U.S. men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino is in the thick of 2026 World Cup preparations, a difficult task that has caused him “to suffer,” according to the Argentine boss last week, with the World Cup tournament kicking off in just over 10 weeks.
Pochettino has explored many new player combinations, formations and starting lineups in the final outings before the summer showcase. His tendency for experimentation was once again on full display Tuesday night when the USMNT fell handily to No. 5 ranked Portugal, 2–0, and USMNT legend Clint Dempsey had some strong opinions about it.
What Formation Did Pochettino Try?
Despite the consistent—and successful—three-back lineup he employed last fall, Pochettino tried on a 4–3–3 for size. Christian Pulisic was put in the starting center forward role—an unusual place for the USMNT star; however, he was to operate more as a “false nine,” dropping deeper into the midfield as opposed to being a traditional striker higher up the field.
This set-up left the USMNT’s true strikers Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi and Patrick Agyemang scratching their heads, without a role for them to fit into on the pitch.
“If I’m one of those forwards, I’m going to be pissed,” Dempsey told Men in Blazers on Wednesday. “They’ve been performing really well, and they’re chomping at the bit to get on and to do more for the national team.”
Dempsey was a star forward and captain of the USMNT between 2004–2017, collecting 141 caps in that time, and is the USMNT’s all-time joint-leading goal scorer at 57 goals, tied with legend Landon Donovan.
Pochettino’s Reasoning for Pulisic Decision
Pulisic typically operates on the wings or as an attacking midfielder. Dempsey attested Pochettino’s unique switch-up to a defensive consideration.
“It’s either a situation where they thought, ‘Alright, let’s rest Christian in terms of his defensive responsibility and allow him to have more energy going forward,’ or they thought that he couldn’t do a [good] job defensively, so I don’t know what the answer is to that,” Dempsey said.
Pochettino, however, told reporters after the game that he placed Pulisic there to “help a little bit” in terms of getting him on the scoresheet. Nevertheless, Pulisic’s altered role did nothing to help the AC Milan star end his goal-less streak. He has now gone 15 games without a goal across all competitions and eight games in a U.S. Soccer jersey, last scoring for the Stars and Stripes in November 2024.
Agyemang substituted for Pulisic in the second half to play a more traditional striker role; however, he wasn’t able to generate anything in front of the net either.
“When you get the chance to come onto the game, you have a point to prove, and it didn’t look like much happened there,” Dempsey added.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as USMNT Legend Clint Dempsey Gives Heated Opinion on Pochettino’s Formation .
