Mauricio Pochettino, the new head coach of the US Men’s National Team (USMNT), has shared an amusing anecdote about bumping into player Antonee Robinson at a London restaurant before officially selecting him for his first squad.
The Argentine manager, who was recently appointed as Gregg Berhalter’s successor, will be leading The Stars and Stripes in their upcoming matches against Panama on October 12 and Mexico on October 15. Although he is yet to meet most of his players, Pochettino had a chance encounter with full-back Robinson, which allowed them to break the ice ahead of the fixtures.
During a press conference where he announced his first team selection, Pochettino recounted the unexpected meeting with the Fulham star. He said: “I’ve got to be honest, I met only one player- Antonee Robinson – because by coincidence he was in a restaurant with his team [Fulham] in London and I met him. I said ‘hello’ and we were talking and then because some players at Fulham were my players at Tottenham and Southampton, they introduced me to Antonee.”
He added: “That was the only player that I saw and I said ‘look, you are going to be an exception because I did not speak with one [of his USMNT players. You have the privilege to be the first to talk with me’.”
Delving into his strategy for engaging with the USMNT squad, the coach disclosed: “I don’t want to call only for the reason to say, ‘Oh, I call some guy,’ or another. I think all deserve the same way for us to operate.
“Of course, after the Austin camp, we are going to be more in contact. Maybe [players] we are thinking in the possibility for the future.
“Players with potential, we are going to try and create these links and relationships, for them to feel that we are going to care, and look after them, and follow them. And to try to push and motivate [them] that there is the possibility, there is going to be the opportunity, if they perform well.”
Pochettino also shed light on his selection criteria and expectations from his players: “We trust the opinion and all the information that we received from the national team [staff], “That is why you are going to see a very similar roster from last camp.
“What we want to feel from [the players] is their commitment, their personality, their character, their capacity to adapt to a new era, a new way to approach the games. And I think that is going to be the key: the capacity for them to think in the collective, to give everything to try to be better like a national team.”
