Mauricio Pochettino was just recently hired as the men’s coach before the international break, coaching currently at Chelsea, and has been moved around a lot from multiple teams, including the Premier League’s Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur teams, with success at both teams. The 52 year old Argentine manager has successfully turned around teams including Espanyol, who he helped out of relegation in the second half of their 2009 season. He also was called up for his national team 20 times to play between 1999-2002. Pochettino is no stranger to playing and coaching under pressure, and because of his experience and expertise as a player and manager, the US team is happy to have him at the reins.
He is jumping right into his position, having his first appearance as the team’s manager against Mexico in an international friendly on Oct. 12. Pochettino recently appeared for his first press conference, in which he was asked a lot of questions regarding the team and what he planned to do for them in the future. The first thing he brought up was the culture and motivation of the team. “I think, to translate to create this platform that when they come, you know, when the players arrive to the national team, they need to know exactly what we need to do, how we need to compete, how we need to behave like a team, and the potential is there, the talent is there, it’s only to create the best platform for them to express themselves.” The team needs to know how they play, and what they need to be doing to play for the team. It is an honor for players to be called up to represent their country in the sport they love, and the team doesn’t seem like they are very motivated to play or even be on the 23-man roster. “ I think we need to define what culture means. To build something – what’s the philosophy? It’s difficult to describe in words, you know, culture. I think in that case that you mentioned, Christian was really frustrated after the game, and it’s normal in that way to show that the frustration, you know, it was disappointing about the result and the performance.” He has shown his appreciation for the team and the country, and is ready to turn this team around and steer them in the right direction going forward. It’ll be a fun ride the next couple of months watching the team evolve under Pochettino, for sure, and the country has his back.
The USWNT is coming back to Lynn Family Stadium for a friendly on October 30th. You can find more information about the game on the Louisville City website or app.
