The USMNT’s World Cup exit has put Mauricio Pochettino’s future as coach under serious scrutiny.
Following an exciting start to the tournament, the USMNT’s dreams were cut short following a disappointing defeat against Belgium.
Pochettino appeared to have his men raring to go, but the game against Belgium was a clear reality check for just where US soccer remains in the pecking order.
🤔 Should Pochettino stay as USA manager or come back to club football? And why?
He has been offered a contract extension to take him to the next World Cup…
A number of different names are being suggested as the Argentine’s potential replacement, should he leave the role.
Pat McAfee has already named the coach he would love to see appointed as Pochettino’s replacement, and it would certainly show ambition.
Pat McAfee names his Mauricio Pochettino successor for USMNT
In recent days, Pochettino has admitted he’s considering extending his USMNT contract following the 2026 World Cup exit.
Whether that happens or not will have to be seen, but McAfee thinks the USMNT could show huge ambition and go after Pep Guardiola.
“I’ll tell you what: you can lose a football game, but you can’t be scared. Americans don’t have that fear. Americans are brave. Americans play with everything they have, and that performance was not good enough. That was a scared performance,” said Mike Grella on The Pat McAfee Show.
“And listen, as long as we’re willing to invest in the game, we can always bring in top-class managers.”
“Pep’s [Guardiola] available, right? Pep’s out there,’ replied McAfee.
A lot of USMNT fans have named BJ Callaghan as their Pochettino replacement if it does come to the Argentine deciding to cut ties following the World Cup.
Losing in the last 16 to Belgium would likely have been accepted by most, but it was the manner of the defeat which has frustrated a lot across the nation.
Someone like Guardiola would be an enormous coup for the USMNT, but there has to be some realism as coaches of that calibre only go for jobs where they truly believe they can win silverware.
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