Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to become the next coach of the United States men’s soccer national team, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
News of the former Tottenham and Chelsea manager’s expected hiring is significant for a U.S. fan base that has been clamoring for a big-name coach since former U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter was fired following the team’s group stage exit from this summer’s Copa America.
The Athletic reported last week that Pochettino was the front-runner for the vacant job, but a source briefed on the search said the federation was considering several candidates at the time, but Pochettino was seen as the front-runner and the U.S. Soccer Federation was in talks with his camp.
Pochettino has never managed a national team but has had plenty of success at club level, guiding Southampton to eighth place in the Premier League in 2013, achieving league records with Tottenham including a run to the Champions League final in 2019 and winning the Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain. Most recently, he guided Chelsea to sixth place and European Championship qualification but is set to step down at the end of the 2023-24 season.
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U.S. Soccer Association sporting director Matt Crocker and Pochettino overlapped during Crocker’s time as Southampton manager, when Crocker was running the academy there before leaving in November 2013 to join the English Football Association.
Crocker previously said U.S. Soccer is not subject to financial constraints on hiring coaches.
“It’s a very competitive market salary-wise and we need to be competitive to get a coach at the level that I believe can move our program forward to achieve the results we want on the field,” Crocker said. “It’s a priority and we’re willing and able to invest.”
If the deal goes through, Pochettino would become the team’s highest-profile coach since World Cup winner Jurgen Klinsmann, who managed Germany and Bayern Munich before taking over as U.S. manager, but whose fame lies largely in his on-field exploits as a player. Pochettino made his name leading teams that looked to dominate space through positional play, but also likes to press opponents and attack.
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(Photo: Henry Brown/Getty)