Neal: Cody Cropper serves as an Aurora coach, and an authority on Mauricio Pochettino

While the U.S. men’s national soccer team was in the Twin Cities last weekend to play Costa Rica in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup, the coaching staff visited Minnesota Aurora practice.

That allowed U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino to catch up with one of his former players: Cody Cropper.

Cropper is the Aurora’s goalkeeping coach. In the fall, he will begin his third season as assistant coach for the St. Thomas men’s team. He was born in Atlanta but grew up in Maple Grove, and his soccer journey has taken him to more than 20 countries. That included three years with Southampton, right when it made its return to the Premier League.

During his first season as Southampton’s backup goalkeeper, Nigel Adkins was sacked and replaced by Pochettino. This was before Pochettino’s stints at Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

This is intended to be a story about a well-traveled player with local ties who was once in the national team pool but now is sharing the knowledge he has curated around the globe with Aurora and Tommies players.

The conversation with Cropper included his thoughts on the current state of the men’s national team. We discussed the rise of midfielder Diego Luna, the diminutive dynamo of whom Pochettino is a fan.

“Having played for Mauricio, I completely understand why he loves Diego,” Cropper said.

Wait. You played for who?

“If you were to randomly ask me the best manager I ever played for, it would be him,” Cropper said. “It was his technical and tactical understanding, but also his ability to manage player personalities and then also maintain and develop relationships with players.”

The revelation that Cropper played for a young Poch floored me. I consider myself to be slightly more than an avid soccer fan. But I didn’t know of Pochettino until he arrived at Tottenham.

There have been concerns that Pochettino’s transition from running a club team to managing a national team will not go well. It will, Cropper said.

“Having played for him and seen what he tries to implement, it’s gonna take time,” Cropper said, “and I think U.S. Soccer and its fan base, especially, has to be patient with that.”

Cropper was speaking after Aurora practice at the TCO Performance Center. Getting involved in coaching seemed like a natural move for him once his playing career — which included many appearances with U.S. youth national teams and call-ups for a few men’s national team camps — had ended.

Coaching both men and women has helped him learn to deal with different scenarios “and how to handle myself as a father, husband, coach, mentor,” he said.

The Aurora finished the regular season 11-0-2 and are headed for a first-round playoff game at noon Friday in Pittsburgh. The defense, anchored by goalkeeper Taylor Kane, has allowed four goals all season.

Kane, one of seven players who have been with the Aurora all four seasons of their existence, likes that Cropper is personable, communicates well and stresses details. Footwork and hand placement were subject matters of the moment.

“Little things like that have made a really big difference,” Kane said. “And then also just the way that the Aurora builds out a lot through the back and we use our goalkeepers kind of as like an 11th field player, and so just being able to be comfortable with the ball at my feet, something my college team [Iowa] does a lot as well.”

Working with the Aurora goalkeepers means Cropper isn’t around the Tommies offices as much, but that hasn’t been an issue with head coach Jon Lowery, who, like Cropper, is a former goalkeeper.

Lowery, who played three seasons with the Thunder, considers the local soccer community a tight-knit group. It’s great for the sport if the best people are working with players. And Cropper has loads of experience to share, even if he didn’t have actual coaching experience when he got ready to try.

“It probably took me two lunches and coffees with Cody to get my head around exactly where he has been and what he’s been doing,” Lowery said. “I saw this young guy where it was time to stop playing, and it was daunting. There’s a little bit of ‘What’s next?’

“What really captivated me about Cody is that he’s got great ambition to get further educated. He’s got great ambition to look into coaching.”

This comes after a career that took Cropper to Southampton, followed by a season with MK Dons before he moved to MLS and had stints with New England, FC Cincinnati and Vancouver. His playing career ended in 2023.

He’s ready to share his experiences with anyone aspiring to be a great keeper. And he also will speak highly of Pochettino, who will have our lads ready to go by the World Cup.