There’s no need to state the obvious, but expectations are sky-high for the US Men’s National Team in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. As one of the co-hosts of this prestigious tournament and with the addition of a high-profile coach, the Stars and Stripes are poised to make the most of their situation. While Mauricio Pochettino and passionate fans share this sentiment and aim to put their best foot forward with a strong roster, the Argentine tactician has surprisingly been urged to avoid relying on Chris Richards.

The Crystal Palace star’s lack of game time and poor domestic performances when given opportunities have made Alexi Lalas skeptical about his reliability. The most recent instance was being part of a 1-5 thrashing against Arsenal in the Premier League, despite Richards having the opportunity to learn from his team’s 3-2 defeat to the same opponents a few days earlier in the EFL quarter-finals, where he was instead on the bench.

“I guess it’s a good news, bad news,” began Lalas on his State of the Union podcast’s latest episode. “Chris Richards finally getting on the field and it’s been a while, but getting his a** kicked,” added the pundit while sympathizing with the defender’s luck, who got a chance to play on a rather tough occasion, before quickly taking a dig at his reliability.

“When it comes to Chris Richards, I have said time and time again, my jury still remains out as to whether he is the future for the USMNT,” questioned Lalas. As a former defender himself, Alexi highlighted how the USMNT’s center-back position has been one of the ‘areas that need improvement,’ and making Richards a part of the roster won’t help the Stars and Stripes case to enhance their last-man-standing line.

“I just don’t think that he has been good enough. And I don’t think he is yet good enough where I’m comfortable going into a World Cup in 2026 with someone like Chris Richards,” emphasized Lalas. Further questioning his lack of game time, the US icon added, “And again, if he’s not playing, it’s not a complete problem, but it is a problem.”

Looks like Lalas is completely against Richards and wouldn’t like Pochettino to include the Premier League star in his 2026 World Cup roster. But would that be considered a good option, given that the center-back position is already very scarce?

Chris Richards may need to win the confidence of Mauricio Pochettino to make the 2026 USMNT roster!

While Alexi Lalas may have confidently urged the former Tottenham manager to avoid Chris Richards, we wonder how it only won’t be making things worse for the USMNT. To begin with, the Stars and Stripes’ center-back pool isn’t getting any younger, with Tim Ream, already 37, and Walker Zimmerman, 31, being the only experienced duo. And by the time the World Cup arrives, expect this veteran duo’s age to increase.

This leaves just 25-year-old Mark McKenzie and 24-year-old Chris Richards, both in their prime, at Pochettino’s disposal. Even though there are other US-based center-backs playing in the MLS and across other European leagues that the former Chelsea boss can scout from, Richards surely knows the way around the national team.

Speaking about his domestic situation, the former Bayern Munich star has made just 7 appearances in the Premier League, with a couple more in the EFL Cup. Although he played in all three games the US participated in during the 2024 Copa America and appeared in the September friendlies against Canada and New Zealand, the former Dallas Academy prospect wasn’t called up for Pochettino’s debut October window against Panama and Mexico.

Meanwhile, in the recent fixtures against Jamaica in the CONCACAF Nations League, he was left on the bench. This clearly indicates that the Palace star is not seen as reliable in Pochettino’s eyes. Richards now has no choice but to turn things around in his favor, or he may find himself out of the 2026 World Cup picture.