Stars And Stripes Column: Why Pochettino Should Not Have Brought Any Of The Regulars To The Friendlies

The first US Men's team's camp after the World Cup just happened with the squad winning all four of their friendlies against Mexico, Canada, Chile, and Peru, which is very encouraging. It also ushered in a new generation of players who were getting their first taste of senior level action as Mauricio Pochettino called in 13 young prospects such as Julian Hall, Mathis Albert, Neil Pierre, Cavan Sullivan, and Adri Mehmeti. It was great exposure for them and was significant minutes for their chances of being regulars on the senior team. That being said, what Pochettino should have never done for the friendlies was to not bring any of the regulars into that camp as these were not meaningful matches. Yes, some of the regulars such as Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun were not included, but all of the others should not have been. Yes, that means some of the main guys such as Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, Gio Reyna, Sergino Dest, and Antonee Robinson. But why is that? Because you want them to focus on their own forms at their clubs and not worry about some meaningless matches. If these recent games meant anything, it was more of just looking at the youngsters getting playing time. You know what those regular guys can be, so give others a chance, even those fringe players or the ones who just missed out on the World Cup. You have to give those guys a chance to prove themselves. We already know what Tillman and Adams can do, why not see what Tanner Tessmann or Yunus Musah can do (yes, I know Musah was included, but he strengthens my point).

This 2030 cycle is going to be the deepest US has seen in their player pool, ever. More competition is only going to make the program even better and eventually more competitive on the international stage. Another thing this cycle could have been was also to try and recruit some of the dual nationals and secure them. Yes, I know it was a bummer that Noahkai Banks chose Germany, but there are others like Montrell Culbreath or Brandon Nozawa that could be brought in. However, getting dual nationals to join the team helps deepen the player pool and recruiting them for these friendlies would have been perfect as that would allow Pochettino to see who else could play in major tournaments such as the Nation's League which is coming up next month. Some other dual nationals Pochettino could have brought in were Landon Emenalo, Bryan Okoh, and Luca Koleosho.

As for those fringe players, giving them an opportunity does the same. While these guys got chances before and seemingly have fallen out of favor, it's worth giving them a chance as well. Players such as Josh Sargent, Matthew Hoppe, Daryl Dike, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Gianluca Busio, George Bello, Bryan Reynolds, Marlon Fossey, Kristoffer Lund, Aidan Morris, Paxton Aaronson, John Tolkin, and Luca de la Torre. If they perform well, give them strong considerations for those major tournaments. If not, keep giving them opportunities in friendlies or the Gold Cup.

Then there are some other guys who are going to be part of the next wave and some of these names should have gotten an call up: Damion Downs (yes, he was eventually asked to come in once Pepi was injured), Rokas Pukstas, Charlie Kelman, Caleb Wiley, Justin Che, Jonathan Gomez, and Max Dietz. These guys are going to be the next generation, so give them chances. Like I said, you have to find ways to make your player pool as deep as possible. The program can't afford to overlook players like other countries do as the sport is not the number one in the United States and that means there's less amount of players to select from. If you make your pool deeper, it helps your depth when going up against teams like Argentina or Portugal. Yes, the sport is getting more popular here and the World Cup is going to garner more interest in future players who were exposed to soccer for the first time ever, but we still have a couple more generations to get that point.

As for the regulars, we know what they are capable of and they're going to get called up for the big games, so why risk playing them in something as meaningless as these friendlies? The players could get hurt and both fans and the players' clubs would be upset. You don't need to bring them in. Let them focus on their play with their clubs before coming to the team for an important match. Did I get my point across?