UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

A depleted USMNT still should be scrutinized in friendlies and at the Concacaf Gold Cup

The USMNT will be without Christian Pulisic this summer. (Photo by Jon Van Woerden)

On June 15, the U.S. men's national team will embark on its latest journey through the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Whether the U.S. excels or disappoints, it will be a report card for a depleted team with without many of its standout performers.

There is no Christian Pulisic, who is being given a rest.

There is no Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Timmy Tillman or Gio Reyna, who will be playing for their respective teams at the FIFA Club World Cup this month and perhaps next.

And the squad will be without several injured stalwarts, including Antonee Robinson, Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi. Yes, Pepi has been sidelined for quite a while, he needs to be mentioned in this group.

Saying all of that, the scrutiny of the team won't begin in another week, but will start on Saturday, June 7, when the team meets Turkey in an international friendly in East Hartford, Conn. Then comes another friendly against Switzerland in Nashville, Tenn. on Tuesday night.

Hmmm. Let’s call them the Turkey and Swiss friendlies.

Whether it will taste good afterwards remains to be seen.

Friendlies are usually not high on this writer's list in terms of national priorities, but since these matches will lead into the Gold Cup, which will be the final competition prior to next year's World Cup, every game and every play in each match should be scrutinized by the media.

That much is at stake.

I know head coach Mauricio Pochettino and his staff certainly will be watching and taking copious notes, mentally and written. More than anyone else, they know how much is at stake.

Yes, this is hardly a full national side. Some observers are calling this the B team.

But jobs are always on the line for every national team.

This is the time for the likes of the Aaronson brothers, Brenden and Paxten, to prove that they belong on the team and should be called into remaining camps and friendlies before next year's roster selection.

That also goes for several other players, including defenders Alex Freeman and Nathan Harriel, midfielders Sebastian Berhalter and Quinn Sullivan, and forward Damion Downs, who have yet played for the Red, White and Blue.

And then there's the goalkeeping situation. Matt Turner is the only experienced keeper in camp with New York City FC's Matt Freese and Chicago Fire's Chris Brady being "international virgins," as I said in my most recent piece on Forbes.com. They replaced a pair of Major League Soccer veterans who are injured - Zack Steffen and Patrick Schulte.

Injuries suck because they can come out of nowhere, sidelined key players, and heaven forbid, the best player(s) on a team.

Now, here is a sobering stat: The 26 players on the USMNT roster have scored a collective 27 goals at the international level. Pulisic has 32 in 78 appearances.

Some players will need to put their best feet forward to spark the attack, particularly in the Gold Cup. Or that could wind up being as disappointing as last year's Copa America exit and this year's Concacaf Nations League fourth-place finish.

Regardless of how the USMNT fares over the next several weeks to perhaps a month, we need to remember that the ultimate report card will be the World Cup. That's where team traditions and legends are forged and where others might underachieve. We’ll have to wait some 13 months to truly examine that.

Saying that, the friendlies and Gold Cup should a good snapshot at this time on the team and the players as Pochettino tries to put a winning culture together and sort out the men from the boys at the international level.

You can't predict who will be injured or healthy, which is why national team coaches have a seemingly endless list of options at each position. Sometimes all a player needs is a chance, even in a friendly.

The team of the sideline

Before calling it a story, I put together an interesting team of 16 national team players from the pool who will be missing from the tournament:

Goalkeepers - Patrick Schulte (injured), Mark Steffen (injured)

Defenders - Cameron Carter-Vickers (not selected), Shaq Moore (not selected), Antonee Robinson (injured), Auston Trusty (not selected)

Midfielders - Weston McKennie (Club World Cup), Yunus Musah (rest), Gio Reyna (Club World Cup), James Sands (injured), Timmy Tillman (Club World Cup)

Forwards - Folarin Balogun (injured), Ricardo Pepi (injured), Christian Pulisic (rest), Josh Sargent (not selected), Tim Weah (Club World Cup)