Elsewhere In Football #9

Pochettino Appointed USA Head Coach.

I am a huge admirer of Pochettino. He gave me my best years watching Tottenham as a fan and was one of the biggest influences in my own development as coach.

The USA is a football project that has fascinated me since I was a kid. I played youth tournaments in the USA and loved it. When Klinsmann was in charge years ago I was routing for him to have solved the huge puzzle that is US Soccer.

Now my favorite coach has taken on the biggest football puzzle there is and I decided to take a closer look at what he is up against....

Minimum expectations, realistically, are what.......

The world cup in 2026 is co-hosted between USA, Canada & Mexico and promises to be a mammoth event. For many experts this will be the hardest world cup ever to win. For the USA and their 'golden generation' (more on golden generation later) the quarter finals is the minimum expectations in two years time.

Realistically that's a tall order. France, Spain, Germany, Brazil and Argentina are all previous world cup winners and more than capable of doing it again. England will stake a claim but never have been beyond the Quarters outside of Europe. Then you have Portugal, Italy and The Dutch that will always be strong. Looking at the next group of teams that are likely to be there the USA will be accompanied by Belgium, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico & Japan. That's 15 nations who on paper have a chance and for the USA to be in the top 8 of this group is going to be very difficult.

The dreaded golden generation label.....

England, Belgium, Holland and Croatia have all, in recent years, had golden generations coming through their respective systems and none have delivered. It's the label that adds nothing but pressure and unreasonable expectations from fans. So why do the Americans believe this is their moment?

Christian Pulisic currently plying his trade at AC Milan alongside hot prospect Munsah, you have midfielder Weston McKennie & Timothy Weah [son of legend George] both at Juventus and Giovanni Reyna smashing it at Dortmund. Matt Turner & Tyler Adams both play in the premier league and the are emerging talents such as Balogun & Pepi both playing, and scoring goals, in the champions league for Monaco and PSV respectively. This is a plethora of talent that under the right direction can cause damage and would be the envy of any international manager outside of England, France, Brazil and Argentina. Man for man, outside those four nations, this USA team is as good as anyone else.

Pochettino is the perfect appointment......

Pochettino is renowned for galvanizing groups and helping young talent reach it's potential. Despite heavy criticism after stints at Chelsea and Paris there is no doubt that Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eriksen, Son, Rose, Kyle Walker and even Cole Palmer, to name but a few, are all evidence of players who saw massive improvement under his guidance. That swashbuckling Tottenham team enjoyed it's greatest period of success with two title challenges, three final appearances and six semi-finals. That team feared no one. That was what Pochettino did to the group of players. He installed belief. He showed them a high energy style of play that even had Guardiola saying "they're the most difficult team we have to face. They're powerful, quick and fearless".

Yes I heard you!! You're screaming at your screen right now asking:

What did that Tottenham team win?

The answer: NOTHING!

The biggest doubt any pundit has about Pochettino is his ability to win trophies and get teams over the line. He is undoubtedly a very talented manager but how will history remember him with just a Ligue 1 trophy to his name. However international football is different and his success in this role will be measured by whether he can progress the national team. With this talented group of players, the young starlets coming through and a coach they will idolize and love there is no doubt in my mind that this is a match made in heaven.. for right now!! Pochettino does have unfinished business in club management and I believe he will return one day.

Coming up......

Panama & Mexico are first up next month and that will be followed by the CONCAF nations league quarter finals with their opponents yet to be decided.

It will be important to get off to a good start to build confidence within the ranks.

Personally I'm delighted for Pochettino and I'm excited to see this great manager given the chance to make history.

Good luck Poch.

#usa #pochettino #coachcpomroy #worldcup26 #mexico #panama #concaf #tottenham #weah #pulisic #reyna #dortmund #milan #monaco #psv #juventus