Pochettino: USMNT Midfield as Crucial as Real Madrid, Barcelona Greats

Atlanta—Mauricio Pochettino leaned back in his chair at the Omni Hotel on Friday and delivered a sobering reminder to the 24 players in camp: the three shirts in the middle of the park could decide whether the United States contends on home soil this summer or merely participates.

With only 76 days until the World Cup kickoff, the head coach said he is “suffering” over the final 26-man roster, and the deepest angst centers on a midfield that must function without Tyler Adams while potentially anchoring either a three-man or five-man backline.

“We cannot compare with these guys,” Pochettino said, referencing the iconic midfields of 2010s Real Madrid and Barcelona that boasted Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Luka Modrić and Casemiro. “But what they were doing, every time the team works, it’s because the midfielders are good.”

The comparison is not hyperbole in the Argentine’s mind. Those Spanish giants collected a combined seven Champions League trophies in the decade because their midfield trios controlled tempo, space and momentum. Pochettino believes a similar stranglehold is mandatory for the U.S. if the squad is to extend its five-match unbeaten streak—wins over Australia, Japan, Paraguay and Uruguay plus a draw with Ecuador—into June and beyond.

Saturday’s friendly against Belgium at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, followed by Tuesday’s meeting with Portugal in Orlando, doubles as an open audition. Adams’ absence through injury removes the team’s primary ball-winner, while knocks to center backs Chris Richards and Miles Robinson could force Lyon’s Tanner Tessmann or Gladbach utility man Joe Scally into unfamiliar defensive roles. The ripple effect places even greater scrutiny on the midfield trident that will be asked to shield an improvised backline and launch a still-evolving attack.

“Any combination were all different,” Pochettino noted after studying tape from the autumn friendlies. “The competition is high, and it’s going to be tough to pick the right player for the final roster. It’s a big show, and I am suffering for two months in advance.”

Club minutes, surprisingly, carry little weight in that calculation. Gio Reyna arrived in camp having logged just 26 minutes of Bundesliga football for Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2026, yet Pochettino underlined that “the performance here is what counts more.” Conversely, Atlético Madrid’s Johnny Cardoso has excelled in La Liga but struggled to replicate that form in U.S. colors, a reminder that national-team dynamics supersede club résumés.

Weston McKennie appears the closest thing to a lock. The Juventus veteran, omitted from the November squad, has re-entered as the Swiss Army Knife Pochettino craves: “starting like a striker, then going to be like a midfielder, and finishing like a fullback.” The 27-year-old’s positional elasticity could prove invaluable in a tournament where a single in-tournament injury can scramble game plans.

“He has a capacity to understand the game, and he adapts his characteristics to the demands of the game and to help the team,” Pochettino said.

Still, the coach refuses to anoint anyone yet. Saturday’s lineup against Belgium will feature experimental pairings, and the staff will grade every defensive rotation, every third-man run, every pressure trigger. The session will be filmed, clipped and catalogued before the flight to Orlando.

Pressure, Pochettino insists, must remain in the meeting rooms, not on the pitch.

“When you are free, you perform, and when you feel happy, you perform,” he said. “You don’t need to feel the pressure, because the pressure is a thing that, if you don’t deal with it perfectly, can be heavy.”

Heavy or not, the midfield question will hover until the roster unveiling in May. For a manager who has lived the standards set by history’s greatest midfields, the next 180 minutes of friendlies are more than rehearsals—they could be the tiebreaker in a race that mirrors the greatness of Madrid and Barcelona.