Mauricio Pochettino was brought back to earth with a thud on Tuesday evening after his US team suffered a brutal first defeat to bitter rivals Mexico.
Former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Pochettino won his first match in charge of the US national team against Panama on Saturday evening, but a trip to Guadalajara ended in a dismal 2-0 defeat just three days later.
After a promising start and plenty of optimism from the fans, social media was awash with negativity during the defeat to Mexico, with fans even labeling the new manager a ‘fraud’ as cameras caught him looking distraught on the touchline.
“Welcome to Pochettino Ball,” wrote a football fan on
One USMNT fan quickly took aim at both Pochettino and the national team’s line-up in general, writing: ‘Absolutely disgraceful and embarrassing.
Mauricio Pochettino struggled to hide his dismay on the sidelines in Guadalajara on Tuesday
His team were defeated 2-0 by their biggest rivals Mexico in Pochettino’s second match
‘F*** the USSD, f*** Pochettino, and f*** whoever made the call to send our best players home against our biggest rivals.’
Former USMNT star Taylor Twellman also called the performance a “disaster” on social media, retweeting a message criticizing Pochettino for taking too many risks.
The message, from a popular fan account, read: “Buch my man, I understand this is all new to you but under no circumstances can the first half ever happen again.
‘In the end you will find out the same way you did at Chelsea, but you should never take such risks in midfield again.’
Another USMNT fan called the friendly loss to Mexico “unacceptable,” while another supporter wrote, “How have we gotten worse under Pochettino?”
Fulham striker Raul Jimenez (right) opened the scoring for Mexico in the first half
Pochettino now has a lot of thinking to do ahead of his first league match next month
In the match in raucous Guadalajara, Fulham striker Raul Jimenez opened the scoring for the home side, before Cesar Huerta doubled the lead.
In the 90 minutes, Pochettino’s American team could only manage one shot on target.
After a one-win, one-defeat start as national coach, Pochettino now has a month to prepare for his first competitive match, in the Nations League in St. Louis next month.
American fans will be desperate for the former Premier League boss to put his stamp on the team as the 2026 home World Cup fast approaches.