USMNT doing what it can to build chemistry in limited time before World Cup

PHILADELPHIA — Mark McKenzie was talking Thursday about the little intricacies, the things an athlete knows about his teammates through practicing together over and over and over again.

“Whether it’s turning over your left shoulder, turning over your right shoulder, whether someone’s a bit more aggressive stepping into midfield,” McKenzie, a center back for the USMNT, said before Thursday’s training session. “Whether they’re more comfortable in aerial duels, whether they’re more comfortable covering space behind. I think those are all things you build through repetition.”

And that inherently represents a problem to be solved for a national team.

Between now and June 12, when it begins the World Cup on home soil in Los Angeles, the Yanks have all of a handful of training sessions together.

There is another international window in March, with Portugal and Belgium as rumored friendly opponents, that should include something like the A-team at camp, and there will be the final, pre-World Cup training camp in the immediate lead-up to the competition itself.

Of course, there’s also the remainder of the current window, which includes a friendly against Paraguay on Saturday here in Philadelphia, as well as one against Uruguay on Tuesday in Tampa.

Due to a mix of injuries and circumstances, though, a number of players anticipated to play key roles at the World Cup, including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, Yunus Musah and Chris Richards, were not called up this time around.

The problem is not unique to the United States; it’s inherent to any national team and in any sport.

Still, the question of how to build chemistry over a limited window of practices, dispersed over months at a time, with the stakes as high as could be, is one whose answer will help dictate how far the U.S. goes next summer.

“There’s a sense of intentionality, a sense of urgency, that comes along with that,” McKenzie said. “Knowing you have a limited amount of training sessions together. Knowing that there’s work to be done, areas we want to improve on and continue to grow as a group. Building the chemistry we already have. Figuring out the nuances of how we want to play, what message we want to send every time we step on the pitch, to our opponents. The biggest thing is intentionality and urgency with the sessions we do have together.”

Of course, it’s not as if players show up their first time at a national team camp cold, not knowing anyone in the building.

The world of American soccer is small and interconnected.

McKenzie, Brendan Aaronson, Auston Trusty and Matt Freese, for example, all grew up in Philadelphia and played for Bethlehem Steel FC, the United Soccer League affiliate for the MLS Philadelphia Union.

Alex Freeman has built close bonds with fellow defenders Max Arfsten and Miles Robinson.

“I feel like the bond of this team is one of the reasons I feel like we’re gonna go very far in this World Cup,” Freeman told The Post on Wednesday. “We do everything together. Not only that, it’s like no egos. No one thinks they’re better than everyone. I think it’s nice because [coach Mauricio] Pochettino kinda created that culture. Everyone here has to work for it.”

Pochettino, in the run-up to this camp, dismissed any notion that his main group may not get enough time together before the World Cup.

“We are not going to complain,” he said. “We cannot give excuses to ourselves in case [we do] not perform. I think we have time enough. We need to be intelligent and we need to give our best to perform and it’s up to us.”