U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino said he intends to recruit a group of rookies in this summer’s first game after the World Cup, aiming to integrate them into a lineup of experienced players to pave the way for the 2030 World Cup.
Pochettino, who signed a new contract last month that runs through the 2030 World Cup, said he was working with around 100 players before reducing the squad to 26 for four friendlies this autumn. Contenders for the autumn friendlies include 26 players from this summer’s World Cup, around 40 other players Pochettino has worked with in preparation for the tournament, and a range of young players keen to become part of their national senior teams as soon as possible.
“I think our idea [is] We’re going to make a mix [of] Pochettino said on Monday. “I think the experienced players and the younger players can come together and start working, and how the younger kids can start to manage the pressure of playing in the first team. [in the] The next games… it’s difficult, but I think it’s important to have so many players now because I think players can improve from one month to another, six months, one year, and it’s important to keep that connection. “
Two years after his initial appointment, Pochettino described the upcoming friendlies as a “new beginning” amid his newfound luxury of time. While he hasn’t been shy about adding inexperienced talent in preparation for the World Cup on home soil this summer, the U.S. national team is expected to undergo a generational shift over the next four years, in large part because of several promising players knocking on the door. Headlines include Philadelphia Union’s Cavan Sullivan, who has committed to join Manchester City after his 18th birthday next September, and 19-year-old Zavier Gozo, who joined Crystal Palace from Real Salt Lake this summer and made his Premier League debut last month. However, the list doesn’t end there.
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“Philly has good young players, good kids, maybe we’ll call it some,” he said. “New York, yeah, Orlando, Nashville, Atlanta. I could keep going, can’t I? But I think yeah, we’re very excited because I think we can add young kids who can bring a fresh start and you can feel something different.”
Pochettino and FA staff are also in communication with dual-national players who are eligible to play for the United States, but no decision has been made on the future of international competition, although it is unclear how many of them will participate in upcoming friendlies. Currently, one player has been left off the roster – defender Noahkai Banks, who is still deciding between representing the United States or Germany a year after participating in U.S. national team training camp.
“There’s still no decision and of course we can’t consider him for the next training camp,” he said. “In this case, Noah Kai will still be in the same situation as before.” [he] Was [in] When we talked before the World Cup. “
Pochettino said he and his staff have worked closely with U-23 USMNT head coach Steve Cerundolo to build the player pool and will continue to do so in the build-up to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The Olympic men’s football match is a youth event that will serve as an important mid-term preliminary round before the 2030 World Cup. Each international game along the way could be a sign of progress for the U.S. national team’s rookies, who can be assigned to the senior and youth teams in a mix-and-match manner.
“We will be [available]always working with Steve [with him] He works with us and is always involved in making the best decisions for them because I think we have a core of young players that need to play [in] Olympics,” Pochettino said, noting that our goal is to compete for Team USA’s first gold medal at the event.
“I think one of the goals of our federation and our country is to try to be gold medal contenders and I say that’s important. It’s going to be in our country and we’re going to support that and always, the first-team decisions will be the players in the process [that] We will always make the best decisions together. “
The upcoming friendlies are as far removed from the World Cup as possible, but the U.S. national team’s return also marks Pochettino’s foray into the inexact science of player development and the unique scope of U.S. soccer. U.S. Soccer hopes to use World Cup fever to reorganize and ultimately simplify the country’s fractured youth soccer structure, and Pochettino and his staff will play a role in that process. Recruiting young players for the national team is just the first step for the head coach, who took on an advisory role when the new contract was signed a month ago.
“It’s an exciting time to have new rules, new perspectives,” he said, “to build something different, to build Team USA, to improve every season and, of course, get to the World Cup and try to get there in terms of being a real contender. It’s going to be tough because you always take time, but I don’t think it’s just our desire or desire if we don’t have confidence that we can be real in four years.”
