The value that Max got from instruction from Pochettino is something that he considers a very high value.

Yeah.

It's super valuable.

I mean, I've, uh, been in a lot of camps with him now, but obviously the World Cup is, like, the main thing that everyone's been looking forward to and he's been preparing for.

So to see him in that environment, like the main, main entree of his, uh, regime I could say, was really cool.

I, I would describe him as just a very intense, passionate coach.

I mean, every single training session is, it's about fighting, it's about the little things like winning second balls, not getting beat easily, being hard to play against.

In our final conversation with him before he left town for Middlesbrough last week, John from NBC asked Max to share a couple of things that the casual fan would not know about what men's national team members go through, in particular in this 2026 World Cup, a tournament that was played for the most part on US soil.

Has any part of the World Cup kind of surprised you the most or exceeded expectations?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know about exceeded expectations because I knew that our fans would show out because that's what they do.

But it's definitely the most electric atmosphere I've ever been a part of in my career.

For me, I would say the very first group stage game in L.A. when we played Paraguay, just because I was like the the genesis of the tournament.

You know what I mean? And it was a long waited anticipation like that moment was here.

And I just remember like being out there for the national anthem and you just look around and you really feel the energy from the crowd and yeah it's been amazing truly and i expect nothing different um at levi's on wednesday

If your younger self would write a letter to you today, what do you think you'd say to that?

My younger self would be, I would say, probably filled with so much joy.

And he got to go to New York with the other players on the roster and be a part of a magnificent ceremony that revealed each and every player on the U.S. roster.

Yeah, to be honest, like the roster reveal that whole day in New York City was very special just because it was just everything was like so over the top, like the production of it, like walking out, holding the jersey.

it's a very American way to reveal the roster, but it was a special day.

Cause that was like the moment everyone found out and you can kind of like, it doesn't have to be a secret anymore and all that type of stuff.

Um, and just sharing that moment with my teammates was super cool as well.

Um, One thing that was cool about the day was I met Gunna, fun fact.

I'm a big Gunna guy, so that was dope.

How do you keep things in perspective as you prepare for the matchup against Australia?

What, uh, what set this performance apart for you guys tonight?

I just think we were comfortable.

Uh, you know, we were flowing in our movements.

I feel like we dominated and controlled the game, like the entire game, um, in my opinion.

And yeah, I just...

It kind of felt like the way, like the crew of old, in my opinion, like we dominate the games, create a lot of chances, dominate possession.

Um, so it was a good feeling, for sure.

Awesome.

And, and also speak to what he's meant to you personally.

Yeah.

I would say generally, um, he's just a very, like, respectful person.

You know, I think he, he has like a...

He used to be a player at a high level, so you see that with the way he coaches, you know? Um, it's never, like, degrading.

It's always more of a conversation.

That- that's one thing I've noticed with him from the beginning of this year.

Would you agree with any of that, and what would you say about the quality of this roster and what it can do?

What was it like for you playing Saturdays

or Sundays? Yeah, very similar to you, I would assume, to be honest.

Like, you know, where I'm from in Fresno, there's not these MLS academies or like super structured environments with the world class facilities or anything like that.

Like I played for my club team, my local club team, California Odyssey, and we would train three times a week, games on the weekend.

And then the other day as I was playing with, you know, It's kind of hard to explain, but you just meet people along the way.

So there was just a group of older players who, like you said, played Sunday League or they played with the Fresno Fuego.

And it was a bunch of aspiring professionals from like 18 to honestly like 30 years old.

How, as a young player playing with the national team, do you process a game like that? Like, what do you take out of a game like that?

Yeah.

... going into Gold Cup, we had to flip the script and it's not easy.

I mean, I know you guys have obviously been there at higher levels too with the national team, but the vibe of the locker room is so important, and I think after those friendlies, it was a big turning point for us.

We just had to decide to kind of put those two friendlies behind us, learn from it, and then individually for me, like you said, I...

Obviously going into it, I wanted to start and I wanted to play because that's what I wanted, and then there was a roller coaster because there was good moments and there was bad moments, but I think I grew from it so much mentally.

Mm-hmm.

Like, being able to kind of, like, find myself the courage to, like, break through those bad moments, like, on the field as they happened, and then come out on the other side.

So for me, it was...