Captain Tim Ream Explains How Folarin Balogun Makes USA's System Work

U.S. men's nationalist squad skipper Tim Ream has accumulated much than 80 caps astatine the planetary level. Yet astatine property 38, he's helping to maximize a caller challenge. 

An up-tempo, high-press system. 

"This style," Ream said portion appearing connected FOX Sports' "The Herd" connected Tuesday, "it's amusive to play. It's enjoyable, but it's harder than immoderate benignant oregon strategy that I've ever played. But erstwhile it works, erstwhile you spot what Friday brought, it is truthful enjoyable to beryllium a portion of."

USA's 4-1 triumph against Paraguay connected Friday astatine Los Angeles Stadium was a effect of a high-risk, high-reward strategy paying off. And paying disconnected due to the fact that of a chaotic paper that the U.S. has struggled to find, successful consistency. A originative and objective striker, Folarin Balogun. 

"Flo is simply a earthy striker," Ream said. "He's 1 of those guys that — you saw it connected the 2nd extremity — loves getting in, and darting down defenders and getting the shot successful beforehand of him and being capable to instrumentality guys on. But he's besides retired of this magnitude of being capable to clasp the shot up and bring different players in. And present you find this connection."

Before the 2026 FIFA World Cup started, Ream emphasized that Balogun enactment successful the effort to marque a transportation with the midfielders down him — Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman and others. 

"It's a batch of things that are done not successful beforehand of the camera that radical don't see," Ream explained. "Conversations and other touches, other drills."

That clip together, distant from the vigor of contention leads to slotting distant the chances that contiguous themselves, and — adjacent much crucially to this strategy — it leads to trust. Each attacker is assured their teammate volition property if they suffer the ball, giving them the assurance to instrumentality risks and marque mistakes. 

Balogun recovered himself connected the receiving extremity of that corporate courage, arsenic helium scored 2 goals connected Friday disconnected his ain accomplishment but besides sublime setups from teammates. The archetypal was a debased transverse from Pulisic that landed close astatine Balogun's ft for a one-time finish. The 2nd was a done shot from Tillman that reached Balogun successful stride, giving him the momentum to skirt astir defenders and make the space for a shot. 

Finishing those chances awarded the aggression the U.S. enactment distant to winning the shot backmost successful the last 3rd aft conscionable losing it there.

"We volition beryllium attacking and we volition suffer the ball. Yeah, that's a given," Ream said. "But being successful the close spot earlier things hap is however you mitigate the negatives of playing that way."

Aside from Balogun, Ream is important to USA's strategy due to the fact that helium is the eyes astatine the back, and an hold of manager Mauricio Pochettino connected the field. His occupation has been made easier due to the fact that of Balogun's talent, positive team-wide trust. 

"I don't truly deliberation astir being connected an island," Ream said. "Sometimes I conscionable deliberation of, 'OK, wherever bash I person to be, and wherever bash I person to enactment guys successful bid to marque definite that we're successful a coagulated presumption to not person immoderate brainsick counter-attacks?'"

The bedrock of that trust, successful Ream's opinion, is the manager, Pochettino. Because helium cares for and empowers his players, they play for him successful this high-intensity system. 

"Once you get to cognize him and his staff, it's precise easy. They're precise charismatic," Ream said. "They're precise caring astir the players. They person an absorbing absorption astir them erstwhile we're connected the field, but this thought that they privation to link with the players individually and past that translates into the players connecting disconnected the tract successful a larger group, successful a bigger collective."

The U.S. is coming disconnected an eventual precocious — a show Ream dubbed "one of, if not the champion performances the guys person enactment successful implicit my galore years." 

Part of that is because, successful each Ream's years, helium hasn't seen specified a unsocial strategy flowing successful synchronicity. He's assured the U.S. has the pieces, starting with Balogun astatine the top, down done Ream and Pochettino, to support the strategy moving connected Thursday against Australia, and passim the World Cup.