What drama is there? All I've seen are these tweets that say stuff like "line in the sand" but nothing that describes what the actual trouble (if any!) may be.
I don't know because I didn't watch Can anyone make it through a full Pulisic interview without falling asleep?
Yes, it’s commonplace. In other sports here in the US it happens in basically every press conference. Our soccer culture is weak.
I've seen several posts using twitter feeds purporting Luna as one who always goes all out for the US in comparison. I guess no one remembers he skipped out on a U23 game(s) (can't remember the situation) and because of that sure seemed he wasn't named to the Olympic team. I wish Pulisic and all of the starters were here but I'm also realistic and noticed that Pulisic especially gets worn down with a lot of minutes and I'd rather he be at peak next summer. The rest of the starters are either injured or with their CWC teams. I've seen few posts showing some teams let their players go play for their national teams in friendlies before the CWC but I don't know how many of those national teams have a month long continental tournament after the friendlies. We will all get a lot more data on the team, players and coach over the next month and I "think" it will look a lot better. I'll wait to pull the emergency parachute cord until after and hopefully laugh that I even thought about using it.
Yeah, I don't get it. I can copy the comments that Pochettino has made about Pulisic in the thread, but they've been seen by everyone before. Pulisic wanted to play in the friendlies, but not the Gold Cup. Poch told Pulisic that he wanted to use the friendlies to gel the Gold Cup group. So everyone seems to have decided together that Christian should take the whole summer off. It was a group decision. It all makes sense. Why the drama? To me, all of the media has been trying to stir up this pot. Herculez, Donovan, Lalas, Dempsey, Howard, etc. have all been trying to turn this into a bigger story than it is. They're all trying to outdo each other with hyperbole. Why? Because if you make podcasts for a living, or you're a commentor in some way, you need people to tune in. You need to garner attention. You need to say something more outlandish than the next guy. The DISPUTE here doesn't seem to be between the USSF, USMNT staff, etc. and Christian Pulisic. Was there a "message being sent" to Sargent, Scally, Tessmann, CCV, etc. by not calling them into this camp. YES. A footballing message. What was the message being sent to Pulisic? Poch has said it was a group decision. People can be mad that Poch didn't DEMAND that Pulisic play at the Gold Cup if he expects to be part of the WC squad. But why would he do that?
Dempsey is the only of the ex player cohort who seems measured and even keeled. There's clearly an element of "get off my lawn" resentment from the old heads and they appear to think crying about it via podcasts does more for the game than working in the game.
As framed yesterday by Poch, a "DISPUTE" very much exists between a coach seeking to assert his authority and a player trying to "dictate" his availability. Sargent and Scally aren't the only guys Poch is now trying to make a public example of.
I have almost the same read except I think Poch was pissed that Pulisic chose to sit out the Gold Cup. The CWC absences were beyond his control. But he’s also a professional and didn’t air the dirty laundry. This was publicly a “mutual” decision until Puli decided to publicly defend himself when getting questioned about not showing up thus summer by saying “hey….i told him I’d play in the friendlies”. I think that has now pissed Poch off. Poch: are you in or out this summer? Puli: I’m out for the gold cup. I’ll play in those friendlies though. Poch: nah…that’s not how this works. You either commit to the summer or you’re out. The friendlies are to prepare for the gold cup. Are you gonna commit? Puli: no Poch: (not publicly throwing Puli under the bus) we mutually decided to give Puli the summer off. The other Euro’s that are available that didn’t get called in….that was purely based on my evaluation of their abilities vs the group I called in. (The message that was sent.) Puli: is criticized for taking the summer before the WC off. Also Puli: (divulges private information about the discussions and questions the decision…..putting this on Poch) Poch: ******** this douche.
You misdescribe the initial Crocker/federation statement putting this on Pulisic- it wasn't framed as a mutual decision, which would have limited the anti-Pulisic blowback. Funny that a lot of posters here seem to think that a public feud with your best player advances the team's cause.
