Mauricio Pochettino's pending arrival looms over US soccer friendlies

MILFORD, Ohio — Mauricio Pochettino's pending arrival looms over interim coach Mikey Varas and his players.

Coming off a dismal performance in Canada's first win over the U.S. on American soil in soccer since 1957, players say they realize more intensity is needed when the team faces New Zealand on Tuesday night.

“All we can do is put ourselves in the best position so that if an announcement is made in the near future that we’re ready, that we’re confident going into to the next step for this federation,” U.S. midfielder Christian Pulisic said Monday. “We need to show that no matter who is the coach is that we’re wiling to fight and willing to give the best for this country and that we want to win games.”

Varas and players criticized the team’s effort in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat, the first U.S. match since first-round elimination at the Copa America led the U.S. Soccer Federation to fire coach Gregg Berhalter.

“Anybody who plays, they will have earned it,” Varas said, “and at the same time this is a September window with a new coach coming in so it’s also my responsibility to make sure that multiple players get a chance of showcasing themselves as long as they have also shown that they can earn it.”

Pochettino, a former coach of Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, has been in negotiations with the USSF since mid-August. He appears likely to take over for friendlies against Panama on Oct. 12 at Austin, Texas, and at Mexico three days later.

“Sometimes when someone new comes in, yeah, it gives everyone a bit of an extra push and say, you know what, I need to show a little bit extra. I need to give a good first impression," Pulisic said. “It can change a little bit of the mentality, a little bit of the culture.”

Pochettino would become the first foreign-born coach to head the U.S. since Jurgen Klinsmann from 2011-16.

“It’s better to almost go in not necessarily blind to who you’re going to be working for but with an open mind to understanding that just because they’ve done things a certain way previously doesn’t mean that they’re going to do that the same coming in,” defender Tim Ream said.

Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte started against Canada in his second international appearance and had five saves in a strong performance. Varas chose the 23-year-old over Matt Turner, the No. 1 pick the last two years, Ethan Horvath and 18-year-old Diego Kochen, a Barcelona youth player.

“The decision was, again, to balance the long-term vision and the short-term vision,” Varas said,. “We need to move the program forward. It was an open competition. And then we were looking for matchups based on the opponent.”

The U.S. is missing regulars Sergiño Dest, Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna.

New Zealand is coming off a 3-0 loss to Mexico on Saturday in a friendly at Pasadena, California. The All Whites, whose last World Cup appearance was in 2010, start World Cup qualifying next month against Tahiti.

“Once game time hits,” Pulisic said, “it’s who’s going to go out on the field and who’s going to step up and who’s going to not be afraid to get into a hard tackle, to show that they’re there.”