Mauricio Pochettino’s very first U.S. men’s national team roster is here…and it looks a whole lot like Gregg Berhalter’s rosters did right up until he was fired after the team’s group stage exit at the Copa America.
Ahead of his first two games in charge of the USMNT — one against Panama in Austin on October 12th and one against Mexico in Guadalajara on October 15th — Pochettino went with the classics. Sure, Zack Steffen is back with the U.S. as one of four goalkeepers called into the 25-man squad. Gianluca Busio is back, too, for the first time since the 2023 Gold Cup. But Pochettino opted to rely on so many of the names we’ve come to expect or who featured in September under interim manager Mikey Varas.
The full squad headed to Texas 🤠 pic.twitter.com/A3KpUsnYpP
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) October 2, 2024
Why so few notable changes?
Well, U.S. players aren’t thriving at high-level clubs. Most of the go-to guys are still quite young, too, with the average age of the October roster coming in at just under 25.5 years. There aren’t, then, many fringe players banging down Pochettino’s door to demand a call-up. Now, when asked if he planned to bring in a wider selection of players in the future, Pochettino left that door wide open.
“Yes, we were thinking a little bit in some players. I’m not going to give the names because it's not going to be fair. But I think yes, we are. We start to follow some very good players that I think have the potential and maybe are not now in the roster, but for sure they're going to be in the roster in the future,” the new U.S. coach said in a press conference on Wednesday.
For now, though, there’s little to analyze when it comes to the names in Pochettino’s initial squad.
Pochettino's tactical vision for the USMNT
While the roster itself lacks intrigue, Pochettino’s comments on Wednesday provided some interesting additional details about his desired tactical approach for the USMNT. He discussed the structures and formations he plans to use with the United States.
“I think we are going to try to plan to play using two systems,” he said. “One 4-2-3-1 and one 4-3-3.”
