MIAMI — Mauricio Pochettino has led a few of the most distinguished golf equipment in Europe, however when he accepted the function of U.S. men’s national team supervisor, he made the selection to step into a brand new setting within the worldwide sport. Four months into the job, Pochettino continues to navigate the nuances of his new function.
“Yes, it has been months, however there have been only a few weeks working collectively,” Pochettino mentioned to ESPN. “The time now we have collectively may be very [limited] that we are able to spend with the gamers, however it’s about discovering new issues each time we’re with the gamers.”
He and his workers are nonetheless engaged on understanding what the group wants in an effort to achieve success on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which might be performed partially on residence soil. The former Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea supervisor famous that the largest problem he faces is making a profitable mentality throughout the workforce.
“If you converse to any coaches from totally different nationwide groups, totally different international locations, golf equipment, coaches speak about mentality and the challenges to create the profitable mentality,” Pochettino mentioned. “The perception — that’s the reality. If we’re capable of establish the gamers, 26 or 30 gamers that share the identical mentality, I feel we may very well be an excellent group of gamers with the likelihood to compete at our greatest. It is just not solely to establish the expertise — it is concerning the expertise and the robust mentality, the profitable mentality.”
Mentality is a kind of traits that usually is outlined as “I do know it after I see it.” These days, although, there are metrics that may reveal how efficient a workforce is on this space. Is the workforce profitable its duels, within the air and on the bottom? How efficient is it in defending set items? Nevertheless, it stays a extremely subjective evaluation.
Attitude and competitiveness are matters that Pochettino is obsessed with. In his interview with ESPN, when the themes come up, he goes from having one hand in his pocket to gesticulating to get his level throughout, and the Argentine factors to his residence nation as one of the best practitioners of mentality.
“We talked about Argentina as a result of it is the [world] champion they usually have superb gamers, however for me a very powerful distinction is the mentality — how they compete as a bunch and the assumption that they’ve … once they go to the pitch,” he mentioned. “They go to warfare and to defend your badge, your flag, and that’s what we have to create.”
Pochettino believes that his gamers “have a extremely good mentality, a extremely good tradition.” Center again Tim Ream mentioned he felt Pochettino’s emphasis on the subject was extra down to creating certain his gamers perceive that every detail matters.
“I feel it is extra of [having] a profitable mentality each single day, each single coaching session, each single move,” Ream mentioned. “Everything issues, proper? And I feel that is extra what [Pochettino’s] want and his which means is, is that all the things counts.”
That Pochettino has referred to the workforce’s mentality and competitiveness virtually from the second he took the job, nevertheless, suggests that there’s room for enchancment.
There was a time when the U.S. mentality could not be questioned. When the USMNT was simply starting to claim itself on the world stage within the Nineteen Nineties, the workforce’s angle was what helped make it aggressive, even when there was a expertise deficit, which was usually the case. Now, it is not as constant.
“Sometimes there is a second while you go up and down,” Pochettino added. “The most necessary is to be constant, to maintain your capability and your mentality. We are very proud of them.”
The concern of consistency predates Pochettino’s tenure as supervisor.
When the U.S. flamed out of final summer season’s Copa América, then-manager Gregg Berhalter and a few gamers spoke of how the team didn’t always bring the requisite intensity. At the time, the U.S. appeared like a workforce of gamers who had gotten comfy. Only when a performer was injured or suspended was there any change within the lineup.
The concern appears to run even deeper, although. Pochettino’s arrival has opened up the competitors for locations, but there have nonetheless been moments in his transient tenure when the workforce hasn’t introduced the requisite angle.
In a 2-0 pleasant defeat to Mexico, the U.S. appeared to wilt within the face of El Tri‘s urgent. The efficiency in that match of substitute Alejandro Zendejas was notable for simply how far more depth he delivered to the sector in comparison with his teammates. Even within the 4-2 win over Jamaica, within the second leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals, the U.S. took its foot off the proverbial fuel within the second half, conceding twice.
The extent to which the USMNT may be challenged on this space throughout video games is a priority given the dearth of aggressive fixtures on the calendar forward of the 2026 World Cup. There are the Concacaf Nations League matches in March, adopted by the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer season, however that is it.
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Berhalter ‘excited’ by Pochettino’s USMNT undertaking
Gregg Berhalter displays on his USMNT sacking and Mauricio Pochettino’s appointment.
Pochettino’s hope is that the carrot of enjoying in these tournaments might be sufficient to drive his gamers ahead.
“I feel it is a good alternative, due to that aggressive stress that makes you evolve, [where] you must compete to get to the World Cup,” he mentioned. “But now there’s the problem that we put into the workforce and gamers.
“We planted a seed of competitiveness to grasp that there aren’t any friendlies. Each sport is a chance for a participant to show that he may be competing for a spot on the World Cup. The American participant is aggressive, and now we have to grasp, and are understanding, that the upcoming video games in opposition to Costa Rica and Venezuela are video games to play and compete. That is one thing necessary that we’re transmitting.”
Pochettino knew that upon signing the U.S. Soccer contract, the hopes of a whole nation rested on his shoulders. The coach smiled whereas insisting he feels no further stress from the accountability to convey pleasure to a nation’s fan base, however his critical tone conveyed the seriousness of the matter.
Although he can solely achieve this a lot to information the USMNT to the coveted trophy introduced on July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium, Pochettino assured that he’ll do all the things in his energy to make the nation proud.
“The precedence is to transmit the values which can be the idiosyncrasy of this land and other people,” he mentioned. “The tradition of the United States, it is clear that within the U.S., in the event you see all sports activities, everybody may be very aggressive, we wish to win. So that, a courageous workforce, a workforce that’s the protagonist and that provides a present and pleasure.”
Pochettino is simply months into his tenure, however he realized shortly that rather a lot must be completed earlier than this workforce can dream of being world champions. Slowly, his workers is making changes to show the USMNT again into the hungry and electrical workforce it was as soon as projected to be.
It’s too early to inform what is going to occur in 2026, however Pochettino has come to the U.S. decided to take the USMNT to new heights — and that’ll begin with the suitable mind set.
