How did U.S. soccer get Mauricio Pochettino? Matt Crocker explains timing, ambition and Emma Hayes got it done

During the October international break, a new era will begin for the United States men’s national team with Mauricio Pochettino taking over as the head coach of the side. The most accomplished head coach in USMNT history, Pochettino will raise expectations and ambition for what’s possible for the national team heading into the 2026 World Cup, but without a perfect storm of timing, ambition, and fortune, this is a hire that may not have happened. 

U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker joined CBS Sports Golazo’s Morning Footy to talk Pochettino and more diving into the behind-the-scenes process of how a WhatsApp message led to the USMNT’s new manager and more. Crocker talked about the investment that has been made in soccer under U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone but it takes more than investment alone to land a manager like Pochettino. 

“It was a very different feel this time around. I think there’s a number of significant reasons for that,” Crocker said about the process to bring Pochettino in. “First and foremost, when you’ve got a World Cup around the corner and which top coach in the world won’t want to be part of a host nation World Cup and lead a team into that? So that became sharp into focus. I do think the hiring of Emma Hayes was significant in terms of really putting a mark in the sand about our ability to attract some of the best coaches in the world. And the opportunity to be part of a project like building a national training center.”

At the top level, coaching is about the ambition to be involved in unique opportunities and to make an impact which is how Pochettino and the USMNT became a good match. After Pochettino departed Chelsea, he could’ve waited for a club coaching role to come up, but when Crocker, who Pochettino had previously worked with at Southampton, reached out, he picked up the call. That’s where the familiarity with both Crocker and Hayes is meaningful because it ensured that Pochettino could get a candid rundown of what to expect if he were to take the role.

Crocker spoke about how hiring Hayes helped announce U.S. Soccer’s ambition to the world and now securing Pochetitno only furthers it. Of course, ambition is nothing without results, but he already knows that. The goal is for Pochettino to be the coach post 2026 but that doesn’t mean that results at the World Cup won’t matter.

“We would be delighted if we could extend [his contract] beyond 2026, which is our ambition, but we also know that is a critical moment and we know that we need to be successful in 2026 for us to continue to move forward,” Crocker said. “We know this game is about results and that’s what we hope and we expect for 2026 and beyond.”

Youth development of the pool will also be a focus for Pochettino and is one of the ways that he can take this team to a new level. We know what some of the ceilings are for players in the pool now but in younger members of the side like Diego Luna, Jack McGlynn, and Jaylen Neal, the presence of Pochettino could be quite a boon.

“He was responsible for developing six players who went on to represent England from Southampton at that time he was critical in their development when those players were between 17 and 19. Blending them into a Premier League team and you can really see that he’s got a development mind and focus and it would be absolutely crazy for us at U.S. Soccer not to tap into that knowledge and experience. “

There’s a lot to be excited about as Pochettino gets integrated into American soccer but things like this show how opportunistic a team has to be sometimes to land a top head coach.