Mauricio Pochettino got the job done in his first duo of competitive fixtures for the USMNT, with his side running out 5-2 aggregate winners over Jamaica in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals. It wasn't always perfect, but these are the early days in the Pochettino era, and there's a real buzz building around this team. It all feels like there's more to come.
But that won't happen until the semifinals in March, so for USMNT players, it's time again to turn the attention to the club season - with a chaotic Christmas period in sight. That means it's a full sprint for plenty of U.S. stars on the European front, with a blockbuster Milan-Juventus match kicking everything off in full on Saturday. And domestically, MLS playoffs are heating up. Lionel Messi's Inter Miami may be out - and their coach out of a job - but there are still storylines aplenty as the conference semifinals kick off this weekend.
Chaos, then, is expected, with the calendar as frantic as ever. GOAL US writers break it all down in the latest edition of... The Rondo.