Mauricio Pochettino’s first look at his United States men’s national team got a little more challenging thanks to a trio of injuries during the final weekend of club soccer before Pochettino leads the USMNT into friendlies versus Panama and Mexico this international break.
The USMNT were already without Tyler Adams, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Giovanni Reyna, Luca de la Torre, Chris Richards, and Sergino Dest due to injuries and now Pochettino has to go to work without Timothy Weah, Folarin Balogun, and Johnny Cardoso. All nine are starting caliber internationals and several were virtual shoo-ins to start under Gregg Berhalter (and Mikey Varas) in recent windows.
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It’s difficult to imagine that all of the above wouldn’t have been a part of Pochettino’s first 23-man squad. The silver lining for Pochettino — moreover, his player pool — is that he’ll get a chance to get to test players he might not have seen until the early part of 2025. With the World Cup just a year-and-a-half away, these two weeks are dripping with possibility for the pool’s depth. Time to swim.
So, given it’s his first camp, what are Mauricio Pochettino’s priorities for a home match against Panama and a visit to Mexico? The good news is that not a lot changes for him, as he’ll be setting the standards for World Cup preparation. There are no excuses. The Yanks will always be expected to beat Panama at home, and expect a massive challenge from historic rivals El Tri south of the border. Even given the USMNT’s rivalry edge in recent years, that’s a big ask as Mexico brings an experienced crew headlined by Raul Jimenez, Andres Guardado, Edson Alvarez, Guillermo Ochoa, and Johan Vasquez (Mexico, too, has absences: Julian Araujo, Jesus Gallardo, Santi Gimenez, and Uriel Antuna among them).
Pochettino’s USMNT priority No. 1: Restore hunger & respect for the game
This works hand-in-glove with priority No. 2, because Christian Pulisic is driving the on-field bus for both club and country these days and never fails to bring passion to a game. That was missing, as the last international break and even parts of the Copa America reeked of expectation and entitlement at times. What made the USMNT so dangerous under Gregg Berhalter as they built back from a missed World Cup was an intensity and swagger from a young group anxious to stick it to their doubters and assert a strong position in the world game. That worked for Berhalter until it didn’t, and Pochettino has to tap into a vein he knows has existed in the past, That may mean ticking off someone from an established core, and let’s be honest that could be just fine — a young group that was seemingly able to dictate the re-hiring of a previous coach can afford to be shaken up and knocked down a peg.
Pochettino’s USMNT priority No. 2: Find footing with Pulisic
Christian Pulisic, point blank, is one of the best players in the world right now. Pulisic is officially inside of his peak years and driving one of the biggest clubs in the world, leading the club in goals and one off Rafael Leao’s team assist lead. In fact, he’s produced the most chances of any player in Serie A this season according to fotmob.com. We may be soon talking about Pulisic as the best player to ever don the shirt, a spot currently held by one Clint Dempsey, and Pochettino could be responsible not just for engineering a top performance out of Pulisic in a home World Cup but also for influencing the prime of a national team GOAT.
Pochettino’s USMNT priority No. 3: Impart a visible and cohesive attack plan
If there’s one consistent failure of Berhalter it was that the USMNT rarely looked like it understood what to do in the final third. The international game doesn’t make it easy to deliver on a well-laid design for an attacking system, but this team has often craved attacking ideas despite a great number of creative players. Pulisic has said so at least one in his USMNT post-game musings, flustered by the plan to break down CONCACAF foes who know very well that their bread will be buttered on the defensive side. It’s ridiculous to expect the team to perform orchestral maneuvers in Pochettino’s first camp — especially with Weah and Balogun set to miss out — but there should be signs that a plan is in place.
Pochettino’s USMNT priority No. 4: Identify center backs
There isn’t a nailed-on, #1 star goalkeeper in the bunch and there fullback depth is looking very good after Marlon Fossey’s fantastic October debut gives Pochettino another option opposite the fantastic Antonee Robinson before Dest returns from his long-term injury.
As for center backs? This is an uh-oh, because Chris Richards and Carter-Vickers could well be the side’s best pairing but Pochettino won’t see them together until at least November due to injury. And he has to trust the men behind them in case of injury. Who are they, at least in this camp? Tim Ream is a program legend but struggled the last break and will be closer to 39 than 38 when the World Cup begins next summer. Miles Robinson has had a decent MLS season, Mark McKenzie is starting regularly for Toulouse in Ligue 1, and Auston Trusty has gone 90 minutes in four-straight games as part of his new life at Celtic.
Is Ream going to stay in the squad through the World Cup? Who on the periphery could be getting looks ahead of those six? The experienced Walker Zimmerman or an Erik Palmer-Brown currently out of the squad at Panathinaikos? This is all without mentioning the B word (Brooks, John)?