🇺🇸 Gold Cup Daily: Pochettino's USMNT remains 'under construction' despite group stage wins
PLUS: Central American showdown in Central Texas!
Reporting from Austin
Mauricio Pochettino had plenty of moments not to like during the United States’ 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia. The great vibes of smashing five goals past Trinidad and Tobago dissipated as the U.S. struggled to create and needed a set-piece header from Chris Richards to get past the Asian guest team and into the knockout stage.
But there was one moment Pochettino didn’t like but rather loved. Just after the half-hour mark, Richards chased down Saudi winger Abdulrahman Al-Obood, who was free in possession on the left side. Richards left his feet at the perfect time to deflect the attacker’s effort harmlessly out for a corner kick.
“Very good action. That is what we want. And that is what we expect,” Pochettino said. “When you create that platform the players feel very confident and see the power and energy and we start to play like a team that appears in those situations. I’m so, so happy.
“In the previous games, the previous months ago, it was difficult to find some actions like this, but now the spirit of the group forces you to do something - sometimes heroic.”
It’s interesting that Pochettino sees that moment as one that might not have happened a few months ago. We typically view ‘growth’ at the national team level as coming with results. More wins=more growth.
But the manager is looking at smaller moments, both from individuals like Richards and from the team as a whole.
While the former Spurs, PSG and Chelsea boss is happy to work with players on finishing, tackling or soccer IQ, he said mentality is “the hardest part to train because it takes time. It’s process. Training the attack, the defense, tactics, it’s something that any manager has enough knowledge to do. After that, it’s the values you transit as a coaching staff.
“That’s what we want to create: That environment or relationship there has to be with habits. Those habits are the habits that we think need to be in a team that wants to compete in big things … they’re going to lead to creating a culture.
“Culture isn’t created speaking, giving theoretical lessons, it’s made with decisions, with actions. A lot of times we’ve been speaking lately with the players that you have to speak on the field with facts, with actions. Maybe we can all communicate well and all of us have the ability to say a lot of very lovely things, but the most important is to do it.”
Or, essentially, less talk, more moments like the effort Richards put in Thursday night to shut down this and other Saudi attacks and eventually score goals.
“He demands a lot out of you. We know that and know the first two (friendlies) were tough for us,” attacker Jack McGlynn told me after the match. “Going into the tournament flipped a switch, and we have a lot more hunger, a lot more fight. That’s what he instills in us.”
Those shared values and a real culture is needed, Pochettino said, for the U.S. to really achieve its goals both in this summer’s Gold Cup and going forward into the 2026 World Cup.