New Delhi: Former Chelsea and PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino is set to be named the manager of the US Men’s National Team according to a report by The Atheltic. The USMNT have been on the lookout for a new head coach ever since parting ways with former coach Gregg Berhalter. Pochettino is now expected to lead the US national team into the 2026 FIFA World which the team is hosting on its home soil.
The USMNT have something of a golden generation of talent on their hands currently with the likes of Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Giovanni Reyna, Malik Tillman, and Folarin Balogun all turning out for the Stars and Stripes. Despite having so many talented individuals at their disposal, they had a dismal Copa America 2024 and crashed out at the group stages, leading to the exit of Gregg Berhalter.
Following Berhalter’s dismissal, the USMNT were determined to get a manager who could get the best out of the USA’s golden generation and have now seemingly gotten their man in Pochettino. The Argentinian has been out of a job since leaving Chelsea at the end of last season and was heavily linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned from the role.
🚨 Mauricio Pochettino agrees to become USA head coach. Argentine top target to succeed Gregg Berhalter in #USMNT role heading towards 2026 World Cup. 52yo worked with US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker at Southampton @TheAthleticFC after US reports https://t.co/aOufvnFvQj
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 15, 2024
USA were targeting huge names to get in as their new manager, reaching out to the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Pellegrino Matarazzo, and Patrick Viera but have decided to move ahead with the former PSG boss. Pochettino will be given the responsibility to guide the national team to success in the 2026 FIFA World Cup and he seems to be the man best suited for that role.
USMNT’s sporting director Matt Crocker was handling the succession of the head coach and he knows the Argentinian well from their time together at Southampton, as Crocker worked at the Southampton academy while Pochettino was in charge of the first team. This would be Pochettino’s first foray into international management but he seems to be the right fit for the role as he is someone who knows how to develop young players well and the current crop of first-team players are young, up-and-coming talented individuals.
Once the 52-year-old will be unveiled as the new USMNT manager in the coming days, he could be thrown into action relatively sooner as the USA face their neighbours Canada in Kansas on 7th September before travelling to Cincinnati to play New Zealand on the 10th of September in the first set of International friendlies for the Argentinian manager.
With Mauricio Pochettino being set to become the head coach of the USMNT, he joins another ex-Chelsea manager in the US national football team set-up, Emma Hayes who left the Chelsea women’s team to become the head coach of the USWNT.
Argentinian manager Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly set to become the new head coach of the USMNT after leaving Chelsea in the summer. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
