Mauricio Pochettino offers USMNT something crucial in debut win: hope

As he paced around his equipment room with puffed cheeks, pursed lips and crossed arms, there was one of the most recognizable sights in club football: the unfamiliar sight of an American crest on his lapel.

At the final whistle, his brow furrowed by the elation of the 2-0 victory over Panama in his first match in charge of the US men’s national team, Mauricio Pochettino stormed onto the pitch with a wide grin, happily signaling everyone in sight, with claps on the back, hugs and handshakes for everyone from players to officials to cameraman.

If the US were in good form and on an upward trajectory, the former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager would not have been hired. Saturday’s result and performance, imperfect as it was, was an immediate boost after a summer of setbacks. There were smiling faces on the field and in the stands of a loud and almost full stadium. After a string of poor results and an exit from the Copa América group stage, in which the US somehow looked both rambunctious and sluggish, this was a positive. Different.

Under Pochettino’s predecessor, Gregg Berhalter, the US was locked in a perpetual learning process, always moving toward consistent excellence, but never reaching that prized destination, even as the core group, many of whom were teenagers when he took charge, fell into the middle of the pack . -20s.

Now it’s time for some progress, with the co-hosts just 20 months away from the 2026 World Cup and the number of remaining international matches before the tournament reduced to single digits. Berhalter provided the ingredients; Pochettino has to mix, cook and serve them in two summers. Preferably done well.

“I think it was a very professional performance and I think we are happy because I think everything is good [targets] what we said before the game, I think we achieved it and I think it is an important victory,” Pochettino told reporters.

After all, Panama effectively torpedoed Berhalter’s long tenure with a chilling 2-1 Copa win in June. The U.S. has lost five times in 11 games in 2024, the most defeats in a calendar year since 2019, Berhalter’s first year. Entering this friendly at Austin’s Q2 Stadium, the U.S. had won just once in its past seven games, in June against South America’s worst team, Bolivia.

It’s not a record that fits the view that the US is Concacaf’s dominant force and has the potential to go deep in 2026 – a belief that certainly helped convince the former Argentina defender to leave the club scene for his first foray to international management. .

After leaving Chelsea, Pochettino would certainly have been offered a job at another top European club soon. Instead, he stood in front of a crowd of 20,239 players in Texas, managing players of varying abilities for a federation that received a gift from a Florida hedge fund billionaire and Republican megadonor to cover his reported $6 million annual salary.

Pochettino observed in 2022 that in Paris, where he coached Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar, an excess of superstars caused problems. “Too much grandeur” won’t be a problem in this role. Only Christian Pulisic, with six goals in nine games for Milan this season, falls into that category.

A host of injuries to first-team regulars meant Pochettino’s line-up was necessarily an opportunity to cast his eye on players who made marginal contributions under Berhalter. There was no Gio Reyna, Tim Weah or Folarin Balogun to unleash the attack. No Tyler Adams or Weston McKennie in midfield or Sergiño Dest and Chris Richards in defense. Intriguingly, Tim Ream captained the side a week after his 37th birthday. Does Pochettino believe Ream can contribute to the World Cup despite his age? Did he want veteran leadership to provide stability in his first game? Did he have limited alternatives? Yes.

Up front, Pochettino started Norwich City’s Josh Sargent, who smashed an easy chance over the bar from eight yards in the first half. In doing so, Sargent perpetuated the sobering feeling that he – like Chris Wondolowski before him – is an effective goalscorer in a second-tier league, unable to reliably replicate his form for the national team. The 24-year-old last scored for the USA in 2019.

Still, he seemed a better bet to find the net than Yunus Musah, who was deployed as a defensive midfielder for Berhalter. After a busy but ineffective first half reminiscent of the pre-Poch era due to an inability to suppress or disperse decent and energetic opposition, the first goal under new management was scored by Musah: his first international goal in his 42nd cap.

Here was a break with the past: Pochettino deployed Musah on the right wing and gave him a license to attack. It was, the coach said, an attempt to revive a player with limited minutes for Milan this season. “[We] tried to build his confidence, perhaps by starting in a different position than in the past. I think that was a good decision,” Pochettino told reporters.

The build-up to the goal in the 49th minute was also a refreshing change, with evidence of teamwork and calculation that was often lacking under Berhalter, when there seemed to be little attacking plans other than asking a quick winger to attack and break the defense. hope to benefit from it. of whatever chaos might arise. It was shocking in a good way to see Musah charge towards the box (a run Sargent should have been allowed to make) to finish a cross from Pulisic, his clubmate, as if he had. it’s his whole life.

Panama then put the US under pressure and had a few good chances to equalise, before a relatively easy breakaway goal in stoppage time sealed the victory. Here too, the identity of the goalscorer implied a departure from previous struggles, a period of new possibilities. Ricardo Pepi, a substitute, had not scored for his country in eleven months, but his shot found its way through the goalkeeper’s legs. The shut-out and a couple of key saves from Matt Turner, whose England career appears to be heading towards a dead end, also felt restorative.

The atmosphere may change once Pochettino’s honeymoon is over: when players become marginalized and disillusioned, and later in the season, when they are tired and have to take the knocks, and his intense training sessions and high-pressure style seem like an exhausting burden for footballers whose primary focus is obviously on the club game which takes up most of their time and generates almost all their income.

The mood may even change on Tuesday when the US visit Guadalajara for a friendly against Mexico, which should provide a stern test, not least because the Americans have not played a match away from home since November last year.

But despite the imperfections and elements of fortune, the victory was the most important thing for a team that lost to Canada and drew against New Zealand in friendlies last month under an interim coach. It builds more confidence in a manager whose past performances already mean he commands respect from players and fans, and it points the US toward something different, something better.