Mic'd Up: The outspoken analyst lauded Pochettino's approach, but says international game has been a 'rude awakening' for U.S. coach
The USMNT that took the field at the 1994 World Cup has an immaculate pedigree. They were the originals of U.S. soccer, the first group of guys that truly captured the nation's eye – no doubt helped by the fact that they represented their country well on home soil.
It's been 31 years since that tournament, and the group has dispersed a little. Some are in coaching. Some are in the media. And then there's Alexi Lalas, still at the center of the American soccer discussion.
And as the USMNT approach another home World Cup, he wonders if they can capture the similar "magic" that his team found.
"Going to a men's World Cup is nothing new for us," Lalas told GOAL. "We've gone to tons of them, doing well in the group, winning the group. So what we're looking for is things that we haven't seen before, and magic moments."
And that's possible, he says. Lalas is an outspoken figure on his State of the Union podcast and FOX Sports coverage. His takes on the USMNT routinely go viral – and often add fuel to the fire. And when it comes to Mauricio Pochettino, the no-longer-new manager tasked with taking the U.S. to World Cup glory, Lalas isn't yet sold.
"I think he's gotten a rude awakening, but a necessary one," he says. "And he's had to kind of play catch up as to both how it functions, just in general the international game as a manager, but also in particular this group."
And the USMNT players? They absolutely needed a wake up call, Lalas argues. And Pochettino has delivered.
"He is not your friend. He is your coach and or manager, whatever you want to call it," Lalas says. "And his job, and why he's being paid $6 million, is to have you be in the best possible place to give this team the most chance of success. And sometimes that means a kick in the a*s, and not always followed up with a pat on the back."
Lalas discussed Pochettino, Chris Richards and the USMNT's prospects for the 2026 World Cup in Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL taps into the perspective of analysts, announcers and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.
Getty ImagesON USMNT RESULTS VS ECUADOR, AUSTRALIA
GOAL: I saw that you got "nihilistic" after the Ecuador result. But I'm curious, what did you make of the camp overall?
LALAS: I certainly think from a results standpoint, and I think from a vibe standpoint, I'm in a much better place. But I have found myself doubting or being much more cynical than I ever thought I would be. We're now, what? Nine months away from a home World Cup in the summer of 2026? By now, I thought that I would be much more positive. Now, I've started to come out a little bit of that funk. I've kicked myself in the a*s or gotten kicked in the a*s by others who say, "Hey, snap out of it!"
And that's not to say that I'm delusional about what the realities are. But I do feel that certainly, as we speed towards this next summer, there's going to be a vibe and a, hopefully, a kind of magic that envelops everyone, including this team, and they play above themselves. But this last window, I think, was better. You have players like Haji Wright, who was out in the wilderness, comes in, scores a couple of goals. And even a Cristian Roldan, who I'm under no illusions about – I don't think he is the best player the US has ever had. I think he would say the same thing.
But for him to come in and play well and give Pochettino some other options for that final 26… everybody wants to be on that roster, let alone to start. But you want to be on that roster because of the opportunity and the platform that it affords.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesON POCHETTINO'S FIRST YEAR IN CHARGE
GOAL: Let's talk about Pochettino more generally. It's just more than a year now – are you convinced by him? Or are you saying the jury's still out?
LALAS: The jury's still out. And I think my reticence to judge is relative to what he has said, or not said, and what he has gone about doing. I think he has kicked the can down to next summer, which, in and of itself, is not a wrong thing to do. However, I think there was this point where we thought, "OK, we're going to see his real XI and we're going to start treating these windows and these games as if they were competitive games." And yet, the experimentation, it was implied, was going to peter out. That hasn't really happened. There's still plenty of that going on. And again, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not what I feel was articulated.
And so he's only going to be judged next summer, and all of this is kind of fluff beforehand. And you know, we will analyze the fluff, because that's what we do. But next summer, if he does well, they'll build statues for him – and they won't care about what happened in this window in the fall of 2025. But I think he recognizes that he came to this late, and he's also had to play catch up because all of his cachet and his sexiness and his value and his and his talent is based on club success. And he's never coached internationally.
