When the U.S. men’s national team extended head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s contract for another World Cup cycle fresh off the USMNT’s implosion against Belgium with the nation watching, Pochettino had to answer one question: how, and how quickly, would he change the culture around the team given a full cycle to mold the player pool following what would be considered a national embarrassment in a more traditional “soccer country?”
Now that the international break is over, we appear to have a decisive answer. Pochettino allayed most of the concerns surrounding his extension the first chance he got, as a squad filled with exciting young talent and supplemented by veteran leadership won all four games in the September/October window, capped off with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Canada in St. Paul on Tuesday.
While the U.S.’ rivalry with their northern neighbors is still nowhere near as intense as their feud with previous opponents Mexico, Canada’s emergence as a relevant soccer nation has at least made the U.S. treat them as serious competition rather than the relative afterthought they previously were. Canada have also gotten extra motivation from head coach and Wisconsin native Jesse Marsch, who was reportedly turned down by the U.S. before taking the Canada job and has made no secret of his desire to get the last laugh over his home country.
Marsch’s men made it a point to make their presence felt early, which they accomplished by fouling the U.S. a total of 13 times in the first half to prevent either team from getting into a sustained rhythm. Orlando City’s Justin Ellis, who opened the window by scoring inside five minutes against Peru in his home stadium, suffered the worst of those fouls around 20 minutes in. It appeared as though Ellis would be unable to continue, but he pushed through the pain and eventually scored the only goal of the game in the 29th minute thanks to a cross from former Lion Alex Freeman. Canada continued committing fouls and had most of the ball in the second half, but strong defense and a few key saves from Nashville’s Brian Schwake, who rebounded nicely from his suboptimal performance against Chile, proved enough for the U.S. to see out the perfect window.
Both players chiefly involved in the goal are emblematic of the qualities Pochettino wants to instill in the team that he began promoting last cycle and will look to build upon with a full four years of job security. A major critique of many of the USMNT’s core players following the lifeless World Cup exit was that they lacked mental and physical toughness similar to what Ellis displayed. Pochettino responded to these criticisms by leaving most of the primary culprits off this roster, and the young players with whom he replaced them showed their toughness and hunger in spades.
Freeman’s meteoric rise is a concrete example of how the right mentality can help this group reach their sky-high potential. Around this time last year, Freeman found himself in the same position as many of these newcomers. He had recently broken through in MLS and was just getting his feet wet with the national team, but performed well enough for club and country to earn a move to one of Spain’s biggest clubs in Villarreal before the World Cup. He’s since become a regular contributor for the Yellow Submarine and established himself as a lock starter for the USMNT and, at just 22 years old, one of their “veteran” leaders.
Freeman may be an outlier in just how quickly his standing within the game has skyrocketed, but this camp has given plenty of reasons to believe that many of the USMNT’s best prospects could one day reach the same level. 13 players earned their first caps this window (Elversberg’s Cole Campbell came on in the 61st minute of this match to ensure all 28 players on the roster played at least once), the vast majority of whom are in their teens or early 20s and still have several years of development instead. These players simultaneously represent both the present and the future of the national team, as they’re young enough to deepen the player pool for the coming years while still providing competition for many of the players fans and media have accused of becoming complacent.
Pochettino told the players after beating Canada just how much the hunger and positive attitude the new players brought has rubbed off on all of the players and staff and already forged a special bond between everyone involved with the team.
“Keep the true love, without condition,” Pochettino said. “Let us manage you. Let us work for you, and you go on the pitch and give your best. If that happens, the team with the talent that we have [will keep rising]. It’s no coincidence that we won all four games. It’s not easy to play against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada, so why did we do what we did? It’s because the energy was amazing and because you want to belong here; it’s not conditional.”
At the same time, Pochettino emphasized that this group has set a standard he expects them to maintain (and future call-ups to adopt) going forward.
“Now, our worry and our responsibility is keeping it this way,” Pochettino said. “You need to go back to your clubs and be humble and more responsible, because now you are internationals. You need to come back and be better every day. Work hard, harder than your teammates. Being an international is no more beneficial to you; [in fact], less, because you need to perform…. That’s the only way we’re going to increase our level.”
Even the young players who didn’t play particularly well will likely have several more opportunities to prove they can adhere to that standard, and there are promising talents in MLS who were unlucky not to get called up for this camp but may prove useful in the future like Atlanta United’s Cooper Sanchez. Pochettino’s next task will be figuring out the right mix of established stars and untested prospects to bring to the next camp that will arrive shortly with two matches against World Cup darlings Haiti in mid-November, the USMNT’s first step toward reclaiming the Nations League title they lost to Mexico after winning the first three editions.