Pochettino fumes at 'disrespectful' questions over USMNT regulars

Mauricio Pochettino fumed at questions surrounding the absence of regular players in his squad after his side thrashed Uruguay 5-1 in a friendly at Raymond James Stadium.

Pochettino watched on as his United States team put together arguably their most complete performance of his tenure, with four first-half goals doing the damage. 

Sebastian Berhalter's 17th-minute opener was followed by Alexander Freeman's quickfire brace before Diego Luna got himself on the scoresheet with a well-taken finish.

Uruguay reduced the deficit in first-half stoppage time through Giorgian de Arrascaeta, but then saw Rodrigo Bentancur sent off for a second bookable offence just after the hour. 

From there, Tanner Tessmann sealed the win for the USMNT, who are now unbeaten in their last five games under Pochettino, but the Argentine was left upset at full-time. 

Pochettino was without AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, Crystal Palace's Chris Richards, Marseille's Tim Weah, and Bournemouth's Tyler Adams, who have been nursing injuries.

And when asked about playing against Uruguay with a second-string side, Pochettino told reporters: "I don't want to be negative, no, but I hate, I hate that, 'not regular players.'

"What [does it] mean? It's USA playing, it's the national team. Stop with that mindset. Every time that our decision is about to pick a starting XI, it's the U.S. men's national team playing.

"I hate to talk in this way. It's so disrespectful. It's so disrespectful because I think we need to give credit to all the guys.

"What I really, really appreciate from the team, for the roster and for all the staff, is in the way that we start to connect together, and that is the most important thing."

Pochettino's starting line-up that he named to face Uruguay had averaged 14.1 caps, making it the least experienced USMNT starting XI in an official FIFA international window within a year of appearing in a World Cup since October 2005 against Panama (7.6).

But it mattered little as the United States netted five goals against a team from outside CONCACAF for the fifth time in team history, the first since a 5-1 win over Scotland in May 2012, while it was the first time they had done so against a CONMEBOL opponent.

They also scored four goals in the first half of a match for the 11th time since 1970 and the second against a team from outside CONCACAF (Ghana in 2023).

Pochettino highlighted last week that no roster spot for the World Cup was safe. Following Tuesday's win, he noted his satisfaction with the progress of the November camp.

"I am really, really happy, because the reality is much better [than] what you think. Much, much better. Before, it was much, much different. It was completely different," he said.

"Of course, there is still a lot of work to do, but I think it's about to keep believing, it's to keep pushing."