From the inclusion of Reyna to Pochettino’s admiration of Tyler Adams, GOAL takes a look at the big takeaways from the latest U.S. squad
U.S. national team manager Mauricio Pochettino made it clear several times during a media call Tuesday to discuss his call-ups: trimming down the player pool to select the CONCACAF Nations League roster wasn’t fun. After naming a 60-player preliminary list, he had to cut it down to 23. It’s not the best part of his job – nor the easiest.
“When you can only call 23 when the preliminary list was 60 players, it’s really painful,” he said. “It’s not only about performance; it’s about balance and how you connect the characteristics of the players in the squad.”
There were some notable exclusions from Pochettino’s 23-man squad. Brenden Aaronson was left off, signaling that he has work to do if he wants to stay in the squad over the next year. Alejandro Zendejas was omitted as well, despite his incredible run of form with Club America. They were two of several difficult decisions, Pochettino said. If it were up to him, he’d have a much bigger squad. But that’s not how this works.
Pochettino did get the opportunity to add some newcomers, at least for him. Tyler Adams is back. So, too, is Gio Reyna. Both could be starters by the time the World Cup comes around, and both will now get the chance to work under the Argentine for the first time next week. That’s the fun part of the job – one that begins now that Pochettino has trimmed his list.
GOAL looks at main takeaways from Pochettino as he discussed his squad, the balance he’s aiming for, upcoming competitions, and the road to the CONCACAF Nations League final.