Getty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED
Tim Howard weighed in on Patrick Agyemang’s emergence as a potential solution to the USMNT’s long-running striker dilemma. The Charlotte FC forward has impressed at the Gold Cup with two goals in four matches, and Howard praised the 24-year-old's mentality and urged him to keep working.
“Agyemang – again, you said it – maybe not super long-term, but he’s currently getting the opportunity and making the most of it,” Howard said on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast with Landon Donovan. “He mucks it up, makes it nasty, he’s good on the ball, and makes intelligent runs. If we’re saying Agyemang isn’t the out-and-out striker long-term, then I’d throw the question back to everybody - who is?
“I know there are a bunch of names we think could be world-beaters - where are they? They’re either injured or not playing. So Agyemang just needs to keep his head down, keep scoring, keep being the focal point of the attack, and I think he’ll continue to do the business.”
WHAT TIM HOWARD SAID
The former Everton keeper also suggested the 24-year-old American has fundamentally altered the competition, as now everyone has to re-stake their claim for that No. 9 position.
“And like I said, he’ll be there thereabouts [for the 2026 World Cup] and the fact of the matter is, these guys are staking their claim right now,” Howard explained. “So, the people who aren’t here, guess what they’ve got to do? They’ve got to come in and they’ve got to stake their claim, so they’re already behind."
He added, “For everybody who wants to talk strikers – and you [Donovan] know this because you’re a goalscorer – Agyemang has been doing the business – five goals in 10 games – he’s going to play the next two games. When the Gold Cup is over, there are 13 games before the World Cup? Let’s call it 10. Agyemang has staked his claim to the extent. Is he going to play every game? No. But he has earned the right to play five of those games."
Howard also believes that the next forward who does want to compete for that No. 9 spot will get fewer opportunities to do so because Agyemang has earned more chances to prove himself.
“So now what we’re saying is, the next striker who potentially could start is only going to get five opportunities. He’s [Agyemang] earned the right to take some of those opportunities away and give it to himself. So, it’s not like he had a great summer and now for the next 10 friendlies, they’re going to start someone else. No, that’s not how football works, he has forced the manager to say ‘You’ve got to play at least half the games’ so yeah, time’s running out for some of these guys.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The USMNT's search for a consistent center forward has persisted across multiple World Cup cycles, with various candidates showing promise without definitively claiming the position. Agyemang's Gold Cup breakthrough comes at a critical moment in the national team's development under Mauricio Pochettino, potentially solving a longstanding tactical weakness.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Patrick Agyemang and the USMNT will face Guatemala in the semifinals of the Gold Cup on Wednesday in St. Louis.