Well he has assistants and US Soccer also has scouts. There’s existing scouting reports on the whole pool that he’ll have access to. It’s also possible they’ll bring in a domestic assistant for his staff.
I think he's actually more likely to call in MLS guys than late period Berhalter. Part of that is that he'll be looking at the pool with fresh eyes, but also his status as a big time foreigner means he's completely immune to the "MLS shill" criticisms that somehow dogged Berhalter as he built an almost entirely Euro-based roster.
It would make sense. USSF should try to force one on him if he doesn’t want to do it, but it’d be a smart thing to do.
I don't really think it is necessary, but I'd consider someone like Tab Ramos. I wouldn't actually want someone from the current staff for any extended period of time. Just a transition period for them, but there just tends to be lingering defensiveness on that. Tab's self aware enough to understand that he's not bringing much as a coach. He's Uruguayan-American, so he can maybe help translate some of the cultural elements. He's fluent in Spanish and English, so while Poch doesn't really have issues there, if there ever is something, he's there. I'm generally not excited about the idea, really. I feel like some of these guys will go in with less of a learning mindset than trying to prove themselves or with their own ideas. I'm sure some of Tab's ideas are fine, but I don't really want too much of "the American player blah blah blah." So a lot depends on his personality, which I don't really know. And frankly, I'd love it if we had a real up and coming coach that could learn from Poch ... but I have no idea who that'd be.
Guessing I will be about the last person to post on here asking him to be fired. Been a fan of him since he was with Southampton. I think he got that Spurs squad to overperform for multiple seasons making them title contenders and Champions League finalists which allowed them to compete through the stadium build. PSG is a dumpster fire anyone using that time to criticize him isn't worth listening to, and he was starting to get the dumpster fire that is Chelsea under control, IMHO we are VERY lucky to have him. Wondering how many English supporters would trade Carsley for him? It could still go weird, luck is the biggest factor in international football and or maybe his ideas won't translate. But no matter what happens I love that the fed took their shot.
Oh, man, that'd be a shit storm. I think I'd prefer someone who has been a coach a bit. The problem is that a Pat Noonan isn't going to come be an assistant for the national team. Maybe he has a star assistant that would want to learn from Poch for a couple of years?
Well there are definitely star assistants who are more unknown. I was mostly just thinking someone who knows the national team, knows MLS, and is still fairly early in their coaching career. Landon Donovan would be another (assuming he doesn’t take the San Diego Wave job full time). But I’m less knowledgeable about the up and coming MLS assistants who didn’t play for the national team.
Jim Curtain said he would be pretty excited to become a National Team assistant to GB. Might he just drop his current job to work for MP? Of course, Curtain doesn't have a lot that you'd call international experience, but quite a lot of experience with American soccer.
Well, the Fed is if anything making an even bigger deal of this hire than they did of Klinsmann back in the day. They're all in. My guess is that Pochettino is genuinely all-in, too. This success or failure is going to be high profile.
Speaking of Tab, while he has been critical, he has also as you said been self aware. He responded on twitter to someone saying Tab needed to be USMNT coach and Tab flat out said on his time with Houston alone he should not be considered.
Why wouldn't he? Assisting Poch has the potential to launch him into much better jobs, and even if that doesn't materialize, he'd still have MLS to fall back on.
More than both his predecessor and his successor. It's interesting how Arena gets retroactively accused of filing the team with MLS players in his 2017 tenure... the three players who became regular WCQ starters under Arena (Arriola, Villafaña, Nagbe) all get labeled as "MLS lifers" even though only one of them was in MLS when Arena put them in his preferred lineup. Arriola was at Club Tijuana until August 2017, and Villafaña was at Santos Laguna for Arena's entire 2017 tenure.
More than anything, this reflects how bad our 2017 player pool really was. Villafaña and Omar Gonzalez were struggling in Liga Mx, and Paul Arriola never did much there, either. We were really desperate. Today we've got Alex Zendejas starring in Liga Mx, and he can't even make our first-team squad.
I’d also add in terms of someone on the USSF familiar with MLS and the domestic side of things, don’t underestimate the role of Onyewu as Crocker’s number two and definitely has a lot of that knowledge. And can be that bridge without having to be on Pochettino’s staff.
Yeah, it doesn't have to be somebody on the day-to-day staff. Somebody within the USSF with a knowledge of the pool, etc. is fine. The whole idea is WE DON'T WANT some guy with a preconceived notion of the pool to whisper in his ear. I mean, Pochettino does know the top players in Europe. Ones he's scouted, coaching with or against, etc. We heard he really likes Musah because he scouted him as an acquisition for Chelsea. That kind of thing. I imagine, actually, the USSF has a pretty sophisticated analytical system and database of the players in the pool. I'm OK making that assumption. We just don't have that kind of view behind the scenes. I'm sure a coach can go into a database, select CBs to watch, and the rolodex of names is there. Games on demand to watch in both club soccer and for the USMNT/USYNTs for each player. Scouting reports, etc. Every kind of metric recorded. Pochettino won't fail because he doesn't have access to the right players or names in the pool to scout. We've got those names for him, and all he needs is that starting point. He'll fail if the talent isn't good enough. If he plans on matching what Berhalter did then he needs to win either the Nations League or Gold Cup in 2025 [Berhalter won both in 2021.] and then get to at least the round of 16 at the World Cup in 2026. The bar isn't as low as people on this board make it out to be.
Supposing Poch really does freeze out MLS players, the league will become very different. Will our better young players move to Europe instead of sticking around here to be homegrown MLS?
Can't see why he'd do that if he also calls up players outside the top four. MLS is now close enough to those under it is and individual thing and starting and being one of the best in the league in MLS may be better than sitting on a bench in a top four league getting token minutes. I could care less and just want the best "team" not the best all star collection. If a Beckerman type makes the team better then so be it.
He’s not going to freeze out MLS players. Most of our rosters will come from Europe because that’s where our best players are, but guys will get called up from MLS if they deserve it. And MLS is also where our two best goalie alternatives are at current (Freese and Schulte).
Our better young players already move to Europe. Adams was 19 when he left, McKennie was 18, and old man Aaronson waited until he was a grizzled 20 year old.
Our pool isn't deep enough to "freeze out" MLS players. .................and MLS players become the Euro-based players. I mean, how many minutes at Copa America were played by MLS players? Our A team, when it does get together, is dominated by Europe-based players. But we have other opportunities throughout the year to scout and develop the young and advancing players in MLS, etc. Poch reportedly already met with MLS business and club leaders.