The USMNT’s new playing style could give Mark McKenzie a big opportunity

AUSTIN, Texas — Let’s be clear about this from the start: Mark McKenzie hasn’t always played well in his recent games for the U.S. men’s soccer team.

But a series of circumstances has kept him in the race to make the World Cup and likely will keep him in the race until the end.

One is the bigger picture with the U.S. centerback depth chart. Chris Richards and Tim Ream are locks, but none of the other candidates has made a firm enough impression to manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Another is the fact that McKenzie is playing at a high club level, for Toulouse in France’s Ligue 1. And he’s playing a lot — every minute of Les Violets’ seven games this season. As long as that remains the case, he’ll stay in a good place on the U.S. depth chart.

The third part happened during last month’s games, when the former Union centerback wasn’t called up. Pochettino’s deployment of a three-back defense created not just a new opportunity to get on the field, but one similar to the three-back system McKenzie plays in at Toulouse.

Against Japan and South Korea last month, the Vancouver Whitecaps’ Tristan Blackmon took that third spot next to Richards and Ream. He was good at times, but not great. It’s no hometown bias to say McKenzie is a better player. Plenty of outside observers have said the same thing.

» READ MORE: Brenden Aaronson missed last month’s USMNT games. He hopes to make an impression this time.

It’s not clear yet whether Pochettino will use the new 3-4-2-1 formation as his primary setup or as a back-pocket alternative to the usual 4-3-3. But assuming it stays in some form, McKenzie might get a chance to fill what appears to be a McKenzie-shaped hole.

“It’s a formation I’m familiar with now — I’ve played it the last year,” McKenzie told The Inquirer. “It’s a role I’ve played on both sides, on the right and left side. So, yeah, for me, I’ve got a really good feel for it. It’s just a matter of building relationships with the guys around you on the field and figuring out different ways to play with the ball, and then on the defensive side, figuring out the way we want to defend against the ball.”

The 26-year-old who grew up in Bear, Del., has gotten used to playing for Pochettino and to the intensity the manager demands.

“I think with any team, especially a national team where you don’t get to spend large amounts of time together, it’s about going out there and competing every minute of the game and playing with a passion — because you’re playing for something more than just yourself,” McKenzie said. “I think in that capacity, he’s done a really good job of expressing what he wants in the group.”

» READ MORE: The USMNT is finally back on track, and Mauricio Pochettino has done what he said he’d do

Then he added: “The tactical stuff, I think that’s something we can all sit behind and talk about with the whiteboard and go through the video. But at the end of the day, the strategy, it doesn’t have much unless you go out there and compete with passion and intensity, and that’s something that he expresses a lot.”

The U.S. plays Ecuador in Austin on Friday (8:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, Universo), then Australia on Tuesday in suburban Denver (9 p.m., TNT, Universo). Both teams have qualified for next year’s World Cup, and Ecuador will be an especially strong test. La Tri finished second in South America’s World Cup qualifying, a marathon 10-team round-robin, better than Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay — even with a three-point deduction for using an ineligible player in the last qualifying cycle.

This month’s squad is diminished by three stars being out injured, midfielders Moisés Caicedo and Gonzalo Plata and defender Piero Hincapié. But there’s still lots of firepower: veteran striker Enner Valencia, much-touted young midfielder Kendry Paez, and outside backs Ángelo Preciado (a former teammate of McKenzie’s at Genk) and Pervis Estupiñán.

» READ MORE: Haji Wright has a big opportunity to make a statement at striker with the USMNT

“When you look at them and you look at that team, we have to go out there and start from the first minute with matching their passion and intensity,” McKenzie said. “And after that, being dynamic, playing what the game gives us, but also throwing different looks at them, making them adjust to how to how we’re playing, making them adjust to how we’re defending them and pressing them. And then doing so will then push us to continue to grow, to continue to develop.”

Speaking of growth, McKenzie had a big moment off the field this month: He and his wife welcomed their first child. He keeps most of his private life off Instagram, but he didn’t mind giving the news to his U.S. teammates and then The Inquirer.

“It’s an incredible, incredible moment,” he said. “Most incredible moment of my life, most special moment, for sure. I don’t think there’s anything in my career that could ever top it, being able to hold a child and spend that moment with somebody you love.”

» READ MORE: Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie celebrate the Union, their old team, winning a trophy