HARTFORD, Conn. — United States men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino said it’s important to not pay too much attention to the circumstances surrounding his squad selection for the Concacaf Gold Cup, but rather to “trust in the roster” and provide an environment for the players to “fight for a place” on the World Cup.
Pochettino’s preparations for the Gold Cup — which includes a friendly against Turkey on Saturday — have been hampered by a number of players rendered unavailable.
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These include AC Milan attacker Christian Pulisic (fatigue), Fulham defender Antonee Robinson (knee surgery), PSV Eindhoven defender Sergiño Dest (continued recovery from ACL surgery) as well as the Juventus duo of Weston McKennie and Tim Weah (Club World Cup commitments).
What was hoped to be an extended period with his best players ahead of next year’s World Cup on home soil, has turned into something very different. Pochettino has been forced to mine the depths of the USMNT player pool, with the 26-player Gold Cup roster including seven uncapped players and another seven with fewer than five international appearances.
“We need to adapt to the circumstance and I think it’s important not to pay too much attention [to them],” Pochettino told reporters on Friday. “It’s only to try to believe and to provide the players a good environment for them to perform and fight for a place and to be in the World Cup in one year.
“Of course different players that maybe with the opportunity to be here, are not here [in this] circumstance, but we cannot change that reality.”
Mauricio Pochettino will lead an inexperienced USMNT squad into this summer’s Gold Cup. John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF
When asked if he thought that the current roster was good enough to win the Gold Cup, Pochettino declined to answer, instead focusing on the opportunity that the players have in front of them.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to settle things. That sometimes is difficult when you only have few days to train and you need to play,” he said. “I think now it’s a great opportunity to be together during one month … And then we will see.
“Always it’s about the opportunity you need to provide the opportunity to the player and the player maybe can take or not. But the important thing now is to trust in this roster and try to compete believing that we can win.”
Pochettino has leveled some thinly veiled criticisms at the USMNT about the attitude in shown in prior gatherings. U.S. World Cup captain Tyler Adams said that Pochettino has communicated to this group what he expects.
“I think that the mentality has to be set clear, and I think [Pochettino] has made that clear since day one, that we’re here to work,” Adams said. “We’re here to enjoy ourselves on the pitch, get better every single day, learn what we have to go through.
“We’re traveling all over the place; we’re obviously playing abroad and we come back home and it is nice to see your families. But we have to find the right balance of that.
“And I think when he speaks to that, he means we need to find the balance of doing the work on the field, making sure we’re doing the work and when we have downtime to rest in the appropriate way so that we’re able to recover for the matches.
“So yeah, he talks about balance quite a lot and make sure that we understand that we need to be top professionals. That’s the most important thing.”
