Through his first year as the US men’s national team coach, plenty of fans and media alike have doubted Mauricio Pochettino.
Not Brad Friedel.
‘I know how good he is. I know good his staff is. I know that there’s a lot of people that have questioned what he has done so far, but Mauricio is one of the smartest managers and leaders in global football, not just in CONCACAF, in global football,’ the former USA goalkeeper told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview.
‘He’s Argentinian. It’s in his blood. He’s a fighter, he’s a warrior,’ he continued later. ‘He was as a player. He’s a very nice human being, by the way. But he will set structures in place.’
Friedel, who racked up 82 caps at goalkeeper for the USMNT, still talks to his former Spurs manager from time to time. But he doesn’t feel as though the former Espanyol, Southampton, PSG and Chelsea coach needs his advice.
‘When I’m around him or his staff members who I know very well, we talk about life,’ he said. ‘We talk about restaurants and vacation areas, maybe time at Tottenham, things like that. We do not, and I make a point of it, I don’t ask anything about the players.’
Brad Friedel, seen coaching the New England Revolution in 2018, believes Mauricio Pochettino is the right man for the USMNT job
Pochettino has come under fire at various points during his USA tenure since taking over
Friedel crossed paths with Pochettino during his time at Tottenham Hotspur
Such discussion will come as a welcome respite to Pochettino, who has surely heard the chorus of criticisms in his first year in the job.
There have been dispiriting friendly losses to Switzerland, Turkey and South Korea, uneven performances at the Gold Cup and a lack of consistency in his squads, not entirely through his own fault.
After skipping the Gold Cup, Christian Pulisic has returned for the two latest squads, though usual starters Antonee Robinson (who was not fit) and Weston McKennie were not selected in September (they returned for October, though Tyler Adams has stayed back this time due to the birth of his second child).
The likes of Gio Reyna, Johnny Cardoso, Ricardo Pepi and Yunus Musah continue to be left out as well, though Pochettino’s October group has a much more European-based presence than the MLS-heavy squads he selected over the summer.
Less than a year out from the tournament, there is a sense that Pochettino is still figuring things out. But the team’s last match – a 2-0 win against Japan – was an encouraging sign for the Argentine’s group. And Friedel isn’t stressing about some early turbulence under the manager.
‘If there are some bumps along the way, it’s normal,’ he said over the summer while taking a break from his coverage of the Club World Cup on DAZN.
‘When you change things, some players are going to want to fight against change. Some players will fight at first and then come around. Other players will automatically try everything you ask.
‘And he just has to figure out which of those players are going to be able to do what he asks and then they’ll be successful. I have no doubt in my mind that the US team will put on very good performances in the 2026 World Cup.
‘Then when you get to a certain level in the tournament, then your talent comes through. And do we have the talent to win a World Cup? I don’t think so. We have to be honest with it.’
Pochettino, seen with Diego Luna, oversaw some uneven performances during the Gold Cup
He was also without Christian Pulisic, who has since returned to the two most recent squads
Perhaps Pochettino, who continues to be linked with top-flight jobs, will not bring immediate success to the national team. Who knows if he’ll even continue past this World Cup.
But Friedel does think his former coach can create an important culture shift in US Soccer, as a friendlies against Ecuador and Australia await this window.
‘We in the United States have to figure out a way to help our players’ mentalities, especially the ones that are in MLS,’ he said. ‘When you don’t have promotion/relegation, you don’t have the tradition of that, like cutthroat, do or die, attitude that the sport brings to other parts of the world, and Brazil and Argentina and the vast majority of Europe. So I think Mauricio was brought in more to help with the mentality of the US players.
‘Does that mean that we’re going to get past a quarterfinal? Probably not. But does it mean that maybe 10 years down the road, this little mentality shift could help? Yeah, so it’s all like a building block.
Friedel acknowledged that his generation of players did not have to deal with the pressures of social media
‘And I’m sure there are people out there that will think, ‘Well, we’ve been we’ve been at this for so long now we should be competing with the rest of the world. We have all this money.’ It doesn’t work like that in in soccer, and MLS doesn’t pay the kind of money to develop the young players.’
Friedel, now 54, is well aware of the ways the US soccer landscape has changed.
There was no MLS when he was coming up through the ranks, and – after playing collegiately at UCLA – he clawed his way through Europe and eventually the Premier League.
‘We had to fight for everything in the locker room, on the training pitch to get games,’ he said. ‘And it was hard, so you develop a different type of resilience.’
Even so, that doesn’t mean that Friedel is without compassion for today’s generation of players.
Stars like Pulisic and Tim Weah have hit out at criticism from older ex-players, while even the former’s dad has gotten involved.
Perhaps the new generation is ‘softer,’ Friedel concedes – but there is a valid reason why.
Tim Weah has previously referred to ex-USMNT stars as ‘evil’ for their criticism of the team
‘We had it a lot easier than the players do today, because we played in an era with no social media… I know the reasons why the mentality is a little bit softer,’ he said.
‘When I was playing, if I made a mistake in a game on a Saturday, fans in the stadium would know that I made it. It would be on ‘Match of the Day’ in the evening, then it would be on like a 30 minute loop every 30 minutes the next day, on Sky Sports News. And then on Monday, it’s gone. So on Sunday you just have to not watch TV. On Sunday morning, you have to not get the newspapers. And then on Monday, you resume your life. And then your mistake, you deal with directly, with your teammates and your coaching staff.
‘These players today have to deal with that added pressure at earlier ages, which is a lot more difficult on media pressure than anyone from my generation or time ever had to deal with.
‘So I think people have to put into perspective why players might be deemed as a little bit softer nowadays, you know, mentally. But I’m going to tell you, there’s a lot of players in my time at the national team, that would not have been able to deal with the social media scrutiny.’
The outlook is not quite all doom and gloom for Friedel though.
He believes this group are better technically than his teammates at the 1994, ’98 and 2002 World Cups and has ‘no doubt in my mind’ that the US will produce some good performances next summer.
Still, he has some wisdom for the younger players who will be in Pochettino’s squad next summer.
Friedel, who made his last USA appearance 21 years ago, still remembers the ‘tunnel vision’ he had during the 1992 Olympics, when he didn’t watch a single event in Barcelona.
‘This is going to be there and gone in a flash,’ he said of the World Cup.
‘So try to learn as much as you possibly can while you’re there… so the next time you’re there, you’re better for it.’
