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U.S. Soccer looks set to finally name a replacement for Gregg Berhalter. The former United States men’s national team manager was fired after a poor showing at Copa America 2024. After weeks of uncertainty, various reports now claim that Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to become the next head coach of the USMNT.
The move will most likely be met with overwhelming praise from American soccer fans. After all, the Argentine coach was one of the top possible targets U.S. Soccer could have realistically grabbed. Pochettino previously managed Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea before joining the USMNT.
While Pochettino is the big-name manager that the fans were hoping for, he now has work to do to help fix issues within the organization.
Areas for improvement with Mauricio Pochettino at USMNT
1. Scheduling more challenging opponents
First of all, the USMNT has not exactly had the toughest friendly schedule, and this looks set to continue.
Pochettino will next guide his new team against Canada, New Zealand, and Panama in September. All three of these games are on home soil as well. If the Stars and Stripes are to improve under Pochettino, they are going to need to schedule games against more competitive teams.
There are rumors regarding an elevated Gold Cup competition in the summer of 2025. According to recent reports, CONCACAF invited both France and Euro 2024 Champion Spain to compete in the Gold Cup. Although this tournament traditionally involves only teams from North America and the Caribbean, teams from South America have played in it before. That includes Brazil on three occasions and Colombia twice. Most recently, Qatar was a team from outside CONCACAF to compete. Having European giants enter the fray would give the USMNT valuable experience against top opposition.
2. Improve the playing squad
The new manager will also have to find a way to get more out of his roster. It seems as if too many of the…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/5-things-usmnt-coach-mauricio-pochettino-needs-to-fix-in-his-job/
Author : Chris Moore
Publish date : 2024-08-15 14:54:38
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