After some moments of criticism and disappointing results, Mauricio Pochettino seems to have set the USMNT on the right path ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On the coach’s approach, Landon Donovan explained why the exception must be Christian Pulisic.
“What he’s done over time very successfully is he brought real pride back in playing for your country and your national team,” Donovan praised Pochettino during a recent interview on the Colin Cowherd podcast. “I think he’s done a fantastic job of it. Now every time someone comes into camp, they have to fight and earn and scrap for every minute. I think that’s good.”
To illustrate the importance of this method for building a national team, Donovan referenced the coach’s roots. “Where he comes from in Argentina, if you decline an invite to the national team, it’s like sacrilegious. You might as well never show up in Argentina again. Because people there would cut off their fingers to play for their national team,” explained the former LA Galaxy star.
Immediately afterward, Landon highlighted the contrast between that culture in Argentina and what had occurred in the United States until recently: “A few players at different times, and I’m excluding Christian (Pulisic) from this argument because he’s a different case… But when a few players said, ‘Well, I’m a little tired. I don’t want to go to the national team,’ his mind is just like, ‘What are you talking about!? You don’t want to play for your national team!?’”
USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Donovan criticizes the attitude of USMNT stars
In the same conversation, Donovan discussed why, in his opinion, it was necessary for coach Mauricio Pochettino to enforce a change in the mindset of USMNT players. He used Pulisic as an example.
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“From Christian’s standpoint, he has done a ton already at 27 years old. But this is challenging for players in all sports, where you feel like, ‘I’ve done the work, I’ve proven myself, I should be on the team, I should be a starter, this should be the way it is,’” Donovan noted.
“Unfortunately,not so much with Christian, but a lot of his colleagues with the national team sort of took that same attitude and mentality, and then got their butt kicked during the beginning part of this year in the summer,” Donovan added, concluding with a sharp reflection: “Pochettino has coached Mbappe, Harry Kane, Neymar, Messi. Some random American player isn’t gonna fluster him.”
Pulisic was the subject of USMNT controversies
When Landon Donovan discussed the commitment of American players to the USMNT under Mauricio Pochettino, he explicitly excluded Christian Pulisic from his evaluation. The AC Milan forward, however, was not without controversy after missing the 2025 Gold Cup.
At that time, Pulisic explained he preferred to take a break over the summer to recharge and prepare for a demanding 2025–26 season with Milan, culminating with the FIFA World Cup on home soil.
This led Mauricio Pochettino to leave him out of the June FIFA break friendlies, despite Pulisic expressing his willingness to participate. After several months of speculation, Christian returned to the national team, and both he and the coach made public statements aimed at putting the controversies behind them.
