FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — The big question now that Mauricio Pochettino is on his way out is where the U.S. men’s national team program goes from here — and how the $10 million Manchester United had to shell out for the coach fits into the equation.
Included in the four-year contract extension that Pochettino had signed in August after the World Cup was a buyout clause that was triggered by the Premier League club upon their move to make the Argentine their next manager.
During Friday’s news conference, U.S. Soccer Federation CEO JT Batson broadly outlined the areas the buyout money could benefit, though he wouldn’t specifically say whether it would be earmarked for their next coaching hire.
“Those funds are used to help us hire great coaches, help us do youth national team programs, coaching education,” he said. “So those funds are available for us to invest to make the biggest impact on our goals.”
Batson, along with COO Dan Helfrich, U.S. women’s national team coach Emma Hayes and assistant sporting director Oguchi Onyewu will be part of the group that will hire the next USMNT coach.
The search will begin following the November international window, but no timeline has been announced for when a hire will be made.
After the U.S. wraps up its Concacaf Nations League matches against Haiti, the club likely will not play another competitive match until March, giving U.S. Soccer some time to find the right coaching candidate.
Reports have already filtered out that execs are putting legendary coach Pep Guardiola at the top of their list.
A coach of his stature would surely have U.S. Soccer tapping into the $10 million Man United paid to terminate Pochettino’s contract early.
Steve Cherundolo has already been tapped to run the national team’s December camp, which includes a friendly against Jamaica in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but with stated ambitions of “winning major tournaments,” the federation has its sights set high following Pochettino’s little more than two-year run at the helm of the program.
“We want to make sure that we’re attracting leaders who help us do just that,” Batson said before calling the position a “great place to make legacy-defining impact.”
