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United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s roster for World Cup reflects his background and desire for ‘wolves.’<\/p>\n
George Walker IV\/AP<\/p>\n
Mauricio Pochettino was born 54 years ago in Murphy. But he didn\u2019t grow up with a baseball bat or an American football tucked under his arm. Nor did he go to watch the games of the Texas Rangers or the Dallas Cowboys. Instead, he grew up playing \u201cf\u00fatbol\u201d \u2014spelled with a \u201cu\u201d, not a double \u201co\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pochettino\u2019s Murphy is not the suburban town located northwest of Dallas. His Murphy lies further south. Quite a bit further south, in fact. It is a small farming and ranching town of just over 3,500 inhabitants in the Argentine province of Santa Fe, situated about 90 miles southwest of the provincial capital, Rosario, and some 230 miles northwest of Buenos Aires\u2014the capital of Argentina, his home country. It owes its name to an Irish immigrant who arrived in 1844 and became a powerful landowner.<\/p>\n
Although English is spoken in one and Spanish in the other, the two Murphys share similar characteristics. Yet in Pochettino\u2019s footballing lexicon, they could not be more different\u2014as different, in fact, as baseball or American football are from f\u00fatbol.<\/p>\n
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Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire FC, MLS), Matt Freese (New York City FC, MLS), and Matt Turner (New England Revolution, MLS). Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew, MLS), Sergi\u00f1o Dest (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Alex Freeman (Villarreal, Spain), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse, France), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC, MLS), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace, England), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, England), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati, MLS), Joe Scally (Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach, Germany), and Auston Trusty (Celtic, Scotland).<\/p>\n
Midfielders: Tyler Adams (Bournemouth, England), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps FC, MLS), Weston McKennie (Juventus, Italy), Gio Reyna (Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach, Germany), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC, MLS), and Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany).<\/p>\n
Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds, England), Folarin Balogun (Monaco, France), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan, Italy), Tim Weah (Olympique Marseille, France), Haji Wright (Coventry, England), and Alejandro Zendejas (Club Am\u00e9rica, Mexico).<\/p>\n
After losing the Gold Cup final in Houston to Mexico last summer, the current head coach of the United States national team alluded to the lack of a soccer \u201cculture\u201d that, in his view, exists in this country. That very \u201cculture\u201d which the United States obviously possesses in abundance when it comes to both baseball and American football. He stated that, for him, instilling this culture in his players was a key objective in his role as head coach, particularly with the World Cup\u00a0\u2014 hosted this summer by the United States, Mexico, and Canada\u00a0\u2014 looming on the horizon.<\/p>\n
It was a press conference charged with palpable tension. Pochettino was visibly annoyed. It was partly due to the adverse result against their regional CONCACAF rival\u00a0\u2014 against whom they practically appeared to be playing as the away team in their own NRG Stadium packed with Mexican fans\u00a0\u2014 and perhaps partly, though he didn\u2019t say so explicitly, due to the criticism he had been receiving from certain quarters, particularly from former players and coaches of the U.S. national team, ever since he was announced as head coach in Sept. 2024.<\/p>\n
Under the influence of \u2018El Loco\u2019<\/p>\n
Pochettino began kicking a ball as a child at the Club Centro Recreativo Uni\u00f3n y Cultura in Murphy, and later honed his skills under the guidance of one of Argentine football\u2019s greatest talent scouts: Jorge Griffa. He grew up under Griffa\u2019s tutelage in the youth divisions of Newell\u2019s Old Boys\u2014the Rosario-based club that produced world-class stars such as Lionel Messi and Gabriel Batistuta, among many others.<\/p>\n
