Recruiting players to represent a national team doesn't come naturally for Mauricio Pochettino.
The U.S. men's national team coach comes from Argentina, where playing for La Albiceleste is the biggest honor a player could ever hope to achieve. Why would anyone need to be sold on that idea?
Early in his tenure in charge of the USMNT, Pochettino made his stance on dual nationals clear.
"We don't need to convince (players)," Pochettino said in 2024. "A player needs to want to play for the national team."
Pochettino did, however, make an effort to land coveted teenage center back Noahkai Banks. Ultimately, though, Banks chose Germany over the USMNT last week. It was a bitter blow.
When a dual national chooses another country, there will always be debate
around how gettable that player might have been.
Though he's spent most of his life in Germany, Banks has only represented the U.S. at the international level. He even accepted a senior call-up one year ago, though he didn't see the field. As recently as this February, Banks said there was "no thought" of a switch from the USA to Germany. Banks was gettable, though it's hard to say if a different approach from U.S. Soccer would have made a difference.
After several high-profile wins over the early portion of the decade – think Folarin Balogun, Johnny Cardoso, Yunus Musah, Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tillman – the USMNT is on a losing streak when it comes to dual nationals.
Banks was the latest defeat in a line of high-profile players who have rejected the USMNT over the past two years, including Nathaniel Brown (Germany), Obed Vargas and Brian Gutiérrez (Mexico) and Esmir Bajraktarević (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Each of the aforementioned situations is unique, of course, and not all can be blamed on Pochettino. Bajraktarević departed before Pochettino even took over, while Vargas left just a month into his tenure. Brown never looked likely to leave Germany's setup.
Gutiérrez is squarely on Pochettino. The midfielder even said he had picked the U.S. last year, before his call-ups dried up and he eventually switched to El Tri. The 23-year-old played four games for Mexico at the World Cup.
To be fair to Pochettino, he didn't lose Gutiérrez as much as he let him go. The Argentine simply didn't rate the Chicago native as high as other players. Time will tell if that is truly damaging for the USMNT, but Gutiérrez certainly looks like a useful attacking midfield option at the international level.
Regardless of the reasons, a team such as the U.S. suffers when it loses four international-caliber players in such a short span. Pochettino needs to redouble his recruitment efforts now that he is (at least contractually) committed to the program through 2030.
When he took over in 2024, Pochettino's only remit was doing well on home soil at the 2026 World Cup. With a short runway, he could afford to put recruitment on the back burner. That is no longer the case. If Pochettino wants to put the USMNT in the best position to succeed in 2030 and beyond, he must embrace the unnatural but important work of wooing dual nationals.
Currently, there are no program-changing players like Balogun out there to be convinced. But there are several recruitable players who could potentially help the USMNT this cycle. That could be Montrell Culbreath of Bayer Leverkusen, Landon Emenalo of Chelsea or Luca Koleosho of Paris FC. Taishi Brandon Nozawa, a goalkeeper from Royal Antwerp, seems more of a long-shot but would represent a big get at a position of need.
Perhaps more importantly, Pochettino must ensure he retains the players he already has. While losing the likes of Brown or Zion Suzuki is painful due to their obvious talent, seeing an in-house player like Banks leave hurts even more. That's why fending off any outside incursions for Julian Hall, Diego Kochen, Mathis Albert or Adri Mehmeti will be vital.
"We want players with no doubt," Pochettino said last week after Banks made his choice. "We want players that are commit(ted) and desperate to play for the badge and play for us, and that is the most important thing."
Players do need to have a desire to play for the USMNT. But Pochettino also has an obligation to find each and every player, regardless of background, who have that desire and sell them on his vision.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Losing Noahkai Banks should be wake-up call for USMNT's Mauricio Pochettino
