Christian Pulisic is set to make his return to the U.S. men’s national team on Saturday against South Korea, and his head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, insisted that the row between the two had been resolved.
“For me, it’s in the past,” said the Argentine manager about his relationship with the American superstar, who skipped the Concacaf Gold Cup in favor of rest after the European season with AC Milan.
“This type of thing happens; we all make mistakes sometimes because we all read situations in a different way.”
While the USMNT advanced to the final of the Gold Cup and saw shining performances from several depth players, Pulisic’s conflict with Pochettino dominated the summer headlines.
The head coach also stated that he did not engage in talks with Pulisic before calling him up for the September friendlies against South Korea and Japan.
“It’s in the past, and we can see now with different players, Christian is happy to be here, of course, he is an important player for us, and I think it’s about building for the World Cup, and I think the mood is good. All is behind us,” Pochettino said Friday, having previously stated that he was “not a mannequin,” when Pulisic asked to participate in pre-Gold Cup friendlies but not the tournament.
“The most important thing in this situation is that we all want to move on and do the right things; it’s about being intelligent.”
Pulisic, however, has not addressed the media ahead of the friendlies in the September window, but has engaged with fans at a training session and had a photo opportunity with former USMNT midfielder and now New York Red Bulls II head coach, Michael Bradley.
MB & CP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/u87bDryrtD
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) September 3, 2025
Reintegrating Pulisic and Others
While Pulisic is back with the squad, alongside other key players such as strikers Josh Sargent and Folarin Balogun, there are also essential names missing, with Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie among those not at the September camp.
Yet, the focus remains on those who are part of the team, and how the group that performed well in moments of attacking football and stingy defense at the Gold Cup can merge with the reintegrated European-based talents, such as Pulisic.
“[Being] successful is to keep what we started to build in the Gold Cup,” Pochettino said of the September friendlies.
“It’s good to win because that gives you the confidence and trust, but I think the objective is to add players, new faces that really start to buy the idea that we started to build when we started the Gold Cup... I think that is why I am a little relaxed that the main group is starting to understand what we want and we want to arrive in the World Cup in our best condition. They need to know each other.”
World Cup Build Continues
It is evident that Pochettino has the tactical identity of the USMNT at the center of his preparations nine months out from the World Cup, but has yet to nail down the core of what the roster for the tournament will look like.
Through the friendlies against South Korea and Japan, he and U.S. Soccer will hope that becomes clear, allowing the further fixtures, which include matches against Ecuador, Australia and others, to close 2025, to start ironing out World Cup details.
“I hate, being predictable,” Pochettino said. “But you need these types of talents, talented players that can do different things from respecting the organization, but having the possibility to also create the chaos in the opponent because he’s creating the chaos in the other team, but with organization. I don’t know if I can explain, but I try.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Being Intelligent’—Mauricio Pochettino Opens Up on USMNT Conflict With Christian Pulisic.