When Will Pochettino Officially Start With The USMNT?

Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to become the coach of the United States Men’s National Soccer team. The Argentine, who has formerly coached Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint Germain, and Chelsea, is widely seen as a step up from former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter.

Berhalter’s reign saw the emergence of a generation of American soccer players that, while still not close to a top side in the world, was a marked improvement over previous US national teams in terms of talent.

But while the USMNT showed promising signs, including making it to the round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup, they have not yet lived up to the hype they have been given. This includes a disastrous group stage exit in the 2024 Copa America.

To be fair, in all honesty, even with a more talented generation than ever before for the US, the US is a new soccer nation. Being more talented than any US generation before does not mean you are a serious World Cup contender.

In fact, even with more talent than previous generations, this US team has weak spots that other US generations did not, particularly in the striker and goal keeper position. The US at the moment has no striker close to as good as Clint Dempsey, and certainly no goalkeeper as good as Tim Howard.

And even the talented US players in other areas of the pitch have underwhelmed at club level. With that being said, many US coaches have done as much, or more, with less talented US teams. Gregg Berhalter was clearly not the man to lead the US into a home World Cup. If only US Soccer saw this earlier and found a better coach after the 2022 World Cup.

But we are where we are now. And while Mauricio Pochettino is by no means a Carlo Ancelotti, Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho, he is an improvement over Gregg Berhalter.

However, Pochettino will likely not be coaching the USMNT in their upcoming friendlies. This is because he still has to officially sign his contract, and get to know the US Federation and its squad.

Pochettino also needs to resolve money Chelsea owe him, after being sacked by the London club. How long will this take? There is no defined time table, but it will definitely take a few months. We likely will know who our 47th President is before Pochettino coaches a USMNT match.

While Pochettino should be seen as a breath of fresh air, and the USMNT will be better under him than under Berhalter, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There are at present a minimum of 15, possibly 20 or more national teams better than the US.

Even making the semifinal of the 2026 World Cup, much less winning it, would take essentially a miracle. A euro 2004 Greece performance. As the most successful sporting nation in the world, it is difficult for Americans to comprehend the idea of celebrating a top 8 or top 4 finish, but that is simply where we are as a soccer nation at the moment.

We need to temper our expectations. Even with Pochettino, who himself is not one of the top managers in the world, the US faces a daunting road to making a deep run at our home World Cup.

But then again, the 2018 Russian World Cup team, which was much worse than this US team, made the quarterfinals, and was penalty kicks away from the semis. So anything can happen. Let’s just hope that what does happen under Pochettino, is good.