WHAT HAPPENED
Kasey Keller believes Mauricio Pochettino’s lack of "full commitment" to the USMNT played a role in the Gold Cup final loss to Mexico. The former U.S. goalkeeper criticized the coach for not knowing the player pool well enough and appearing distracted by other priorities.
“Well, what I haven’t seen from Pochettino is a full commitment to the national team,” Keller said on the Futbol Americas podcast. “I haven’t seen a full commitment to the players, I haven’t seen a full commitment to going and watching matches, and truly being the guy to find out all those questions. Frank LeBoeuf said on FC, early on, ‘I think it’s going to be a tough task for him because he doesn’t know any of the U.S. players.’
“Fair enough, he doesn’t know them and so then you have to absolutely just dive in head first and we haven’t seen that. We’ve seen him doing a lot of other things but we haven’t seen him truly being present. We’ve heard players talking, ‘Have you spoken with Pochettino? Nope, he’s never called me, I’ve not talked to him’…and to me, that’s fine if you’re a club coach. Because a club coach if somebody in the end doesn’t buy into what you’re saying, you can buy somebody else."
Pochettino has previously come under the microscope after USMNT star right back Sergino Dest revealed he hasn't had a conversation with the manager, who was months on the job at the time. The Argentine also drew some criticism from fans for coaching IShowSpeed in a charity match in London, instead of focusing on his national team duties.
"As a national team coach, you only have what you have. And it’s clearly we have five or six players that are one level, another five or six that are right around there. And then we’ve got a squad but those 10, 12 players as a national team manager, they have to be on board. They have to be 100 percent bought in and it sure doesn’t look that way from the outside,” Keller explained.
WHAT HERCULEZ GOMEZ SAID
Herculez Gomez, a former U.S. and MLS striker, added his own criticism, pointing out that despite selecting 15 MLS players for his 26-man roster, Pochettino has never been seen attending a match at an MLS stadium. Gomez also noted the lack of visible effort in dual-national recruitment and stated that what he has observed from Pochettino has left him wanting more.
READ MORE:Why Gold Cup USMNT squad was only a preview of things to come
“I’ve been very critical about Mauricio Pochettino,” Gomez said. “His time spent and the optics of how he spends that time....I’ve not heard about the dual national recruitment. I think the optics matter here, and what I’ve seen from Mauricio Pochettino hasn’t left me overly impressed from a federation that has spent $6 million a year.
He added, “There were two benefactors who wrote out a check saying ‘we’re going to get one of the best international…not international managers but one of the best managers in the world right now.’ Where if Manchester United wanted a coach, he’d probably be on that shortlist, and yet I’m left wanting more.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Pochettino took over the USMNT in September 2024 with substantial expectations based on his successful club career at Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea. The Gold Cup represented his first major tournament with the team, making the final loss to Mexico a setback in building momentum toward the 2026 World Cup.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Following their loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, the USMNT will face South Korea and Japan next in international friendlies on Sept. 6 and Sept. 9, respectively.