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He made his first division senior team debut for his beloved \u201c\u00d1uls\u201d in 1988 under the management of Jos\u00e9 Yudica, and later established himself as a key player under the then-young head coach Marcelo Bielsa. Nicknamed \u201cEl Loco\u201d (The Madman) for his passion and obsession with soccer, Bielsa was a tactical innovator for his time\u00a0\u2014 even more so within the context of Argentine football, which remained deeply divided between the contrasti\u2019ng styles of the two coaches who had led the country to its first two World Cup titles (won in 1978 and 1986, respectively): C\u00e9sar Luis Menotti and Carlos Salvador Bilardo. Broadly speaking, the \u201cMenottistas\u201d rallied on one side praising an attacking style of play, while the \u201cBilardistas\u201d made a cult of defense among other stylistic and philosophical differences.<\/p>\n
But Bielsa hoisted his own banner. And he didn\u2019t do too badly. With Pochettino among his players, that Newell\u2019s team was crowned champions of Argentina and subsequently reached the final of the 1992 Copa Libertadores in South America where they ultimately fell to the powerful S\u00e3o Paulo side managed by the highly respected Brazilian coach Tel\u00ea Santana.<\/p>\n
Eventually, his successes catapulted him to the Argentine national team\u00a0\u2014 a squad for which he also called up Pochettino as a defender, alongside other standout figures from that brilliant Newell\u2019s side, including former Mexico head coach Gerardo \u2018Tata\u2019 Martino, who is currently in his second spell with Atlanta United after taking them to the Mayor League Soccer (MLS) title in his first spell in the United States. Bielsa cruised through the South American qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea, putting on a masterclass in football and, along the way, outperforming the mighty Brazilian national team\u2014the very squad that would later go on to claim the title at that tournament in Asia.<\/p>\n
Some of the keys to his style of play were simpler than many imagined: intensity, a high press, and a concerted effort to stifle the opponent through tight marking, forcing them to either lose possession or play a contested ball. Once his team had the ball, the objective was to cherish it\u00a0\u2014 never to \u201cgive it away cheaply\u201d\u00a0\u2014 and to work it up the pitch toward the opposing goal through fluid circulation. In essence, this is precisely what is seen to varying degrees in modern football today.<\/p>\n
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At a different pace, of course for times change, Pochettino has adapted these concepts throughout his managerial career: from his early days with Espanyol in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bto his tenure at Southampton in England which catapulted him to his brilliant Tottenham Hotspur, and subsequently to PSG in France and Chelsea in London, before ultimately taking up his current post in the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe style of play at Newell\u2019s bore many parallels to that of Tottenham: it was intense, played at maximum speed, featuring a high press and many mechanized movements; we sought to physically dominate our opponents, playing to suffocate them and make them uncomfortable whenever we didn\u2019t have the ball. And Bielsa needed every one of us to believe in him for it to work,\u201d explained Pochettino in the book \u201cUn nuevo mundo\u201d (A New World) by Spanish journalist and writer Guillem Balagu\u00e9. \u201cThe starting eleven was full of players who had to shoulder their own responsibilities; we weren\u2019t just soldiers\u2014we were part of the decision-making process. From my position as a left-sided center-back, I grew alongside Bielsa\u2019s bold and courageous game plan, which dared to challenge the conventional wisdom of the era.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pochettino\u2019s primary objective\u00a0\u2014 both back then in England and now, in this new chapter of his coaching career in the United States\u00a0\u2014 is to instill that winning mentality in his players: to get them accustomed to playing under the imperative to win every single match. It is a key component of the \u2018footballing culture\u2019 that he believes has yet to be fully embraced here.<\/p>\n
Learning from experience<\/p>\n
That Argentine national team under Bielsa\u2014a manager who is currently preparing to compete in the World Cup once again, this time at the helm of Uruguay\u2014arrived at the 2002 tournament as a heavy favorite to win the title, yet was eliminated in the first round. It was a complete failure: since their last absence from the World Cup (Mexico \u201970), that remains the only edition to date in which \u2018La Albiceleste\u2019 (White and Light Blue) failed to advance past the first round.<\/p>\n
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What went wrong? Bielsa, an idealist, placed his blind faith in the very style that had previously brought him success. However, his opponents had studied his tactics down to the minutest detail. Bielsa\u2014and, by extension, Argentina\u2014remained steadfastly loyal to their principles, only to be eliminated by a narrow margin in the group standings. That team was either unable\u2014or simply didn\u2019t know how\u2014to implement a \u201cPlan B\u201d in case things didn\u2019t go according to plan.<\/p>\n
