The USMNT’s latest soap opera stars Christian Pulisic, legends, and now coach Mauricio Pochettino

Christian Pulisic made a debatable but reasonable decision last month to skip the Gold Cup, and that, he surely hoped, would be that. His body and mind were “talking” to him. They needed a full offseason to recharge ahead of next year’s World Cup. He could play two friendlies for the U.S. men’s national team in June, but a monthlong tournament? Nah. He told head coach Mauricio Pochettino and U.S. Soccer that he’d rather take some time off.

And that, we learned this week, was the only time that Pulisic and Pochettino, the team’s star and renowned boss, have spoken over the past month.

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In separate media appearances on Thursday and Saturday, they implicitly revealed discord that will now linger around the USMNT for a while.

The decision, meanwhile — inflamed by criticism, by Pulisic’s dad and by former USMNT stars — has unraveled into a soap opera.

Pulisic, in response to the criticism, pointedly disclosed in a podcast interview with CBS Sports that he’d asked to play in this month’s friendlies against Türkiye and Switzerland, but that coaches “said no.” It was “common sense” to use the same roster for the friendlies and the Gold Cup,” Pochettino said Saturday. Pulisic, 26, who has captained the USMNT dozens of times, added: “That’s coach’s decision, I fully respect that. I didn’t understand it, but it is what it is.”

Pochettino, speaking Saturday ahead of the USMNT’s Gold Cup opener, responded: “Players don’t need to understand or not understand. Players need to listen and to stick with our plan. They cannot dictate the plan, because if [so], we invert, we swap positions, no? … We explain why we decide not to include [him] in the friendly games, and then if you have some problems — that is not my problem, [for him] to understand or not understand.”

With every comment Thursday and Saturday, the two stoked an already flammable situation. Pulisic admitted, when asked, that Pochettino’s lack of communication, while not “an issue,” has been “slightly different” than his relationship with previous national team coaches. Pochettino indirectly responded that he couldn’t keep in regular touch with 60 players, as if Pulisic were just another one of the 60. “I want to keep that all the players feel the same respect from the coaching staff and from myself,” he said.

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Pochettino insisted that “communication is good with [Pulisic], like another [player].” But his insistence on treating Pulisic like any other player seems to be one source of a disconnect between the two. Pulisic is the most famous and successful men’s soccer player that the U.S. has ever produced. He’s undoubtedly the USMNT’s most important, and previous coaches have managed him as such.

Pulisic once told a story about Pochettino’s predecessor, Gregg Berhalter, calling him to the coach’s office late at night after a friendly in which Pulisic had scored but also picked up an injury. Berhalter challenged Pulisic, and suggested that perhaps he needed to “train harder,” but not in a confrontational way; in a caring way. “You can tell he’s passionate, and he cares about his players,” Pulisic said years later. That episode, during his first camp with Berhalter, made a lasting impression on him.

Interpersonal and special treatment, though, can privilege a star. In March, during the CONCACAF Nations League third-place match, when Pochettino chose to replace Pulisic with Tanner Tessmann, Pulisic appeared to wave off the sub so that he could take a free kick. Pochettino didn’t seem pleased.

And a few months later, he doesn’t sound pleased that Pulisic opted out of the Gold Cup — although he has publicly defended Pulisic’s decision, and said he “understands” it, and called him “a very talented player” and “a very nice guy.”

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“The people need to prioritize the national team,” Pochettino told USMNT legends Landon Donovan and Tim Howard on their podcast recently. “We were talking about Argentine players, or Brazilian players, or English players, or Spanish players, they are desperate. Even Messi, even Neymar, even Mbappé for France, these guys are desperate to go to the national team.” Pulisic, he said, “should be our Messi.”

And on Saturday, he didn’t sound pleased with Pulisic’s Thursday interview. He reinforced that he — the $6 million coach who’s worked at levels that none of his U.S. players ever have — is in control, and that no single player is bigger than him or the collective — or the player next to him.

“I [don’t] prioritize,” Pochettino said. “You say [Pulisic is] the best player — yes, he’s a good player, of course. But he needs to perform. Because I’m going to judge him like Diego [Luna], like another. If he performs well and he is the best, it’s normal he’s going to have a place in the national team.” But a player wouldn’t just play because he says: “‘I want to play,’ ‘I want to this,’ ‘I want to that,’” Pochettino added.

“When I signed my contract [with] the federation, I am the head coach,” he said. “I am not a mannequin. That is how we are, and that is my culture about football.”

“It’s we,” Pochettino concluded. “We can win. We need to work together. We need to be all together. We we we we we we we. This sport is amazing because it’s about we, not about I. It’s about we.”