WWhen Weston McKennie signed for Juventus in 2020, it had only been 30 days since Andrea Pirlo had been appointed manager of the Italian club. A few weeks ago, Luciano Spalletti was appointed Juventus' fifth coach since McKennie joined. his seventh if you count interim head coaches.. This is not a new situation for Americans. But according to U.S. men's national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino, that's why McKennie won't be with the U.S. for upcoming friendlies against Paraguay on Saturday and Uruguay on Tuesday.
Pochettino may have chosen McKennie on the belief that Spalletti is the first Juventus manager in years to be immediately convinced of the versatile Texan's value. Instead of the usual routine of the manager trying to push McKennie out of the club only to realize there is a reason. only three players in the squad Having stayed at the club longer, Spalletti started McKennie in all three matches he oversaw. During this time, the 27-year-old player played all but five available minutes.
However, Pochettino chose caution.
“Over the next few weeks, when the new manager has the opportunity to work with the players, I think it will be important for Weston to be there and convince the manager to continue playing.” [him]- said the Argentinean. “I think that's more important than being with us because we already know what he can bring to the team.”
McKenney isn't the only one missing. The same goes for Christian Pulisic, Malik Tillman, Anthony Robinson and Chris Richards, who are returning from injury. Tyler Adams, meanwhile, was a late scratch after suffering horrific injuries in successive games against Bournemouth – an accidental knock to the knee and then a head-on tackle on teammate Adam Smith that left the latter with concussion.
The absence means that, at best, Pochettino will have one international window to work with his full first-choice squad before he assembles it for next summer. World Cup. And when he does, it will be March 2026, by which time his European players will have already completed seven or so months of uninterrupted club football.
In the year he has taken over, Pochettino has never had a full complement of top players – regardless of whether they combine to form his best players. team or not. Even last March, in the ill-fated Concacaf Nations League final that prompted a complete reboot of Pochettino's project, he was left without strikers Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi, as well as defender Serginho Dest, whose creativity completely changes the formation of the team. During Pochettino's only tournament, the summer Gold Cup, the US was without an astonishing 10 regulars – but still… energetically ran to the finals.
This list of omissions is partly a matter of policy. The U.S. head coach could have insisted on the presence of Pulisic, who injured his hamstring on international duty in October but returned for Milan on Saturday. Or Tillman, who also returned from an injury suffered in the same camp in the United States. Or Richards, for that matter. After all, in the last three matches of his club, the Crystal Palace defender played all 90 minutes.
But there are relationships that need to be maintained. Richards' club manager Oliver Glasner. was upset during the October call-up, when Richards played all 180 minutes in the Texas heat and Colorado altitude despite an apparent calf problem. This time, Pochettino decided to keep the peace, act diplomatically and strategically, although Glasner's words “caused me a lot of disappointment because I have a lot of respect for all coaches and all clubs.”
“It’s not common sense to name a player who might come. [back from] “A little injury,” Pochettino said. “We never take risks on players… We always want to do the best for the player, be in very good shape and then in March, and of course when it comes time to select the squad for the World Cup, be in the best place, in the best shape, in the best shape.”
So Pochettino is hoping that the March camp and the week of preparation for the tournament itself will be enough to forge something coherent from all the puzzle pieces he has put together in disparate groups.
“I don't have any concerns about it,” Pochettino said of his reduced time with the team. “We set the guidelines and I think the team responded very well. This is the time we have and we're not going to complain. We can't make excuses. I think we have enough time.”
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But the broader conundrum of whether to prioritize team-building or allow his players to work for their clubs in the hope of long-term returns also highlights how much is beyond Pochettino's control. At next summer's World Cup, the USMNT will continue to be hampered by injuries and relentless leadership turnover at European clubs. There is a huge amount of randomness built into the recipe for any international job. Despite all the good intentions of this ploy to play it safe, it's impossible to predict which key US player will lose a friendly coach at the worst possible time. Or who will be left on the bench at the home stretch of the season, their form deteriorating in the critical months
Because McKennie is far from alone in choosing coaches.
Less than halfway through his third season at Milan, Pulisic became his fourth coach. Gio Reyna, who unexpectedly returned to the United StatesHe had six Borussia Dortmund managers before heading to Borussia Mönchengladbach this summer, where he had another new manager by mid-September. After joining from PSV, Tillman's coach from Bayer Leverkusen was absent just two league games into the season, just two days after Tillman made his debut for the club. Glasner became Richards' third Palace manager in his fourth season. Brenden Aaronson has had four Leeds managers since joining the club in 2022. Although Josh Sargent is clearly out of touch with events in the US at the moment, he has had six Norwich managers since 2021.
There will likely be more managerial upheaval in the USMNT players' clubs, perhaps at the expense of their form and playing background. But all the caution, planning and diplomacy in the world can't protect Pochettino and his American team from this.
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Leander Charlekens' book about the US men's national soccer team, The Long Game, will be published in spring 2026. You can pre-order it here. He teaches at Marist University.
