Recreate Pochettino’s fluid USA World Cup system in Football Manager 2026.
The USA, one of the co-hosts of the tournament, have been one of the best sides at the FIFA World Cup thus far, advancing through to the Round of 16 following a comfortable 2-0 victory against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
However, it was their opening game performance against Paraguay - who stunningly knocked out one of the favourites, Germany - that really caught people’s eyes.
Now, with a Round of 16 tie against Belgium coming up and with an entire nation’s support in their hands, the USA look like a real force to be reckoned with.
Wonderfully Coached Positional Play Method
One of the most eye-catching facets of the USA’s game thus far has been their proficiency and effectiveness in circulating the ball and using seamless rotations to disorganise the opposition’s defensive shape.
Whilst the overarching shape, once the side have progressed from build-up, is typically a 3-2-5, this shape can become blurred as a result of multiple players diverging from their specific ‘zones’.
For example, Malik Tillman can tend to drift over to the right side from the left side of midfield to receive, whilst McKennie can do the same on the opposite side, moving over to the left from the right side.
Another example is the respective positionings of Christian Pulisic and Antonee Robinson, who can interchange their positions often, with one holding the width on the left whilst the other inverts into the left half-space. Examples of these can be seen in the diagrams below:
Elite Management of Space
The USA’s ability to occupy, create, and attack space is one of the best I have seen in years, in all honesty.
The timings of the dropping movements, the corresponding runs in-behind, and the strategic positioning of some of the players are absolutely incredible, and this allows for Pochettino’s side to attack the opposition in a multitude of differing ways.
They can play short to a dropping player, converge towards the ball, and recycle/link play in close proximity.
Or, alternatively, they can use the dropping movements from an attacker to create space in-behind for a team-mate to run into, going direct into the space to supply the runner.
When they do penetrate the space in-behind with an aggressive run and a subsequent, direct pass, they will usually look to do so in the half-spaces, releasing one of McKennie, Balogun, Pulisic, or Robinson, depending on who has dropped and who has run in-behind.
Examples of these patterns can be seen in the diagrams below:
The blue lines showcase the dropping movements of certain players, countered by the penetrative runs in-behind (red lines) of their team-mates.
These counter-movements provide the ball-carrier multiple options to pass the ball to (yellow lines).
Flexible Zonal/Man-Marking Approach
Another impressive aspect of the USA’s approach against Paraguay was their aggressive, zonal/man-marking approach without the ball that completely suffocated Paraguay at times.
Without the ball, the USA would press high and close down their opponents as often as possible, mainly trying to force the opposition into wide areas from where Pochettino’s side could lock them in close to the touchline.
From Paraguay’s build-up, which was within a 4-2-3-1 shape, Christian Pulisic would move higher alongside Balogun to be in an optimal position to readily close down Paraguay’s right-sided centre-back.
This, in turn, left Paraguay’s right-back free to receive under no pressure... that would be the case, if it weren’t for Malik Tillman’s dual marking/pressing role.
Initially, the AC Milan midfielder would begin central and in close proximity to Paraguay’s right-sided defensive midfielder.
However, as the ball began moving over to Paraguay’s right-back, Tillman would edge close to the free man before eagerly surging to close him down upon receiving the ball - Adams, initially below Tillman, would step up to mark the right-sided defensive midfielder in Tillman’s absence, with Tim Ream stepping up to mark the vacant ‘10’ in Paraguay’s system.
An example of this approach can be seen below:
Here, as showcased on the diagram, you can see that every midfield player and winger for Paraguay is, initially, being tightly marked (red circles) by the USA.
The red lines showcase how both Pulisic and Balogun are going to close down and, eventually, mark their opposing centre-backs.
The green circle shows Paraguay’s right-back being in space to easily receive.
As the right centre-back receives, Tillman and Adams both detach from the players they were initially marking to begin to reach their next marking targets (blue lines) - Tim Ream steps up to mark the ‘10’.
As the right centre-back shapes to feed the free right-back (pink line), Tillman begins to close down the free man (red line).
As the right-back receives, Tillman is now aggressively trying to win the ball back whilst Pulisic closes the passing angle for the backwards pass.
With every close option marked (red circles), the right-back can only go long or try and beat Tillman with a crafty dribble.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
In build-up, the USA uses a lot of short passes in deep areas to draw the opposition high, all with the aim of finding a free man and/or an avenue to progress from/through - this tends to start with the ‘keeper distributing short to the centre-backs.
As they progress and look to break down the opposition’s mid-block, there is a large emphasis placed on finding the underlapping runs from McKennie or Balogun on the right.
