- Gomez called Pochettino’s comments as "reeking of phony"
- Compared Pochettino to previous foreign coaches
- Rejected coach’s focus on long-term development
Former U.S. striker Herculez Gomez offered a pointed rebuke of Mauricio Pochettino’s recent appearance on Spanish television program El Chiringuito where he offered explanations for the USMNT’s performances prior to the team’s 2-0 loss against South Korea. Gomez took particular issue with Pochettino’s comments, suggesting his primary mission involved long-term development of American soccer rather than immediate results..
“I want to choose my words very wisely,” Gomez said on his YouTube channel. “But this screams of phony, snake oil salesman… the longest time, we had the sentiment of coaches, foreign coaches, from any walk of life, from anywhere with an accent coming and trying to show you stupid Americans how to do things. But really, just trying to take your money. But really, just trying to claim they were credible to take your dollars. And that’s what they were trying to do.”
READ MORE: Winners and Losers from the USMNT’s loss to South Korea
The former striker dismissed this framing as disingenuous, arguing that Pochettino was hired to prepare the current generation for success at the 2026 World Cup rather than build for some distant future
“Mauricio Pochettino isn’t a fool, but he’s trying to pass the buck here,” Gomez said. “He’s putting up excuses like ‘Hey, I don’t score the goals and I can’t defend them, the real thing we’re trying to do here is instill a culture, and get them on the right path.’
“They didn’t give you $6 million a year so we can look back 20 years from now and say ‘Oh Mauricio Pochettino, he’s the one who laid the foundation.’ No, no, no. It’s for a World Cup, a tournament. They need you to get this pool of players ready for a home tournament, not to shape the next 60 years of American soccer, which he has no understanding of.”
Pochettino finds himself in an increasingly precarious position one year into his USMNT tenure, especially following the team’s loss against South Korea. Several former players, including Stu Holden and Alexi Lalas, have been critical of the lack of progress under the Argentine coach.
Pochettino and the USMNT will face Japan on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio.
