Fans of the U.S. Men’s National Team woke up this morning to US Soccer confirming that Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to remain as Head Coach. In a surprising move, Pochettino has signed a contract with the USMNT to remain as the head coach for the 2030 World Cup cycle. After the U.S. lost embarrassingly to Belgium in the World Cup round of 16, many believed that Poch would pack his bags and move on from this American experiment.
The USMNT showed zero evidence of fight or pride in representing their country during the devastating loss to Belgium at the World Cup. However, the previous games showed fans just how great Pochettino can make this team play. There is no such thing as an easy game at the World Cup, especially for a country like the United States. The Argentine-born coach showed the soccer world a new and revitalized U.S. team that had real potential to make a deep run in the tournament.
The USMNT often finds itself struggling against teams many would consider a step below them in quality. The U.S. regularly slips up against smaller countries, most notably in the loss to Trinidad and Tobago that prevented the team from qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. Furthermore, whenever the U.S. plays away matches in Central America, the hostile environment appears to be too much for the players to handle. For a country as large and confident as the United States, performances like these are completely unacceptable to fans.
This World Cup, the USMNT had a different feel compared to tournaments in the past, at least before the Belgium game. In the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite having to play with ten men, the team displayed just how much grit and determination it possesses. The performance in that match was indicative of Pochettino’s ability to put his players in a position to squeeze every ounce of talent and effort out of them.
Pochettino was able to get the very best out of many of the fringe players in the squad, most notably Sebastian Berhalter. The son of the disgraced former U.S. coach was not initially welcomed with open arms by the fanbase. Many supporters felt that whenever Berhalter came on to play in midfield, the team lost complete control of the game. However, once the World Cup began, he looked like a player reborn, playing with immense confidence.
This is a common pattern among teams Pochettino has coached. During his stint as manager of Tottenham Hotspur in England, he accomplished what countless managers had failed to do: make Tottenham look like a genuinely elite soccer team. While the tactics he has used with the USMNT differ from those he employed at Tottenham, his man-management remains the same. The U.S. may not be a global giant in soccer, but with Pochettino at the helm, fans should be confident in the team’s ability to punch above its weight.
Pochettino was able to do what former coach Gregg Berhalter failed to do for years with the USMNT: simply play the best players in positions that maximize their talents. Changing the formation to a back three instead of a back four enabled U.S. fullbacks Antonee Robinson and Sergiño Dest to fully unleash their attacking abilities. In fact, Dest was given so much freedom to bomb forward that he often operated more like a winger than a traditional fullback.
Giving Robinson and Dest the freedom to push up the field greatly benefited players such as Christian Pulisic, Malik Tillman, and Giovanni Reyna. While these players are highly talented and technically gifted, they do not possess elite pace. With Robinson free to make overlapping runs, Pulisic was able to receive the ball closer to defenders and exploit them with his close control and dribbling ability. A perfect example of Pochettino maximizing his players in more central areas of the field was Reyna’s excellent cameo against Paraguay, highlighted by his superb goal.
This USMNT squad is one of the most talented attacking groups the United States has ever assembled. For years, Gregg Berhalter experimented with numerous strikers, often with lackluster results. However, Pochettino appears to have settled on his preferred options, with Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi leading the line for the United States. Both strikers are able to provide focal points in attack, allowing the U.S. to create opportunities by finding them with decisive passes in front of goal.
Under Pochettino’s leadership, the USMNT has finally developed a clear identity that the team can build upon in the coming years. While the team’s performance against Belgium was concerning, the responsibility ultimately falls on the players, particularly the team’s leaders such as Tim Ream and Pulisic. Pochettino put his squad in the best possible position to succeed, even making substitutions that appeared to have a positive impact on the performance. With four more years to continue shaping this group, Pochettino will weed out weak mentalities and elevate players who are truly willing to fight for their country.
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