U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has less than two months until the CONCACAF Gold Cup begins, meaning his program cannot afford a similar slip-up to the one they endured last March.
The Americans finished fourth in CONCACAF Nations League play, losing 1-0 to Panama and 2-1 to Canada in the recent Final Four. It marked the first time in the competition that the USMNT did not win the tournament and it also marked the first time since 2019 that the Americans suffered back-to-back losses to rival opponents.
Plenty of criticism was voiced at the players following their disappointing March window and Pochettino admitted that the mindset and competition in his squad has to improve.
“The right mindset must be there, because we need to compete for our flag, our country,” Pochettino said in an interview with U.S. Soccer on Tuesday. “What we are trying to do as a staff is to optimize every single area of preparation, and the mentality of the players is really important.
“We need to be intelligent in the way that we are going to select the players and not just choose based on talent alone,” he added. “We need to have the right characters to be really competitive.”
The USMNT lacked physicality and energy in their pair of defeats, conceding a late winner to Panama before also conceding twice against the Canadians. While plenty of international stars such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Tim Weah were part of the squad, the USMNT failed to rise to the occasion, leaving plenty of fans to ponder about the upcoming Gold Cup.
Due to the FIFA Club World Cup taking place this summer on U.S. soil, Pochettino will be without both McKennie and Weah for the competition, opening the door for others to step in and fill the void. In addition, the European club season still has three-to-four weeks remaining, which could lead to other USMNT players potentially being absent, should injuries arise.
Pochettino will have plenty of roster decisions to make before the USMNT gets back on the field again, but overall the Argentine manager expects more commitment for the entire pool of players.
“For sure to start we must compete hard,” Pochettino said. “We must match the intensity of our opponents, because in these tournaments they are always motivated to play against the USA. Of course we must perform well to win and you don’t always get a result, but for sure in order to win you have to compete.
“It’s not just about showing up in your home country and trying to play nice soccer,” he added. “No, you must be proud, you must fight for the people that would love to be in your position, for the millions of kids that are going to see us and dream to be one day where we are. This is the type of responsibility and commitment we need to show in a different way than we did in Los Angeles.”
The USMNT will face Turkey and Switzerland in a pair of home June friendlies before kicking off Gold Cup play against Trinidad & Tobago on June 15.
Source link
Add Comment