Christian Pulisic & Co. told how Mauricio Pochettino will take USMNT to a ‘new level’ as Tim Ream talks up evolution under former Chelsea & PSG coach

Former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss Pochettino inherited the managerial reins with the United States in September 2024. Positive progress has been made during his short reign, with five victories collected from six matches so far.

Improvement in the present is considered to be important, but the USMNT are building towards the longer-term goal of being fiercely competitive at a home World Cup in 2026. Ream believes a squad loaded with talent will be firing on all cylinders by then, courtesy of their Argentine tactician.

Veteran defender Ream has told FIFA’s official website of the benefits that Pochettino brings: “He just brings an intensity and a focus in everything that he does, and he translates that into the players. Over the first couple of camps, that’s what we’ve seen and it’s been evident. He's going to continue that. He's going to evolve us. He’ll improve us in the way we want to play, in our transitions, movements, and rotations, trying to confuse opposition with different setups. He’s going to lead the evolution of who we are as players and as a nation. He's going to take that to a new level.”

It is not just in the international arena that the American game is growing, with the likes of Lionel Messi – who is starring at Inter Miami – helping to boost the MLS brand. Ream is also back on that stage, after 12 years in England with Bolton and Fulham, and is impressed with what he has seen since heading home.

The Charlotte FC defender said when asked how the game has evolved Stateside since he bid farewell to the New York Red Bulls in late 2011: “I think both coaching and players are definitely leaps and bounds further ahead now than when I first started out in Major League Soccer. I left after two years at the time and back then, teams were physical and they focused on outrunning you. They just tried to run over teams. Now, we have so many different styles. We have so many different styles of coaching with different formations and tactics that have developed. That comes from having better coaching and better players. The technical ability here has become quite incredible to see. That's something that has really developed over the years.”

MLS action is back on the agenda for 2025, with Messi and Ream daring to dream of ultimate glory, while the USMNT will return to action on March 20 when facing Panama in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals.