Mauricio Pochettino has a few key tasks ahead of him in 2025 when it comes to the USMNT. The Argentine manager still faces several questions and goals as his team enters the final 12 months before a World Cup year.
The United States men’s national team under Mauricio Pochettino has generated a lot of excitement among fans and pundits. While it’s still early in the process, the results so far have been typical compared to those from the past decade.
It started with a pair of friendlies against Panama and Mexico, which respectively resulted in a win and loss, the latter controversially featuring a short-handed roster in the Azteca. Then, the U.S. took on Jamaica in the Nations League quarterfinals, which saw a shaky 1-0 win on the road in Kingston, followed by an exciting 4-2 triumph at home.
These aren’t necessarily the powers of world soccer, but you play the teams available to you and do your best from there.
Pochettino’s goal with the team has not been to overhaul it, but rather to take the underachieving talent that struggled under Gregg Berhalter and significantly improve the player pool, allowing it to reach its full potential. That has yet to fully materialize, but in 2025, the U.S. team will have plenty of opportunities to develop under the new manager.
Things kick off with January camp, aka “Camp Cupcake,” with a pair of friendlies against Venezuela and Costa Rica. Despite the pejorative nickname, these matches will be a good opportunity to bring in and test new talent. Later in the year, we’ll have the conclusion of the Nations League and the Gold Cup, two tournaments the U.S. will be expected to win.
For much of the year, the USMNT will find itself stuck in CONCACAF competition, but by the time the Gold Cup concludes, fans, pundits, and world football in general will expect much more from the team. Here are five things Pochettino must work to deliver.
Solving the Starting Goalkeeper Debate
Unless something unexpected happens, Matt Turner will be the starting goalkeeper for the USMNT this year. While Turner hasn’t put together the most convincing performances between the posts, especially for his club, his competition has failed to impress.
Zack Steffen returned to the national team after a solid year in MLS, but didn’t challenge for the spot as many anticipated. Gabriel Słonina’s loan to Barnsley ended abruptly and in disappointment. Diego Kochen is working his way up the ranks at Barcelona, but he’s not yet a true contender for the position.
That leaves only Patrick Schulte, whom Pochettino has seen but does not prefer. So despite playing just one game all season for Crystal Palace, Turner remains the No. 1. Can Pochettino find a goalkeeper who can truly challenge the incumbent starter?
Testing New Faces
The core group of USMNT players has been together for nearly six years. Fans can practically recite the starting XI, and with only a few adjustments, the team essentially picks itself. While Pochettino has yet to mix things up and truly “test” this core group, that needs to change as the same players enter year seven of the Golden Generation project.
Talents like Diego Luna, Marlon Fossey, John Tolkin, Paxten Aaronson, and Brian Gutiérrez are all players that are at least deserving of a chance to challenge the core group and provide fresh competition. Yes, under the new manager, the core group seems more energized, but complacency can set in quickly if a player’s starting role depends solely on training performance rather than competition for their spot.
To Pochettino’s credit he has introduced Mark McKenzie, Gianluca Busio, and Tanner Tessmann to bigger roles, but none of the three came from left field so to speak.
Using the Gold Cup as a World Cup Test Run
Despite the decline of the Gold Cup in recent years, the USMNT has often used the tournament as an opportunity to field a “B” squad. The 2025 Gold Cup could, and most likely will, be the only time Pochettino will have his team together for more than just a handful of days.
The goal is clear: win the Gold Cup and look good doing it. Unfortunately, the competition that was expected to feature top national teams now looks to be a standard CONCACAF event, with teams like the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and El Salvador participating. Saudi Arabia has been invited, but this is not the international competition that was initially reported last year, where a few top UEFA and CONMEBOL teams were expected to join.
The FIFA Club World Cup has affected this, as FIFA has mandated that teams participating in the tournament do not have to release players for national team duty, meaning the U.S. may lose a few key players for the Gold Cup.
Not ideal for Pochettino, but there is no excuse — the U.S. should win this competition.
Gio Reyna
Where does Gio Reyna fit into Pochettino’s high-press formation? The Argentine manager typically plays an intense 4-3-2-1, 3-4-3, or a variation of a 4-2-3-1. Reyna’s talent alone should make Pochettino eager to see what the Borussia Dortmund midfielder can offer, but in a system that has already seen Yunus Musah transformed into a winger, Christian Pulisic shifted to the No. 10 role, and Tim Weah playing as a left-sided winger who tracks back to defend, fitting Reyna — whose pace isn’t necessarily his strong suit — into this structure could prove tricky.
At the club level, Reyna has seen a nice return to form, with a goal in eight matches this season. He remains a bench player in Germany, and at the national team level, it’s hard to place him, especially after the coach publicly expressed great praise for Malik Tillman. So, what will Pochettino do with Gio? Answers will come soon.
Time to Give Pepi the No. 9 Shirt?
With his competition either injured or playing in leagues below the top flight, the time has never been more right for Ricardo Pepi to take the starting No. 9 spot for the USMNT. Pepi is rumored to be a target of several European teams, and his numbers with the USMNT speak for themselves: 13 goals in 33 games. At the club level, he has scored 22 goals in 62 matches for PSV, mostly coming from the bench.
Pepi, when given service, is a deadly striker, and while Folarin Balogun at times seemed like the “safer” option, Pepi has scored key goals for the national team over the past five years. Pochettino and his staff have high praise for Pepi, and he certainly deserves his chance to lead the attack. Will Pochettino finally give him that opportunity?
