"[This] is a camp that I think is going to be the last camp to have the possibility for us to see players, new faces,"
"No one has their place [assured], and that is my message for everyone that you need to fight, need to fight because that is an open system."
"If we want to be a team [that's] really competitive, we cannot nominate 13, 14, 15 players -- these guys for sure are going to arrive to the World Cup and the rest, they need few places to fight. Come on."
Mauricio Pochettino is still experimenting with the U.S. men's national team less than nine months before the 2026 World Cup. He has used 14 different starting XIs in 17 games and signaled willingness to use one more international window to evaluate new faces. Pochettino insists no player's place is assured and expects competition for roster spots. Injuries and player availability complications have complicated preparation. The coach has shown readiness to bypass high-profile starters, giving fringe players opportunities. Those selection decisions coincided with six losses in 11 games and a failure to win the Gold Cup with an experimental roster.
Read at ESPN.com
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