USA's Pochettino and Crystal Palace's Glasner have war of words over club versus country row

Martin Macdonald

• 6 Nov 2025 16:00 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

The club versus country row is a disagreement as old as time and the latest involves the United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino and Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner.

Since international football became a staple in the calendar alongside club football, players have found themselves in the middle of arguments involving availability and playing time.

Clubs, naturally, don't want to send their players on international duty in fear of them getting injured.

The player in question in the middle of the row between Pochettino and Glasner is defender Chris Richards, who was called up to the USMNT previously despite a niggling calf issue. Following that international break, Glasner said:

“My only complaint is the U.S. team didn’t talk to us because Chris was struggling with his calf for many weeks.

“We talked to them and said he should rest as they were just friendlies. But they played him twice, every single minute. That’s a little bit disappointing. On the other side, we’ve tried to manage his minutes here."

Pochettino 'disappointed' by Glasner's comments

Pochettino has been on both sides of the argument as he managed Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea before taking over the United States.

That's part of the reason he has taken umbrage with Glasner's criticism.

"It's difficult for the coaches, I think, because it happened to me in the past,” Pochettino told talkSPORT.

“When you are a head coach in a club, you are always egoist, you don't think about the national team or sometimes you believe that you have the right to say things that are not right.

“I think we managed very well the situation that you are asking me about Richards. We played him because he was ready to play and he didn't suffer any issue with that.

“I think it's the coaches in the clubs, they need to understand that the players want to play for the national team.

“We have only this window to prepare for the World Cup. These are not friendly games for me when you play for the national team. It's about playing for more things, not only playing a game because you defend your flag."

As the United States are one of the host nations for the World Cup, their schedule is made up of international friendlies which is the only way Pochettino can prepare his team tactically for the tournament next summer.

The Argentine continued: “But I think I feel disappointed with the words. I am very disappointed with Oliver because we always respect and we as the coaching staff respect the player and we respect the clubs.

“Our medical area is in contact with all the clubs that we have players at and always we will take the best decision for the player.

"That is not to risk and then thinking that the player needs to be fit and feel well to have the possibility to perform in the club that they belong to and also for the national team.

“I am disappointed, but in some points I understand. I understand that sometimes coaches can complain about the national team.

“We'll see one day if he's in my position to be a coach in the national team where he can understand this type of situation. But OK, it's not a big deal.”

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