Athletic: Pochettino to remain with USMNT through World Cup

Tottenham Hotspur may or may not want to run the years back by reappointing Mauricio Pochettino as its next permanent head coach, but if they do they will need to wait until after the USA completes its World Cup run this summer. That’s the official line out of USMNT channels according to The Athletic, which states that Pochettino fully intends to see USA through the summer international competition, hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

It’s not even slightly a secret that Tottenham have their eyes on a Pochettino return after the sacking of Thomas Frank on Wednesday, which came about after Spurs fell at home to Newcastle 2-1 on Tuesday evening. Poch has been making googly eyes at Spurs for years, hinting at “unfinished business” after he was let go in 2019. The timing was never right for him to return to the club as manager; when Spurs have had openings either it was too soon or Poch already had commitments to another position.

That’s the case here as well, though this time those timing issues could be solved sooner rather than later. Tottneham are still — somehow, aggravatingly — trying to figure out their next best move for who leads the team out on the pitch against Arsenal in 10 days, and whether that person will be a caretaker or interim head coach, or a permanent appointment. If Spurs do want to make a permanent appointment however, it won’t — can’t — be Pochettino. The Athletic reports that the line out of the US Soccer Federation is that Pochettino will remain with the USA Men’s National Team, and also notes that there is a substantial (but unquantified) buyout in his USA contract.

There would be other possibilities in the summer as well, with an expected major coaching churn following the conclusion of the World Cup in July. Waiting that long does have its risks as it means a coaching appointment well after the start of the summer transfer window, which would have significant long-tail effects as to how Spurs can structure the team to avoid another flirt with relegation. That said, if Poch truly is the guy they want, and it sounds very much like Poch is interested in the job, they’ll have to wait.