Former Tottenham and Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino is a high goal for the U.S. males’s nationwide staff opening, in keeping with a number of sources briefed on the teaching search.
The sources stated that the federation was nonetheless contemplating a number of candidates as of final week, however Pochettino is seen by some as the favourite within the pool, and U.S. Soccer is engaged in conversations along with his camp.
U.S. Soccer has declined to touch upon any particular candidates for the job.
Hiring Pochettino can be seen as an enormous splash, particularly at a time the U.S. fanbase is on the lookout for a big-name supervisor. The Argentine has by no means managed a nationwide staff, however has had loads of success at membership stage. He guided Southampton to an eighth-place end within the Premier League in 2013, achieved report league finishes with Spurs, together with a Champions League ultimate look in 2019, and secured a Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain. Most just lately, Pochettino led Chelsea to a sixth-place end and European qualification earlier than departing on the finish of the 2023-24 season.
U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker and Pochettino overlapped in the course of the Argentine coach’s yr at Southampton. Crocker led Southampton’s academy on the time, and left in November 2013 to hitch the Soccer Affiliation.
Pochettino managed Chelsea final season (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC by way of Getty Photos)
Argentine outlet Olé beforehand reported Pochettino was a candidate for the job.
Whereas it’s potential that U.S. Soccer may make and announce a rent earlier than the September window, the federation is planning to have former U.S. under-20 males’s nationwide staff coach and present USMNT assistant Mikey Varas to guide the senior staff in friendlies towards Canada and New Zealand on September 7 and September 10, respectively, in keeping with sources briefed on this system’s planning.
The USMNT have been with out a coach since firing Gregg Berhalter after a group-stage exit within the Copa América this summer time. Berhalter served because the supervisor from December 2018 by way of to December 2022, taking the U.S. again to the World Cup after they did not qualify for the match in 2018, after which once more from June 2023 till July 2024.
The U.S. fell flat within the Copa, beating Bolivia of their opening group recreation earlier than dropping to Panama after taking part in a person down for greater than an hour following a purple card to winger Tim Weah. The U.S. then misplaced 1-0 within the group finale to Uruguay.
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Pochettino can be the highest-profile coach of the U.S. since Jurgen Klinsmann, a World Cup winner. Whereas Klinsmann coached the German nationwide staff and Bayern Munich earlier than taking up the U.S. job, his fame got here extra from his on-field accomplishments as a participant. Pochettino has made his identify as a supervisor, with groups that use positional play to attempt to dominate house, however that additionally wish to press and assault opposition.
The 52-year-old will seemingly command a top-level wage, as reviews have indicated he was one of many highest-paid coaches on the planet at PSG and Chelsea. Nonetheless, Crocker has stated the federation gained’t be restricted by monetary restrictions.
“It’s a very aggressive market on the market, salary-wise, and we have now to be aggressive to get the extent of coach that I consider can take this system ahead when it comes to attaining the outcomes that we would like on the sector,” Crocker stated. “It’s a precedence. It’s one thing we’re ready to put money into and one thing that we’ll be investing in.”
(Prime photograph: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC by way of Getty Photos)