Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Roberto Pochettino took over the USMNT on 10 September 2024 on a contract reported at roughly $6 million per year — the highest-paid coaching deal in U.S. Soccer history and an audacious statement of intent from the federation. Born in Murphy, a small town in Argentina’s Santa Fe province, he is the first South American-born manager to lead the United States. The hire came two months after Gregg Berhalter was dismissed following the USMNT’s group-stage exit at Copa América 2024 on home soil — a result that made clear the federation could no longer afford a steady-hands cycle ahead of co-hosting the World Cup.

The Pochettino football story begins with Marcelo Bielsa at Newell’s Old Boys. He made his professional debut at 17 under Bielsa, who became a lifelong mentor; the two crossed paths again at Espanyol and with the Argentina national team. From Bielsa came the foundational obsessions — relentless pressing, fast ball recovery, vertical transitions, the moral importance of trying. Pochettino’s playing career took him from Newell’s to Espanyol (where he won the Copa del Rey in 2000), Paris Saint-Germain (his first professional spell in France), and back to Espanyol. He won 20 caps for Argentina and started at the 2002 World Cup, where his foul on Michael Owen gave England the penalty that won the group-stage meeting.

His managerial path runs almost in parallel with his clubs. Espanyol (2009-2012) was the dogmatic Bielsa phase — a relegation rescue and a Europa League run, all on relentless pressing. Southampton (2013-2014) was the proof-of-concept on the Premier League level. Tottenham Hotspur (2014-2019) was the masterpiece: five seasons that turned Spurs from mid-table into Champions League finalists, with three top-three Premier League finishes and a 2019 final loss to Liverpool. The post-Spurs era has been more pragmatic and less serene — a Ligue 1 title at PSG in 2021-22 muddied by a Champions League exit to Real Madrid, then a turbulent single season at Chelsea (2023-24) that ended in a respectable sixth-place finish but with the dressing room widely reported to have lost faith.

The USMNT brief is unusual. The federation wanted a manager with finals-level pedigree, no obvious next-club queue, and the willingness to take the host-nation pressure. Pochettino has installed two base formations — 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, both with optional shifts to a 3-4-2-1 in possession — and made clear after the 26 May 2026 roster reveal that the back-three experiment first trialled against Japan in September 2025 is now the default in-possession shape. His record in charge at time of writing is mixed: encouraging wins over Japan, Mexico, and Australia balanced by heavy late-2025 friendly losses to Belgium (5-2) and Portugal (2-0). The next six weeks will determine whether Pochettino’s USMNT looks like Spurs in 2017 or Chelsea in 2024.