A consistent theme has emerged on the eve of Mauricio Pochettino selecting the United States men’s soccer team’s roster for next month’s FIFA World Cup: Nobody really knows.
Pochettino will inform the 26 players who survive the cull this weekend, according to multiple sources briefed on the Argentine’s plans. The ex-Chelsea and PSG boss has said he won’t contact the pool of more than 50 players he’s called up during his 20-month tenure at all.
We will know Mauricio Pochettino’s roster on Tuesday (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Through much of that time, a window far shorter than the full four-year cycle most national team coaches are, Pochettino deliberately obliterated the hierarchy cultivated under predecessor Gregg Berhalter, an attempt to both deepen the player via tented and hungry youngsters and push veterans who had become too assured of a starting spot.
Starters at Qatar 2022, including the likes of striker Josh Sargent and midfielder Yunus Musah have been out of the picture for months. Juventus standout midfielder Weston McKennie was left home for September friendlies against Japan and South Korea, a message to the rest of the veterans that was clear. Pochettino vocalized it anyway. “No one has a place for sure,” he said before that camp began.
So is it any wonder that the player pool is on edge right now as a potentially life-changing decision looms. On Thursday, a source close to one of Pochettino’s regulars said he’s not sure whether elation or anguish awaits.
He’s probably not alone.
McKennie responded to the September snub with a career-best season. He’s a lock now if he wasn’t then. So is forward Christian Pulisic, despite his career-worst scoring slump with AC Milan, and a few others including midfielder Tyler Adams, fullback Antonee “Jedi” Robinson and center back Chris Richards. That’s assuming Richards is even fully fit following news on Thursday that the defender tore ankle ligaments last week playing for Premier League side Crystal Palace.
How concerned should USA fans be with Chris Richard’s ankle injury?(Photo by Andrew J. Clark/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
After that it’s anyone’s guess — and guess they pretty much have to.
Because Pochettino has employed the same backroom staff for almost two decades, taking assistant coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel D’Agostino and Toni Jimenez from Espanyol to Southampton to Spurs before stops with PSG, Chelsea and now the U.S team. Not much leaks out. The coaches all live in Europe. They communicate in Spanish. Compared to the lead up to previous World Cup roster announcements, there’s a dearth of reliable information to be had.
Within the span of a few minutes on Thursday night, one source told me one player who most would expect to be picked was hurt and likely out. Unprompted, another texted me the exact opposite; that the player is fine and therefore in. A similar thing happened regarding another veteran. Right now, I don’t have a good sense of where either player stands.
“I’m not sure even Gooch knows” who’ll make it, one source said, referring to acting U.S. Soccer sporting director Oguchi Onyewu.
Is Zavier Gozo primed for a surprise World Cup roster spot? (Photo by Meagan Johnson – Real Salt Lake/MLS via Getty Images)
The only thing I can report confidently after a week-plus worth of digging is this: 19-year-old Real Salt Lake sensation Zavier Gozo was included in the provisional World Cup squad U.S. Soccer submitted to FIFA before the May 11 deadline.
That list can include up to 55 names, from which the final 26 must be selected. Will Gozo stick when Pochettino makes it official on Tuesday? While my gut says probably not, a hard truth remains: My head really has no idea.
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