COLUMBUS, OH – If one is looking for progress in American soccer, all that’s necessary is to stand here outside the Ohio Health Performance Center building, which is adjacent to a six and a half perfectly groomed fields.
The United States men’s national team, though, is not here on some architectural tour of this nation’s massively improved practice facilities. They are assembled to prepare for still another game in advance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and that effort seems to have stagnated – being kind here – with nine months remaining before opening kickoff.
When the USMNT has played top-30 opponents across the first year under Mauricio Pochettino, they haven’t won much. Tuesday evening’s game against No. 17 Japan at Lower.com Field presents their ninth opportunity against a prime, World Cup-type squad, and they’ll be attempting to break a seven-game losing streak at that level, with just one lone victory.
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Chris Richards has been at the center of a lot of this, literally, as the most capable central defender in the U.S. player pool. He knows the results and acknowledges some concern about their impact on the team’s fan base. The regular USMNT squad lost twice in March at the CONCACAF Nations League final four; a lesser group was hammered in two pre-Gold Cup exhibitions and then fell in the tournament final to Mexico. Yet Richards insists this operation is moving in a positive direction, even if it’s not apparent to those on the outside.
“I think one main thing I gained from this summer is mindset: What a good mindset can do for you,” Richards told The Sporting News. “I think that’s something that we kind of wanted to work on from Nations League – and, like I said, in the Gold Cup, we worked on that. I think in this camp, it’s adding players that weren’t there for Gold Cup, adding the mentality bit and maybe a little bit more quality.”
Some of the key USMNT players who were absent from the Gold Cup have returned for the September window of friendly games: star forward Christian Pulisic, World Cup veterans Timothy Weah and Sergino Dest and promising striker Folarin Balogun.
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A significant element of this month’s gathering of USMNT players is to assure that level of commitment pervades a larger portion of the player pool, not just the largely MLS-based group who eagerly filled the many vacancies that existed for the Gold Cup roster because of injuries, players taking breaks and the commitment of some to the Club World Cup.
Pochettino’s mission when he was hired was to instill a higher level of urgency among those key talents who’d grown too comfortable in the latter stages of Gregg Berhalter’s tenure as coach.
“I think it was a big wake-up call after March,” Pochettino said in response to a question posed by The Sporting News. “You remember March, no? We all remember March.
“We needed to decide on a different process, a different approach on everything. And I think that they understood now, they needed to understand – us, but also the players. And I think that is why all that happened helped a little bit to realize that the most important thing is the national team.”
Pointing to the USA crest on his warm-up top, he continued. “This is more important than any single name … And I think that is why we are progressing, because that is the mentality that they are showing. Now, the players that we call all went to come. We were talking about Malik Tillman, he’s disappointed because he's not coming [to national team camp]. That is a signal that we are doing something good.
“The players that are not playing, they need to push to play. The players we are not calling, they need to keep pushing, because they can, for sure, have the possibility to come again. And that competition is going to be very healthy for the organization. And that is the plan.”
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Pochettino has viewed this two-game window differently than many who follow the team, and especially some former players serving as media analysts. He contends September is difficult to call in a full-strength group because some key players are transitioning to new club teams and are better off remaining in place to become settled.
He insists, as well, players dealing with minor injuries – including Tillman and Richards – need not be pushed toward turning their issues into major ones. This is why Tillman was left with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany and Richards did not start in his customary center back position.
“We’re all disappointed. We all want to win more games,” Richards said. “We all feel the pressure a year out from the World Cup.”
What is hard to explain is why Richards’ replacement in the lineup against Korea was an uncapped, 29-year-old defender, Tristan Blackmon, who was principally at fault for the first goal allowed and not blameless with the second either.
Pochettino insisted Monday he wants to see players who potentially can help the team challenged by circumstances when the results don’t matter anywhere near like they will next June. But Blackmon’s placement into that situation seemed wishful more so than strategic: How often has a player with such a background emerged to make a significant difference in the world’s biggest sporting event?
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The coach insists results at the moment are less consequential than is perceived, although he insisted he would prefer to win. Pochettino was asked to recall his own World Cup playing experience as a member of the Argentina squad in 2002, when they carried a 21-game unbeaten streak into a group that included Sweden and England and were eliminated short of the knockout rounds.
“Look, we started October, last season, with not too much time,” Pochettino said. “Normally, a process will start to work after 3½ years. In less than one year, I think the process has started to work. Maybe not in results, but maybe tomorrow it starts to work in results.
“We have a plan. We have no worries. We have no worries about nothing. We are going to stick with the plan. With the players, we are a very, very strong group now. People working in the federation, everyone. It’s only when people talk, they need to think a little bit.
“Being critics is one thing, because I like the critiques when you say things that are right. But when it is critique for critique, it’s not damaging me, it’s damaging your country and damaging your players down there. We need to be all in behind them.”