Football BaBe
- Lalas points to timeline with approximately 300 days until tournament
- Analyst notes no player has definitively claimed striker role
- He believes consistent club play could restore Balogun’s status
Former MLS star Alexi Lalas has addressed the unsettled striker situation for the USMNT, emphasizing the urgency with roughly 300 days remaining until the 2026 World Cup. The analyst pointed out that despite earlier expectations, Monaco star Folarin Balogun has not secured the starting position as initially anticipated.
“And you know, we’re 300 and what, 9 days, 10 days away from the World Cup,” Lalas said on his State of the Union podcast. “And it’s a problem. We have seen Flo Balogun do great things. He was the anointed one when he burst on the scene. But obviously, it’s been a long time since we have seen him.
Lalas described Balogun as once the anointed one at the striker position, but noted the situation remains fluid because nobody has taken that spot in Balogun’s absence.
“He’s endured injuries but I guess luckily for him to a certain extent, nobody has come along and taken that spot. So if he is playing, if he’s scoring goals, I think he’s right back in there when it comes to being the striker for the national team,” he said.
Lalas also addressed the ongoing right back situation for the USMNT, highlighting that no player has definitively claimed the position during recent international windows. He specifically mentioned Sergino Dest as a potential solution despite lingering questions about his defensive capabilities.
“I think when it comes to Sergino Dest, obviously it’s relative to how good he has been in Penn at that right back position, with the caveat that he is still coming back from a major injury,” Lalas said. “So far, signs are good, including a big goal that he just scored….I would hope that Pochettino knows what he has in this arsenal and has already assessed him, even though he hasn’t been in camp, he’s assessed him and continues to assess him now that he’s back playing.
“But you take the good with the bad, but there’s so much more good in terms of him going forward. But whether it’s Pochettino or anybody else, I think most of his coaches have come to the realization that I can’t hold him back. This is what he does. And yes, there are going to be, you know, benefits to that and problems to that going forward.
Lalas connected Pochettino’s tactical preferences, which typically grant the left back greater attacking freedom, with Dest’s natural attacking instincts on the opposite flank.
“I had this conversation before about Serginio Dest in terms of defending,” Lalas explained. “When Serginio Dest wants to defend, I think he can do it. It’s just a question of does he want to defend, and if he is healthy, I think it’s hard to keep him off. Whether it’s four in the back, whether it’s three in the back, I think he’s going to be somewhere on that right side, and I think he is going to be potent.”
The former USMNT defender expressed particular enthusiasm about Dest’s return to fitness following his ACL injury, stating that a healthy Dest would significantly transform the team’s right side heading into the 2026 World Cup. Dest, once again, proved instrumental for PSV – scoring a goal in the club’s Eredivisie opener Saturday.
“So again, great to see him back on the field, and if he is just lighten it up from a club perspective, I just think everybody feels much better and more calm going forward because it’s another position,” he explained. If he stays healthy all the way to the World Cup where we don’t have to worry about it, yes, you have depth.”
He added, “But if Sergino Dest is healthy and ready to go next summer in the World Cup, that right side for the US looks very, very different. And I’m a whole lot more bullish about this team in general and certainly over there on the right hand side.”
Both Dest and Balogun are key parts of the USMNT, but injuries and other factors have made it hard for them to hold their spots. Similar uncertainty surrounds the right-back, striker, and goalkeeper positions, as Mauricio Pochettino continues to evaluate his best options less than a year before the World Cup.
Both Dest and Balogun will focus on establishing themselves at PSV Eindhoven and Monaco, respectively, during the 2025-26 season to strengthen their case for national team inclusion.
