by Asher Hirt ’25
October 2, 2024
Every fan of U.S. soccer wants to see an extraordinary World Cup performance in 2026. The expectations are high for Mauricio Pochettino, who on September 11 agreed to take part in becoming the new manager for the team headed into the 2026 World Cup.
After a long five-and-a-half year and underwhelming tenure for Gregg Berhalter, U.S. fans finally have some hope that this golden generation of talent will not be wasted.
Berhalter was first fired after the 2022 World Cup where he made it out of the group stage and lost against the Netherlands in the round of 16. In no way was this a bad outcome for the team, but Berhalter was still fired by the committee and the search for a new coach was on.
Unexpectedly, the committee could not find anyone and settled back with re-hiring Berhalter, who continued to disappoint.
In the last major tournament, the Copa America, which began on June 20th, coach Berhalter and the U.S. team failed to make it out of the group stage with a 2-1 loss to Panama and a 1-0 loss to Uruguay. After this unacceptable performance, Berhalter had to part ways with the U.S. team for the second time.
After five weeks of speculation and big names being thrown into the pot of new managers for the team, the U.S. landed someone who checked all the boxes: Mauricio Pochettino, who has arguably the greatest résumé from a U.S. coach ever.
Pochettino started his coaching career at RCD Espanyol in 2009 where he had a lackluster record going 53-70-38 (W-L-D) in La Liga, finishing near the bottom of the league in all three seasons. He turned his career around on January 18, 2013, when he joined Southampton as manager in the middle of the season.
Pochinetto at a press conference sporting the USA soccer lapel pin (via Evan Bernstein/Getty Images).
He immediately made an impact and led the team to big wins and left the club with a final record of 23-18-19 (W-L-D) in the premier league. Finishing eighth in the Premier League was much better than the team achieved in years past, so major teams started noticing Pochettino and wanting him to manage their teams.
On July 1, 2014, Pochettino arrived at Tottenham where he spent five years coaching and gained a staggering 159-72-62 (W-L-D) record. His record was not the biggest thing that stood out during his years at Tottenham. What stood out the most was his ability to develop young talent into star players, like English striker Harry Kane and Korean forward Son Heung-Min. In a U.S. team loaded with young talent, his ability to create superstars is essential to the success of the team. His biggest achievement at Tottenham was his Champions League runner-up finish in 2019. He was awarded the London Football Awards Manager of the Year right after that season.
He continued coaching at Paris Saint-Germain for a year in 2021 where he had an impressive 55-14-15 (W-L-D) record but was sacked by the club due to a disappointing ending to the season of getting eliminated in the round of 16 in the Champions League.
Most recently, Chelsea was managed under Pochettino but he agreed to leave the club after not meeting the high expectations for the club finishing with a 26-14-11 (W-L-D) record.
Pochettino has coached at numerous different clubs, all at the highest level of European soccer. He has coached some of the best players to ever touch a ball like Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé. No U.S. manager has ever come close to overseeing these world class caliber players.
Antonne Robinson, starting left back for the team, announced his reaction to the new coach in an interview after his game for Fulham.
“I think he’s a very good manager so I’ll be interested to see how he comes in and gets used to the boys and how the boys get used to him. It’s a fresh start and all eyes are on the World Cup. He’s got two years to get the best out of us and we have to give everything to him so we can be successful.”
Widely regarded as the best player on the team, Christian Pulisic has an optimistic outlook on the coach as well.
“I think it’s good news. I think it’s time for a change, it’s time for us to take another step and improve as a team.”
Alexi Lalas, former U.S. national team player currently working for Fox Sports as an analyst, said that despite the incredible hire he could struggle with implementing his style of play into the U.S.
“This will be his first international gig. When you look at Pochettino, and what has given him this caché and this respect and the success that he’s had, it’s an attention to detail. It’s a philosophy of pressing and possession, but it’s also a day-in and day-out implementation of a structure that has resulted in, again, the little things and the details making a difference,” Lalas said. “He is going to be put into a situation that he has no experience in, in terms of an international coaching job, and he is going to have to — in very short order and very quickly, and unlike anything he’s done in the past — be able to impart his style and his information.”
All that is left for the U.S. is to give an official contract to Pochettino so he can get this team started and lead them on the path to a successful showing in the games ahead.
