Soccer-US coach Pochettino says players cannot dictate plan after Pulisic skips Gold Cup

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(Corrects Pulisic comments in fourth paragraph)

(Reuters) -Players cannot pick and choose which games they will be available for, United States coach Mauricio Pochettino said after forward Christian Pulisic skipped the CONCACAF Gold Cup but offered to play in a pair of friendlies.

Pulisic, who played 50 games for AC Milan in the recently concluded season, said he would miss the Gold Cup to rest and recover, with former U.S. stalwarts Landon Donovan and Alexi Lalas among those who criticised the decision.

In an interview with the CBS Sports podcast on Thursday, Pulisic said he had asked to play in friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland, but was not involved in those matches because Pochettino wanted a consistent squad heading into the Gold Cup.

The AC Milan winger said he did not understand the head coach’s decision, while adding that those questioning his commitment to the national team were “way out of line”.

Asked about Pulisic’s comments, Pochettino told reporters on Saturday: “Players (do) not need to understand or not understand. Players need to listen and to stick with our plan. They cannot dictate the plan.

“Because if not, OK, we invert — we swap the position (coach and player), no ? That is obvious. The most important thing is that we explain why we decided not to include (him) in the two friendly games.

“And then if you have some problems, no, that is not my problem to understand… I am the head coach. I am not a mannequin.”

The U.S. suffered defeats in both of their friendly matches, losing 2-1 to Turkey and 4-0 at home against Switzerland.

They will look to snap a four-game losing run when they begin their Gold Cup campaign with a match against Trinidad and Tobago in San Jose, California later on Sunday.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)