OMG today is the gift that keeps on giving with regards to football news, and I’ve got some sicko news for y’all. According to the Athletic, former Tottenham Hotspur, PSG, and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is a “top target” to become the USA men’s national team’s next international manager.
Former Tottenham and Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino is a top target for the U.S. men’s national team opening, sources tell @PaulTenorio.
Pochettino is seen by some as the favorite in the pool, and U.S. Soccer is engaged in conversations with his camp.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 8, 2024
Pochettino is coming off of an ill-advised one year stint as Chelsea manager where — and I’m kinda shocked to see myself type this out — he was pretty much unfairly maligned and fired despite taking a team of mismatched youth player parts and actually getting them to play decent soccer by the end of the season.
Now I know this isn’t really a Tottenham Hotspur news story and I’m putting it on a Tottenham Hotspur blog, but seriously — this guy is a huge part of the story of Tottenham’s resurgence over the past 15 years. He took Spurs from the weirdness of Andre Villas-Boas and the hallucinogenic short tenure of Tim Sherwood and turned Spurs into perennial Champions League participants and even finalists! It’s also no secret that Spurs have a ton of American fans, so this potential appointment speaks to that fanbase directly.
So while yes, Poch deciding to manage Chelsea has likely burned some bridges with Tottenham fans, this is still a really really interesting development! The Athletic says that no decisions have been made yet, and the federation is in the process of evaluating a pool of potential candidates, but there’s a sense among some that Pochettino would be top of the pile.
Pochettino has never managed a national team, but it always felt like a matter of time, and at his peak he seemed destined to manage Argentina someday. The USMNT isn’t Argentina, but there’s a decent pool of talent there, Poch likes a style of football that would likely mesh well with the players at his disposal, and he’s a Big Name™ that would likely appeal to a jittery fanbase still divided over the tenure of Gregg Berhalter. Mauricio Pochettino isn’t Jurgen Klopp, but neither is he, IDK, Steve Cherundolo.
The article states that while it’s possible the next USMNT manager could be named by the September international break, it’s more likely that USA U20 manager Mikey Varas will take interim control of the senior squad for friendlies on September 7 and 10 against Canada and New Zealand.
Can’t wait until we see bowls of lemons and broken arrows strewn all over the USA’s training facilities!
