Mauricio Pochettino has never been a manager who deals in small targets, and that has now carried straight into his work with the USMNT.
The Argentine has been asked to do something huge on home soil, taking a talented but still developing American team into a World Cup where expectation will be unlike anything this group has experienced before.
Pochettino believes the job is not just about competing, improving or enjoying the ride. He thinks the USMNT must enter the tournament with the mindset that winning the whole thing is possible.
Mauricio Pochettino says USMNT want to win the World Cup
Speaking to Men in Blazers, Pochettino rejected the idea that a quarter-final run would be enough for those inside the USMNT camp.
“For sure, for the fans (quarter-finals would be great), but for the people yes for the people around us, no.
“To arrive and go to the semi final is going to be a very successful but still not enough I think in our mind people that are involved with the national team the US men national team we want to win the World Cup.”
The US is not being talked about as a serious contender for the trophy, but the Argentine wants that to change.
He continued: “Why not? That’s what I always said to them, why not? why not? If we don’t believe and we don’t really work really hard to try to achieve that that is not going to happen because no one is not a present that you are going to receive from nowhere.
“It’s important to really believe and work hard, you know, to do everything, you know, to be sure that we can be close to winning. Win the World Cup is the objective, being successful is to win the World Cup.”
That is the kind of ambition Pochettino was appointed to bring. There has already been a visible shift in edge and intensity. Christian Pulisic’s big USMNT change under the former Tottenham and Chelsea boss can be used as evidence of that.
Still, there is a gap between belief and delivery. Pochettino’s USMNT have also carried concerns into the tournament, not least Pochettino’s European record concern against stronger opposition.
It would be delusional to call the United States one of the World Cup favorites. There are too many proven teams ahead of them and too many questions still to answer.
But every World Cup has a dark horse. For the USMNT, the first job is simple enough, get out of the group stage and give Pochettino’s belief a chance to become something more serious.
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