Five USMNT players that can blossom under Mauricio Pochettino

The United States men’s national team has found its new head coach in Mauricio Pochettino.

The USSF made the long-rumored hire official with a statement on Tuesday, ahead of the USMNT’s friendly against New Zealand at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.

Pochettino won’t be on the sidelines on Tuesday, but after the final whistle, he’ll take the reins from interim coach Mikey Varas and have full control of the roster going forward. Let’s take a look at five players that could benefit from Pochettino’s arrival:

The following is a segment from “Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast” that’s been edited for brevity.

5. The strikers

There’s no Harry Kane in this U.S. player pool and I don’t think Pochettino can make any of them into that. That doesn’t mean that they can’t score goals; it doesn’t mean that they can’t be more productive. I will say that not only do I think it’s going to happen, but it’s important that he finds an individual or collectively has the striker pool — whoever that ultimately is — doing things better than they have done in the past.

4. Johnny Cardoso

Cardoso stands to benefit a lot. I know Stu Holden’s really high on Johnny Cardoso coming after playing in La Liga at Betis — Stu would probably put him No. 1.

3. Christian Pulisic

Even though he is the star, even though he is the best player on this team from a talent perspective, I still think Pulisic hasn’t hit his ceiling. Pochettino’s going to come in, and I think Pulisic, especially with what he’s been through over the last couple of years, is going to appreciate somebody with a little bit of a different way of approaching the situation, just from a pure tactical standpoint.

2. Jedi Robinson and Sergiño Dest

We know that Pochettino likes to push his players high, including his outside backs, so you’re looking at Jedi Robinson, who, let’s be honest, has already been great, and a Sergiño Dest on that right-hand side being given even more freedom — and, yes, even more risk. That’s Pochettino saying: do what you do well, especially when it comes to Dest and Robinson in the attack and pressing up into higher positions.

1. Gio Reyna

For all of the problems that have happened over the last couple of years, there’s still no denying Gio Reyna’s talent. And even though there was a “kumbaya” type of moment, and they agreed to disagree at times between Gio Reyna and Gregg Berhalter (or the Reynas and the Berhalters when you look at the macro), I do think that this will be a relief for Gio and, certainly, a new start under somebody that doesn’t have the baggage and somebody that doesn’t have the history with him. I’m not talking about responsibility; it’s just that the reality of the situation was always going to be that Gregg Berhalter was going to have this history with Gio Reyna.

[RELATED: How Mauricio Pochettino will immediately impact the USMNT]

Now Pochettino’s coming in, and I back him to get more out of Gio Reyna because I think he can, but I also think there’s going be a weight lifted off of Gio. It doesn’t mean that Gio’s you-know-what doesn’t stink at times, just like ever player, and it doesn’t mean that he can’t falter, or that he’s going to start every game but, hopefully, if Pochettino recognizes that this is a talented young player, he can do what he’s being paid a lot of money to do, and that’s to get more out of these players and I think Gio Reyna stands to benefit from this breath of fresh air and this new, dare I say, clean slate under Pochettino.

Alexi Lalas is a soccer analyst for FOX Sports and host of “Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast.” He represented the USMNT at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and had a nine-year professional career. In 2006, he became the president of the LA Galaxy and helped bring David Beckham to Major League Soccer.

---

---