Hmmm. You sure I’m the one misdescribing? “Christian and his team approached the federation and the coaching staff about the possibility of stepping back this summer, given the amount of matches he has played in the past two years at both the club and international level with very little break," Crocker said in a statement. "After thoughtful discussions and careful consideration, we made the collective decision that this is the right moment for him to get the rest he needs. The objective is to ensure he’s fully prepared to perform at the highest level next season." This was the cover for the decision. I remember it well….as I was more critical of Poch and the federation of accepting the decision than I was of Christian asking for it
Para. two in your quote could stand on its own. So, why para. one? To make clear that Pulisic asked out. Otherwise, the federation would have shared the blowback.
You nailed it. He is not a mannequin. Message recipients: Pulisic, Weston, Weah, Reyna, Musah, and potentially others like Jedi, CCV, Scally, etc.
Most of this is bu!!$hit. Everyone needs a break at some point. The way fifa has maxxed out every possible part of the calendar means to take a break you have to miss something. Yes, the team has been struggling for a while and we hoped the coaching change would be a magic bullet. We also hoped that a team that has never played together would not get embarrassed by a perceived inferior like Switzerland. The message should be that everyone in the project needs to do better. Hopefully this month together and lifting that beautifully angular trophy will be the result that the team needs even if it doesn't seem like it today. GO USA!
I suspect the plan all along was to rest most of the "A" players for this tournament. There is nothing to see here in terms of controversy for the A team. Now having said that, we are going to see what Pochettino is made up. Can he blend this merry band of B/C listers into a championship side in a short period of time? The general minimum expectation will be that he must make it to the semifinals. That in itself will be difficult. [ ] Win the group (1D)? [ ] Win the quarterfinal match against, presumably, Costa Rica (2A)? [ ] Win the semifinal match against, presumably, Canada (1B)? One would think the USA's chances rest firmly on the toe of Tyler Adams. Turf toe is a serious injury that takes 2-3 weeks recovery time for Grade 1. I suspect we will not see Tyler Adams until the 3rd game against Haiti, and maybe not at all in this tournament.
If it was….ive got a bigger problem with Poch. The guy all but says he doesn’t personally scout players….thats what his staff is for. When he was hired…..he didn’t even coach the first window after it was announced (September 2024 window). That gave him the October ‘24, the November ‘24 window and the March ‘25 window as the only opportunity for him to see our first team players in person. And this Gold cup was his ONLY pre World Cup opportunity to have his first team players together for an extended camp….where you can work with them over a 6 week period. Poch has managed this entire thing like a manager that really doesn’t give a ********. And who can blame him. He’s playing with house money and can’t lose. Have a great World Cup? Poch is a genius and someone shows up with a brinks truck full of cash for his next coaching job. We have a shitty World Cup? It’s because our players suck and someone shows up with a slightly smaller brinks truck….but they still show up. While I wasn’t all that excited about the hire….I absolutely hated the timing. He was only going to have the spring nations league game and this gold cup for competitive matches prior to the World Cup. That’s not a lot of opportunities to learn on the job. It’s not a lot of time to learn the pool. Or learn that evaluating players that play in leagues of wildly different quality is very very hard. He….and the team…shit the bed in March. Now he’s flown the second opportunity by allowing Pulisic to take the first and last extended camp before the World Cup off. I’d add the same for the CWC guys….assuming the GC process of allowing teams to update their rosters after the group stage still exists (I haven’t wanted to find this one out for sure as the answer might cause my head to explode)
I haven't seen any evidence that it was. Going off USMNT lineups from 2024-25, the A team appears to be something like: Turner, Dest, Richards, Ream, A. Robinson, Adams, Musah, McKennie, Pulisic, Weah, Balogun/Pepi. We called up Turner (and the keepers most likely to win the #1 spot from him). We called up Richards and Ream, and multiple other CBs who will compete to win the 2nd CB spot from Ream soon. And we called up Adams. That's 4 out of 11 A-team players that are on this roster currently. We called up Dest and Balogun, but both pulled out due to injury -- in Dest's case, after arriving in camp. Pepi was already ruled out for injury as well. It's clear from Poch's quotes that he wanted Robinson, Musah, and Pulisic there, but all 3 turned down the call up for various reasons. That leaves McKennie and Weah who were not released by their clubs. (Juventus probably could have released them for the warm up friendlies, but as in the case of Pulisic, it seems Poch wanted the same group for both the friendlies and the Gold Cup, so that would have been a non-starter.)
I think 2017 was the last time the Gold Cup allowed that. Since then, I don't believe we've been allowed to replace players after the group stage.