How Pochettino plans to turn United States into World Cup powerhouses | OneFootball

Max Anderson-Parrott, Analytical football journalist

Joint hosts of the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1994, the United States find themselves in a stronger yet equally perilous position.

America being announced to the world as hosts in 1988 was widely unpopular. The country didn’t have a single professional-level outdoor league, and the inaugural Major League Soccer campaign would arrive two years after the tournament.

To prepare for the uphill battle of competing against the world’s elite, USMNT took part in the so-called ‘US Cup’ in 1993 against England, and they won it 2-0. Then came their best performance at the finals since 1930.

The US went as far as the round of 16 for the first time since then, losing 1-0 to eventual champions Brazil in what was seen as a commendable performance given the world’s lowly expectations it had set for them.

This time, they wield a roster that boasts undeniable pedigree and a highly talented manager in Mauricio Pochettino, yet the pressure of playing hosts with such resources makes the United States an interesting nation to keep an eye on.

Here, FromTheSpot analyses their tactics under former Southampton and Tottenham manager Pochettino, and what the Argentinian’s plans are to transform the US into footballing powerhouses.

How has the United States‘ approach changed?

Under the managerial resurgence of Mauricio Pochettino, the previous manager of PSG and Chelsea, the USMNT now possesses an elite tactician whom they hope will bring success.

Under his predecessor Gregg Berhalter, the US’ way of approaching football was possession-based, positional play. Between him and his predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann, they went from averaging 40% to 53% possession.

Berhalter shifted the team from a rigid 4-3-3 formation to a highly dynamic 3-4-3 diamond in possession. This change saw the team rise by 17% in controlled possession and a 22% drop in goals conceded.

So when Pochettino was appointed in September of 2024, he inherited a philosophy and a squad that had grown accustomed to positional play, numerical overloads and structural pressing.

Instead of abandoning this framework, Pochettino built upon it and injected a South American fluidity and verticality that the team had previously been lacking.

Pochettino’s tactical philosophy revolves around intense, aggressive movement and the manipulation of shape depending on the phase of play. It was initially reported that the learning curve for the American squad was brutal as players were asked to combine extreme physical intensity with complex, structural rotations.

However, the system has since become deeply ingrained.

Out of possession, the USMNT organises into a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 shape, choosing to adopt a mid-block – meaning that out of possession, the team is neither too deep nor too high for any particular defensive phase.

This structure also prioritises central compactness, denying the opposition access to the middle of the pitch, and forces the ball into the wide channels where the USMNT can trigger their aggressive pressing traps.

The double pivot in midfield serves as a shield, preventing central counter-attacks and maintaining the team’s defensive shape.

In controlled possession, the USMNT goes into a 3-2-5 shape where they look to create numerical overloads across the forward line, pinning the opposition’s defensive block deep into their own defensive third.

But what’s interesting is the mechanics of Pochettino’s 3-2-5 system is its pronounced dependence on specific personnel and the strengths that they bring to the table.

Who are Pochettino’s key players?

Christian Pulisic, who is America’s best-known player, stationed on the left wing, is the team’s primary creative spark. Rather than hugging the touchline, Pulisic drifts inside to occupy the left half-space, operating as an advanced playmaker.

Antonee Robinson, at left-back, is then granted the opportunity to aggressively run forward, overlapping Pulisic to provide raw pace and width down the left flank.

Conversely, the right side of the formation operates with a completely different approach. Timothy Weah is usually deployed as the right-winger, tasked with maintaining maximum width and using his speed to threaten the space behind the opposition’s defensive line.

This stretches the pitch and creates central pockets for Pulisic to exploit. The right-back role usually occupied by Sergiño Dest is instructed to initiate the press and interchange with the right-sided centre-back.

The deliberate positional chaos is in fact a core feature of Pochettino’s play. By continuously rotating positions, the USMNT unbalances defensive structures, forcing the opposition into split-second tracking decisions that can dismantle them.

Historically, the US survived crunch moments in matches because legendary goalkeepers like Tim Howard, formerly of Everton, and Kasey Keller bailed them out when the system broke down.

Today, that safety net is gone, replaced by a tense battle between veteran Matt Turner and New York City FC’s Matt Freese.

While Freese got the starting nod in the final 2-1 friendly loss to Germany, his hesitation in commanding his penalty area on Kai Havertz’s opening goal drew sharp criticism from analysts.

Because Pochettino’s defensive system requires a high line, the goalkeeper has to aggressively sweep the remaining space. Without a proven shot-stopper, Freese’s learning curve remains the team’s most glaring defensive vulnerability.

Pochettino’s 26-man roster features 13 returning veterans from the 2022 campaign in Qatar, marking the highest number of returnees between consecutive tournaments since the 1994 to 1998 cycle.

Furthermore, the roster features elite championship credentials, with players like Pulisic possessing UEFA Champions League winners’ medals and a staggering 21 players having previously lifted a trophy with the national team.

The attacking options for the USMNT at this tournament possess a formidable goalscoring pedigree that highlights the roster’s growing depth. This collection of central striking options – featuring Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, and Haji Wright – accounted for a staggering 56 goals throughout the 2025-2026 club season.

Balogun distinguished himself with a blistering nine-match scoring streak for AS Monaco, while Pepi’s clinical finishing led PSV Eindhoven to a third straight Eredivisie title, and Wright’s 18-goal haul was the catalyst for Coventry’s promotion.

These three individuals offer Pochettino a variety of dynamic profiles, ensuring the creative output from Pulisic and the verticality of Weah are translated into clinical efficiency within the penalty area.

Chris Richards and 38-year-old Tim Ream will remain the primary force of the USMNT’s build-up phase. Ream’s ability when passing from the left-sided centre-back position allows the team to safely bypass the opposition’s first line of pressure and feed Pulisic in the half-spaces.

This structural security will be crucial as the United States enters Group D as the seeded host nation, drawn alongside Paraguay, Australia, and Türkiye.

The burden of serving as a host nation carries a crushing weight of expectation, further intensified by the commercial spectacle surrounding a golden generation of American talent.

The impact of Pochettino’s arrival

Since his appointment, Pochettino has focused his tactical and psychological efforts on creating an environment designed to endure the intense scrutiny of this global spotlight.

When the squad arrived at their training base at the Great Park in Irvine, California, they were greeted by 5,500 screaming fans who had won a lottery just to watch a standard practice session.

Veteran defender Ream said that the players were “pleasantly surprised by the excitement and the buzz”, allowing them to settle into a strong mental and emotional position ahead of the tournament.

This squad now possesses a foundational quality unmatched in previous World Cup cycles. They have permanently abandoned the reactive, counter-attacking reliance of past decades in favour of a proactive, possession-heavy 3-2-5 system designed to disorganise and dismantle opponents.

In their final warm-up friendly against Germany, Pochettino’s side beat them in terms of possession, 54% to 46% for Julian Nagelsmann’s side, narrowly losing 2-1, and came close to surprising one of the favourites.

But it’s their opening fixture against Paraguay, a first meeting at the World Cup for 96 years, that will prove whether Pochettino has successfully instilled the mentality required to harness the unforgiving pressure of a home tournament.

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