JAKARTA - The coach of the United States National Team (Timnas) or USMNT, Mauricio Pochettino, is in a cold war with one of his stars, Christian Pulisic.
The Argentine feels that Pulisic arbitrarily determines which matches he wants to play.
Before appearing in the 2025 Concaf Gold Cup, the AC Milan player only wanted to play in two friendly matches before the tournament. The funny thing is, Pulisic is reluctant to defend the United States in the 2025 Concaf Gold Cup.
Pochettino also revealed that his players could not dictate the plans he had made.
"The players need to listen and stick to our plans. They can't dictate plans."
"The most important thing is that we explain why we decided not to include him (Pulisic) in two friendly matches."
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"Then, if you have some problems, it's not my problem to understand."
"When I signed my contract at the federation, I was the head coach. I'm not a mannequin," Pochettino said before the inaugural match of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Earlier this week, Pulisic told the CBS Sports podcast, Call It What You Want, that he needed rest after playing around 120 games over the past two years for AC Milan and the national team.
However, he also wants to play in two friendly matches ahead of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Pochettino rejected the request. As a result, Pulisic cursed by saying he did not understand the coach's decision even though in the end he had to respect it.
"It is true that he wants to be involved in two friendly matches. However, for us, the 2025 Concaf Gold Cup is an important tournament."
"Yes, that's my decision, it was our decision not to include (Pulisic) in two friendly matches. That's all."
"It was our plan (early) to bring him to play not only in two games, friendly matches, but the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup (also)," said Pochettino.
Despite having a chance to argue, Pochettino reiterated that he was confident in maintaining good relations with Pulisic and other players on his cast list.
"I love communicating with my players. I love to communicate, but at the same time, I want to make sure that all players feel the same respect from the coaching staff and for myself. If anyone doesn't like this, yes, that's it," he said.
The United States lost in a friendly, lost 1-2 to Turkey and 0-4 to Switzerland, and lost their first four games since 2007.
Luckily, entering the 2025 Concaf Gold Cup, USMNT succeeded in overthrowing Tokyo and Tobago 5-0 on Monday, June 16, 2025.
Apart from Pulisic, the United States will not be strengthened by a number of other flagship players for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup, their last competitive match before hosting the 2026 World Cup.
Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Giovanni Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Yunus Musah, and Sergino Dest will miss the tournament due to injury and participation in the 2025 Club World Cup.
The team captain at the 2022 World Cup, Tyler Adams, is also still doubtful. He has missed the opening match of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup against Tokyo and Tobago after missing out on a loss to Switzerland with a leg injury.
"At the moment, he (Tyler Adams) trained a little bit, and he's almost ready to come back. I hope he can be ready and help the team," said Pochettino.
Pochettino also confirmed that midfielder Johnny Cardoso was battling his illness. He was also absent from the inaugural match of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
"It's true that as we can see, Johnny is sick and he can't train. We'll see tomorrow if he can get involved or not," said the coach.
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