I think he's gotten a rude awakening, but a necessary one. And he's had to kind of play catch up as to both how it functions, just in general the international game as a manager, but also in particular this group. They needed a kick in the a*s. And if I have something complimentary to say, I think he has been a needed breath of fresh air for these players. And I think that he has come in and said, "There's a new sheriff in town." I think he's grabbed hold of this group and is leading this group in a way that is necessary for them to have success.
GettyON THE ATTITUDE OF USMNT PLAYERS
GOAL: Do you get the sense, then, by extension, that this version of the USMNT was a little bit soft relative to previous generations?
LALAS: The labeling of this group for a while there was that they were soft, that they were weak. And, you know, it was interesting when Pochettino, after this window, started talking about the weather relative to players getting hurt. And I cringed a little bit when I heard that. I get what he is saying, but you've got to read the room. And you have to understand that this is a group that was labeled as soft and weak, and you start talking about the weather and injuries? It might be completely valid, but in the context of this team, it makes it look weak again.
And I think there was a natural maturation process. Sometimes we forget that we saw the majority of this group under Gregg Berhalter, almost as teenagers. And you are a very different person and a player as a teenager than you are when you get into your 20s. And so these young men had to mature. And I think Pochettino has come about at a time when they need a man leading them. Not that Gregg Berhalter wasn't a man, but he saw them through that young process. And that's not always conducive to winning, because you kind of have to change the way that you deal with them, individually and collectively.
GOAL: Do you think there's a certain aura around Pochettino that maybe changes the narrative a bit?
LALAS: There's definitely an element of Pochettino treating these players like the mature players that they are right now. But be careful what you wish for. Without sounding like a grumpy old man, this generation has kind of been conditioned – not just players – to have communication and to have interaction. And, you know, "Recognize my feelings, and why am I feeling this? And let's talk this out." And Pochettino, he does not suffer fools. He doesn't communicate with the players to tell them why they're not called into camp, or what they're doing right or wrong.
That can be stark, and that can be jarring for players that have had the opposite for so long, and it's by design. I think that some of them are coming around to understanding that this is real now, and there's no messing around. He is not your friend. He is your coach and or manager, whatever you want to call it. And his job, and why he's being paid $6 million, is to have you be in the best possible place to give this team the most chance of success. And sometimes that means a kick in the a*s, and not always followed up with a pat on the back.
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
Getty ImagesON THE PLAYER POOL
GOAL: Folarin Balogun had an excellent game against Ecuador. Haji Wright had arguably the best performance of his career a few days later. What do you see from the striker pool right now?
LALAS: There's this whole musical chairs thing that's going on, and that music is going to stop and you better have a seat. And it's about timing and being healthy and all the different things that happen. For example, the devolution of Josh Sargent. And this is a position right now, in the way that they play, that there's really one position up there. I still think that Balogun is the starter right now, despite what Haji Wright has done, but I do think that Haji Wright has immediately injected himself into the conversation.
With Ricardo Pepi, it's interesting because these windows are going quick, and they are evaporating. So there's less and less opportunity for a player, even a player like Pepi, who's kind of been around. Patrick Agyemang is hanging around there, and again, I think Poch likes him. But the reality is, how many of those players are you going to take? Are you gonna take two? Are you gonna take three? When it comes to the striker position, probably you're taking three.
One's the starter. The other one is, hopefully that comes on and either provides that spark or does the damage after some of the work has already been done. And then the third one is there in case there's an actual injury. So just because you say striker on your resume doesn't mean necessarily that that's how you're going to be assessed, or that you're going to be one of those two or three players.
GOAL: When you played, was there genuinely friendly competition? Were you all pushing each other?
LALAS: Every team has a different type of dynamic, but I do think that something that is shared by players is a ruthlessness. And it can be couched in different ways, but especially when it comes to a World Cup team, because there is that drop-dead moment when the roster is made. I was not rooting for not just my teammates, but in many cases, my friends, if I was competing against them. And we all know that you get opportunities in different ways. Injury, coaching changes, seasonal stuff, whatever it ends up being, you got to grab it with both hands.
And I knew, at least the way I approached it was, "I'm going to take it and maybe I'll have to take it from you. And it doesn't mean that I don't like you. It doesn't mean I won't hang out with you and we'll go, we'll go have drinks and have a good time. But when push comes to shove, I'm competing against you. And I'm not going to let you take something away from me. And if you have it, I am going to take it from you."