Coaching Philosophies and the Mauricio Pochettino System

This coupled with Matt Crocker’s statements at halftime of the last game tell us that he is going to look for players with high motors and high fitness levels who are getting minutes at their clubs.

If he neglects those simple principles, then he will fail from the start.

However, sticking to those principles will mean that guys who have been playing with the US without playing for their club teams will be left off of rosters.

 

Mauricio Pochettino is a big fan of Yunus Musah—now they get to work together with the USMNT 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/6CGYaSBVt1

— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) September 12, 2024

 

That Barton ref from El Salvador might allow NFL tackles with the way he reffed most of his matches involving the US....

 

One of the things a team like Argentina does well is they know how to play
when they face the physicality of South America, but they also know how to adjust when they play the sort of game you play against a France. That’s the sort of skill we could learn.

 

It also helps the defense because they don't face as many chances if the ball is won on the offensive part of the field. They will have to be really good at counters if more players are attacking. I'm really interested in the players chosen. I also wonder how much change there will be from those chosen at first and then those chosen at the WC. We'll see how many no longer get chosen if they do what he asks.

 

Your writing is as confused as your thinking.

The career I'm talking about is the one where he was signed first by Schalke and then by Juve. Big teams don't sign players who lack both talent and effort. This is axiomatic.

 

Or, logically, a person with greater fitness and motor may take the job of somebody at a good club getting minutes regularly who is less fit and lacks the motor.

 

We will start to see his imprint next month, but Nov. is when I expect to see any real changes if we are going to get them. Nation's League is an actual tournament, not a bunch of friendlies, so whoever he selects and plays then will mean something going forward.

 

I always assumed that he would be one of the first players that he takes a shine to. But... Musah has honestly been so awful in his recent caps. After starting off his national team career very strongly, and I'd say he played strongly through and well after the World Cup.

 

Hopefully, Pochettino will help Musah fire his career to the next level in the manner that Klinsmann did with Bobby Wood.

 

Is it? We don't actually starting playing until the quarterfinals. How often do we not make the semifinals or finals?

 

FWIW it's not out of the question that we play Honduras or Jamaica in the playoff, and given our history in those places shit could get very real if we drop that opening leg.

Just look at Mexico last year

 

We play real Nation's League qualifiers in November. Those are games that count.

 

Are we sure we want to win in November? Losing would allow us to schedule a couple of non-Concacaf games next March.

 

I just watched Gary Neville's interview with Pochettino (here) and I thought there was a lot of revealing information there that I hadn't seen yet. Just some bullet points of things that stood out to me:

--Neville asked Poch if he knew what he wanted to do next right after he left Chelsea or if he was just waiting to hear about an opportunity. Poch says that when the Chelsea gig ended he and his coaching staff discussed the possibility of managing a national team next, and the USMNT was one team they did already have in mind. That answer was also interesting to me in that it seems like not just during his coaching spells, but even when he's out of work, the coaching staff he's worked with consistently across jobs appears to actively participate and operate as a team in planning for the future. For instance, Neville follows up by asking about Poch's thinking personally in taking the job, and Poch responds by saying "the timing is right for us in our career....We challenged ourselves:...Go to [the] USA. Learn a different system, a different culture...Try to perform and be successful in a national team."

--Poch mentions that the timing here was perfect for them: 2 years before a World Cup hosted in the US is exactly the sort of thing they were looking for.

--Neville asks him whether there was a target for the World Cup that came up in his discussions with Crocker and USSF. Poch answers that they they were very clear with him that the target was the quarter-finals.

--Neville asks him who he spoke with here in the US about the job. Poch says the first two people he spoke with were Emma Hayes and Tata Martino. (I did not realize this but apparently Poch and Martino were club teammates in Argentina in the 80's, and Martino was actually the club captain at Newell's Old Boys at the time.) And he's also since spoken with Hugo Lloris. They all told him that the potential is massive here. They said the athletes, the discipline, and the mentality are all there, but they need to compete better. (Poch says that a lot during the interview, but it's not always clear to me if he has something specific in mind there other than just needing to get better results.)

--Key priority for Pochettino in the next couple months is to restore the confidence, trust, belief, and excitement within the group, which he believes took a big hit as a result of Copa America.

