Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
Throughout his tenure as the U.S. men’s soccer team’s manager, Mauricio Pochettino has pushed his players to bring the same passion that he had as a player. There’s been plenty of tactical talk, of course, and all the other things required of a high-level outfit. But emotion still sits at the core of it all for the Argentina native, as it has throughout a life that has taken him to the sport’s biggest stages. And when he arrived in Philadelphia over the weekend to get ready for the Americans’ stay in town, he came prepared. “I hear about the crowd, about the fans, that they are very good,” Pochettino told The Inquirer. It’s cliché, but as with the Club World Cup over the summer, this time the truth of it matters. There is much anticipation in the local soccer community for the U.S. men’s team’s first visit to Philly in six years. The game is Saturday against Paraguay at Subaru Park (5 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62), and it will be the program’s fourth-to-last match before the World Cup. The game is nearly sold out, with the only remaining tickets in the most expensive sideline sections. Pochettino’s tactics and lineups have to work, as they have with his switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation. The U.S. has played much better in its last three games: a 2-0 win over Japan in September, then a 1-1 tie with Ecuador, and a 2-1 win over Australia last month. There is still plenty to do, though, not least because Pochettino hasn’t been able to assemble his truly best roster yet. No. 1 striker Folarin Balogun was out for many months, and it was no coincidence the U.S. started winning when he finally returned. No. 2 striker Ricardo Pepi is back this month after a year without a cap, and key left back Antonee Robinson is out with no clear return time. This month’s gathering will also miss Christian Pulisic, Chris Richards, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Alejandro Zendejas. “What we cannot change is the circumstances,” Pochettino said. “In every single [camp], September, October, and now November, the roster always was different. … Sometimes we’d have some players and then we didn’t have others, and then now come back again [with] different players." On the flip side, he said he has been able to see pretty much every player he wants to at some point. That number has risen as high as 60 in various remarks he has made this year. And now he at least knows who he wants to move forward with, even if he can’t have them all in camp at once. “After one year, I think we are happy in the way that the players know the way that we want to play,” he said. “All the technical area [work] is already done, because we had the possibility to bring all the players that we can, to try to know them and for them to know us in the way that we expect from them. And now it’s about to create emotions.” The tests will be hard again this month, against Paraguay and then Uruguay’s superstars next Tuesday in Tampa, Fla. (7 p.m., TNT, Universo). They’ll also be another reminder of a longtime truth for the U.S. program, that it’s always good to play South American opponents. The continent’s nations may vary in talent, but they’ve all got a fair share, and they all bring top-level passion to the field. “I think what is going to make us better and really competitive to evolve like a team and develop the ideas in the way that we want to play, is if we are capable to create that emotion that is going to make us be stronger,” Pochettino said. “And to run one step more and be always anticipating situations, and be put in a very good place in our mentality, in our capacity to compete.” That was seen not only in the recent games, but in last year’s Copa América. The U.S. faced Uruguay in its group stage finale and was shut out, leading to an embarrassing early elimination on home soil — and to Gregg Berhalter’s dismissal, which led to Pochettino’s hiring. “You need to feel that today, the opportunity is today or never, and when the World Cup arrives, it’s going to be like this,” he said. “It’s your opportunity, you have ahead 90 minutes, and you need to give everything that you have, in your body, in your blood, to try to win.” As the U.S. players have adapted to Pochettino, he has adapted to them. He was brought in to lay down the law, and has done so plenty — especially after the Nations League flop in March, which has set the course for everything that has happened since. But the vibes now are legitimately good, with players who have stepped up and a coach who has learned how to get the best out of them. “I think we are learning together, and yes, we are adapting, I think, many things day-by-day,” he said. “Small things, that for us, it’s very helpful to have to prepare our strategies, our way to work, and the plan to do our strategies. I think it’s important how the group and the people feel to make sure that the plan works.” If that sounds like some jargon, know that it’s not the first time he has adapted as a manager. “For me, it was Argentina, Spain, France, England, and for sure every single environment is completely different,” he said, listing the countries he has managed over the years. You have to be able to adapt to work at a collection of clubs as ego-filled as Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea, and to be seen positively — at least in hindsight — at them all." What has surprised Pochettino about this U.S. squad? “The discipline in the way that the players want to learn,” he said. “It’s true that surprised us, the way that they want to improve.” That answer might surprise some fans, since the biggest charge against the star players from the end of Berhalter’s tenure through the start of Pochettino’s has been complacency. “It’s true that some habits we removed when we arrived, that the intention was good but it didn’t help to evolve in the sport,” he said. “But I think from there, we are so happy in the way that they are always able to improve. The discipline is good, and now I think we are nearly there in the place that we wanted to be: to attack the last part of the preparation for the World Cup, to be sure that we are going to arrive very competitive.” The U.S. will be training at the Union’s facilities, a milestone moment for the club and a point of pride for the national team’s many players with Union ties. Four of them are among the 25 players on this squad: Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, and Matt Freese. Pochettino has noticed how well the Union have done at producing national team-caliber talents, and gave the club some praise. “It’s a great opportunity to see the way that they are working,” he said. “To congratulate Philadelphia, because their contribution — not only because they are doing a fantastic job with the first team in MLS, but their contribution to soccer is amazing in this country.” He has his own experience with the subject, too. Pochettino’s first stop in England, Southampton, wasn’t just where he met future U.S. Soccer Federation sporting director Matt Crocker. The club has one of the Premier League’s best reputations for developing young talent, with famous alumni including Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alan Shearer, and Gareth Bale. “I’m looking forward to seeing the academy, and the training ground, and everything here in Philadelphia,” Pochettino said. “I only hear very good things about that — about the club and the way that they work.” He’ll have some expert tour guides when the time comes.
