Why is Mauricio Pochettino taking the USMNT job? He explores his upcoming move to American soccer from the elite club level

Suppose Mauricio Pochettino had protested when US Soccer came knocking, a polite expression of thanks but no gratitude at the prospect of taking charge as hosts at the 2026 World Cup. What alternative career paths could the next two years offer? In the short term, likely an extended period of unemployment and downtime for a coach who has had a tough season at the club. Chelsea stir.

Keep his nerve, though, and the kind of top-level coaching roles he has held since bringing Tottenham into that kind of job would certainly have become available. That of Bayern Munich reputation for competence and patience in the dugout is being steadily shattered, it is hard to believe that Vincent Kompany, fresh from taking Burnley until the championship, maybe not the longest tenure? It has only been eight years since Sir Alex Ferguson all but named Pochettino the heir apparent at Old Trafford. Given the reasonable odds that Manchester United If he is due to make a loan move mid-season, the Argentine would certainly have been in the mix. Add potential job openings in Italy to the mix and it may not have taken long for a big job opportunity to pop up.

After all, there’s hardly a free agent coaching class full of options right now. Jürgen Klopp has very publicly taken himself out of the market Xavi has not been tested outside of extremely difficult conditions Barcelona. Thomas Tuchel is without a doubt the best coach available immediately. After him, Pochettino is certainly the kind big clubs wouldn’t be afraid to turn to in an emergency. If anything, his time at Chelsea has increased his status. Difficult conditions, an ever-changing squad and a series of injuries continued to translate into a points total of 19 better than the previous season and a run to Wembley in both domestic cups.

That’s the kind of return that could have ultimately been turned into another high-level club course. Instead, Pochettino was attracted by something completely different: an international vacancy with no realistic chance of adding the biggest silverware to his trophy cabinet.

Not since then Sven-Goran Eriksson left Lazio eight months after winning the Scudetto to become England The first foreign manager has a member of the coaching elite who left the club for an international job with such limited prospects of winning things (and the group he inherited from the FA would quickly grow to include some of the most insanely talented players in the country ). Marcelo Bielsa was too headstrong to get club jobs comparable to those of the Uruguayan national team. Julian Nagelsmann actually had a very real chance of winning the European Championship on home soil.

Pochettino may be able to achieve a lot with the US men’s national team. There are CONCACAF Nations Leagues and Gold Cups to be won before the summer of 2026. A deep run at the World Cup would undoubtedly bring admiration, acclaim and perhaps a dose of wealth for the Argentine. Realistically, though, he needs to know that the biggest prize will be outside of the players he ends up working with. The American soccer pool may never have been as deep as it is today, but injuries, poor form and poor transfers mean that those who promised to be one of the country’s brightest talents — Christian Pulisic, Tyler AdamsGio Reyna, to name a few, have not yet reached the ceiling of their potential.

In less than two years, Pochettino will have done well if he achieves much more than a few knockout victories. The US could be firmly established as the kind of team you’d expect to see around the last 16 of a World Cup; what separates them from the eight or so best teams in the world is a gap that is mostly the work of generations to bridge. It’s a task that will fall on the shoulders of US Soccer and those involved in player development. By the time this comes to fruition, the incoming USMNT manager will surely be elsewhere.

Suppose Pochettino leaves the US team after the 2026 World Cup – would a new four-year cycle really appeal to him – and what kind of market will he find himself in? The same top clubs who could give him a chance in the coming months are unlikely to be clamoring to get him, barring an unlikely series of events that summer. It may well be that by taking this particular job, Pochettino has ended his time among the managerial elite.

If so, it is more understandable than it initially seems. After all, are these top jobs all they stand for? Bee Paris Saint-Germain was destined to fail if he did not win the Champions League. He was tasked with doing that while his superstar front three were out of possession. A former Tottenham manager who blossomed at Stamford Bridge was never destined for a quiet life, even though his circumstances were extremely tough. Chelsea sources speak of a manager who was deeply unhappy at the club, who did not have the public or private support of those above him and whose voice in transfer matters was not always heard, for example in the case of Conor Gallagher. A coach publicly claiming that it “wouldn’t be the end of the world” if he doesn’t terminate the remainder of his contract is rare indeed.

Perhaps these experiences are why Pochettino should accept leaving the big leagues, even if he undoubtedly wouldn’t publicly acknowledge that fact when handed the American helm. No imposing of players on him, no superstars too big to drop, indeed an environment where his voice will be the most important when it comes to big decisions: being USMNT boss will be the antithesis of his experiences in Paris and West -London. Perhaps the 52-year-old might even find the kind of happiness he had for so long at Tottenham.

Seen through that lensit may be a little easier to see why being the poster boy for the 2026 World Cup would be a much more attractive prospect than being the whipping boy at another unfixable club.