--Asked which of his jobs, including this one, is the most challenging of his career, Poch suggests he thinks it will be this one. Because national team coaching is so new to him and his team. He says it will be like his first day at school. He knows he needs to accept that he's only going to be with the players for a very limited amount of time, and he needs to figure out how to deal with that. He mentions how valuable it is for him at the club level to be able to get right back on the training ground with the group the day after a game and work with those players, and he recognizes those opportunities will be much more limited now.

--I've noticed now in multiple interviews that Poch attempts to push back on the impression that his pressing is the most noteworthy aspect of his tactics. He acknowledges that he became known for that at Southampton and Tottenham, but he makes it a point to add that his teams are also known for possession and building out of the back.

--Neville recalls the first game he attended in the US (in the Rose Bowl back in '94) and the "extreme" "boiling" heat really stood out to him. He asks Poch if he will have to adjust his usual tactics for the World Cup here, particularly the pressing. Poch says yes they may need to be flexible and adapt. But he also says "The main idea we're not going to change too much. We need to be protagonists and we need to have the ball....After, when you don't have the ball, you need to be able to recover it as soon as possible." Poch says that he thinks having 3-4 weeks of training leading up to the World Cup will be beneficial for all of this, though the principles obviously need to be instilled from day one.

 

"....he's also since spoken with Hugo Lloris. They all told him that the potential is massive here. They said the athletes, the discipline, and the mentality are all there, but they need to compete better. (Poch says that a lot during the interview, but it's not always clear to me if he has something specific in mind there other than just needing to get better results.)"

I took it to mean the athleticism and willing attitude is there and they just need to play better football.

We don't hear that golf applause in USA which you hear in Europe when a back line and gk successfully maneouver a ball out of the defending end into the attacking end with unusual aplomb. It's more likely in MLS that an attacker like Riqui Puig will drop into the back line to pick the ball up, dribble the ball 80 yds to the delight of the crowd and sky a shot over the bar thru 5 defenders since his teammates are all covered by the time he reaches his destination.

 

Watching Musah, Tottenham's Dembele always came to mind. Obviously, Dembele was better but both had the ability to maintain possession and make driving runs in midfield through great dribbling. Dembele was also a key part of Poch's Tottenham team. I wonder if Poch sees a little bit of Dembele in Musah.

 

Tata Martino is a huge Tyler Adams fan and has intimate knowledge of several of our players.

It’s good that we brought in a South American who can help our guys grow in the psychological side of the game (fighting in physical battles, gaining a mental edge over the opponent, etc). Its time for these guys to learn how to get dirty.

 

I took it as a very polite way of saying the team needed better coaching


I don't know if it's been mentioned anywhere (I haven't seen it), but as a little point of trivia Poch played against Claudio during their playing days.

 

He played against a decent number of USMNT players in this friendly: https://www.11v11.com/matches/usa-v-argentina-13-june-1999-266841/

 

14 players who could get a fresh look under new USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino

While new USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino will build his team around established stars like Christian Pulisic, there will be plenty of opportunities for new players to prove they belong. ✍️ @ByDougMcIntyre https://t.co/jdJ34As2Qy

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 25, 2024

Aaand the first name on the list isss.... Reggie Cannon lol

D Reggie Cannon, 26, Colorado Rapids (MLS)

A mainstay for most of the last World Cup cycle, Cannon was one of Berhalter's final cuts before Qatar 2022. He publicly criticized the decision and hasn't been capped since. That could change now that Pochettino is in charge and Cannon is back in MLS after stints in Portugal and England. Right back remains one of the deepest positions in the U.S. player pool, however.​

 

True, and good call back. Fwiw, the match I know of and was referring to was in the UEFA Cup, PSG v Rangers, back when the Rangers were something

 

No Brooks? I'm shocked.

Most were already getting looks. No on Steffens.

 

I mean, the list IS alphabetized.

But it's still not very good. Many of these guys were in last camp. And someone like Julian Green seems really, really, really unlikely to me.

 

I have a feeling that Poch is going to be focusing on the younger end of the age spectrum . I don't see him giving the older guys a big shot.