Football General Manager
- Pochettino hired after Berhalter struggles
- Believes big-name hire raised expectations
- Says coach must leave program in better shape
With the 2026 World Cup less than a year away, former USMNT star Alexi Lalas predicted that Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure as national team coach will be brief. Lalas suggested Pochettino was brought in specifically as a high-profile replacement for Gregg Berhalter in a direct response to mounting pressure from fans for a more accomplished leader.
“This is a guy that’s being paid what? $6 million a year” Lalas said on the MLS Moves’ podcast. “This is a guy who was brought in in a short-term capacity and he understands that. We understand that and everybody understands that after the summer of 2026, he’s gone. And he’s gonna probably have lots of opportunities. So, you need to get this done, all right?
“All of the anger over Greg Berhalter, and I think the excitement over hiring someone with the cache and the sexy name that is Pochettino, that comes with responsibility and heightened expectations. And I think he understands that better than anybody. So again, yeah I’m OK with you progressing and learning. But ultimately, let’s be honest, he’s just going to be judged on next summer.”
Though Pochettino hasn’t even been in the job a full year, Lalas says the coach will be one and done in terms of World Cups with the U.S.
“You better be ready next summer and there can be no excuses,” he said. “You can’t say ‘Oh I didn’t have enough time’ or ‘Oh the American soccer system is screwed up’ or anything like that. No, that doesn’t work. You got to bring it next summer and you got to do things that we haven’t seen before. And again, in not just a World Cup, but a home World Cup. You’ve got to leave the situation in better shape than when you got it.”
Lalas said that his confidence in the USMNT has grown considerably following the team’s performance in the Gold Cup. Pochettino’s side won five straight matches before losing to Mexico in the final.
“I feel better than I did at the beginning of the Gold Cup,” Lalas said. “ I think the Gold Cup did help maybe assuage some of my concerns and worries when it comes to this team. There’s still plenty of them out there and I still worry that we’re not going to grab a hold of this incredible opportunity that is next summer. But I’m feeling a little bit more bullish. And that’s a good thing.
“Because we’ve talked about the ramp over the last, I don’t know, how many years since we got this World Cup. And the ramps getting shorter, and shorter and shorter. But it’s still a ramp and any type of ramp it’s about momentum. And we’ve had very little momentum before the Gold Cup. I think there’s more momentum now and if we can build on that momentum and get more and more positive, and get more and more excited going into next summer – that’s that what you need to do.
Lalas believes that the USMNT can advance to the round of 16 at the World Cup.
“Look I think that the US is going to get out of it’s group, I would even say win the group given the realities of a 48-team World Cup, being one of the first pot as a host,” Lalas said. “So I think we’re going to get a good group, a winnable group. And now you’re in the round of 32… and you’re gonna get, certainly, a winnable game, and then you’re right back where you started in that round of 16 game, where it’s going to be a team that’s going to be pretty even.”
“And so you’re going to have to find a way to conjure something up that hasn’t been kind of done before. And then you’re in kind of rarified air. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
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The USMNT have lost six of the 16 games that Pochettino has coached since replacing Berhalter last September.
Pochettino will continue preparations for the World Cup in international friendlies, starting in September against South Korea and Japan.
