When the United States men’s national team convenes Monday in Philadelphia for another in its dwindling series of pre-World Cup exhibition games, Chris Richards and Jedi Robinson will be stationed in London, Christian Pulisic resting in Milan and Weston McKennie with his feet up in Turin.
That’s 229 national team caps, a dozen World Cup starts, the winners of six of the past eight United States Male Player of the Year Awards and the most likely candidate to win it in 2025 – all absent as the USMNT prepares for games against World Cup squads from Paraguay and Uruguay.
And Robinson is the only one of that group absent through current injury.
Which leads to a simple question: What is the value of the November friendlies if four likely World Cup starters are absent?
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“Always, it’s about to try to win,” head coach Mauricio Pochettino said in response to a question from AllSportsPeople during a Thursday press conference. “But the important thing, when we assess all players in this situation, is to provide the players the best platform for them to go into the period – like Chris Richards, different players – because the schedule for the next few months is going to be so busy. I think it wasn’t easy, because we had a lot of discussions about that, but the priority always needs to be the player.”
The message Pochettino is now sending relative to preparation for the 2026 World Cup is this: The health and freshness of primary team members is as important to USMNT success next summer as whatever cohesion and confidence can be conjured through the four remaining games – two now, two in March – before the team begins pre-Cup training camp in May.
This does not appear to be his preference.
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Italy’s Gazetta dello Sport reported AC Milan last month was “fuming” over the injury Pulisic received in an October USMNT friendly victory over Australia. Later, Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner criticized the U.S. For playing Richards in the games against Ecuador and Australia although he supposedly was bothered by a calf injury. Glasner suggested those “friendlies” weren’t as important as Richards’ appearances for Palace.
After returning from the national team Richards played 90 minutes four days later in an EPL game against Bournemouth, then the full 90 eight days later against Arsenal, then 90 more six days later against Brentford. Glasner, regardless, complained Richards had to be withheld from a late October EFL Cup game against Liverpool, even though LFC played essentially a junior varsity squad.
“We have only this window to prepare for the World Cup,” Pochettino told England’s TalkSPORT. “They are not friendly games.
“I am very disappointed with Oliver because we always respect – we are a coaching staff that we respect the player, and we respect the clubs.”
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This back-and-forth is fascinating given the drama that developed last summer, when Pulisic preferred not to join an MLS-heavy squad for the month-long CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament and instead rest for this Serie A season in Italy and USMNT participation in the World Cup. The United States, as one of the three host nations, does not have to qualify for the tournament.
Pochettino turned down Pulisic’s offer to participate in two pre-Gold Cup friendlies, games the USMNT lost to Turkiye and Switzerland by a combined score of 6-1, and declared players “cannot dictate the plan.”
After a semi-disappointing September window that included a number of national team newbies and a split of games against South Korea and Japan, Pochettino told those following the team’s preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup the coaching staff was through with experimentation.
However, with the schedule of Crystal Palace games piling up games on Richards, with Pulisic only now recovering from a hamstring injury that cost him much of October, with McKennie adjusting to a new head coach at Juventus and Robinson inactive since late September, Pochettino chose to leave all of them with their clubs and include none on the 26-player roster for the official FIFA November international window.
Richards has played 13 times for the USMNT in this calendar year, including the whole of the Gold Cup and should be viewed as the leading candidate for the Male Player of the Year award from U.S. Soccer. He's already gone 90 minutes for Crystal Palace in 10 Premier League games, two domestic cup games and two UEFA Conference League games this autumn.
“In that case, Chris Richards deserved not be called and be in his club,” Pochettino told TSN. “After the camp in Denver, we decided not to call. We already know his leadership on the team, but I think the most important thing now is to provide him the opportunity to play, to recover in his club, not to take risk.”
Pochettino coached prominent clubs including Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur, squads filled with national team players from such countries as France, England, South Korea and Argentina. So he's been on the other side of this ongoing battle.
His challenge with the USMNT is finding a way to progress in the absence of so many essential players. Pochettino only has been the team’s coach for 14 months, and he's rarely had close to his full lineup available since. The Americans might not be the best-rehearsed team the 26 World Cup, but perhaps they’ll be amongst the least fatigued. It's nearly impossible to have both.