At 36, Tim Ream had already collected the hardware that defines a career: Premier League appearances, World Cup caps, and the respect that comes from a decade of high-level competition. So when he left Fulham’s Premier League stability for Charlotte FC’s MLS project in August 2024, questions naturally arose about whether this represented a new chapter or a nice way to wind down a career.
A year later, Mauricio Pochettino provided the answer. The United States Men’s National Team coach included Ream among his 23 players for the upcoming international friendlies that begin Saturday at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, versus Korea Republic.
Ream’s roster spot is validation that his Charlotte experiment had produced exactly what international soccer values most: the ability to make everyone around him better.
Pochettino’s inclusion of Ream on the USMNT roster reflected a practical decision-making process rather than a sentimental selection. International windows operate on compressed schedules where every training session carries enormous weight. Coaches need players who can absorb tactical concepts instantly and transmit them to teammates discovering the system for the first time.
Ream brings those qualities, refined through years of high-pressure experience. His 2022 World Cup appearance at age 35 made him one of the oldest players in Qatar and underscored his role as a veteran on a young U.S. team.
That experience becomes particularly valuable in short camps where coaches must balance evaluation with preparation. With 68 caps for the USMNT, Ream’s presence allows staff to focus on tactical implementation rather than basic instruction, maximizing his ability to coach teammates in real-time.
His experience as a ball-playing center back who can organize defensive shape while initiating attacks aligns ideally with modern international soccer’s demands for versatile defenders.
Ream’s competitive mentality reflects the mindset that earned his Charlotte recall.
“Every game is, and should be a pressure situation,” he said. “It’s about competing. It’s about competition. It’s about earning your spot and trying to make sure that you’re doing everything you can to take advantage of opportunities.”
The recall validated Charlotte’s investment in Ream. He didn’t earn his spot on the national team through reputation but through daily demonstration of the qualities international coaches prize most.
Qualities that he brought to Charlotte.
Setting a standard in Charlotte
Charlotte FC announced Ream’s signing on Aug. 7, 2024, framing the move as a tactical upgrade and cultural investment. The contract runs through 2026 with an option for 2027, which revealed the franchise’s long-term vision rather than a short-term publicity grab.
“For me it’s about bringing experience. It’s setting a standard,” Ream said upon his arrival.
Ream arrived with credentials — years of Premier League experience with Fulham, including their promotion from the championship — but also questions about whether his past excellence translated to MLS success at his age.
Charlotte, meanwhile, needed a leader. The franchise had reached that delicate inflection point where talent alone becomes insufficient, where culture and daily habits determine whether potential produces results. They bet that Ream’s influence would establish standards and strengthen the young organization’s culture.
The transformation in Charlotte happened in spaces that highlight reels never capture. Between training sessions, in tactical meetings and during the mundane repetitions that separate professional soccer from recreational play. Ream’s impact registered not in spectacular saves or crucial goals, but in the subtle improvements over time.
His presence recalibrated Charlotte’s expectations; teams that embrace veteran leadership tend to make fewer mental errors under pressure and communicate more effectively during chaos.
“For us, we kind of know what the standard needs to be and what it is going forward and just making sure that everybody’s being held accountable, pushing each other, helping each other,” he explained in a Zoom interview on Tuesday about his national team role.
That same mentality drives his daily approach at Charlotte.
The psychological dimension mattered enormously for a young roster learning to navigate MLS pressure. Players begin arriving earlier for training, staying longer for extra work, and modeling behaviors they observed in their veteran teammate. Success breeds imitation, and Ream’s habits— rooted in work ethic — have become Charlotte’s template for professional excellence.
“Treat every session as if it’s the most important, make sure you treat every game as if it’s the most important because it can honestly be the difference of you making the World Cup squad,” Ream noted in Tuesday’s interview. “Every touch, every pass, every decision matters.”
His influence extended beyond individual development to collective identity. Charlotte FC was establishing what winning looked like in practice, not just theory, while building a cultural foundation that would survive coaching changes and roster turnover.
Validating Charlotte’s soccer identity
Charlotte’s emergence as a source of national team talent carries significance extending far beyond individual recognition. The city has been establishing its soccer identity against markets with decades of cultural foundation, competing for credibility and attention in America’s evolving landscape.
Having Ream earn USMNT inclusion while wearing Charlotte colors validates the community’s investment in professional soccer. Local media gain national storylines to promote. Season ticket holders see concrete evidence that their support produces results extending beyond Bank of America Stadium.
Charlotte FC represents the community’s soccer ambitions made tangible, and national team recognition proves those ambitions can influence broader conversations that matter beyond city limits.
For potential signings and free agents, Charlotte’s track record of developing nationally recognized players creates recruiting advantages that extend well beyond contract negotiations.
The psychological impact ripples through Charlotte’s locker room, where young players suddenly understand that daily MLS excellence can translate to international opportunity. The connection between local performance and national recognition becomes concrete rather than theoretical.
Likewise, Ream’s trajectory offers a template for how MLS clubs can strategically leverage veteran acquisitions. Rather than viewing experienced players as short-term fixes or marketing ploys, smart organizations recognize their potential as long-term cultural investments that accelerate success.
The approach requires patience and vision. Veteran influence often shows up in subtle improvements rather than dramatic transformations. Teams become more organized, more resilient, and more professional in ways that coaches notice immediately.
Ream’s continued recognition demonstrates that his Charlotte impact extends beyond mentorship to sustained individual performance at the highest level.
Recent reporting indicated that Pochettino “continues to stress to his players the importance of having a winning mentality,” a philosophy that aligned perfectly with the daily standards Ream had established in Charlotte, where the Crown is on an eight-match win streak.
A year after leaving Premier League security for an MLS opportunity, Ream earned validation that excellence translates across contexts when combined with the willingness to teach. His 2025 USMNT roster inclusion proves that substance retains value regardless of age or setting and represents the intersection of personal excellence and institutional vision, where individual preparation meets organizational opportunity. The result validates both player and franchise, demonstrating that local success can create national relevance when executed with intelligence and patience.
His philosophy about seizing opportunities explains why the Charlotte gamble worked.
“Every time you’re in, and even when you’re not in there, it’s an opportunity to put yourself in a position to be here and in a position to make a team,” Ream reflected. “You just never know... opportunities happen, doors open and all of a sudden you have to step through and make sure you take advantage of that.”
Now 37, he had his answer to the skeptics who wondered whether Charlotte represented beginning or end. In professional soccer, excellence doesn’t have to expire — it can evolve. And in Charlotte, Ream proved that the right veteran in the right environment can still teach the sport’s most valuable lesson: how to make everyone around you better.
This column originally ran in The Charlotte Observer.