The wait is almost over. After a protracted hiring process that dragged on for longer than any US Men’s National Team supporter wanted, Mauricio Pochettino will take charge of his first matches as head coach against Panama and Mexico this week and next.
Pochettino has been appointed to turn around the fortunes of the USMNT ahead of the 2026 World Cup on home soil and must waste no time in forging a team that can compete against the best in international soccer.
Here are three realistic things that Pochettino achieve in his first USMNT camp.
Clear the toxicity that built up under Gregg Berhalter
For a long time, Gregg Berhalter was credited with bringing together the next generation of USMNT talent and turning the national team into an environment that players wanted to be a part of. This was most evident when recruiting dual nationals. Sergino Dest, Yunus Musah and Folarin Balogun all cited the healthy environment as a key reason for their decision to play for the USA.
Over time, though, toxicity grew within the national team. There was the scandal involving Berhalter and the Reyna family after the 2022 World Cup which played a role in delaying the re-hiring of the head coach. Reyna returned to the national team fold, but Berhalter’s relationship with the attacking midfielder was surely damaged in some way.
Christian Pulisic revealed a lot about the national team environment in some of his comments after the September international window. “Hopefully, he’s someone that’s going to come in and really change the culture around here,” said the AC Milan attacker. “And it’s time. We’ve got to take a big step up. I think we have the quality and now it’s time to compete and try to win. So that’s the next step.”
Pochettino won’t have the time to overhaul the culture in the October international window, but he can at least make a start on clearing some of the toxicity. The Argentine is an engaging character and needs to get buy-in from his new players to stand a chance of pointing the USMNT in the right direction.
Give Christian Pulisic help as the USA’s best attacker
It can’t all been on Pulisic to deliver for the USMNT in the attacking third. This is why Pochettino must do all he can to truly integrate Balogun who is in currently in good form for Monaco, scoring three goals in his last three games. The 23-year-old has the potential to be an elite level centre forward and Pochettino needs to see more of that for the national team.
While Balogun has scored some important goals for the USA – he netted his first international goal in the CONCACAF Nations League final against Canada last year – he has often struggled as an all-round centre forward. Berhalter failed to involve him in the USA’s possession play and this is where Pochettino must make improvements.
Monaco has been a testing transfer for Balogun after joining the Ligue 1 club from Arsenal last year. At Reims, Balogun thrived in a system that allowed him to attack open space. For Monaco, he is now playing for a team that commands more possession. This could ultimately be a good thing for the USMNT as Pochettino attempts to round Balogun’s jagged edges.
Unfortunately, Balogun will miss the matches against Panama and Mexico due to injury with Tim Weah also unavailable. This, however, could present Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent and Haji Wright with the chance to prove their worth to the USMNT at a critical time for the national team programme.
Settle on a first-choice goalkeeper from a pool of four
It wasn’t so long ago that Matt Turner was the undisputed number one for the US men’s national team. The former New England Revolution goalkeeper was playing first team soccer in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest having spent 18 months as an understudy at Arsenal. He was quite clearly the best American player in his position.
Turner, however, allowed mistakes to creep into his game. He lost his place as Nottingham Forest’s first-choice goalkeeper and fell down the pecking order at the City Ground. On top of this, Turner was shaky in the performances he produced for the USA at this summer’s Copa America.
This opened the door for Patrick Schulte to start for the USMNT in last month’s friendly against Canada. Meanwhile, Zack Steffen back in the national team roster for this month’s matches against Panama and Mexico. Pochettino needs defensive stability, and that starts with settling on a first-choice goalkeeper as soon as possible.
