ON MONDAY, UNITED STATES national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the media about a wide range of topics around the U.S. national team, the U.S. youth national teams, and for future tournaments.

The call gave insight into how the team could look in the months and years ahead beginning with the merged September/October camp.

The September/October camp

The USMNT will play its first games since the World Cup at the end of this month into September with games against Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. The U.S. Olympic team will not be going until later windows. This gives Pochettino a chance to call in several players.

“I think our idea is we are going to do a mix of experienced players,” Pochettino said. “I think experienced players with young players that can fit together and start to work and how the young kids start to manage the pressure to play in the first team in the very next games … It’s tough, but I think it’s important now to have this pool of a lot of players because I think players can evolve from one month to another, six months, one year and it’s important to keep that connection.”

There are different types of players who can be looked at in these games. The first is that Pochettino could look at Olympic eligible players who are breaking through, players such as Zavier Gozo, Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre, and Justin Ellis.

Pochettino might also opt to look at players who are no longer eligible for USYNTs, who came up short of making the World Cup team, but who are quietly raising their games. This would be players such as Aiden Morris, James Sands, Gianluca Busio, Yunus Musah, Diego Luna, or Jack McGlynn.

Right now, it seems as if the upcoming roster could be mix of World Cup veterans, along with younger players, and players who are outside the youth level but who are raising their games.

Toning down the youth hype

Another important takeaway is that Pochettino is very encouraged by the number of young American players breaking through in MLS this season, but he also wanted to stress that the hype machine needs to be turned down.

Still, he did not discount that these players could be called up later this month.

“Philadelphia has good young players, good kids that maybe we will call a few. New York, yes, Orlando, Nashville, Atlanta. I can keep going, no?”

“We are very happy to have all these potential good players. Only we need to be careful. When you are young, of course, you need to be confident. You need to have trust in yourself, but there is a limit. The balance is the most important, and one of our responsibilities is to protect these guys because sometimes if you play well and you are 17, 16 or 18, people start to talk about you are Messi or you are a big star in the world because you do a few good things. If you don’t manage it well, that can be dangerous for your career, and that is what we don’t want.”

Youth National Team involvement

Another big takeaway from Pochettino’s press conference is that he stressed he did not want players to opt out of youth national team call-ups, something he has been noticing. Players and/or their clubs have been not releasing players for youth camps for “rest” purposes and that is something he wants to change.

He wants the players to push to be part of it the whole process.

“[When a player in MLS or somewhere else] has the possibility to join the under-18 or under-19 national teams, or the Olympic Games, it’s so important to be part of them. That is another habit that we need to change,” Pochettino said.

“Sometimes the coaches say, you know, ‘I have a 17-year-old guy that plays in MLS,’ but when the under-19 natonal team calls they say: ‘No, they need to rest.’ If you’re 17 and need to rest? Ay, ay, ay. You have a big problem."

“You cannot rest at 17… Physically, when you are 18, the possibility to recover from one effort to another is different when you are 32. Sometimes young players come with the older mindset, and that is the evolution that we need to change.”

Specifically, Pochettino spoke about the Olympic team which will be under the leadership of head coach Steve Cherundolo.

The Olympics will be played in the United States in 2028 and the federation has said that tournament is a priority. Recently, the successful 2026 World Cup teams of Spain, France, and Morocco drew heavily from their Olympic rosters from 2024.

U.S. Soccer wants to have similar success with the coming Olympic team but that will require working closely with Pochettino, which is something the Argentine wants to do.

“We have a core of young players that need to play the Olympic Games,” Pochettino said. “Because I think it’s an objective for our federation and for the country to try and be a contender for the gold medal, and I say it’s important. It’s going to be in in our country, and we are going to support that. And always the decision on the first team with the players that are in that process, we are going to take the best decision altogether, always. And to try to project that players [are] in the best condition, and to help them.

Playing in the Copa America and Gold Cups

One of the biggest stories in Pochettino’s first cycle as the national team head coach was the 2025 Gold Cup where several top players, including Christian Pulisic, opted to sit out to rest for the upcoming European season.

“I think they are going to be really important, because it’s the possibility to compete and to recreate what is going to be our main objective -  a World Cup,” Pochettino said. “That is why we need to change that mindset.”

“Before it was difficult to make the roster for the World Cup one year before,” he continued. “Because the mindset was different: ‘If I have not holidays, I cannot arrive fresh for the World Cup.’ And that you know now that that is bullshit.”

Bottom line is that the 2027 Gold Cup roster could see Pochettino draw an important line in demanding players show up.