MARIETTA, Georgia – United States manager Mauricio Pochettino said he hasn’t had discussions with either Tottenham Hotspur or Real Madrid, adding that his focus is on Tuesday’s friendly against Portugal and the World Cup.
When asked later if he was open to remaining the USMNT manager beyond the World Cup, Pochettino said: “Never say never. In football, everything can happen.”
Pochettino’s name has been linked to both clubs in recent weeks — with Tottenham manager Igor Tudor leaving the club on Sunday — but he was definitive when asked if there had been any contact.
“No. At the moment, no,” he said at Monday’s news conference. “I think we are very, very focused here in the World Cup. I think everyone knows that I am committed with the national team here. I think it’s not a point to talk about the future at the moment.”
The former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain coach later said: “I think who knows what is going to happen? Like I said, we are open. We don’t have contract for the future. But why not ? If we are happy, and the federation is happy and [we’ll have] to see. I think the most important now is to be focusing [on Tuesday] and in the World Cup and to try to improve.
“I think we are focusing to improve the team. Of course, the rumors are there, but that is our business and we accept it.”
In terms of personnel, Pochettino said that midfielder Johnny Cardoso won’t play against Portugal, and has been sent home to club side Atlético Madrid after continuing to feel the same discomfort in his leg that he arrived to camp with.
As for defender Chris Richards, who missed Saturday’s 5-2 defeat to Belgium with knee soreness, the Crystal Palace back said he was available for Tuesday’s match, though Pochettino said he would still be evaluated later on Monday.
“I’m fine. I had a bad tackle in my last game with Palace, and so just a little bit of knee pain, knee soreness,” Richards said ahead of Monday’s training session. “But I’ve been training individually all week and yeah, I’m available for [Tuesday].”
Richards absence was keenly felt in the loss to Belgium, with the U.S. missing his leadership, positioning and athleticism. Richards said that despite the heavy scoreline, the U.S. defense isn’t that far away from delivering the necessary level of performance. He pointed to the team’s strong first half as evidence of what can be achieved.
“I know it’s a game of two halves, but I think it’s a really strong performance from the team and for the first 60 minutes,” Richards said. “I think second half, there’s moments here and there, but Belgium’s a top team. These are the kind of caliber teams that we need to play that we haven’t been able to play due to them having World Cup qualifiers and things like that. But again, I think it’s best that we learn these lessons now before the World Cup and us getting there and learning the hard way.
“So regardless of the result, I think the team for the majority of the game had a good performance.”
For Pochettino, the key is maintaining the intensity the team played with in the first half of Saturday’s match, which finished 1-1.
“I think we need to extend this type of performance, the intensity that we need to improve [is] in the defensive [side],” Pochettino said. “But the most important is not Portugal. The most important is that we need to improve in this area from one game to another.”
Richards took that even further, saying the U.S. needed to play with more physicality and instill fear in other teams with how it arrived defensively.
“I think when you think of the best defenders, you think of guys who kind of want to run through a brick wall and I think that’s something that I think we can add to our game” Richards said. “I think there’s moments here and there where you’ve seen that kind of toughness. And I think sometimes, like for example, the other day, we maybe let in a few, I guess, soft goals. So I think something that I think we can bring to it is just this toughness.
“I think when attackers fear you, I think it makes your game a little bit easier. Maybe they’re a bit hesitant going into a header, maybe they’re a bit hesitant taking a shot because they know that the back line’s going to be strong.”
The U.S. begins play in Group D at the World Cup on June 12 against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. U.S. Soccer has selected Great Park in Irvine, California, as its official training base camp for the World Cup.
