USMNT’s new coach Mauricio Pochettino drawing ‘inspiration’ from women’s squad

To reverse the poor results and frustrating existence of the USMNT team, new coach Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to draw inspiration from America’s much more successful gender in soccer.

“I think, for me, one of the most important things is to be inspired by the women’s team,” Pochettino said in his first comments as USMNT coach. “They have the best coach in the world [Emma Hayes]. … And the women’s team has won everything. … It’s so close to us. That is going to be our inspiration in the way we create a philosophy about defending the badge, the country, the culture.”

Pochettino, who was introduced Friday to a smallish media gathering in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, is widely viewed as a home-run hire because of his coaching success at the highest levels of European soccer, most notably at Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

Now charged with guiding the host nation in the 2026 World Cup, Pochettino has his work cut out for him.

The men’s program, once plotted on a steep upward trajectory after advancing to the 2002 World Cup quarters, has largely stalled out for 20-plus years.

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Despite the nation’s wealth and resources — not to mention the success of the women’s side — the USMNT hasn’t won a World Cup knockout round game since 2002.

It also failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and bombed at the Copa America tournament this summer, leading to the long-anticipated firing of coach Gregg Berhalter .

These failures don’t jibe with the narrative that the U.S. player pool has never been stronger.

Just this week, star winger Christian Pulisic publicly urged Pochettino to revamp the team’s culture.

“The most important thing is to create something special, to feel something when you’re with the national team,” Pochettino said Friday. “Not because you’re called up and, ‘OK, I’m going to play.’

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“No. You’re going to compete. To compete is completely different than to play.”

Pochettino, an Argentine who speaks in broken English, joins Jurgen Klinsmann as the second non-American hired to lead the USMNT since 1995.

He’s known to foster a pressing and attacking style of soccer, leading Tottenham to new heights in the English Premier League and its first Champions League final.

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At PSG, Pochettino coached three of the world’s greatest — Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappe — but fell short in the Champions League semis.

“For us, aesthetics in soccer is very important. We’re going to play exciting, beautiful soccer,” Pochettino said. “We want to play nice soccer, good soccer, attacking soccer. We want to have possession.”

Pochettino’s success with the U.S. is based entirely around the 2026 World Cup, with a dream scenario of playing in the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19.

He has two years to prepare and the baseline is low following ugly performances last week in exhibitions against Canada (2-1 loss) and New Zealand (1-1 tie).

Those games were under interim coach Mikey Varas. The next contest — an exhibition vs Panama on Oct. 12 — will be Pochettino’s first with the USMNT.

“I believe there is enough time [before the World Cup],” he said. “I don’t want to put up an excuse, I don’t want to create an excuse for the players to say, ‘We don’t have time to buy into the new ideas, the new philosophy.’ No. Soccer is quick. They are talented and can play in a different way. For sure, I think we have time. We really need to believe and think in big things. We need to believe we can win. Not only a game, believe we can win the World Cup.”

Like the women.

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