If Poch Goes Then What Take 2
We always knew this day was coming. We might not have thought it would come so soon.
That didn't take long.
Just a few months into the new World Cup cycle, with Mauricio Pochettino contractually secured and a new clutch of young talent scurrying across the beach in a bid to push their way into the senior national team, the Argentine is suddenly a half step way from the managerial position at one of the biggest clubs on the planet*.
*I said biggest. Not best.
We always knew this was going to happen. Pochettino was in-demand before the World Cup and batted away concerns about his commitment to the USMNT program when a connection to the then-vacant AC Milan job popped up in the media. Maybe he passed on the Milan job because of the timing of those links. Maybe he wasn't interested. Maybe Milan never really wanted him. None of that meant his commitment to the USMNT was unbreakable.
That dalliance reinforced the trouble with signing up a foreign manager of renown to lead the USMNT. After the World Cup, many of us were certain that Pochettino would head back to the club game rather than re-sign with the US Soccer Federation. It was always impossible to imagine that the Fed would leave the subsidy offered by billionaire booster Ken Griffin on the table, so it would be up to Pochettino to decide to move on.
Then he didn't...and anyone with an even cursory understanding of the soccer world understood that meant there was a clock on his time with the USMNT. While I don't blame Pochettino for anything he's said during the launch of the new cycle and I can't say I think he was lying to us, exactly, my eye has stayed jaundiced.
Because I would prefer to get this over with a move on earlier in the cycle rather than later, I'm kinda sorta rooting for Pochettino to take the United job. Apparently he's crazy enough to be considering it. Wednesday's update out of England is that Pochettino's reps are hammering out personal terms with Manchester United. Welp.
Fine. Then he should go. Let Steve Cherundolo run the December camp, bring in B.J. Callaghan after the MLS season, and have someone at the helm who actually wants to do this job. www.espn.com/soccer/story...
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@jtannenwald.bsky.social) November 10, 2026 at 10:23 AM
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I don't know if I love Jonathan Tannenwald's proposed short term plan, but that first part of it is almost certain to be US Soccer's move. As I posted on Bluesky, B.J. Callaghan is the only obvious candidate that doesn't require the Fed to pull off another Triple Lindy-level degree-of-difficulty move (and billionaire money) to recruit.
And while I understand that B.J. has strong USMNT program ties and it remains true that for 99% of American soccer coaches the job is the pinnacle of a career, I'd prefer Callaghan continue to buildup his bona fides in the club game with an eye towards making the jump across the Atlantic. Someone (besides Pellegrino Mattarazzo, a guy that's tough to claim as an American soccer coaching product) needs to get to Europe and stick. It's the last frontier for American soccer.
If not B.J., then who? Names like Pep Guardiola and Julian Nagelsmann will get mentioned and Cherundolo is the turnkey solution. One question to ponder is whether Pochettino's run as USMNT boss makes the job more attractive to big names. I don't think Pep's going to jump back into coaching with the USMNT and Nagelsmann is not who'd I want, but if the Fed is set on a marquee coach, then we might be in for an interesting next couple of months.
More thoughts as updates warrant. Stay tuned for the next episode of The Best Soccer Show, which will undoubtedly be dominated by this topic even as we get set for the first leg against Haiti in Miami on Saturday.