Curiously, of the 22 matches Pochettino has overseen at the helm of the U.S. national team (yielding 13 wins, two draws, and seven losses), the standout performance was the 5\u20131 thrashing he handed to Bielsa\u2019s Uruguay squad in a friendly played on Nov. 18 in Tampa, Fla. On that day, the student defeated the master.<\/p>\n
That, precisely, will be the key to Pochettino\u2019s success with the U.S. squad. Unlike the Bielsa of that era\u00a0\u2014 specifically, the one who presided over Argentina\u2019s disastrous 2002 World Cup campaign\u00a0\u2014 Pochettino must know when to turn to pragmatism whenever a specific tactic or game plan fails to yield the expected results.<\/p>\n
To achieve this, he requires players with a hunger and thirst for victory\u00a0\u2014 as he has stated on numerous occasions\u00a0\u2014 players capable of pushing themselves to the absolute limit, doubling up in their defensive marking to win back possession, and then utilizing the ball to maximum effect in the attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cA dog and a wolf are essentially the same thing, save for one difference: the dog lives in a house, has food and water provided, and sleeps in its owner\u2019s bed. The wolf, on the other hand, lives in the mountains; it must hunt for its own food and find its own shelter. On my team, I want wolves \u2014people with hunger and ambition,\u201d recounted Pochettino, who once shared this very message via WhatsApp with his Tottenham players, as revealed in Guillem Balagu\u00e9\u2019s biography.<\/p>\n
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But then comes the hardest part: knowing what to do with the ball once possession is secured. The creative aspect, as is well known, has never been a strong suit for U.S. national teams. Tactics can be applied, physical conditioning can be honed to perfection, and commitment can be absolute; yet, even with all those elements in place, it is sometimes simply not enough. That is why sheer talent is so indispensable in making the difference. Among the players he called up for the World Cup last Tuesday, Pochettino selected an attacker like Alejandro Zendejas\u00a0\u2014 a choice that could inject a dose of audacity into the offense\u00a0\u2014 yet this decision also meant leaving out the talented Diego Luna, who had largely provided the creative spark necessary to reach the Gold Cup final a year ago.<\/p>\n
During the press conference in which he officially announced the World Cup squad, Pochettino chose not to dwell on those left out. He stated that he fully understood what must be going through their minds, having himself been left off Argentina\u2019s rosters for the 1994 and 1998 World Cups before finally realizing his dream of playing in the tournament in 2002. However, he did answer questions regarding the players he did select; among them, he specifically mentioned Zendejas\u2014who grew up in Texas, came up through the youth ranks at FC Dallas before making his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut in 2015, and now shines in the attack for Club Am\u00e9rica in Liga MX.<\/p>\n
The goalkeeping \u2014featuring three keepers who play for Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs\u2014appears to be the weakest link in the team\u2019s structure, and there does not seem to be a designated starter heading into the final warm-up friendlies: against Senegal on May 31 in Charlotte and against Germany on June 6 in Chicago. The anchor of the defense will almost certainly be Chris Richards, who is coming off a strong season in the English Premier League with Crystal Palace\u2014the newly crowned champions of the European Conference League. In the midfield, the team will likely rely heavily on the quality and experience of Weston McKennie, a standout player for Juventus in Italy.<\/p>\n
It is in the attack, however, where the team possesses its greatest wealth of quality options, with Folarin Balogun\u00a0\u2014 a speedy forward currently in top form at Monaco in France\u00a0\u2014 and captain Christian Pulisic of AC Milan standing out as the key figures. In fact, Zendejas himself, or El Paso native Ricardo Pepi, could play supporting roles after also being named to the final roster\u00a0\u2014 that select group that Pochettino hopes will transform into his \u2018pack of wolves\u2019 during the World Cup.<\/p>\n
California native Luna\u2014who, after playing a pivotal role in 2025, lost ground after missing the March friendlies due to a knee injury\u2014will be on stand-by alongside another midfielder who was surprisingly left out of the main squad: Tanner Tessmann of Olympique Lyonnais in France. They will be waiting like others also included in the provisional squad of 55 players. Another significant absence will be that of midfielder Johnny Cardoso, who suffered a severe right ankle injury during a training session with Atl\u00e9tico Madrid in Spain.<\/p>\n