AUSTIN, Texas — Mauricio Pochettino knows the importance of getting off to a winning start against Panama on Saturday in his debut match as coach of the U.S. men’s national team.

Restoring the USMNT’s shaken confidence and upping the Americans’ level of intensity have been two of the main themes during the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham manager’s first international training camp. Beating Los Canaleros and then chief rival Mexico — the U.S. meets El Tri on Tuesday in Guadalajara — in his first two games at the helm would go a long way toward that end.

At the same time, Pochettino didn’t become one of the most coveted coaches on all of Planet Fútbol by being shortsighted. While the 52-year-old Argentine reached the highest levels of the world’s most popular sport by being ultra competitive, he also has to keep the bigger picture in mind.

That was the theme on Friday, both at Pochettino’s pre-match press conference and during a more informal chat with national reporters later in the day. 

Does he prefer that his teams begin their attack by building out of their own defensive third of the field? Yes, but only when it’s practical. “Sometimes we can play a long pass,” he said. “Sometimes, we need to find a different way.”

How will he pick his first two U.S. lineups? While a laundry list of factors will be considered, he won’t gamble on a player struggling with fitness in order to field the strongest possible starting 11. “We are not going to take risks with our players,” he said.

What about those members of his player pool who are employed by brand-name club teams but don’t see 90 minutes of action on a consistent basis. Will they still be candidates for U.S. duty?

That last question elicited perhaps the most insightful response of all from Pochettino. Several key members of the U.S. squad — including Crystal Palace goalkeeper Matt Turner, AC Milan midfielder Yunus Musah, and forwards Tim Weah of Juventus and the injured Gio Reyna of Borussia Dortmund — don’t always feature regularly during the grueling European season.

Pochettino said on Friday that lack of club playing time isn’t necessarily disqualifying when it comes to being picked for the USMNT. Not yet, at least.

“What I expect from the players that are not playing normally on big clubs is to work really hard during the week, to try to convince the coach to have the possibility to play,” Pochettino said. “If, for different reasons, they cannot get [game time], they are going to come here and are going to be fit to perform for us.

“But maybe if their priority is to play for the USA and play for the World Cup,” he added, “Maybe move to another club. Maybe it’s less exciting, but I’m going to play and show that I deserve to go and to be in the national team.”

For now, those players are controlling what they can during Pochettino’s marathon training sessions. “Everyone wants to show what they’ve got,” Musah said of the vibe ahead of these two October friendlies. “It’s nice to have something different sometimes, and it’s exciting. We’re all buying into it.”

Away from the field, Pochettino has slowly begun to forge connections with his new charges. 

“I’ve had some conversations with him and first of all, I think he cares about the individual players,” said U.S. headliner Christian Pulisic. “He understands that we want to win these games, but also, how are you feeling when you come in? How’s the body feeling? What’s the right amount of training? And I think he’s looking forward to even bigger things as well, which is important.”

The biggest among those, by far, is the 2026 World Cup that the U.S. will co-host with Canada and Mexico. Every decision between now and then must have the end goal in mind. 

“I think it’s a massive responsibility for us,” Pochettino said. “Together, we need to build that confidence and trust that we can arrive in two years and be really competitive.”

That work begins in earnest on Saturday. This week is merely the first step.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. A former staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports, he has covered U.S. men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.

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