Matt Freese could face big risk if NYCFC player starts for USMNT friendly

Matt Freese is one of three New York City FC players heading to the 2026 World Cup, and the only one on the current roster who will suit up for the United States men's national team. It is still up in the air about whether he will start, for the goalkeeper has competition with Matt Turner, the starter from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

However, Freese is expected to start in Saturday's friendly against Germany. The USMNT will ideally start the starting lineup, or close to it, that will take the pitch in the first game of the biggest tournament in less than a week. But the head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, has not decided who will be the starter for the World Cup. So, is he setting Freese up for failure and the possibility of riding the bench?

Before anyone makes accusations, no, the idea is not that Pochettino is intentionally setting up the NYCFC goalkeeper to fail. Rather, by putting him between the sticks against Germany, which Freese should be, is the head coach putting him in a position where he will lose out on a starting role?

NYCFC's Matt Freese faces danger against Germany with USMNT

The reason is simple. Senegal is a fantastic team, and the US had a good win against them last weekend. Germany, on the other hand, is at another level. They have won their last eight matches, which included World Cup qualifiers and friendlies. Moreover, the team has scored four goals or more in half of those games, including three of the last four.

Of course, it has not always been easy over the last few years. Germany has suffered losses or earned draws with teams that they should have beaten, and then they struggled sometimes against other top national teams. Alas, the recent form is concerning from the USMNT perspective.

Freese could play in the friendly, and the Stars and Stripes could easily lose, and terribly too. Look at what happened in the Belgium game in the last international window, when they lost 5-2. Notably, Turner was in goal, and Freese started the 2-0 loss to Portugal. With the way Germany is scoring, the USMNT could easily lose by a few goals or more. Plus, the team often struggles against the bigger teams in the footballing world.

Now, what Freese needs to do is make the saves that he should make. He cannot make any mistakes, and any goals that go past him need to be due to the defenders in front of him. Or, German players could score multiple goals that nobody would be able to save. Hopefully, Pochettino will understand that this matchup is a challenging one, and that the NYCFC keeper could still have a good game even if he allows goals.

Of course, the fear is that the head coach will see three or four goals allowed and immediately turn to Turner for the World Cup. Truthfully, that would not be fair because Germany has been incredible as of late.

In addition, there is always the possibility that the US will come out and secure a solid result on Saturday. Still, Freese has to be at his very best. If he allows multiple goals and is to blame for them, then he could lose out on the starting role.

When all is said and done, in a perfect world, Freese would have solidified the starting goalkeeper job with the USMNT. Instead, he could be facing a detrimental match against Germany, which may keep the NYCFC player from starting at the World Cup.

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