Mauricio Pochettino believes United States midfielder Christian Pulisic is “one of the best offensive players in the world” and needs protecting.
Pochettino leads the USMNT for the first time tomorrow as they take on Panama in Austin before a trip to face Mexico in Guadalajara on Tuesday.
He will be looking for Pulisic to recreate his club form with the Milan star contributing six goals and two assists in nine games this season.
“I think he’s a fantastic player, one of the best offensive players in the world,” Pochettino said.
“I think that we are a little bit worried that sometimes we need to protect him. He arrived a little bit tired, but that is a thing that I told him before is to build a very good relationship with the club and try to help.
“And when we really need him, he needs to be in form, happy, strong and the quality is there because he has enormous talent.”
Alright, alright, alright!
A call from Austin’s Minister of Culture @McConaughey to join the best damn party in Austin, when @USMNT and @USWNT come to Q2 for Fall footy!
🎟️: https://t.co/dLOjaWa8bh
MNT v. 🇵🇦 – Oct. 12
WNT v. 🇮🇸 – Oct. 24 pic.twitter.com/BCaOOh0qhb— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) October 11, 2024
📰 Table Of Contents
Pulisic – form is no surprise
Pulisic said his form shouldn’t be a surprise but admitted to wanting to “ride that high”.
He said: “It’s tough to explain. I think you have moments in your career where it feels like everything you touch goes in and you have other times when it feels like you’re trying everything and the ball just won’t go in.
“As an attacking player, we’ve all gone through it. So just trying to live in that moment right now when things seem to be going well and just continue like this.
“For me, it’s a result of all the work I’ve put in my whole life, so it shouldn’t be a surprise. I know I have this ability and just kind of ride that high.”
Poch to be flexible
Former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss Pochettino, who took over from Gregg Berhalter after he was sacked following a dismal Copa America, is renown for his attacking approach and for building from defense.
But he said he would not be rigid in his approach as he got to know his new players.
“People sometimes say, ‘No, that’s my philosophy, my idea and I going to die with my idea.’ No, I want to live,” he said.
“It’s amazing. I want to be clever. I want to win. I don’t want to die. Sometimes we cannot play. Sometimes we need to find a different way to put our player in a comfortable zone, not in an uncomfortable zone to reduce … the confidence we play [with].
“You need to adapt yourself, your ideas, your philosophy, because we are coaching the player, we are not coaching our self. We need to be a coaching staff that coach the team. We coach the player because if not, we start to coach our self and then always blame the player.
“We want to provide all the tools for them to perform, depending on the characteristics of the team in the best way.”
