Nine Months Until the World Cup. What Were the USMNT's September Lessons?

More than a year before Mauricio Pochettino was appointed the U.S. men's national team coach, his name was brought up in a passing conversation.

I asked former U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel if he felt the team would be better served by a non-American manager for the 2026 World Cup cycle. Friedel, who played under Pochettino at Tottenham, used his former boss to explain why a foreigner might struggle. 

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"He and his staff would want a year just to assess everything and learn as much as possible," said Friedel, who still owns the Premier League record for consecutive appearances. 

Fast-forward then to October 2024. When Pochettino was actually hired for his first ever national team job, he knew the timeframe would be abbreviated. 

"The normal way to work is four years to implement your ideas and your philosophy, create your staff," Pochettino said last week about the typical national team coaching cycle.

Mauricio Pochettino when he was hired in September 2024. (Photo by Luke Hales/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

He'll have had less than two years once the World Cup starts next June 12. 

Plenty has already happened in the 12 months since Pochettino was brought in to steer the co-hosts to a successful tournament. This month against two fellow World Cup-bound squads, the U.S. just played its worst game under Pochettino (a 2-0 loss to South Korea on Sept. 6), followed by its best (a 2-0 win over Japan on Sept. 9). 

In these two matches, we probably learned more about Pochettino’s USMNT than during the rest of his brief tenure combined.

After the win over Japan, Pochettino reminded fans and media why he was hired to replace Gregg Berhalter last September.

"When we arrived, it’s because