Chris Richards is fresh off a strong end to his Premier League season, and he’s staring down an important task: take hold of a leadership role in the US backline, and help to fix an ailing US men’s national team.
Easy, right?
Compared to his recent exploits at club level, maybe. A few weeks ago, the 25-year-old Crystal Palace defender helpedshut down Manchester City’s formidable lineupin the FA Cup final, leading his team to their first major trophy and becoming just the third American to secure the Cup. With Guardiola’s versatile crewholding nearly 80% of possession, Richards was solid in defending and dominant in the air, winning nearly all of his duels while registering four blocked shots and 11 clearances in the 1-0 win.
Navigating Concacaf’s Gold Cup Group D – with Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia, and Haiti waiting – presents a different challenge. It’s unlikely the US will be limited to 20% of possession in any phase of the Gold Cup, however deep their run takes them; Richards’ skill with the ball at his feet will be called upon as much as his defending. The team’s two pre-tournament friendlies against solid Uefa teams – Türkiye this Saturday and Switzerland on Tuesday– will be a valuable opportunity to test their mettle against the caliber of teams they may meet in the knockout phase of a World Cup.
But the team’s primary issue at the moment seems to be mental. And for Richards, whose promise has been blighted over the years by injuries or uncertain club minutes, the question of this summer is whether he can translate his club form to the national team.
“It’s been really great to see how much he’s grown, and I think the ceiling for him as a player hasn’t been, hasn’t even been brushed yet,” Matt Turner told reporters at US training week, having just completed a season as Richards’ club teammate atCrystal Palace. “The way he approached every single day in training when he crosses that white line is really fun to see.”
With the bitter taste of the Nations League still lingering and the 2026 World Cup a year off, that sort of attitude adjustment could be exactly what the US needs. Arguably the last time the gritty characteristics that defined the USMNT were seen in full came in 2023, when Richards first staked his claim as a major player for the 2026 cycle.
Richards took a long road to get there. After registering four starts and five appearances in Gregg Berhalter’s backline during World Cup qualifying, injuries kept him from the 2022 World Cup.
A year and a half passed between caps before Richards made a roaring return in Las Vegas for the 2023 Concacaf Nations League. He helped the US to a 3-0 win against Mexico in a wild semi-final that featured four red cards and nine yellow cards, and the unforgettable image of Weston McKennie with his shirt in tatters while kissing the crest.
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Richards scored his first and only USMNT goal in the 12th minute of the final, floating gracefully above the Canadian backline to head a ball from Gio Reyna past Canada goalkeeper Milan Borjan, before running to the corner to celebrate.
If there is a vibe this team needs to reacquire, it’s whatever aura fell over the squad during that strange week in Vegas. Thanks to injuries, personal requests, drops in form and other reasons, only three of the players that started against Canada that June are in this roster. Richards is one of them.
“Today we have plenty of players playing abroad forUSA. But the most important thing is the culture,” US manager Mauricio Pochettino said on Landon Donovan and Tim Howard’s Unfiltered Soccer podcast. “I think that we saw in you [Donovan and Howard] that to be desperate to come and be the priority, the national team … Because the possibility to defend one time, one time more, your flag, your shirt, I think that this is, I want to feel proud about that. And that is the responsibility of us to translate.”
What the USMNT sorely needs from a player of Richards’ stature is not simply to be present in the backline, but to find his next level with the national team, and command it. Whether playing Switzerland on Tuesday or Concacaf opposition in yet another Gold Cup knockout bout, Richards must grasp what’s left of this team’s flailing momentum and play a central role in propelling it toward a different future.