On Wednesday, the U.S. national team played a friendly match. Coach Pochettino talked about the injuries of Pulisic and Robinson at the pre-match press conference. Pochettino said on Monday that Pulisic is recovering well from his ankle injury and p...
On Wednesday, the U.S. national team played a friendly match. Coach Pochettino talked about the injuries of Pulisic and Robinson at the pre-match press conference.
Pochettino said on Monday that Pulisic is recovering well from his ankle injury and played about 20 minutes against Ecuador on Friday. He also mentioned that Pulisic participated in Monday's training, but the coaching staff needs to observe his reaction before making a decision.
"I thought he responded very well in the 20 minutes against Ecuador. His ankle responded very well and hopefully he can play tomorrow. We need to see the reaction today, but the situation is much better than when he first arrived."
As for Robinson, Pochettino said that the Fulham defender has had some knee pain since the training camp, although he did not clarify whether it was the knee that was operated on in May.
"Robinson has had some minor knee problems since the training camp and is a bit sore. We are managing him in the best way, but he still cannot participate in training and will certainly not be able to participate in tomorrow's game. I hope this is not a big problem and he can train normally after returning to the club."
Regarding the lineup against Australia, Pochettino is considering whether to keep most of the players unchanged and make some tactical adjustments, or give other players some performance opportunities.
He is inclined to make some changes: "Some players may have a chance to play tomorrow and show themselves and tell everyone, 'Pay attention to me, I can also play a role in the World Cup.' I prefer this approach rather than staying the same. We may make some changes or even change the formation."
Pochettino said that although the team They are still fine-tuning their tactical system, but Australia is more determined to implement their philosophy: "I don't think they will change the way they play. I think they will force us to give our best performance in all aspects, not only the game plan, but also the confrontation and what may happen on the field. We need to respond and improve better, and Australia will help us in this regard."
