ORLANDO — United States men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino said 16-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan is ready to play for the USMNT during the current international window, but was noncommittal as to what role he would play in Saturday’s friendly against Peru.
Sullivan has garnered the most attention on the current squad, even as 13 players that were part of the World Cup are also on the current roster.
This is due not only to his age, but also his recent performances for the Philadelphia Union, which have seen him score six goals and add eight assists in his last eight league games.
That has led to a tidal wave of anticipation to see what Sullivan can do at international level. If he plays, he’ll be the youngest player since Freddy Adu to suit up for the USMNT.
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Pochettino said earlier this month that he and the staff needed to be “careful” in how they manager the young attacker. He was circumspect in his assessment of Sullivan at Friday’s pre-match news conference.
“If we only talk about his performance, he’s doing really well in his club in Philadelphia. Talking only about that, I think he’s ready, but the rest of the players too,” Pochettino said about Sullivan. “He’s mature enough on the field.”
Pochettino also praised the entire group for how they performed in training this week, and lauded the vitality that the youngsters have brought to the group.
“They have talent, and they are showing the real talent,” Pochettino said of the young players. “They have an amazing capacity and quality. And then the energy was amazing. It’s very contagious, that energy.”
Pochettino added that he will use a mix of youth and experience against Peru, and he’ll take the data from training to determine who is ready to play and who isn’t.
“When we observe the player, maybe some players need more time, maybe not to play the first game or the second, maybe the third or maybe some player training with us is enough and maybe they don’t need to go to play,” Pochettino said. “I think it’s so important to provide the chance if they are ready.”
The USMNT manager said he’ll be looking at a variety of other factors as well in terms of deciding what constitutes “ready.”
He indicated he’s been spending much of the week getting to know the players off the field as well as on. He’s observed how the new players adapt to the environment, especially when the staff sets the tone early.
“I think if the young kids arrive in an environment that they smell respect, they smell the discipline, the normal discipline in a team that plays soccer, I think they are very natural,” he said.
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“I think what we need to, that was our plan is to create an environment that they can feel natural. We want them to behave in a natural way because they are intelligent, they’re smart and they perceive and feel in the way that they need to act when they arrive.”
Pochettino’s assessment included getting the young players to get up on stage at a team dinner, one at a time, and sing a song in front of the team and staff.
“In all these types of things, you start to see their personality, their character, capacity to move,” Pochettino said. “And then when they start to train, how the senior players respect them and start to play together and see how they move, how they talk, how they communicate, that’s key. Then of course you need to talk with them and say, you feel that you are ready or not? But I think it’s good to ask them, but at the same time it’s to perceive and to read all this type of situation to be sure that they can go.”
