Mauricio Pochettino Grows Defensive, Heated Following USMNT World Cup Roster Reveal

The 26 players that will represent the U.S. men’s national team at the World Cup this summer were unveiled on Tuesday during a live event in New York City. They all gathered on stage, while rapper and singer Gunna performed for the crowd of U.S. fans, a spectacle “that’s America,” plain and simple, according to star midfielder Tyler Adams.

The squad’s manager, Mauricio Pochettino, was of course present, having worked towards the roster selection day since he took over the USMNT position in Sept. 2024, trialing over 80 players in several different formations over the past year and a half.

Pochettino claimed to have many sleepless nights over the past two weeks, receiving just “three, four hours every night” while mulling over his final roster. Nevertheless, the Argentine boss still made some eyebrow-raising selections and cuts to his roster, decisions he quickly became defensive about after the reveal.

To the surprise of many, Pochettino selected just four players that are true central or defensive midfielders. Contrastingly, he selected five center backs and five fullbacks each, creating an evident roster imbalance. Due to the general exclusion of central midfielders, several near-locks at that position were omitted, such as Tanner Tessmann, Diego Luna and Aidan Morris, which also raised questions. Lastly, Pochettino came under fire for the way he handled the omitted players, delivering the disappointing news via email as opposed to a personal phone call.

Pochettino Refuses to Discuss Omitted Players, Defends Emails

Lyon’s Tessmann has been a regular call-up for Pochettino since entering the fold in 2024, even clocking significant minutes in the most recent March friendlies against Belgium and Portugal. Real Salt Lake’s Luna was a key component of the USMNT’s 2025 squad, such a common face that he has already featured in several U.S. Soccer kit advertisements and other World Cup commercial campaigns. Middlesbrough’s Morris has also been a regular call-up for Pochettino, present for the March international window and even starting against Portugal.

Pochettino refused to discuss the thought process behind those three noteworthy omissions.

“We cannot talk about the players that are not in the roster because it is very disrespectful to the players that made the roster,” Pochettino said in the press conference when asked about Tessmann’s omission in particular. “...For me, that is very disrespectful.

“That was my decision to pick that 26 and now we need to respect that. If one player should be included, then which player is out of the squad? I am going to be focusing on the players that are here [and] I don’t want to discuss anything [else] because it’s not my job, and I think you have to respect that.”

Pochettino grew particularly defensive when asked if any omitted player had reached out to him to talk about the decision. The 54-year-old manager used the question as an opportunity to also address the scrutiny surrounding his decision to email the players as opposed to call them directly with the news.

“I was a player, and when I didn’t make the roster, I didn’t want the coach of the national team to call me,” he said. “I didn’t want to ask, ‘What is the reason I am not in the roster?’ What are they doing to say? Are they going to lie?”

Pochettino was left off of Argentina’s 1994 and 1998 World Cup rosters as a player, not making his tournament debut until the 2002 edition.

“There were 55 players in the [U.S.] provisional roster,” he added to his reasoning for sending emails. “I need to call now the rest of the players? I should call in March. I should call in January camp. It’s not the way...Because if I call, it’s about myself...Come on, that’s bulls---.”

Pochettino Dismisses Midfield Concerns

“It’s important to see the roster trying to provide the right balance, and of course, I think it’s important to have bodies enough in our center back [position],” Pochettino said when asked about the lack of central midfielders on the roster compared to defenders.

“That is why we have five [center backs]. We decided to include the number of five because we wanted to be sure we didn’t have any risks.”

The four central midfielders are Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Sebastian Berhalter and Cristian Roldan. The five center backs are Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Miles Robinson and Auston Trusty.

Although Pochettino did not elaborate further on the heightened need for center backs, it likely comes down to his desire to try out a back-three formation that includes a backline of exclusively center backs, thus requiring three in a starting XI as opposed to the traditional two.

The soccer boss then indicated that several of his rostered fullbacks and attacking midfielders could confidently slide into the central or defensive midfield positions if necessary. He cited attacking midfielders Malik Tillman and Gio Reyna as well as fullbacks Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman and Antonee Robinson in particular.

“Plenty of possibility to play what we want,” he said. “...This roster provides us the possibility to play with a back-four, back-three, play with one holding midfielder or play with no holding midfielder, maybe having a more offensive player in front of the back-three.”

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