Whether Mauricio Pochettino’s at the wheel or not. the United States men’s national team return to tournament competition provides plenty of subject matter over the next week in Miami and Cincinnati.

The Yanks meet Haiti over two legs in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals, bidding for a place in the semifinals next Spring and — fingers crossed — a fourth CNL title in five tries.

The headlines might start with Pochettino but the message carried therein transfers so much focus to Christian Pulisic, the team’s biggest star and one who happened to be kept away from the national team last month by the potential/probable/possible/likely next manager of Manchester United.

How will an in-form Pulisic respond to his first days back with the team since raising questions about his ceiling as a star with a mediocre World Cup?

Christian Pulisic. That’s the question.

When he’s healthy and hot, he’s fantastic, And 28-year-old Christian Pulisic has been all three of those things in recent weeks, with three goals in his last four Serie A games including one in the Milan derby.

This is, after all, an absurdly good player at his best who was leading the Italian goal scoring list early last season before failing to score a league goal from New Year’s Day to the final whistle of the Serie A season.

And then the World Cup. The USMNT’s best player — considered by some to already live in rarefied program air with names like Dempsey and Donovan — was hot and cold.... and injured twice. While Malik Tillman, Folarin Balogun, and Alex Freeman were asserting themselves on the home soil World Cup stage, Pulisic was overall average.

Now he’s been put in a new place by a manager who may be leaving the team, given a clear place underneath the very top leaders of the group like new captain Tyler Adams and defender Chris Richards. Heck, maybe even behind the son of his former coach.

How will he look? How will he act? How will others look around him? How will he deal with the pressure of all of those eyes?

We want the answers to be motivated, team-first, embraced by teammates, and lively.

Is there a long-term No. 1 goalkeeper in the house?

There are three goalkeepers in camp with, at-best, mildly-experienced resumes.

• Matt Freese is 28 and with 20 caps is the most experienced keeper of the bench. He started at the World Cup where he was made one huge error, was not a star, and, according to Fotmob, was the 24th-best keeper.
• Twenty-five year old Brian Schwake has been terrific for Nashville SC, the best goalkeeper in Major League Soccer this season (at least he got my vote). He has two caps.
• Diego Kochen has the same amount of caps but is in a different situation. He’s on the books for Barcelona, and starting on loan at Lyngby in the Danish Superliga.

Who will start? Who is picking the starter?

While it would obviously be ideal for a 20-year-old to standout as the best goalkeeper in the pool to give the United States about 10-15 years of a mainstay in the position, but none of these keepers are old and all could have multiple World Cups in them.

We’d just like to see at least one of them look capable of being the answer in goal for a decade. We’re not even demanding he exist on the legendary levels of Tim Howard, Brad Friedel, or Kasey Keller.

Is there a piece in camp to write the back four in pen for a year (alternate title: Is Trusty trusty)?

Antonee Robinson, Chris Richards, and Alex Freeman were all a part of both the World Cup and last month’s excellent international window.

It’s an awesome thing, considering the Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Villarreal defenders should — if healthy — all feature at the next World Cup.

So... who else fits in the back four?

West Brom’s George Campbell is hurt, and that gives Toulouse’s Mark McKenzie, Celtic’s Auston Trusty, and massive Philadelphia Union teenager Neil Pierre the first shot at claiming the fourth spot.

Trusty and McKenzie are 27 while Pierre is 19 and played last camp. McKenzie was the last add to this camp roster.

Trusty has 14 caps and is a regular with Celtic. He’s returning from an extended absence following the death of his father so this also is about if he’s ready to play, but Trusty should get the chance to start. And if it goes well, he could stay camped in that spot until at least March.

Let’s see a good partnership between Richards and someone by the end of this international window.