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The American men’s national team captain Tim Ream has collected more than 80 international matches. But at age 38, he’s helping maximize a new challenge.
An up-tempo, high-pressure system.
“This style,” Ream said while appearing on FOX Sports’ “The Herd” on Tuesday, “is fun to play. It’s fun, but it’s harder than any style or system that I’ve ever played. But when it works, when you see what Friday brought, it’s so much fun to be a part of.”
The USA’s 4-1 victory against Paraguay on Friday at Los Angeles Stadium was the result of a high-risk, high-reward system that paid off. And pays off because of a wild card that the US has struggled to find, in context. A creative and clinical striker, Folarin Balogun.
“Flo is a natural forward,” Ream said. “He’s one of those guys who – you saw that on the second goal – loves to come in and dart behind defenders and get the ball in front of him and be able to take guys on. But he’s also out of this dimension of being able to hold the ball up and bring other players in. And now you find that connection.”
Before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ream stressed that Balogun made an effort to connect with the midfielders behind him – Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman and others.
“There’s a lot of things that aren’t done on camera that people don’t see,” Ream explained. “Conversations and extra touches, extra exercises.”
That time together, away from the heat of competition, leads to closing off the chances that present themselves and – even more crucially for this system – it leads to trust. Each forward is confident that their teammate will press if they lose the ball, giving them the confidence to take risks and make mistakes.
Balogun found himself on the receiving end of collective courage when he scored two goals on Friday off his own ability but also sublime set-ups from teammates. The first was a low cross from Pulisic that landed right at Balogun’s feet for a one-time finish. The second was a through ball from Tillman that reached Balogun in stride, giving him the momentum to go around defenders and create the angle for a shot.
Finishing off those chances fueled the aggression the USA displayed to win the ball back in the final third after simply losing it there.
“We’re going to attack and we’re going to lose the ball. Yeah, that’s a given,” Ream said. “But being in the right place before things happen is how you mitigate the negatives of playing that way.”
Aside from Balogun, Ream is crucial to the United States’ system because he is the eyes at the back and an extension of manager Mauricio Pochettino on the pitch. His job has been made easier because of Balogun’s talent plus the trust of the entire team.
“I don’t really think about being on an island,” Ream said. “Sometimes I’m just thinking, ‘OK, where do I need to be and where do I need to put guys to make sure we’re in a solid position to not have some crazy counter attacks?'”
The basis of this trust, in Ream’s opinion, is the manager, Pochettino. Because he cares and empowers his players, they play for him in this high-intensity system.
“Once you get to know him and his staff, it’s very easy. They’re very charismatic,” Ream said. “They’re very concerned about the players. They have an interesting focus on them when we’re on the field, but this idea that they want to connect with the players individually, and then that translates into the players connecting off the field in a larger group, in a larger collective.”
The U.S. is coming off an ultimate high — a performance that Ream dubbed “one of, if not the best performance the guys have had in my many years.”
Part of that is because in all of Ream’s years, he hasn’t seen such a unique system flow in sync. He’s confident the U.S. has the pieces, starting with Balogun up top, down through Ream and Pochettino, to keep the system going Thursday against Australia and throughout the World Cup.
