Three takeaways from the USMNT's Nations League squad

This week, the three-peat challenge begins with a double-header against Trinidad and Tobago.

The first match will take place in Austin, Tex., on Thursday, Nov. 16, with the second scheduled in Port of Spain on Monday, Nov. 20.

Head coach Gregg Berhalter announced his roster for the games this week. "We want to compete for our third Nations League title and the chance to play in Copa America," he said. "We want to finish the year on a strong note and position ourselves to compete in two important competitions next year."

Here's what we're keeping an eye on as the USMNT kicks off another week of international competition:

Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah are staying home to recuperate. While neither player is seriously hurt, Berhalter left them both out of the roster due to minor injuries. "We see them on track to get back to play soon," Berhalter told ESPN, "but it's too short of a deadline, so they won't be involved."

Both Pulisic and Weah have benefited from the recent move to the Italian league. Pulisic left Chelsea this summer to team up with French striker Olivier Giroud at AC Milan while Weah left Lille to join Juventus. Both players scored in the USMNT's recent victory over Oman; both will hope to return to the fold in the new year.

The USMNT is going Dutch. Three members of this USMNT lineup play for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven: Sergiño Dest, Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tillman. PSV is leading the Dutch Eredivisie and competing against Arsenal, Lens and Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League. But what — or, more accurately, who — brought all these Americans out to the Netherlands? That'd be PSV's sporting director Earnie Stewart, an American native who spent the majority of his playing career in the Netherlands before taking on an administrative role at PSV.

MLS isn't well-represented here...but there's a good reason why. Despite the league's stratospheric growth during the 2023 season, just one MLS player made this USMNT lineup: Atlanta United's Miles Robinson. But MLS fans shouldn't worry about what that means for local favorites like Walker Zimmerman, Jesus Ferreira and Cristian Roldan. They're absent due to their involvement in the MLS Playoffs and should return to the USMNT fold in due course.