USMNT Fall Friendlies
All times US/Eastern)
- September 26: USMNT vs. Peru (4:30 p.m., TNT)
- September 29: USMNT vs. Chile (8 p.m., TNT)
- Oct. 3: USMNT vs. Mexico (10 p.m., TNT)
- Oct. 6: USMNT vs. Canada (8 p.m., TNT)
Pochettino’s ‘new rules’
Speaking to reporters, Pochettino sang a few lines from “End of Beginning,” a melancholic 2022 song written by “Stranger Things” star Joe Keery, but stopped before getting to what may be the ballad’s most relevant line – “The song has started now and you just find out.”
Pochettino insists the goals for the next four years will be very different from his first months in charge, which saw just 18 months between his first game in charge and the United States’ World Cup opener. That includes a more exaggerated look at one of his favorite patterns in his coaching career — not being afraid to give young players a platform to perform, no matter what pressure they may be facing. In preparation for the World Cup, he has found ways to integrate young players into the national team, chief among them Alex Freeman, who went from unknown talent to starter and goalscorer in just over 400 days this summer.
There was plenty of time this time, and patience was a virtue he was happy to adopt.
“We need to be careful, don’t we?” he warned. “We need to be careful because when you are young of course you need confidence. You need to believe in yourself and believe that you can perform and you can do well, but I think [there’s] There are limits, aren’t there? Balance is the most important thing and one of our responsibilities is to protect these guys because sometimes if you’re 17, 16 or 18 years old and you play well, people start talking about you [Lionel] Messi or you are the big star in the world because you do this [a] Very rarely do good things happen, and afterwards, you get confused and poorly managed, which can be dangerous to your career, and that’s exactly what we don’t want. We don’t want this. [For] people, young people with potential [of] Become a top player, [we want] Give them the platform to develop and become professional, build their career in the best possible way, improve every day, stay humble, be careful when you speak in the media, when you speak to your teammates, when you speak to your opponents. “
Pochettino also acknowledged that he has some unfinished business in U.S. Soccer, returning to something he has spoken about often during his two years on the job — what he sees as the dissonance between the demands of being a national team player and the apparent reluctance of some in the ecosystem to meet those expectations.
“We are talking about [about] Habit. forward, [it] Difficult to determine the list [Concacaf] The Gold Cup a year ago was because of a different mentality. [They’d] Say, oh, if I had [no] I can’t arrive at the World Cup fresh from the holidays,” an apparent reference to Christian Pulisic’s decision to withdraw from the 2025 World Cup. “As time goes on, you know now that that’s bullshit, don’t you? Sorry, yeah, [it’s] To change that incorrect thinking and build the mindset based on our experience with the coaches, with the people in the organization, in the clubs and of course with us and then the players. “
Rather than entirely blaming the players, Pochettino often attributes these habits to the network around them, which is why he and his coaching staff welcome the new advisory role. He views his job as head coach of the U.S. national team as more important than getting his players ready for games on the calendar and keeping busy between international breaks. Pochettino and his staff have spent the first few weeks of the European season watching Americans play for their club teams, most recently attending Crystal Palace’s 3-2 win over Fulham on Saturday and watching World Cup standouts Chris Richards and Anthony Robinson in action for their respective clubs. Pochettino and his staff will also be involved in Crystal Palace’s Carabao Cup tie against Middlesbrough on Tuesday (2.45pm, Paramount+), which may feature a selection of the Boro American Quartet.
“We’re watching everything. We’re seeing everything,” he said. “They need to know that we know everything because we’re building really good connections with all the coaches in MLS and I think it’s important not just to see them or watch the games, but how they perform. Also, what are they talking about? [about] In the media, how they treat their opponents, how they treat their teammates. I think this is very important. If we want to be a really good team and we want to build something different and be competitive, I think we need to be careful in all of that and all of the interviews that the kids are doing, the players that we’re looking at and we’re looking at – the way they talk to the coaches, the way they behave, how they arrive [to] Training sessions, if they are late or early, if they go early or late. If they are professional, they will care about our expectations. I think we have all the information. “