It may have only lasted 45 minutes, but for the first time in the Mauricio Pochettino era, we saw the potential of what the US men’s national team can accomplish under the Argentine. While injuries continued to be a problem, with Tim Weah back in the fold for the first time since the Copa America, Pochettino had the wardrobe he had to a full-strength starting XI and they exploded in the first half for three goals on. home soil beating Jamaica 4-2 (5-2 on aggregate) to book a place in the semifinals of the League of Nations of Concacaf.
The USMNT struggled in Kingston during the first leg but was still able to excel at St. It’s Concacaf’s way to survive on the road and strive at home but that’s what they did. The four goals are the most the USMNT has scored in over a year. They last won four in October 2023 against Ghana before turning around under Gregg Berhalter during the Copa America, leading to his sacking and the appointment of Pochettino.
In the first camp of the Argentine, the USMNT struggled and lost to Mexico in Guadalajara. Growing pains are to be expected but as the coach begins to instill his ideals, but also expects progress and facing the Reggae Boyz, that’s exactly what was seen.
Tactical touches like starting Yunus Musah on the wing, switching Tim Weah to the left wing and even Antonee Robinson cutting into midfield in possession as a Pep Guardiola full-back could all be seen against Jamaica and they worked to great effect. It even had the usual dash of Pochettino’s unorthodox methods as it was referenced in the TNT broadcast that Weah was on the left because he is left eye dominant. Pochettino has an assistant coach who checks for eye dominance leading to Weah’s throw.
“We all have a dominant eye, don’t we? And depending on your body shape, you feel comfortable or not, depending on where the line is,” Pochettino said of Weah after the match. “What is the goal, what is your position when you receive the ball? Always, we try to control, because we need to understand the player.”
That understanding is where Pochettino is in some ways a progression from Berhlater, who was more than a coach of players but also added expectations and responsibilities for key members of the squad. He will want to close out matches better than they did against Jamaica, allowing two goals in the second half of play, but there it will also be important to find out what depth players he can trust.
Tanner Tessmann is someone who will come out of this camp raising his status in the squad after injuries to Johnny Cardoso and Aidan Morris. He could operate well at the base of midfield which could be critical even with Tyler Adams returning with Bournemouth. The more depth that Pochettino is able to cultivate, the better that his team will be able to close out matches during grueling international breaks like this one.
One of the reasons for the second-half collapse is that the USMNT could only make one forced change from the first leg to the second one, Weah coming in for the injured Cardoso. In knockout contests, this was a team that was exhausted from only being able to rely on the starters pushing them to their limits. Pochettino’s aim will be to extend that to the entire squad so that when the World Cup rolls around, members as deep as 18 of the USMNT roster can contribute as well as others in the first 11.
Next up will be a January camp in Fort Lauderdale, where the USMNT will face Venezuela on January 18. During that camp, Pochettnio will spend time with homegrown players like Diego Luna and really start to sink his teeth into the American soccer ecosystem. With that break not being during a FIFA international window, members of the standard USMNT will not be there as they will have club duties, but therefore it is the perfect time for Pochettino to learn more about the rest of his roster and examine depth. .
This is a taste of what the USMNT can do under Pochettino and when they take the field in the semi-finals of the Concacaf Nations Leauge in March, they will be expected to put together a full 90 minutes of football to push to win the tournament for. the fourth consecutive time. They are laying the foundation to do just that, it will just need to keep moving in the right direction.
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