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Mauricio Pochettino’s first games in charge of the US men’s national team started with renewed optimism after an otherwise dismal year, but ended with the reintroduction of a series of familiar problems to solve in time for the 2026 World Cup on home soil.
A 2-0 win over Panama on Saturday and a 2-0 loss to Mexico on Tuesday offered a glimpse of the USMNT’s new tactical plan under Pochettino, one that requires a high level of intensity to keep up with his attack-oriented playing style. However, between a series of injuries and minutes management, the games also allowed Pochettino to explore the US’s depth, with famously mixed results. Tuesday’s loss in particular highlighted a long-standing problem: the USMNT’s bench isn’t nearly as strong as its preferred lineup, leaving the new head coach with a lot of work to do as the countdown to the 2026 World Cup officially begins is underway.
It’s not all bad news for the USMNT players in the bubble, after a handful made their case this month, an encouraging sign for a team in desperate need of integrating some emerging talent into the core selection. That said, Pochettino’s first games are a reminder that the current squad composition is still in flux and will likely be a priority in his first months on the job.
Here you can see which players impressed – and which didn’t – in Pochettino’s first games in charge of the USMNT.
Stock to: Brandon Vazquez
Brandon Vazquez was a late addition to the squad, playing just 27 minutes this month, all in a substitute appearance against Mexico, but it’s a credit to him for making those minutes count. The USMNT were already down 2-0 when he came on, but he was a rare source of intensity for a team in dire need of it. He had 16 touches and three shots, more than Josh Sargent in his 63-minute shift on Tuesday, and also outpaced the starter in key passes. The sample size may be limited, but it’s enough to make him a player to watch in a transition period for the USMNT offense, especially when it comes to building the bench.
Stock down: Josh Sargent
This month’s camp was poised to provide a breakthrough moment for Sargent, who is one of the USMNT’s most in-form forwards after registering four goals and three assists in nine games this season and the starting job all to himself had after Folarin Balogun dislocated his shoulder. . He was rewarded with his first start since the 2022 World Cup, but Sargent was largely absent despite playing 130 minutes in two games this month. The Norwich City striker scored just two shots during the international break, both against Panama, and was only marginally more active on Saturday than on Tuesday with 19 touches. There is no reason to write Sargent off, especially as he may have another chance to earn a starting spot next month as Balogun is expected to miss the upcoming Concacaf Nations League quarter-finals. In the meantime, he is still just one of many USMNT players who have yet to fulfill their promise of competing for the national team.
Stock to: Alex Zendejas
Like Vazquez, Alex Zendejas was a replacement player who started asserting himself this month. He played just five minutes against Panama but came on as a halftime substitute in Mexico and did what he could to inject energy into a listless American team. He took 26 touches and had 16 passing attempts, far better than Yunus Musah, who was replaced by Zendejas after just 10 touches and seven attempts in the first half. Additionally, Zendejas and Vazquez both lived up to the intangibles on Tuesday by showing some fighting spirit in an otherwise uninspiring game. Considering Pochettino’s statement, with the USMNT head coach emphasizing intensity, both players can consider this month’s camp a job well done.
Stock down: Brenden Aaronson
This month’s USMNT camp produced positive and negative results in almost equal measure, with Brenden Aaronson landing in the latter category alongside Sargent. After an impactful start to the season at Leeds United, scoring twice and adding one assist in ten games, Pochettino offered him the chance to prove whether the attacking midfield role he plays at club level would suit him on the international stage . However, the results were not particularly impressive: although Aaronson did well against Panama, against Mexico he struggled to hold onto the ball and did little to make his case. It was a surprisingly poor showing from Aaronson, who has tried to break into the lineup in recent years and arguably wasted an opportunity to do so.
Hit: all injured players
Pochettino led his first camp without a handful of core players, although his predecessor Gregg Berhalter faced a similar problem. While Balogun, Timothy Weah, Weston McKennie, Chris Richards and Johnny Cardoso have been unavailable due to short-term injuries, Tyler Adams and Sergino Dest are dealing with long-term issues and Gio Reyna has added to his injury-prone history this month. Most of these players are starters for the USMNT when healthy, but their students have done little to create a sense of competition when those players eventually return. Ultimately, there was little to learn about the US’s wider player pool this month, which isn’t a particularly exciting note to end Pochettino’s first camp on, even if this is the fairest assessment of the friendlies that have taken place there. However, change rarely happens all at once, so expect this long-running storyline about the depth of the USMNT to stick around for a while.