Mauricio Pochettino, the 52-year-old Argentine is now the new US men’s football team head coach. The USSF decided to bring in a new manager just 21 months before the world cup at home. After a disappointing exit in the group stages of the Copa America, the federation needed new direction. The camp is excited to have a manager from Europe. The USSF views him as someone who can lift the performance of their young squad. Can the ex-Tottenham and Chelsea manager do the job?
Mauricio Pochettino: The Manager
Mauricio Pochettino retired at Espanyol in 2006, playing 426 matches for club and country. He helped Espanyol avoid relegation by taking over as manager in January 2009, after that he joined Southampton. His first big break was at Tottenham in 2014, even though he did not win anything, they punched above their weight. Alli, Kane, Son, Eriksen, Walker, Lamela and Rose were extremely young and played solid attacking football day in and day out in the Premier League. They finished top four quite regularly and with consistency he won the fans over. The squad lost in the 2015 League cup final to Chelsea and in the 2019 Champions League final to Liverpool. In 2019 with Spurs sitting 14th in the league, his time at Tottenham came to an end. He took over the job of managing a star-studded Paris Saint Germain, he did win his first trophy at Paris but his inability to win the UCL like his predecessors cost him his job. His last job was at Chelsea, where he steered the ship into the right direction, helping the club get better. This is his first time managing an international squad.
The Copa America disappointment
Much before Mauricio Pochettino came into the picture, the US national team lost 5-1 at home to Colombia a few days before the Copa America. In the tournament, they won the first game against Bolivia by 2 goals to nil. They played well but missed chances and could easily have come away with 4-5 goals from the match. This was a good start for the hosts of the tournament who were under pressure to perform. In the second match against Panama though, things started taking an ugly turn. McKennie’s goal was disallowed for offside and a few minutes later Weah picked up an unnecessary red card. Balogun’s strike helped them get a 1-0 lead but after he got taken off due to injury and with the manger switching to 5 at the back, the USMNT lost 2-1. This meant that they had to beat Uruguay in the final match of the group, they created chances but nothing significant. A 66th minute goal by the Uruguayans meant that the US became the first host nation in the history of the competition to get eliminated in the group stage of the tournament. Now with Mauricio Pochettino coming in he would be provided with the task to avoid this feat in the upcoming world cup at home in 2026.
What can Pochettino do ?
Pochettino has managed in Europe for around 15 years now, his attitude with young players has always been good. Pochettino’s primary objective would be to make sure that this underperforming team of young talented players playing in the top divisions of European leagues does not falter at the World cup at home. The co-hosts will have an easier path in the knockout stages if they make it out of their group. They would hope to make a deeper run than the Copa America and is the priority for the USSF. Maurico also has a point to prove after his last two jobs ended in a disappointing fashion. The Argentine, ready for a new challenge will be the face of the team going into the world cup. With just 21 months left before the tournament, Poch has little time before the big show.
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