Mauricio Pochettino Warns Lack of Competitive Games Could Hurt USMNT's World Cup Chances

Another thing he talked about was the mentality of the players. He’s been vocal about hating the word "friendly," even correcting the media to call them "unofficial games" instead. 

To Pochettino , a "friendly" sounds like you’re just playing with friends, but he wants his players to realize that an unofficial game is still a competitive battle where you have to build the right habits.

“It's normal for players to avoid calling it a friendly game. I said, 'Not an official game.' It's not official because a friendly game is when you play with your friends. There is no such thing as that. An unofficial game is still not official, but it's competitive.”

He also believes that calling a match "friendly" makes players play too safe. He feels that if you don't build the right habits now, you won't be ready when the tournament actually starts.

He said:

"Sometimes they make a mistake and say, 'No, it's a friendly game.' But I don’t need to take that risk. It's a friendly game. Why play in that situation? Why should I put my leg on the line? How do you create the habit again?” 

“Football is about habit, and if you don't create the right habits... it's not that I haven't competed for a year and a half, and then suddenly I'm going to compete in the World Cup. It doesn’t work like that," he added

Pochettino thinks the team is finally starting to change that mindset, and he noticed that even the media is starting to get it.

"You need to create that habit, and we are fighting to change that mindset. I think we are on the right track, as people are starting to realize this. Even in the last press conference in America, the media began to laugh when someone said, 'No official game.' Someone responded, 'Okay, that is good; we are learning.'"