Mauricio Pochettino and Christian Pulisic are back together, with head coach and player taking part in the U.S. men's national team training camp ahead of this month's friendlies against South Korea and Japan.
Just how "together" they are will be revealed over the next week and beyond, but make no mistake: they need to be on the same page if the U.S. is to reach its stated aim of making a deep run at next summer's World Cup.
This isn't to say that the two have had a falling out, nor do they need to be best friends and have regular dinners together. But there has been a disconnect.
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Pulisic waved off an attempt by Pochettino to sub him out of the third-place game at the Concacaf Nations League last March. He missed out on the recent Gold Cup two months later, and while USSF sporting director Matt Crocker said at the time, "We made the collective decision that this is the right moment for [Pulisic] to get the rest he needs," the public backlash was intense, with former USMNT players, among them Landon Donovan, questioning the player's commitment.
Pulisic's response, in part, was to state in an interview with CBS Sports that he had offered to play in two pre-Gold Cup friendlies, but that Pochettino had turned him down. Pulisic later said in the interview that he didn't understand the decision even as the manager explained he wanted just one roster for the entire Gold Cup program.
While Pulisic's impulse to defend himself is understandable, divulging some of the deliberations about his Gold Cup participation was a mistake and only served to annoy Pochettino. The U.S. manager responded, stating that he is "not a mannequin" and that he alone would decide who plays for the USMNT and when.
When the roster for the upcoming friendlies was announced last week, Pochettino said he hadn't spoken with Pulisic since the Gold Cup, adding, "I think everything is behind us, all that happened in summer, and I think now we need to look forward."
Left unsaid is how effective that approach will be if there hasn't been any communication.
To be clear, success at the World Cup doesn't rest solely on Pulisic, as numerous moving parts need to align for a deep run to occur. The U.S. needs to sort out its goalkeeping situation. Right back Sergiño Dest has to be healthy, the better to augment the attack with his ability to deliver the unexpected. The same is true for Antonee Robinson on the opposite flank. Holding midfielder Tyler Adams needs to be at his ball-hawking best. One of the available strikers -- be it Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent, Haji Wright, etc. -- needs to hit top form ahead of the tournament.
But Pulisic's combination of talent, creativity and experience remains a critical piece of the attack. When Pulisic plays well and is in full flow, the team usually follows suit. Scoring goals is the most difficult part of the game, and Pulisic remains a vital contributor to that aspect of the cause. Pochettino and Pulisic need each other for the team to succeed.
Part of what's at issue between Pulisic and Pochettino is that the U.S. manager is in the middle of attempting a cultural reset. That goes for everyone, from the biggest stars down to uncapped players who get called in. Pochettino is demanding total commitment, at least as he defines it. As fatigued as Pulisic was after playing over 50 games a season at AC Milan the last two years, his decision to sit out the Gold Cup, while offering to play in the two friendlies before the tournament, sent Pochettino a different kind of message.
"If you arrive to the camp and you want to spend a nice time, play golf, go for a dinner, visit my family, visit my friend, that is the culture that we want to create?" Pochettino said last May. "No, no, no, no, no. What we want to do is to go to the national team, arrive and be focused and spend all my focus and energy in the national team. If we want to be good in one year's time, we need to think that today is the most important day."
The adjustment from the players -- including Pulisic -- to Pochettino's approach has taken some time. Defender Tim Ream admitted after the Gold Cup that it had taken too long. At Tuesday's media availability, Ream said that with players just arriving, there hadn't been a team-wide meeting yet to discuss expectations, though coaches had been pulling players in for individual meetings.
"We'll sit down I'm sure [Tuesday] and have a discussion," he said.
"But for us, it is just the guys who were here during the Gold Cup ... We kind of know what the standard needs to be and what it is going forward and just making sure that everybody's being held accountable, pushing each other, helping each other, and making sure that we all know that we're on the same page, we're on the same team."
Pochettino was a top-flight manager for 15 years -- with stops at Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea -- before taking up with the USMNT. If there is to be movement in any direction, that will fall on Pulisic, because Pochettino won't be changing his ways. The U.S. manager has made it clear that no one's spot is secure. Weston McKennie was left off the current roster, and while Pochettino blamed his absence on a lack of rest due to participation in the Club World Cup, Tim Weah had a similar workload, yet was included in this camp.
Relationships between players and coaches can be fluid, going through difficulties. Pulisic's rapport with former U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter experienced some rough patches before the two found alignment ahead of the 2022 World Cup, in which Pulisic played a critical role in the U.S. reaching the round of 16.
That could very well be the case with Pochettino and Pulisic. However, Pulisic and the rest of the team will need to adapt to Pochettino's ways.