Carson, California – The 2026 World Cup can still be more than a year away, but tournament reminders are difficult to ignore by the national male team of the United States. Chief coach Mauricio Pochettino remains the ambitious American football plan to offer a declaration of declaration in a year, while the Concacaf League offers a first opportunity to raise the cutlery under the new boss. The literal environment also inspires the discussion of the World Cup since the USMNT will play its first game of competition in the Sofi Stadium, where they will face Panama on Thursday in the CNL semifinals live in Paramount+. However, the tournament is not exactly the best for the group.
“As crazy as it sounds,” said Christian Pulisic, “I’m not even thinking about the World Cup.”
USMNT vs. Panama, where to see, live broadcast: prediction of the League of Nations, selection, predicted alignments
Chuck stand
The group is fully focused on the game in front of them, a wise choice, even if only considering the recent history: this Panama team put the first nail in the coffin of its America Run Cup, which ended with a surprise exit from the group stage last summer. This loss feels like a long time in many ways, largely due to the management change that offered a new beginning for a promising team that reached its lowest minimum despite its high ambitions. However, the moment of that new beginning comes with its own challenges. Pochettino, who will train only his seventh USMNT game on Thursday, has a limited amount of time to ensure that this team is up to its potential. His first priority, he said, is to focus on the most necessary intangible advantage: competitive advantage.
“I think if you are able to compete at your best, in the way [of] The demands of the competition, at a high level, “said Pochettino.” I think that later, we can add all ideas: tactical ideas, strategies and the game plan, and you can be efficient because it is easier … but if you do not compete in the way the competition demands, it is difficult to be efficient in all ideas and the tactical plan, the game plan and that for me, that is the most important thing. ” “.” “.” “.” “” “
Although Pochettino does not carry the luggage of the disappointment of the Copa América last summer, his comments seem to address the lack of intensity that defined his condemned career. It is an approach that players have adopted completely, despite having only three training sessions under their belts in Thursday’s game. There is a level of familiarity that has been established at this time, although the tastes of Tyler Adams And Gio Reyna is in the camp for the first time since Pochettino took over, almost everyone else is getting used to the rhythms and ideas of the new coach.
“We have been in the camp a couple of times with Pochettino and some of the boys who are relatively new here for this camp have also been with him in the January camp,” said Weston McKennie. “I think it is a challenge that everyone faces, but I think that obviously for the players who are here, they are here for a reason and they would not be here if they do not quickly realize what the plan is and what we are trying to achieve here, so obviously I think they all have the ability to handle rapid changes and understand the styles and ideas quickly.”
Pochettino players are also aligned with what to make competitive advantage a decisive aspect of their game plans is a fundamental element of their future success.
“With the short time we have, it can be difficult,” said Pulisic. “Everyone deal with the same with the national team, but I suppose that it is only really important to embed that in our identity, a little evil, a little of that extra bite for us is really important. I think the coach also wants that and simply putting it every day in training and preparation and taking it to the game.”
The pressure is naturally in the USMNT to win a fourth consecutive CNL title, especially after the great splash of the US football to Land Pochettino. Pulisic feels that the next natural progression under the new chief coach is to “win a trophy”, but the consensus seems to be that the main objective of the CNL finals is to show an improvement. They will have a unique opportunity to do that this week, especially when it comes to trying the depth of the USMNT. The team will be without several key players through the injury, especially Antonee Robinson, while nine players of the MLS heavy camp He made the cutAn unusually high number when the complete senior equipment is available.
The way in which Pochettino chooses to answer your alignment questions will be an important approach on Thursday, with the possibility that new tactical ideas are finally in front and the center after making some more subtle decisions in their first games with the USMNT. It can be a difficult position to be with a trophy on the line, but it could also be useful to solve those problems with more than a year before the World Cup. Even when the team adopts the mentality of one day in time, there is no way to ignore the great event that is just around the corner.
“If you ask me if I want to win, of course. I want to win the competition because that will help us develop our trust and trust,” said Pochettino. “At the same time, we must be intelligent and try to discover the best players to build a strong team, nucleus of [the] Team with the possibility of fighting for great things … We want to win, it is not an excuse, but I think it is important for us, the goal is the World Cup. “
