If Mauricio Pochettino were in any doubt as to the scale of the task he has just signed himself up for, he needed only to listen to his predecessor and his captain. Tactical tweaks and squad pruning are a way off for the new USMNT boss. The most fundamental aspects of any squad — culture and effort — need addressing from the very outset.
Don’t take the word of an outsider for it. Here is what Christian Pulisic told reporters after the 1-1 draw with New Zealand in Cincinnati on Wednesday, when asked what impact Pochettino might have on the program. “I hope he can bring a new winning mentality, a culture within the team that’s really going to make a switch and flip a switch for a lot of the guys to take a step up.”
Separately, Pulisic told TNT that the USMNT needs “a culture that is willing to fight, that is willing to take risks, you know, [to] win.” He added: “There’s a lot of things that need to change, just the mentality and the culture of the group. I think we have the quality, but hopefully that’s the first thing he’s going to want to change.”
Problems that had been bubbling away at least since the disastrous Copa America campaign and the friendlies are now firmly out in the open. A team that in this calendar year has beaten Jamaica (just barely), Mexico and Bolivia while losing at home to Canada for the first in a generation looks to be at its lowest ebb. That much was apparent in the defeat to their neighbors in Kansas City, where interim head coach Mikey Varas seemed far from impressed with the attitude of his team.
What that might come down to is an open question, one Pochettino needs to answer quite swiftly. Gregg Berhalter’s critics might contend that the U.S. camp was too much of a safe haven for players whose club form was not meriting call ups. Indeed in cases such as Matt Turner and Giovanni Reyna, there is little to no form whatsoever to make a decision on.
Varas at least saw signs of changing attitudes in a match that might have resulted in a first win in four games for the USMNT had it not been for a bizarre late equaliser, Mark McKenzie’s clearance clattering into Ben Waine and looping over a stranded Matt Turner. The challenge for the US squad is breaking the habits that might well have become engrained in a group that has become settled (some might say in a rut).
“Tonight wasn’t about tactics,” said Varas. “It was about sprinting, fighting, showing everybody our American values of hard work and fight always. That step is an important one to set the group up for success.
“Habits don’t change overnight. Now it’s about doing it every day, in their club wake up every day, want to be great. Wake up every day, train like an animal. In the next camp, continue going. The trainings were good this camp, really good. They showed up. We know what happened in the first game but they showed up. Now it’s about do it over and over again so it becomes a habit. It’s the only way.”
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Not that it is just the attitude that needs sorting. When Chris Richards was asked what Pochettino might bring, he spoke about the intangibles of new management but also very basic tactical adjustments that were required. He said: “Aggression is a big one but also a new style of play or at least a functioning style of play. That’s something we’ve been trying to find our identity with for the last few years. Having him, having stability will be good for us.”
Fix the tactics, fix the culture, fix the habits. Suddenly the 639 days between his appointment and the USA’s World Cup opener seems skant time for all the work Pochettino has to do.
