'Roll it out again' - Maurice Edu calls on USMNT's Mauricio Pochettino to start same XI vs Saudi Arabia in Gold Cup, with both 'ambition to win' and ability to 'assess' squad

Former national team star Maurice Edu says that Mauricio Pochettino should stick with the same starting XI that beat Trinidad and Tobago when the USMNT take on Saudi Arabia Thursday, despite calls for veterans such as Tyler Adams to be included in the side.

"You win 5-0. It's a tournament setting," Edu said on FOX Sports. "You're trying to learn the players, but you're also trying to win."

The USMNT enjoyed a strong start to their Gold Cup campaign on Sunday, battering an admittedly poor Trinidad and Tobago side, featuring a lineup that consisted mostly of MLS talent. Edu's comments come in light of Pochettino's lack of familiarity with the player pool, which is missing significant names such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah.

Edu outlined his expectations for the starting XI: "Your ambition can be to win the tournament, and in doing that, you can still assess this player pool that - if we’re being honest, how familiar is he with it? Nations League, that's when we had our ‘elite’ group together. That's two games. it’s almost like some of these players are still trying to build cachet, as well.

"You win 5-0. It's a tournament setting, you're trying to learn the players, but you're also trying to win. It worked. Why would you change it? I understand the option to bring in a Tyler or Johnny Cardoso, but Sebastian Berhalter playing well, Luca de la Torre played well - roll it out again."

Alexi Lalas, meanwhile, argued that the U.S. shouldn't take chances against a much stronger team.

"On the one hand, you say, OK, well, Pochettino and this team, they need to have a showing, and so you play your best players," he said on FOX. "And so a Tyler Adams, for example, who didn't play the first game, he's back in, you don't take any chances because you can't afford to go backwards. But on the other hand, if you’re Mauricio Pochettino, and you are using this tournament to assess the players, it's almost impossible to assess them against Trinidad and Tobago - who were horrible, let's be honest.

"So maybe you were run it back and say, OK, now, you're playing against Saudi Arabia, and it's going to be a much bigger challenge. And now he actually gets a much more valid and fair assessment of some of these players. I don't know which way he's going to go. Maybe it's a combination of both. And I don't know how much he cares about the noise that's coming from the outside, as opposed to assessing them so he can have the best possible team come next summer."

Donovan, who has been a critic of the U.S.'s weakened squad, fell somewhere in the middle.

"He's said multiple times now, ‘When you wear the national team shirt, you're auditioning for your chance to wear it the next time.’ Right?" Donovan said of Pochettino. "And so I think, based on what happened in Nations League, all of those guys basically left the door open. He doesn't come in with any loyalty to any of the guys that have been there, played all the games experience, whatever.

"And he says, “OK, it's a clean slate, you show me you want to play." Those guys the other day showed him they want to play. So I expect based on his words, you just keep it the same. Like, maybe Tyler Adams comes in, maybe. But otherwise, he's gonna say, 'Look, you earn the opportunity to do it again. And if you show me, do it again, you go again, and you go again, and you go again.’ "

The debate around the U.S.'s squad has grown significantly in recent weeks. Christian Pulisic's decision not to play in the Gold Cup, coupled with important absences due to the Club World Cup, has forced Pochettino to roll out depleted sides.

The USMNT had lost four straight matches before beating T&T in the Gold Cup opener.

Pochettino's men will take on Saudi Arabia Thursday night in their second Gold Cup group fixture. A victory, coupled with a loss or draw by Haiti against Trinidad and Tobago Thursda, would advance the USMNT to the quarterfinals.