From here, if they can find the underlapping runs, they will look to reach the byline for cut-backs into the penalty area.
Players are given freedom to roam and express themselves.
Out of Possession
Without the ball, the USA will aggressively press the opposition high at every available opportunity, whilst also trying to force the opposition wide as often as possible.
To supplement their high-press, the USA utilise a higher defensive line.
Once they lose the ball, the USA will counter-press immediately to try and regain possession.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper
Whilst the ‘keeper, in this system, will largely distribute short, he has shown a propensity to going direct at times.
Inside Full-Back | Pressing Full-Back
Freeman has been one of the USA’s most underrated players at this World Cup thus far, producing dominant performances and proving a crucial cog in their machine.
When his side has the ball, Freeman will invert to form a back-three with the two centre-backs.
From here, upon receiving the ball, he can either carry forward (typically into wider areas) or pass it shorter.
Additionally, without the ball at his feet, he can sometimes maraud forwards to provide his own underlapping runs on the right side.
Without the ball, both of the USA’s full-backs will tenaciously close down the opposition’s wingers.
Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back
Chris Richards went viral following the USA’s dominant win against Paraguay, with fans, pundits, and analysts alike purring at the statistic that Richards completed all 84 of his 84 passes in the game.
In this system, the options are endless for Richards with the ball as he can keep things simple with a short pass, break the lines with a progressive pass from deep, or even carry forward himself.
Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back
Next to Richards, Tim Ream, more often than not, kept things simple with short passes to supplement the side’s possession-based game.
Without the ball, he would step up at times to mark the opposition’s ‘10’ and/or stop attacks at source.
Wing-Back | Pressing Full-Back
In this particular set-up, Robinson would largely stay wider and hold the width.
From here, he tended to take on his man and/or carry forward, from where he would look to cut inside to link play with those in central areas.
Alternatively, he could find the runner into the left channel with a riskier pass.
Advanced Wing-Back | Wide Midfielder
In this system, Dest is the side’s right-winger/right-midfielder/right wing-back - his positioning is fluid and entirely dependent on the situation around him.
However, what does largely remain a constant is his width-holding on the right.
From here, upon receiving the ball, he will tend to cut inside with the ball - although, not too often - and link play, or even find McKennie running in-behind with a riskier pass into the right half-space.
Defensive Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder
In this position, Adams would predominantly hold his position and rotate possession with short, risk-free passes.
Box-To-Box Playmaker | Wide Covering Central Midfielder
Tillman is the side’s primary playmaker, constantly moving towards the ball to receive and create for his team-mates.
However, in this particular set-up, he can, at times, drift higher and rotate with Pulisic.
Upon receiving the ball, Tillman can turn and carry forward or take on a man, before finding an attacking team-mate with a riskier pass.
Without the ball, Tillman will start narrower before moving wide to cover for Pulisic, closing down the opposition right-back with speed and aggression.
Central Midfielder | Pressing Central Midfielder
In this position, McKennie will initially start in a slightly deeper position to allow Dest to position himself high and wide on the right.
From here, he will readily surge beyond with penetrative runs into the half-space; however, he isn’t tied to the right half-space as he is given freedom to roam from his position and rotate with Tillman.
Upon receiving the ball, McKennie will drive forward before looking to find an attacking team-mate with a riskier pass.
Without the ball, McKennie will push higher to mark the opposition’s deepest midfielder.
Inside Winger | Tracking Centre Forward
In this particular set-up, Pulisic will largely invert into the left half-space, freeing the left flank for Robinson to hold the width.
From here, he will tend to drift from his position at times to pick up the ball in alternate positions and areas of the pitch.
Upon receiving the ball, Pulisic predominantly focuses on taking on his man - largely with the aim of driving inside the pitch - or keeping things simple with shorter passes.
Without the ball, he will push high alongside Balogun and will drop deeper as the opposition progresses higher.
Channel Forward | Centre Forward
In this particular set-up, Balogun primarily focuses on attacking the channels with his speed and vigour.
Upon receiving the ball, he will usually take on a man or link play with a shorter pass.
Results
FIFA World Cup 2026: Runners-Up
Conclusion
With their sheer dominance and superiority against low-blocks - something even the most unanimous of favourites have yet to achieve - and their collection of fantastically talented players, the USA have a proper, legitimate chance at winning the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history.
If they can showcase grit and determination against (supposed) superior outfits like, for instance, Belgium, they might just end up realising their potential.
If you want a taste of this beautiful tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and make sure to follow FM Blog (@fmbIog) and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials.
I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!
