Mauricio Pochettino is Back: What’s On His To-Do List? | OneFootball

U.S. Soccer got their man as Mauricio Pochettino has re-signed to stay on as head coach of the USMNT. Now with a full cycle ahead of him, the Argentine manager must continue his work of paving a new path for the national team.

Mauricio Pochettino is back. The 54-year-old Argentine will now have a full four years in charge of the United States men’s national team that will need to think differently as it heads toward the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Gone is the “Golden Generation” and Pochettino as an emergency hire to salvage a program that was heading nowhere. Now, the former Marcelo Bielsa discovery has to continue laying the building blocks of repositioning the United States after six largely dismal years and one over-the-top summer.

The Round of 16 exit at the 2026 World Cup, the Russell Crowe memes, and the overexposure on morning shows and podcasts were enough for U.S. Soccer to pull the trigger again on Pochettino, in a cycle that will be much quieter and, hopefully, much more results-oriented.

One thing Pochettino made clear during his half-cycle with the U.S. was the need to “change the culture,” and with that change now being more defined, Pochettino still has a lot of work to do with a team that will see its backbone enter the early 30s of their careers and a group of young players who will most likely be inserted into the rotation.

Currently sitting at a decent-but-not-entirely-impressive 17-13-1 record, Pochettino has a lot on his plate as the United States enters a new chapter in its history and the Pochettino era truly begins.

Here’s what figures to be atop his priority chart over the next four years.

Continue to Define His Preferred Player Profile

If there was one thing Pochettino did during his first run as USMNT head coach, it was define the type of player he was looking for. Grit, presence, sacrifice, and constant effort seemed to be Pochettino’s biggest demands of his team.

His pet projects including Alex Freeman, Sebastian Berhalter, and Max Arfsten were widely criticized by many, yet have all paid dividends and enter the new cycle on European contracts. Freeman was a top-three performer for the U.S. at the World Cup, while Berhalter scored a spectacular goal in the team’s final group-stage match.

Pochettino has adopted a lot of his mentor Bielsa’s approach to identifying talent: players who are willing to put in the work and grind it out. Look for the Argentine manager to be more aggressive in hand-picking players who may not play for the biggest clubs but possess the qualities he is looking for to make the U.S. a “tougher” team to compete against.

New Blood

Zavier Gozo is one of several fresh faces poised to make their mark under Pochettino’s second chapter as USMNT coach. Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images

Pochettino will need to do a lot of housecleaning on the national team. Goalkeeper will be the first position that he will need to define, which is easier said than done. But he has already laid the groundwork for new faces in goal with Chris Brady on the 2026 World Cup roster.

Then there are several very interesting players for Pochettino to use as the cycle chugs along. Zavier Gozo, Julian Hall, and Adri Mehmeti are three key names to watch for ahead of 2030. Of course, there is also the shadow of the next wonderkid in Cavan Sullivan, dual national Justin Ellis, who is also on Uruguay’s radar, and European-based players like Mathis Albert. All six seem ready to be inserted now rather than later.

There is also the priority of finally getting the best out of Johnny Cardoso and Tanner Tessmann, while Gianluca Busio will hope that his accomplishments will no longer be ignored.

The relationship with new U-23 manager Steve Cherundolo will be key in building a proper pathway to the national team as well.

There is also the “lost generation,” a group of prospects who have never really panned out but could find new life in Pochettino’s second era. Rokas Pukstas, Kevin Paredes, Cole Campbell, and Kristoffer Lund will all have to put in a lot of work at their clubs to capture the attention of a coach looking for fresh blood.

Managing Christian Pulisic and the Old Guard

What should the U.S. make of Christian Pulisic? It would be foolish to plan a cycle without its best player, who is entering the prime of his career and is still at AC Milan. But while Pulisic is once again coming back from injury after a disappointing World Cup, the new Pochettino era doesn’t look like a cycle that will allow players to “rest” during national team competitions.

The backbone of Pochettino’s new era is set, with Chris Richards, Sergiño Dest, Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, Pulisic, and Folarin Balogun. Weston McKennie should also be part of that backbone, but after a quiet World Cup, look for Pochettino to demand much more from the Juventus midfielder.

Still, as of this writing, as Pulisic goes, so goes the USMNT, and that will be something Pochettino will want to change heading into 2030. But writing off Pulisic entirely, as some pundits have suggested, is foolish.

The Scorecard

Results must become the biggest priority overall, as they’re the only way Pochettino and U.S. Soccer can truly measure success. Playing in one of the weakest regions in the world, there is simply no excuse for the USMNT not to lift at least one Gold Cup and one Nations League trophy during the cycle.

Qualifying for the World Cup should be no problem for this team, especially considering that under the new format, the U.S. and Mexico will almost certainly avoid each other.

The big mystery is the Copa América and whether the U.S. will be invited. All signs point to yes, and even so, a solid Copa América campaign would need to include at least a quarterfinal appearance.

The 100th anniversary World Cup will be a crapshoot, but again, as the cycle progresses, so will expectations. A lot of work still needs to be done before the U.S. can realistically talk about deep runs or even securing a marquee victory.

Right now, Pochettino essentially has to rebuild his squad so it truly reflects what he wants the USMNT to be and, indirectly, what U.S. Soccer wants the national team program to become by re-signing him.

After two years under the bright lights of a home World Cup and endless “Golden Generation” talk, Pochettino will be able to work with much more knowledge, less distractions, and clearer goals.

The U.S. needs to have less noise, more work, and more results. The same applies to Pochettino.