The new era is set to begin, but what will Pochettino emphasize as he oversees his first camp as USMNT boss?
Mauricio Pochettino has had a stressful week. Not because of anything on the field, to be fair. Not even because he announced his initial squad selection.
No, it turns out that the toughest part of becoming the U.S. men's national team coach is actually to the United States – and the visa process isn't easy, even for world-class managers.
In recounting his travel travails this week, Pochettino said that it was only on Tuesday that "we received the visa, and we can fly Saturday. That was all such a nightmare! But then we got the visa, and now we can go. We were busy with all the paperwork, but now it's done."
And that leads to the more exciting part, the one Pochettino is looking forward to most. He arrives for his first USMNT camp on Saturday, with the players starting to arrive on Sunday.
And that's when the new era begins.
Pochettino will take charge of his first two matches in mid-October, leading the USMNT into friendlies against Panama and Mexico. These friendlies are both introductions and tone-setters. Winning is important, of course, but Pochettino is marching into these first two matches with a specific set of goals.
With his visa nightmare out of the way, Pochettino's focus is now solely on this team, but what is on his agenda? What will he be looking to accomplish during this first camp? GOAL takes a look.
GettyMeeting the players
Interestingly, Pochettino opted to not meet with any of the USMNT players in between his hiring and the start of camp. It wasn't so much because he didn't want to. There just simply wasn't enough time.
With players scattered all over the world, Pochettino wasn't able to sit down with all of them. Between his onboarding, initial decisions and preparation for the big move, Pochettino wasn't able to travel to Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Mexico and other places the USMNT player pool finds itself these days.
So he made the decision: he'll meet everyone, collectively, for the camp in Austin, Texas. It will all be at the same time and on the same level. No favorites, no advantages.
"I didn't want to because we didn't have time. Being honest, I didn't have time," Pochettino said. "I don't want to call them, only for the reason of saying, 'Oh, I call some guy or another.' I think all deserve the same way for us to operate."
For the record, Pochettino actually did meet one player – by accident. While at a restaurant in London, Pochettino stumbled into a Fulham team dinner and, after being coerced by two of his former players – Harrison Reed and Ryan Sessegnon – he was convinced to say hello to U.S. international Antonee Robinson.
"It was the only player that I saw and it was by coincidence," he said. "I said, 'Look, you are going to be an exception because I didn't speak with anyone.' "
That will change starting this weekend. After laying the foundation in October, Pochettino and his staff are prepared to be proactive with player outreach as he works with everyone in the pool.
"We are thinking of the possibility for the future, not only the players that are in Europe, but also players that are playing in different countries, like MLS and, of course, players with potential," he said. "We are going to try to create these links and relationships. We want them to feel that we are going to care and look after them. I'm going to follow them and try to push and motivate."
AdvertisementTactical foundations
Pochettino's tactical ideas have been on display for years. He coached at the top levels of the game for long enough for the world to get to know him. He wants aggressive pressing teams that make his opponents uncomfortable. He reiterated that when announcing the squad.
"I think we are going to try to plan to play using two systems: 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3," he said. "From there, we want to develop our way to play and see how we can adapt and how we can create partnerships between them to find the best way to create a very good way to play.
"We want to be very exciting going forward, being protagonists. That is the way that we want to perform and the way that we want to play. Soccer needs to be an exciting game for the USA citizens, I think they need to enjoy every time that they go to the stadium."
For Pochettino, this camp will be very much about laying foundations. It will take time for that to happen. The basics, though, will be the focal point in October as Pochettino looks to introduce the group to his philosophies.
"We need to create a very good way to way, an exciting way to play," he said. "When we don't have the ball, we have to have the will to defend and we need to be strong. We need to enjoy defending because we need to be a team that does not concede too many goals. We want to achieve the objective at the end in 2026, which is to prepare the team for the World Cup."
Getty Images SportAvoiding chaos
One of the surprises of Pochettino's first squad is that there were so few … well, surprises. He didn't go wild with new faces or bold decisions. Instead, he's using this camp to meet the core players who have been involved, assess them, and then go from there.
"From the beginning," he said. "I think, [it's important] not to create too much chaos."
That could change in the future. Pochettino will look to dig up gems in the player pool while keeping those currently near the top of it on their toes. There isn't time for sweeping changes with less than two years until the World Cup. Still, expect some experiments, and choices about players.
Pochettino's first squad is headlined by the surging Christian Pulisic, who has been on fire in Milan since the USMNT last convened in September for a loss to Canada and draw with New Zealand. Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Antonee Robinson all returned to the squad after missing out in September.
In two notable surprises, former U.S. No. 1 goalkeeper Zack Steffen returns to squad for the first time since 2022 while Gianluca Busio has a chance to make his first appearance since 2023. Gio Reyna and Chris Richards, meanwhile, have been left out of the team due to injury.
So this camp will be about getting to know the foundation of this team. After that, he'll add to it.
"Yes, we were thinking a little bit about some players, I'm not going to give the names, because it is not going to be fair," he said. "But we've started to follow some very good players that I think have the potential and maybe aren't now on the roster, but for sure, they're going to be on the roster in the future."
GettySetting a tone
Though he still has to evaluate players in person, Pochettino did reference some position battles. He discussed the centerback pool, currently devastated by injuries. He reflected on the good form of many of his attacking stars. He discussed Steffen's return and Brenden Aaronson's resurgence, too.
Specific decisions will be ongoing, though. All summer long, the USMNT was befuddled by a lack of intensity and will. Specifically in September, team leaders were left frustrated by a lack of pure effort. That will get fixed under Pochettino. Ahead of this first camp, he's already begun to lay down markers.
He says he can't, and won't, consider players who aren't featuring regularly for their clubs, believing consistent opportunities away from the USMNT are key to raising the level when everyone is together.
"It is clear that you can perform well, but when you spend too much time without competing, your timing and fitness always tend to go down," he said. "This is a handicap that sometimes can't be allowed on a national team. I'm a little worried about this."
Pochettino won't immediately throw everything at the players. He's hesitant to overwhelm them with tactics and ideas, at least right at the start. It will be a phased process. What isn't a slow burn is the setting of expectations. Pochettino will outline those expectations from the day players arrive.
"What we want to feel from [players] is their commitment, their personality, their character, their capacity to adapt to a new era, a new way to approach the games," Pochettino said. "I think that is going to be the key: the capacity for them to think in the collective, to give everything to try to be better like a national team."