when he hands a 19-year-old playing regular MLS football just five minutes in a meaningless friendly that had lost all intensity. Pomykal has the quality and potential to be a key figure for the USMNT moving forward. As his FC Dallas teammate Reggie Cannon puts it:

"“I’ve been trying to get Paxton ingrained into the national team system. I really want him to get the most success possible that he can have with the national team because I really do believe he’s the future.”"

These friendlies are the ideal opportunity to hand him significant game time to see if he can handle the unique stresses of international football. How does he do against elite players? Can he deal with the pressure of playing for his country? What about understanding the system and fitting into the team? You are not going to come close to answering these questions in five minutes of action.

Next. USMNT Vs Uruguay: 3 things we learned. dark

Is Pomykal the future of the USMNT? At this point, no one really knows. But I can tell you one thing for sure: five minutes as a substitute is not going to tip the scales either way. What is the point?

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