USMNT defender Mark McKenzie has explained what new manager Mauricio Pochetino will bring to the Stars and Stripes.
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Pochettino has taken over as USMNT bossHas handed McKenzie plenty of game timeDefender opens up on new manager's impactFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Pochettino has begun life with the USMNT by winning three of his first four games in charge. The former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager is currently looking forward to the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Nations League in early 2025 before beginning preparations for the 2026 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Center-back McKenzie will be one of the players hoping to make Pochettino's squad for the World Cup and has featured in three of his first four games in charge so far. The 25-year-old has now opened up on the impact Pochettino has had on the team since taking up his new post and what he brings to an exciting USMNT squad.
WHAT MCKENZIE SAID
He told : "It's been really refreshing. I think he brings a new set of eyes and a new perspective to the game. The biggest onus that he places on us as players is just to solve problems on the field. He's going to give us the foundational principles that we need and the ideas that he wants to put out, but at the end of the day, it's more so about what solutions can we find within the problems that we may have on the pitch or the challenges that the opponent may throw at us.
"In each action that we have, it's about intensity. It's that extra effort to create an extra couple yards of space, so you're sprinting instead of jogging to your position to give yourself an extra second, and to give your team-mate an option a bit earlier than otherwise. It's the intensity to push the back line up to get to a higher position and close the gap.
"It's something that he reiterates, even in the rondos. There’s intensity in the pressing, the movement off the ball, the creating options and angles. I think when everybody is moving at that intense speed and has that understanding of intensity to get to your position, to press, to run through, to finish an attack, to get behind the ball defensively, I think in all facets of the game, that will help us go further."
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR THE USMNT
Pochettino's men are back in action in March for a Nations League semi-final against Panama at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The winners will go on to face either Canada or Mexico in the Nations League Final three days later.
