Pochettino Tells USMNT Youngsters: You Don't Need to Perform — SkimNews
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- Pochettino named 13 uncapped players to a 25-man roster mixing youth with 12 World Cup veterans, with Saturday's friendly against Peru (4:30 p.m. ET, TNT) the first of four matches in 11 days.
- Cavan Sullivan, a 16-year-old Philadelphia Union midfielder with 7 goals and 5 assists this MLS season, headlines the new recruits.
- Pochettino told the young players they aren't required to perform right away: "We are not talking that they need to perform," emphasizing readiness over results.
- Tyler Adams contrasted this generation's runway with his own post-2018 experience: "There's less pressure on these young kids to come in and perform immediately and more time to actually develop them."
- Pochettino publicly criticized U.S. Soccer's decision to schedule four friendlies in 11 days — against Peru, Chile, Mexico, and Canada — calling the jam-packed window "a big risk" that restricts player development.
- Pochettino and his staff held individual meetings with each newcomer focused on personal background before any tactical discussion, aiming to "create an environment that they can feel natural."
Why it matters: Pochettino is explicitly rejecting the post-2018 urgency model — when Adams and others were thrown in to qualify for the next World Cup — in favor of a deliberate development cycle pointing at 2030. The friction is real: Pochettino called the four-friendlies-in-11-days schedule a "big risk" he wasn't involved in planning, signaling a coach willing to publicly clash with the federation over how this generational talent is managed.
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