Dempsey Backs Pochettino As USMNT Legends Slam Coach For Gold Cup Collapse

Mauricio Pochettino lost his first final with the USMNT, falling 2–1 to Mexico in the Gold Cup championship match. Now, he’s under fire, drawing criticism from several national team legends — but not Clint Dempsey. The former Fulham midfielder stood by the manager after the loss.

Despite mounting criticism from USMNT veterans, Dempsey has emerged as one of Pochettino’s more vocal defenders this week. On the Men in Blazers podcast, where he covers the USMNT alongside Roger Bennett, Dempsey acknowledged the coach's difficult task, saying, “He’s being asked to build a house without a lot of tools,” and praised Pochettino for continuing to push forward despite limited resources.

His opinion contrasts sharply with other USMNT legends, including Kasey Keller and Charlie Davies.

“What I haven’t seen from Pochettino is a full commitment to the national team,” Keller said. “I haven’t seen a full commitment to the players, I haven’t seen a full commitment to going and watching matches and truly being the guy to find out all those questions.”

Charlie Davies went even further, pointing out the lack of depth on the wings — despite the presence of players like Christian Pulisic and Sergiño Dest, who were unavailable for the tournament.

“Where are the dribblers? Where are the wingers? Where are the guys with pace? Because when we talk about depth and changing the game, go back to John Tolkin coming in as a replacement for Tyler Adams in the Guatemala game — which nearly cost us that match. Nearly.” Davies said.

What’s next for the USMNT?

The U.S. is already qualified for the 2026 World Cup as one of the three host nations, alongside Mexico and Canada. With no qualifiers ahead, Pochettino will have some time to regroup before announcing the next squad for friendly matches against South Korea and Japan in September.

These games will fall right at the start of the European club season, which begins in August. The calendar is tighter this year due to the Club World Cup and the recently concluded Gold Cup.

That’s part of the reason Pulisic and Dest were unavailable this summer. The Milan winger opted out of the Gold Cup, and Pochettino chose not to call up Dest as he continues recovering from an ACL injury.