Now that all the complexities of the hiring process to install Mauricio Pochettino as head coach of the United States men’s national team have been resolved, and the intricacies of his introductory press conference have been accomplished, what will remain to be addressed for the duration of his tenure are the eccentricities of the program’s fan base.
These phenomena have been going on for some time, and have been amplified by the ever-increasing contagion of social media. Whereas a few decades ago, fan identity was largely established by the enthusiasm for Sam’s Army and then the American Outlaws, it now ricochets in myriad directions via TikTok or Facebook or whatever the owner calls Twitter these days.
For the past five and a half years, the focus has been on just one element of the program, almost exclusively in a negative sense: Gregg Berhalter, the USMNT head coach from December 2018 to July 2024, with a short sabbatical toward the end of that period.
Whatever happens now, whether the United States advances to the 2026 World Cup semifinals or suffers three straight group stage losses or something in between, those who have derided the American coach for his lack of experience at the sport’s highest level, his lack of strategic insight or simply his status as an American will have to find other targets for their derision.
This is both good and bad news for those who play for the USMNT.
DECOURCY: The expectation is for excellence with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm
It’s a shame, because those who started crying foul by shouting about Berhalter’s CV before joining the national team will look elsewhere to vent their vitriol if he underperforms. They won’t be able to blame Pochettino, who possesses all the qualities they have highlighted as lacking in Berhalter: a top coaching background (Poch played for the famous Marcelo Bielsa); achievements at the highest level of football (he reached the UEFA Champions League final as Tottenham Hotspur coach); and he comes from a football-rich country (Argentina).
This is a good thing, because well-managed discomfort can be invigorating for a team, encouraging players to fight harder to maintain their position and importance. As long as everything stays within the bounds of good taste, it could be beneficial for the USMNT to have some outside motivation.
We are not talking about a Jürgen Klinsmann-level malaise. This disorder has produced significant unrest among players – brilliantly reported by Brian Straus for The Jugo Mobile – during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers and the failures of the 2018 cycle which led to his dismissal.
No, we are talking about players who cannot assume that they will occupy a starting place or that their performances will be acceptable, simply because they are under contract with major European powers.
The team will meet for the first time under Pochettino before an Oct. 12 friendly in Austin against Panama, who beat the United States in the Copa America group stage when Timothy Weah was sent off early in the match. Then the U.S. team travels to Mexico to face El Tri on Oct. 15.
“Of course we have a plan, but the most important thing is to know how they are – how they feel when they are together,” Pochettino said of his players. “They can express how they see the team. It’s really important… to be open to analysis. It’s the first time we’ll be together, and to try to know them, and give them the opportunity to know us.”
Under Berhalter, players were only accused by the public if they arrived at the national team’s training camp directly from a Major League Soccer club. During the unprecedented, condensed seven-month World Cup qualifying process in 2021 and 2022, and even during the tournament in Qatar, players like Jesus Ferreira, Shaq Moore and Christian Roldan were labeled by some members of the public as abysmal every time they stepped onto the field.
Moore came on as a late defensive replacement at right back for two World Cup games, playing a total of 22 minutes in which the USMNT kept a clean sheet – first to protect a draw against England and then a vital 1-0 win over Iran – and there are fans who will identify those moments as calamitous.
DO I SEE SHAQ MOORE COMING INTO THE GAME? pic.twitter.com/W9hUlSn97f
— ???? (@Playboi_Gandhi) July 2, 2024
The team’s European-based players have never faced such condemnation. Led by forward Christian Pulisic and midfielders Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, they have been called a potential “golden generation” of American talent, a reference that appears to have come from USMNT veteran DeAndre Yedlin but has been widely used by mainstream media journalists eager to draw attention to the team.
Pulisic is now one of the few who excels at club level (he has been involved in nearly half of AC Milan’s Serie A goals to date). McKennie at Juventus and midfielder Gio Reyna at Borussia Dortmund are falling out of favour at their respective clubs. Adams and right-back Sergino Dest have serious injury problems. Weah made a good start to his first game for Juventus, including a stunning goal, then got injured and could have lost his starting job.
We have already seen some of the shine of this group of players diminish in relation to the failure to qualify for the group stage of the Copa America 2024. With Pochettino in place, the default response to any disappointing performance will likely be to harangue or dismiss the squad’s group of players.
This is the perfect time for Pochettino to arrive. His performance in the Copa America this summer has not only opened up a vacancy for him, but also an opportunity for him to seize. He is what most of the team’s fans have wanted to see for almost a decade, if not more.
