The Gold Cup was supposed to be Mauricio Pochettino's last chance to pressure-test his A team. Could his players find a way to control games and start generating a higher quantity and quality of chances at the same time? Who are the first-choice midfielders? Is Timothy Weah really better on the left because of his, uh, dominant eye?

These were all questions that we thought might get answered this summer -- until the roster for the tournament came out.

The team's two best players, Christian Pulisic and Antonee Robinson , are taking the summer off, as is Pulisic's AC Milan teammate Yunus Musah . Weah and Juventus teammate Weston McKennie , along with Borussia Dortmund 's Giovanni Reyna , are skipping the Gold Cup in favor of FIFA's new competition, the Club World Cup.

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