United States men’s national team full-back Antonee Robinson has revealed one noticeable change after the team’s first training session with new head coach Mauricio Pochettino this week.
The Argentine coach called up the majority of his big stars to report state-side for friendly showdowns with Panama and Mexico, and the work has already begun on the training ground.
“Yeah, straight away it seems a little bit more intense,” Robinson said. “Usually lads getting in on a Monday or getting in on Sunday and training on the Monday. If you’ve played on Saturday, it’s kind of like you’re doing a lot of your recovery on the bike.
“(Monday) we were kind of straight into training and it was a tough session. So we were kind of right away we were here to work. So, it was definitely intense.
“And then he knows that we’ve got a short period of time to kind of understand the principles he wants us to play with and tactics and what-not, which we’ve not really gotten into yet.
“So, yes, obviously small steps, but it definitely feels like camp’s going to be a period where, we’ll have time to enjoy it, but we’re going to work hard and really build towards success.”
The Stars and Stripes will kick off the Pochettino era this weekend when Panama come to town. There will be plenty of buzz in Austin as fans get their first glimpse of a Pochettino-lead United States.