CHICAGO — Mauricio Pochettino has had his starters for the U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup opener in mind for a long time.
“Before March,” he said last week, during a roundtable with reporters. “But we’ll see.”
The time to tinker is running out fast.
The USMNT’s match against Germany on Saturday afternoon, with a sellout crowd expected at Soldier Field to send the Americans off to California, is its last before opening the World Cup six days later against Paraguay.
While both teams are dealing with injuries — Chris Richards for the U.S., 18-year-old phenom midfielder Lennart Karl for Germany, while keeper Manuel Neuer is still building up and may be unavailable for Die Mannschaft — Pochettino artfully dodged the question of how he’ll approach the starting 11 for Saturday.
“If you don’t play with the players that you believe need to start, say OK, maybe we don’t arrive in good condition,” Pochettino said. “If you play and something happens, oh, why you take a risk?
“Always the haters today in social media will never agree. If you play normally with the players you want, you are thinking will play with the first game in the World Cup and nothing happens, no one is going to say nothing. They’ll say, ‘Oh, good decision.’ But if something wrong happens, they say, ‘Oh, have no clue.’ That is impossible to know. What we need to do from the beginning is to prepare in the best way.”
Last weekend against Senegal, in an eventual 3-2 win, he fielded a team that looked very close, albeit with a few notable omissions, to what’s projected to be the World Cup lineup before wholesale changes at halftime.
During his time in the English Premier League, Pochettino’s last preseason lineup often resembled his opening day lineup.
While Job 1 for the USMNT is to avoid any injuries Saturday, and Pochettino alluded to some players other than Richards being question marks, Job 2 is to make use of 90 minutes against a team that Pochettino said he believes is a serious contender for a World Cup title.
Even if Karl, who Nagelsmann told German media is at risk of missing the World Cup after an injury in training Friday, can’t play in the competition, that is likely true.
The star-studded roster includes the likes of Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Leroy Sané in midfield, with the likes of Antonio Rüdiger and captain Joshua Kimmich playing behind them.
“For me, it’s very special,” attacking midfielder Malik Tillman, born in Nuremberg, said of the chance to face the Germans. “Of course, a dream to be able to play in a World Cup and then also playing Germany right before is an amazing memory already. It’s great to be here. It’s great to be able to play this kind of game. It’s gonna be very special and emotional for me.”
As for Pochettino’s approach, it stands to reason that goalkeeper Matt Freese, striker Haji Wright and midfielder Brenden Aaronson — the only three Americans other than Richards who didn’t get any time against Senegal — should get on the field.
Otherwise, it’s hard to play a guessing game.
Of those three, Freese, who had been Pochettino’s clear first choice before Matt Turner started two of the last three games, seemingly has the most on the line.
“It’s not the first time that I have not been certain of who’s playing,” the NYCFC keeper said last week. “And so it’s drawing upon past experiences and dealing with the pressure. Being confident, being hungry, being competitive but also being a good teammate and finding that right balance.”
Aaronson, who missed a day of training before the Senegal game to get married, could also use the chance to show what he can do, having only been on the field for 11 minutes across two friendlies in March as well.
“The season that I come off of, I think it’s the best of my career, playing at the level that I was,” Aaronson, who plays for Leeds United in England, said this week. “I’m really looking forward to being able to show myself against Germany. If not, going into the training and showing what I can. Making sure I can do whatever I can to get on the pitch.”