‘Inexcusable’—Former USMNT Stars Rip Into Pochettino for Emailing Roster Cuts

Delivering bad news isn’t easy, especially when it comes to crushing someone’s dream of going to the World Cup. After U.S. national team manager Mauricio Pochettino used email to inform players that they did not make the final 26-man tournament squad, former USMNT stars were quick to speak out, calling it “disappointing” and “inexcusable.”

ESPN FC analyst Herculez Gomez, who played at the 2010 World Cup under then-manager Bob Bradley and assistant coach Jesse Marsch, recalled getting cut from the 2014 World Cup.

After not playing for the Stars and Stripes for a year due to an injury, he got off the plane for a summer vacation in Italy to a lengthy voicemail from then-manager Jürgen Klinsmann, thanking him for his contributions to the USMNT but saying he wouldn’t be going to Brazil.

“He felt the need, the professionalism, to let me know that I’m not going,” Gomez said. “It meant the world to me.”

That method ensured he felt a personal touch. USMNT legend Landon Donovan was also omitted from the 2014 roster, somewhat controversially, and for Donovan, Klinsmann brought him into a room to break the news that he wouldn’t be going to his fourth World Cup.

Klinsmann’s personable methods, connecting with dedicated players, paled in comparison to Pochettino’s standardized email sent to players who cracked the 55-man preliminary squad but not the final 26-man roster.

Mauricio Pochettino says criticism over emailing snubbed players is “bullshit” .. #usmnt pic.twitter.com/mteXI4ZhTY
— herculez gomez (@herculezg) May 26, 2026

The Argentine boss said it didn’t fit his method and defended his position, saying he wouldn’t have wanted a call from his national team coach after he was left off the World Cup teams in 1994 and 1998.

“It doesn’t mean that we don’t care, because we care a lot, but we don’t want to say anything to confuse the player,” Pochettino said Tuesday. “If I understand the player that didn't make the roster, they don’t want to hear me apologize... If I call, then it’s about myself...Come on, that is bulls--t.”

For Gomez, a lack of one-on-one connection is inexcusable, particularly for a player like Diego Luna, who was a cornerstone of the USMNT throughout the 18-game 2025 schedule and was commonly praised by Pochettino for his vigorous approach.

“It’s inexcusable,” Gomez added. “For Diego Luna to be one of the top-three most capped players under Mauricio Pochettino and to find out via email—that’s just wrong. You use him in World Cup commercials where he’s playing in a World Cup final. You use him in sporting-brand commercials; you use him to highlight your league and the national teams tied to it. That is wrong.”

Davies — “How You’re Supposed to Do It”

While former USMNT international Charlie Davies never played in a World Cup, the now CBS Sports commentator ripped Pochettino’s lack of personal touch and the excuse that it was the right way to approach the situation simply because of Pochettino’s own experiences.

“Just because Tottenham sacked you and didn’t give you a call, that doesn’t mean that’s how you’re supposed to do it,” he said. “That’s the issue I have. Don’t use how you’ve been treated in your past as a way, as a justification to treat people the same way as you go, because at the end of the day, this is a national team, this isn’t a club team either.”

Regardless, the fate of all players has now been sealed. Pochettino has his 26 men to attack the World Cup with and could face a potentially awkward situation should he need to call in an injury replacement, which can be made up until 24 hours before the USMNT’s World Cup opening match on June 12 against Paraguay.

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