What US Fans & Media Are Saying About Mauricio Pochettino 8 Games Into USMNT Job
Not that long ago, Mauricio Pochettino was one of the most exciting young managers in the world. spells at Espanyol and Southampton helped him land a job at Tottenham Hotspur.
While he could not win a trophy with the Premier League club, he took Spurs to a Champions League final and had them regularly fighting for domestic honours in England. With the world seemingly at his feet, fairly uninspiring spells at Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea then followed.
Even so, it was a big surprise to European football fans when he left the continent, and club football itself, to become manager of the United States men’s national team. Pochettino has now overseen eight games, but how is he getting on?
Media Begin to Turn on Pochettino After Back-to-Back Losses
USMNT endure “miserable” international break
CECILIO WATERMAN AT THE DEATH PANAMA ARE HEADED TO THE CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE FINAL pic.twitter.com/3mKdPR668Y — Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 21, 2025
With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, as a host nation, Pochettino has more pressure on him than perhaps any USMNT head coach in history. Even Donald Trump has been enquiring about the success of the team. He recently asked Gianni Infantino: “Can we win the World Cup?” In response, Infantino boldly claimed they could.
However, back-to-back defeats in the March international break has left fans feeling a lot less optimistic. Playing in the semi-final of the Concacaf Nations League, Panama picked up a 1-0 win with forward Cecilio Waterman securing a historic win in the 94th – he then made headlines for his joyous celebration with Thierry Henry.
In the aftermath there was plenty of criticism for Pochettino forcing Tyler Adams to come out and defend his coach, saying: “I’ve never blamed a coach in my entire career. I mean, the losses depend on the players unless you go out and try something completely random. There was not a lack of communication after today. We knew exactly what we needed to do. We knew we needed to be competitive. I don’t think we were as competitive as we needed to be.”
stats of Mauricio Pochettino at USA
After that, things got worse as they then lost 2-1 to Canada in the competition’s third-place playoff match. Speaking after the game, pundit Alexi Lalas spoke critically of the manager when asked what would happen if a third loss in a row occurred:
