Landon Donovan is WRONG

We are going to keep this short and sweet.

USMNT legend Landon Donovan thinks that USMNT stars should play in the Gold Cup.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Mauricio Pochettino knows what he is doing. Right now in his office, he tentatively has a starting lineup for 2026's World Cup in pencil. Your top stars need to REST this summer, not go all out for the stupid Gold Cup.

America's B-squad should easily beat Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, which puts you into the next round of the tournament. America's B-squad should then beat Panama, Saudi Arabia, or Jamaica. That puts you in the finals against, in all likelihood, Canada or Mexico.

The Gold Cup is basically a 3-game tournament for the United States. You already know who is on your A-squad, you need to use this tournament to solidify spots 8-26. If the B-squad can't get out of the first round of the Gold Cup, you need a new B-squad.... and fast.

Beating up on Haiti does not translate to beating Spain or France in 2026, it just doesn't. The more you play Christian Pulisic in the Summer of 2025, the less effective he's going to be for the World Cup.

I mean, Pulisic is a human being. If he doesn't rest now, when does he rest for World Cup?

Again, you play to win the Gold Cup, but not at the expense of burning out your top guy who is coming off a 50 appearance season.

50 appearance seasons for Landon Donovan? ZERO.

As a matter of fact, the number of 40 appearance seasons for Landon Donovan? ZERO.