After Lionel Messi thrilled David Beckham and MLS, USA team need Mauricio Pochettino deliver like Emma Hayes

09/06/2024 06:30 AM

After David Beckham it was Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Then it was Lionel Messi. Now it’s expected to be Mauricio Pochettino.

Soccer in the United States has never been afraid to target the big names as it continues to make it's play to become a major force in global game – the imminent appointment of Pochettino is the latest step.

A calamitous Copa America, which the US co-hosted, ended in a group stage defeat and a second departure in two years for Gregg Berhalter.

After off-field chaos and on-field disappointment, a significant change of direction was needed by Matt Crocker – the former Southampton technical director who now holds the same position at the US Soccer Federation.

As seasoned MLS and USMNT writer Tom Bogert explained to talkSPORT: 'If not now, when?"

"If there’s a time to capitalize on the popularity, to continue growing the game in this country, it’s the 2026 World Cup.”

Pochettino is expected to be confirmed as the new head coach in the coming weeks and with it lead them into a home World Cup in 2026.

He follows another former Chelsea boss, Emma Hayes, into a US hot-seat, while also treading the same path of his countryman Lionel Messi who has blazed a trail across the MLS.

Hayes began by winning gold for the United States women's team at the Olympics in Paris only last month, while Pochettino has less than two years to get an under-performing team ready to compete in a home World Cup.

As the US Soccer Federation prepare to announce the appointment of the former Chelsea, Paris Saint Germain, Tottenham and Southampton head coach they also begin their Nations League campaign on Saturday against Canada.

Significant investment has lured Messi and made the MLS attractive enough to lure the likes of Gareth Bale and this summer Marco Reus.

Pochettino and Hayes leading the men’s and women’s national teams is a significant statement.

The lure of leading a team into a home World Cup has an added layer of intrigue for Pochettino who after a year at Chelsea needs to feel loved again, but there's a bigger picture at play around the arrival of all three on US soil.

"It’s when Lionel Messi is playing here. It’s all that stuff. I try not to get too grandiose about it myself but this is a huge opportunity and it comes with expectations,” Bogert added.

“It’s what people have been talking about over here for years. And you kind of add that in with MLS and Lionel Messi and the Apple TV, all this stuff, it’s all building towards 26.

“What happens when Messi leaves? What happens when we’re not building towards the World Cup and it just it’s 2027 and then we’re moving on, right?

“We have to be able to commit casual fans to more passionate fans or every week fans, stuff like that.

“People smarter than me have been grappling with it. They’ve been thinking about this for better part of a decade, right? Of how to capitalize on this moment. So it’s absolutely a thing that’s at the top of the minds of people here.”

Beckham’s impact has been huge. His arrival has a player paving the way for his move into ownership and a Miami franchise worth more than $1bn according to Forbes – the second MLS team to reach that mark.

Messi has given the MLS arguably the best player in the world. He won a World Cup while a Miami player, delivered a first ever trophy for the franchise and won a Ballon d’Or all while his club football came in Florida much to the delight of Beckham, his now boss.

However, it is perhaps international success that might give the sport lift off across the US.

A World Cup quarterfinal in 2002 remains the furthest the men have gone on the biggest stage. Two Round of 16 defeats and one group stage elimination followed, along with the failure to qualify for 2018.

Pochettino will be under pressure to deliver, after spells at Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain failed to live up to the promise of his time with Tottenham and Southampton in the Premier League.

The Argentine is likely to find himself with a group of young players he can mould. A fit, dynamic squad with few big names who can grow – not unlike the situation he inherited at Tottenham.

He built a team that unexpectedly contended for the Premier League title, and lost a Champions League final.

According to Bogert, Pochettino will have to lift spirits after the lows of Copa: “The Copa that was so disappointing about the United States losing in the group stage.

“That was it, that’s what we’ve been talking about since the 2022 World Cup that that was going to be the litmus test.

“That was going to be the super important tournament because there are no other really big time competitive games. There is no World Cup qualifying.

“I think just a new manager coming in is going to be super helpful to making all these games mean more and have more intensity.

“He’s got a group of young players who he can kind of, I suppose, mold and get the best out of. Christian Pulisic is the only real star, I’d say. I think Balogun and Reyna can get there.

“When they lost to Uruguay at the Copa America, there were [starters for their opponents] from Liverpool, Real Madrid, Napoli, Barcelona, like you kind of go on down the list. and it’s like, oh yeah, like that’s where our group stands right now.

“I think he’s a perfect hire to turn that potential into current ability and vice versa. Like I think that the group fits him very well. I think that if they play in transition, if they play high energy, that’ll get the best out of them.”

On the back of a gold medal winning start for Hayes, the 2027 World Cup is the target, but the women's team is a different proposition in the US – it always has been.

The domestic competition has, until the WSL explosion, been regarded as the best league in the world, and the USWNT have continually delivered on the biggest stages.

Five Olympic gold medals, and four World Cups underline the women’s game is in fine health.

For the men – and for Pochettino – the challenge starts now.