Mauricio Pochettino taking ‘careful’ approach with USMNT rising stars ahead of friendlies

On Sep 7, 2026

Fresh off signing a new four-year deal to remain in charge of the U.S. Men’s National Team through the 2030 FIFA World Cup, head coach Mauricio Pochettino is preparing to usher in a new generation of talent.

With four friendlies scheduled for the upcoming international window against Peru, Chile, Mexico, and Canada, this will be Pochettino’s first camp since their unceremonious Round of 16 exit at this summer’s home World Cup, losing 4-1 against Belgium with the cloud of the Folarin Balogun red card controversy hovering over their heads.

Having already previously made it clear that he intends to look to the next generation during a prior press conference, Pochettino reiterated this intention on Monday.

Philadelphia Union midfielder Cavan Sullivan is arguably the most well-known of the next generation of USMNT stars -Credit:Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Thankfully for the USMNT and Pochettino, this season has seen several players emerge as potential future stars both in the MLS and abroad. Easily the most well-known of these is 16-year-old Philadelphia Union attacker Cavan Sullivan, who is set to move to Manchester City once he turns 18.

However, Sullivan is far from the only rapidly rising star yet to turn 20 and make their USMNT debut. Among the others worth keeping an eye on are New York Red Bulls forward Julian Hall and midfielder Adri Mehmeti, winger Zavier Gozo, who recently earned a transfer to Crystal Palace, Real Salt Lake winger Aiden Hezarkhani, and New England Revolution full-back Peyton Miller.

That being said, Pochettino is wary of hyping up any such potential new additions to his roster too much, fully aware of the damage such expectations can cause.

“We are very happy to have all these potential good players,” Pochettino commented, as per The Athletic. “Being young, and with a possibility to perform and to play. Only we need to be careful, no? We need to be careful because when you are young, of course you need to be confident. You need to have the trust in yourself and believe that you can perform and you can do well. But I think 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, and you play well and people start to talk (like) you are [Lionel] Messi, or you are a big star in the world because you do a few good things, if after you are confused and you don’t manage (it) well, that can be dangerous for your career and that is what we don’t want. We don’t want that (for) the young guys with potential of being top players.

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“(We want) to provide the platform for them to evolve and to be professional, to build their career in the best way, improving every day, being humble, being careful when they talk in the media, when they talk with their teammates, when they talk with the opponent. I think respect is the most important thing, and they need to be respectful.

“And of course, we want players with talent, players that feel brave, feel confident, but not (that) feel things that they still don’t show or they (haven’t) earned. I think you only are entitled to talk a little bit out of order if you are Messi. If you’ve won eight Ballon d’Ors, OK, you can talk with a certain arrogance.

“But even Messi, never are you going to hear him talking in this way. But if you are young and you start to talk that you can play here, you can play there, or you can play, I don’t believe that these are in a right way to build your career in the best way. And that is why we need to be careful.”

Pochettino also made it abundantly clear that any such behavioural issues won’t go unnoticed behind closed doors at their clubs, or when players take to social media or other such platforms.

Noting that he and his staff have built bonds with the relevant domestic coaching staff, Pochettino commented on how it’s key to not only focus on their on-field exploits, but also those off the field, including how they interact with teammates.

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“I think it’s so important. If we want to be a very good team, we want to build something different and be competitive, I think we need to be careful in all these aspects — in all the interviews that the kids are doing,” he said. “The players that we are considering, we are following the way that they talk with the coaches, in the way that they behave, how they arrive on the training session, if they arrive late or early, if they are professional, if they care about what we expect.

“We have all the information. That is why it is good to send also the message to them through (the media) that are so important, not only to the fans, if not to the players, that we are watching everything.

“And it’s so important to have respect, to be professional. How you treat your teammates, how you treat your opponent. Even if you are young and you are good, you are confident. You need to use your confidence and your arrogance to score goals and to perform every day and improve every day and be much better.”

With this approach in mind, Pochettino said his plan is to use the impending international window to call up “a mix in between players that were involved in the World Cup and players maybe with the possibility to make their first call for the national team.”

The USMNT will kick off this new dawn on September 26 against Peru at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, before they face Chile at Energizer Park in St Louis, Missouri, three days later.

Crédito: Link de origem