There’s a new commander at the helm of the US men’s national team, and that’s dialed up the enthusiasm and focus around the program in the leadup to his first match in charge.
Intensity, in fact, has been the watchword in Austin as the USMNT prepare for Saturday’s friendly vs. Panama at Q2 Stadium, Mauricio Pochettino’s head coaching debut. The word cropped up again and again as half a dozen USMNT players were made available to media over the course of the Yanks’ week at Austin FC’s St. David's Performance Center.
“One thing that we know for sure, that we've really rehashed, is the intensity of what we want to play at,” Leeds United playmaker and Philadelphia Union academy product Brenden Aaronson said on Wednesday. “We want to play at a high intensity. We want to play in the other team's half. We want to have possession of the ball, and yeah, I think what he wants is just a confident team, and that's what we're going to be.”
Striker Josh Sargent echoed the theme as he sat next to Aaronson.
“Anything we do, whether with the ball or against the ball, he wants it to be intense; if we lose the ball, recover it right away,” said the Norwich City star. “That's been a big message so far.”
Speaking this week to the Player / Manager podcast, co-hosted by Inter Miami’s Julian Gressel, USMNT and Charlotte FC center back Tim Ream revealed that “we were out on the field today for two hours, which is probably the longest session I have had with the national team in my 14 years.”
Or as FC Dallas alum Ricardo Pepi phrased it on Thursday: “Of course, we all have our brotherhood here and nothing changes in terms of that. But I feel like when it comes to being on the pitch, everything feels a little bit more intense. In terms of trainings, the exercises all have a purpose in terms of whether it's a warm-up, whether it's like a pre-activation, everything has a purpose to transfer it to the pitch... To be honest, it's been great to be able to get the training and be as intense as it is.”
Building a winner
Pochettino was all smiles on Friday morning as he fielded questions in his first Matchday-1 press conference, describing the enjoyment he and his staff have derived from their first week of hands-on work with the squad. He emphasized his desire “to compete and to win” at all times, while cautioning that everyone is still getting introduced.
“We are, I think, so, so happy with our decision to come here, because we are enjoying a lot about this time here in Austin, no better place to play soccer, and to be tomorrow all together sharing a very nice moment; I think it will be amazing for us,” said the Argentine manager.
“The challenge is to create a team, is to know each other, also is from today to until the World Cup, of course, official competition like Nations [League], Gold Cup also, that they're going to be an objective for us to win, because it's about to win and win in every single game. But for us, the goal today, first camp is to know each other and to settle the principles for the future.
“Sorry, I was too long there,” he added with a sheepish grin – but the depth and detail in his answers were welcomed by the combined ranks of reporters on-site and online, as the outlines of the USMNT’s new era began to take preliminary shape.
Pochettino sounded realistic about the limited progress that can be made in slightly more than a week of in-person activities, yet also determined to lay down markers about what matters most - and what doesn’t - under his leadership.
MLS talent welcome
An in-form player’s club address won’t count against them, for example, wherever on earth they may be located.
“I don't think that to be an elite player, you have to be in Europe,” Pochettino told CNN in a Spanish-language interview published last week. “We are seeing today that great players like Messi are competing in MLS and for us I think that is something important to convey, that MLS is a competitive league and that also competing in MLS, you can also be in the United States national team, competing in the best way and competing for great things. I think that we also have to believe in that, that the players who are competing in MLS will also have the opportunity to be able to demonstrate their talent in the national team.
“There are many players who are in Europe and who don't play much and who don't compete,” he added, “and there are other players who are in MLS or in different leagues that compete. And perhaps those players are in better shape to perform than players who perhaps don't compete weekly.”
That message is not lost on the player pool.
“When a coach or a manager comes in, they have to understand players as people as well. They have to to manage the travel, the minutes played, the teams that guys are playing against, and try to marry all those things into one solid group, and put personalities and people together,” said Ream on Tuesday. “If that's a mixture, if it's more European guys than MLS guys, if it's sprinkling MLS guys in, I think it's one of those that it's going to be up to the manager to obviously figure out how to get the best out of all of us. How do each player’s strengths match with the guys that are on the field at any one time?
“I don't necessarily know that that one group of players has an advantage over the others. You still have to be playing and working hard at your club, and then come in here and work just as hard, if not harder, to do it right in front of his eyes, to be a part of his plan.”
The road to the USMNT’s new future begins, poetically enough, against the team that brought an abrupt end to Gregg Berhalter’s tenure with their upset win in the group stage of the 2024 Copa América. Pochettino said revenge isn’t a primary theme of this latest meeting, with so many other elements of the changeover to process first.
Pochettino's vision
Over the years the former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss has earned a reputation for attack-minded, aesthetically pleasing soccer, and he envisions his USMNT being assertive and ball-dominant in philosophical terms. Yet he also mirrors the best teams of his homeland, whose colors he wore 20 times during his playing days, in his determination to blend style with tenacity in pursuit of success.
“The priority always in soccer is to win, and sometimes we need to be clever. Sometimes when we cannot play [out of the back], then we can play a long pass,” he said. “People sometimes say, ‘No, that is my philosophy, my idea, and I am going to die with my idea.’ No, I want to live, because life is amazing. I want to be clever, and I want to win. I don't want to die.
“Sometimes we need to find a different way to put our players in a comfortable zone, not in an uncomfortable zone that reduces the confidence to play. We have a massive challenge ahead, and all that concept and idea is to translate, that is in the way to find the best way to compete, to be competitive. All the teams that win like, I don't know, I put Madrid, I put Argentina, even Manchester City - they are pragmatic, they want to win.”
