USMNT: 6 intriguing MLS players on January camp roster

Mauricio Pochettino just dropped the roster for his first January camp in charge of the US men’s national team, and it’s a fun one.

Of the 24 names on this list, seven players are completely new to the USMNT environs. Another three are uncapped despite previous call-ups. And one is a fairly familiar face whose inclusion is nevertheless unexpected – Matko Milijevic, the Miami-born attacker whose heritage makes him eligible to represent four nations (the US, Argentina, Bosnia and Croatia) and whose contract with CF Montréal was terminated in 2023 via some of the more surreal circumstances in recent memory.

Whatever specific gripes one might have with Poch’s selections and snubs, at the very least the charismatic Argentine coach is keeping things interesting as he and his staff kick off a massive 2025 with this Florida camp, which will be punctuated by friendlies vs. Venezuela and Costa Rica.

That said, the following six names caught our eye as particularly intriguing choices. Let’s plunge in.

Poch picked a pretty solid goalkeeping corps, though we contend that its newest face arrives with the strongest case for fast-tracking up the depth chart.

That would be Freese, NYCFC’s 2024 MVP, a legit game-changer in the Pigeons’ upset of FC Cincinnati in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and a stunning snub from the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year shortlist. As Hudson River Blue’s Matthew Mangam noted in November, the Philadelphia Union academy product posted the league’s third-highest save rate (74 percent) and a superb 9.8 goals prevented last season, second-best in MLS and miles ahead of the -11.6 of Zack Steffen, the most experienced of the January ‘keeper quartet.

“Moon Boy” was harshly snubbed from the US Oly squad in France over the summer, despite playing a key role in the qualification campaign that ended the program’s lengthy exile from that big stage. You could hardly blame the creative attacker for turning down an alternate slot and publicly pondering an eligibility switch to Mexico, his parents’ homeland.

But whatever happens with the RSL rising star’s international future, Poch is not letting him walk away just like that. The coach spoke warmly of Luna when asked about the San Jose Earthquakes academy alum, after naming his first USMNT roster back in October, calling him “one of the players that we propose as a future player in the national team,” with “great potential.” Now, he’s giving him a longer, closer look.

Luna is built differently from most other domestic players in his area of the pitch, and we’re eager to see if he can seize this month’s opportunity.

This Jan camp roster makes it clear: Pochettino and his scouting team are indeed watching MLS games and not just throwing darts at a player pool list or referencing established reputations.

Not only that, they might even be hardcore MLSsoccer.com readers and/or Extratime podcast listeners – because our beloved Armchair Analyst Matt Doyle has for months on end been banging the drum for Eneli, who spent time in Columbus’ academy as a kid but eventually reached the pros via the SuperDraft after four years at Cornell.

“Eneli is my out-of-right-field ask. His ability to receive the ball in traffic, his comfort with it once he gets it on his foot, and then his ability to change speeds and explode past the first defender… it was Darlington Nagbe-esque in central midfield this year,” wrote Doyle in his January camp roster prediction piece last month.

MD threw in a wrinkle by advocating for Eneli to be deployed in what he considers “his natural spot” as a right back, the position where he first broke into RSL’s first team, rather than as a box-to-box center mid. While that could still happen, the USMNT are, so far, listing him as a midfielder.

Yeah, so… Poch & Co. are definitely not dodging the Extratime listener allegations.

Thanks in no small part to Andrew Wiebe’s flowery endorsements, “Big Pat” became an ETR poster child as he blossomed into an unexpected star for Charlotte over the past two years, displacing Designated Player and Polish World Cup veteran Karol Swiderski as The Crown’s top scorer last season with a rare blend of strength, speed and skill.

Another SuperDraft Cinderella story, Agyemang is a modern permutation of the traditional “big man up top,” offering something different for the USMNT to consider. As a late-blooming diamond in the rough who turned 24 in November, it’s not hard to imagine his trajectory continuing upwards in ‘25.

This one’s another W for NancyBall. And yeah, yet another SuperDraft surprise, even if Arfsten took a more winding path from Fresno, California to UC Davis to the San Jose Earthquakes' second team and on to Columbus.

Maybe it’s inevitable that the New York Red Bulls’ shocking Round One playoffs sweep of the Crew quieted the buzz around Wilfried Nancy and his high-flying game model, especially as rumors swirl of European interest in the talented French coach.

But Arfsten’s growth is a great example of what’s worked so well for the 2023 MLS Cup winners, as he evolved from a forward into a wingback capable of quality service with either foot, well-timed back-post arrivals and the occasional long-range banger in addition to his defensive duties – to say nothing of the confidence epitomized by his ice-cold conversion of the penalty kick that eliminated Mexican giants Tigres UANL from last year’s Concacaf Champions Cup.

Might any or all of that translate to international level?

Amid the stubborn struggles that continue to dog the underachieving Chicago Fire, this homegrown playmaker is a gleaming silver lining.

Like Luna’s, his USMNT call is a sign that Pochettino isn’t just going to concede Mexican-American dual-national talent to El Tri. And like Agyemang, it’s quite notable how “Guti” outperformed a highly-paid DP teammate, in his case Xherdan Shaqiri, who shuffled off to Switzerland last year after his productivity couldn’t hold a candle to the lanky local kid.

While rough spots in his game remain and he still needs to prove he can impact matches consistently, Guti carries that special something, an uncommon spark of creativity and competitiveness. Let’s see what he’s ready to show us at the dawn of a crucial season for both him and his club.