In his first press conference as the U.S. men’s national team head coach on Friday morning, Mauricio Pochettino emphasized the belief he intends to instill in his squad as they prepare for their primary 2026 World Cup objective.
“We need to really believe in big things,” said Pochettino. “We need to believe that we can win, that we can win not only a game, we can win the World Cup.”
Mauricio Pochettino, “Belief for me is a word that is so powerful. You can have an enormous talent, and you can be clever. In football, you need to believe, believe that all is possible. We find a way to believe altogether and I think we can for sure we will achieve.”
— Justin Ruderman (@JustinRuderman_) September 13, 2024
Concerns remain over the short time frame ahead of the tournament as well as the lack of competitive matches available to Pochettino as he prepares his team for the biggest sporting tournament in the world but the man himself set a tone of accountability from day one.
“What I wanted to tell you is that I am in the opposite side,” Pochettino proclaimed.”I believe that time is enough. I don’t want to put an excuse. I don’t want to create an excuse for the player to say, ‘Well yeah, but no, now we don’t have time to buy the new idea, the new philosophy.’”
Beyond the time constraints, implementing a change in culture is a focus of the USMNT as stated by captain Christian Pulisic following the team’s recent 1-1 draw against New Zealand. Once again, Pochettino was clear on what that would look like.
“We are a coaching staff that the first thing is we love the aesthetic in football and for us, it is really important. We want to play good football, exciting football. We are in USA. I think to convince our fans that showing us is about to attract and the aesthetic is really important. We want to play nice football, good football, exciting football, attacking football.
“And then, of course, if we want to have the…
Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/09/mauricio-pochettino-emphasizes-world-cup-winning-belief-for-usmnt
Author : Justin Ruderman
Publish date : 2024-09-13 21:18:46
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