By OkayGoal
The U.S. Men’s National Team takes the field on Saturday for the first time since the FIFA World Cup and many of the next generation of young stars are expected to feature.
Mauricio Pochettino has 13 players seeking senior debuts on Saturday when the USMNT hosts Peru in the first of four friendlies during this international break. Cavan Sullivan, Julian Hall, Adri Mehmeti, and Peyton Miller are just four of those players that have excelled in MLS this season, forcing their way into the USMNT mix.
With the USMNT gearing up for November’s CONCACAF Nations League schedule, as well as 2027’s busy slate, Pochettino is ready to provide his young players with an early opportunity this month, if they are ready.
“They have talent, and they are showing the real talent,” Pochettino said of the young players during Friday’s press conference. “They have an amazing capacity and quality. And then the energy was amazing. It’s very contagious, that energy.
“When we observe the player, maybe some players need more time, maybe not to play the first game or the second, maybe the third or maybe some player training with us is enough and maybe they don’t need to go to play,” Pochettino added. “I think it’s so important to provide the chance if they are ready.”
Sullivan has been the talk of the USMNT squad after impressing with the Philadelphia Union in his first full MLS season. The 16-year-old attacker has scored seven goals and added 12 assists in all competitions, helping Ryan Richter’s squad rebound from a struggling first half of the campaign.
Set to join English Premier League giants Manchester City when he turns 18, Sullivan has received plenty of praise from Pochettino for his maturity.
“If we only talk about his performance, he’s doing really well in his club in Philadelphia. Talking only about that, I think he’s ready, but the rest of the players too,” Pochettino said. “He’s mature enough on the field.”
While veteran players such as Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, and Antonee Robinson should also see minutes this international break, the youth movement has excited many USMNT fans and supporters. Adding depth in the squad is vital for the 2030 cycle, especially with the amount of matches and competitions that are on the horizon.
Pochettino believes that exposing his young players early in USMNT camps are important for their long-term development in the squad.
“I think if the young kids arrive in an environment that they smell respect, they smell the discipline, the normal discipline in a team that plays soccer, I think they are very natural,” Pochettino said. “I think what we need to, that was our plan is to create an environment that they can feel natural. We want them to behave in a natural way because they are intelligent, they’re smart and they perceive and feel in the way that they need to act when they arrive.
“In all these types of things, you start to see their personality, their character, capacity to move,” he added. “And then when they start to train, how the senior players respect them and start to play together and see how they move, how they talk, how they communicate, that’s key. Then of course you need to talk with them and say, you feel that you are ready or not? But I think it’s good to ask them, but at the same time it’s to perceive and to read all this type of situation to be sure that they can go.”