ATLANTA – Eighteen months and 24 matches after Mauricio Pochettino was named the head coach of the U.S. men’s national team, the group is now barrelling towards the looming deadline that is the much-anticipated World Cup ahead of what many hope will be a groundbreaking showing on home soil.Pochettino’s stamp on the team has become increasingly clear by the game, even as he conducted a rigorous experimentation period. Scores of players have earned caps under the head coach, many breaking into a core group and giving the team a new look in the process. Pochettino has also introduced a variety of tactical styles, spending last fall working with three center backs before transitioning back to a four-person defense in March’s matches against Belgium and Portugal. By the time the World Cup approaches, the team will have a tactical variety that should, theoretically, position them to solve a wide range of problems.With less than two months to go until Pochettino names his World Cup roster, questions of which players will make the cut are natural. They are not the only uncertainties, though, as the World Cup rapidly approaches — his team still does not look like the finished product, perhaps because Pochettino has insisted on trying as many things as possible before this summer’s tournament actually begins.Here’s a look at the questions that went unanswered in the U.S.’ defeats to Belgium and Portugal in March.
Are the USMNT error-prone in defense?The USMNT have made tangible progress under Pochettino, most notably as a more dynamic team in attack with an emphasis on a high press and offense-minded wide players. They have done this while problems in the back persist, issues that were magnified in a 5-2 loss to Belgium on Saturday and a 2-0 defeat to Portugal on Tuesday. They have not kept a clean sheet since a 2-0 win over Japan in September and have just one in their last 12 matches.The errors themselves are wide-ranging but ultimately costly, likely the result of several contributing factors. The USMNT are generally better with Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson on the pitch, though Pochettino said Tuesday that substitutions made in high volume sometimes lead to confusion. Other times, though, their attack-minded approach proves costly and gets in the way of their intentions.”[We need to figure] out the little things that we can do that doesn’t leave us exposed in some…
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2026-04-01 10:22:04
