Ever since Mauricio Pochettino agreed to become the manager of the U.S. men’s national team in 2024, he has been linked to jobs elsewhere. A return to Tottenham Hotspur was rumored in 2025. Just before the 2026 World Cup, Pochettino was in contact with AC Milan.
But now the inevitable has happened: he is leaving the USMNT to join Manchester United. The new cycle under Pochettino was supposed to last four years. It didn’t even last four months. Now U.S. Soccer must scramble to find a replacement for what is shaping up to be one of the most important periods in USMNT history.
Silver Linings
Before we get into the worrying implications of Pochettino’s departure, let’s look on the bright side. There are a few positives to the move. After the World Cup, Pochettino was a free agent. The Argentine tactician could have easily taken his talents back to the club game and nobody would have batted an eye. Instead, he agreed to sign a new contract with U.S. Soccer. Although he only made it through about 1/16 of that contract, the fact that he was employed when Manchester United decided he was their man worked out quite well for the federation. The English giants will have to pay Pochettino’s $10 million buyout to U.S. Soccer as well as another $2 million for his backroom staff. That’s a pretty good return for someone who was only in the job for a few months.
The timing of this announcement can also be considered a silver lining. One may argue that all this drama commencing in the middle of an international break is distracting. That may be true, but Pochettino will be staying with the USMNT through their Nations League quarterfinal matches against Haiti. His presence will be very important if only because the other option seemed to be U.S. U-20 head coach Gonzalo Segares as an interim since the U-20s are holding their camp in the same place as the senior team. Quite frankly, Segares is already out of his depth in his current job, let alone with the USMNT. Now the players can rally behind Pochettino and give him a good farewell by beating Haiti home and away.
Another reason the timing is ideal is because after this international window, the USMNT don’t have their next serious camp until March. The annual domestic-based camp will be happening in December, but an interim can handle that with relative ease. U.S. Soccer now has four full months to find a replacement. That’s longer than he actually stayed this cycle! Pochettino’s departure was going to happen eventually and this was the best possible time. Not only does the federation have ample time to find a suitable manager, said manager still has the majority of the cycle to implement his ideas. This isn’t like when Pochettino replaced Berhalter and only had two years before the World Cup. The new head coach, whoever it may be, has time on their side.
Now What?
Clearly there are a few bright spots in the darkness. But U.S. Soccer and national team fans are now faced with the harsh reality that all the progress of the last two years might have been lost. Bringing in Mauricio Pochettino was a swing for the fences, and the federation hit it out of the ballpark.
However, who’s to say they’ll do it again? After the last foreign manager Jürgen Klinsmann, who wasn’t even close to as big of a name as Pochettino, U.S. Soccer brought in a whole host of domestic flops. Bruce Arena returned and failed to qualify for the World Cup. Dave Sarachan was the interim for a year. Then came Gregg Berhalter, a failed Swedish second division coach. It would be so easy for U.S. Soccer to go with a ‘safe pick’ and appoint another mediocre domestic manager.
Whoever the new manager ends up being, they have a pretty big challenge on their hands. The start of the new cycle has been very successful. Four wins out of four in the September/October camp including clean sheets against rivals Mexico and Canada. The integration of several high potential young stars that have reinvigorated both the team and the fanbase after the disappointing World Cup exit. Pochettino named two pretty much perfect rosters and got pretty much perfect results. There will be a pressure on the new coach to stick with the youth movement. With the newfound depth in the USMNT player pool, the next boss could go in all sorts of directions. If it’s not the right one, the future of the program could be severely damaged.
Pochettino’s Legacy
So what did Mauricio Pochettino actually accomplish with the U.S. men’s national team? Just looking at the results, not much. His first competitive test was the 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League. The U.S. lost in the semifinals to Panama and then lost the third place game to Canada. That was the first ever Nations League to not be won by the USMNT. Then came the summer of 2025. Two losses to European sides were followed by a middling Gold Cup campaign featuring dogfights against the likes of Costa Rica and Guatemala. Mexico completely outclassed the U.S. in the final. Pochettino went 0/2 in Concacaf.
Of course, the only real test for Pochettino was the World Cup. A successful World Cup at home would make the Concacaf shortcomings meaningless. The U.S. made it to the round of 16, the exact same stage the program faltered in at the last three World Cups it participated in. On the surface, Pochettino’s résumé looks identical to many former USMNT managers, perhaps even worse.
Looking deeper into his tenure, I’d argue that it was a success. Sure, losing both Concacaf tournaments was a low point. Yes, there was always a feeling that he was one job opening away from leaving without a second thought. Alright, maybe the loss to Belgium was a disaster. However, some of the performances that the U.S. put out under Pochettino were truly special. The World Cup opener against Paraguay was the perfect start to the tournament. A complete domination in the first half that showed the rest of the world that the U.S. wasn’t here to mess around. The next match against Australia was another smashing success. The USMNT won 2-0, with the fanbase in Seattle generating seismic activity during both goals. That 2026 World Cup campaign got the nation behind the U.S. men’s national team in ways that had never been seen before. Seeing the country come together was beautiful, and Pochettino’s style and belief that he instilled upon the players was a huge part of that.
Who Should Replace Pochettino?
Now U.S. Soccer must look ahead towards the next chapter of the men’s national team. This managerial search will have lasting ramifications on what the program ultimately achieves during these next four years. There have been reports that one name tops the list of candidates: Pep Guardiola. The former Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City manager is one of the greatest tacticians to ever live. He is now U.S. Soccer’s first choice to replace Mauricio Pochettino.
It might seem outlandish on paper, but Guardiola to the U.S. would actually make some sense. He had a great relationship with former U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. There was even a plan in place for Pep to take the USMNT job in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup. Of course, all of that went out the window when Gulati chose not to run for another term in 2018.
Still, the connections are there. Guardiola spent a year living in New York City during a sabbatical after leaving Barcelona in 2012. He loved his time in the Big Apple, enjoying life in relative anonymity in a nation not yet crazed with football. Pep worked with New York City FC and U.S. Soccer to build 50 mini-pitches in the city, completed in 2021. He was recently a guest of honor for NYCFC during their Hudson River Derby match against Red Bull New York. Pep even came out in support of Pochettino when he got the job in 2024, speaking about how fascinating the USMNT project is. Perhaps the chances Guardiola says yes are slim, but as long as there’s still any hope U.S. Soccer should offer him everything he wants and then some.
Braden Hines is a writer and data analyst with a passion for U.S. Soccer. Runs American Ultras Talk on YouTube and X. Works for Carolina Ascent FC and Syracuse Men’s Soccer.
